Major League Baseball handed down its own “Joba Rule” yesterday, slapping Yankees phenom reliever Joba Chamberlain with a two-game suspension and a $1,000 fine.
MLB vice president of on-field operations Bob Watson handed down the suspension a day after Chamberlain was ejected for throwing two pitches over the head of Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis in the ninth inning of Thursday’s 5-0 Yankees victory.
The Yankees maintain the pitches were not meant to hit Youkilis, and were not pleased their star reliever would miss two games. Chamberlain did not appeal the suspension and began serving it last night.
The rookie reliever has not allowed a run in 11 1/3 innings to begin his career, sometimes hitting 100 mph on the radar gun.
Thursday, he sailed two pitches over Youkilis’ head. Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez threw out the pitcher immediately after the second one.
The Yankees decided not to appeal the suspension because Chamberlain already would have sat out last night’s game because he pitched Thursday (one of the team’s “Joba Rules”) and an appeal hearing might not happen for several days.