Joba Chamberlain just made his bullpen debut here in Rochester. He came in to pitch the seventh inning and struck out the side.

He hit 100 mph twice on both the stadium radar and the Yankees gun. He hit 99 at least three times maybe more. Chamberlain threw 13 pitches, 10 of them for strikes. All three balls came to the first batter he faced. (Source)

Although I still don’t like the idea of Joba in the pen, I have calmed down a bit. I know that Joe Torre, the dumbest bullpen manager in the game, won’t be calling the shots. Ca$h will. Nardi will. And Newman will. I feel safe with those guys. I trust them.

They believe that Joba will pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the year, then go to starting again. For April ‘08, he’ll probably be at AAA working on his changeup, which we probably won’t see a lot of this year. Then, he’ll join the team in May. Since we don’t need a fifth starter until May, it’ll all work out.

They have a plan, hopefully it all works out.