On Deck: Joba Scratches His Nose

You know, throughout the course of baseball history, there have been plenty of relief pitchers who made the transition to being a starter. Hell, before the specialty roles we've all come to know and love (I heart LOOGYs) started, the bullpen was just a place for managers to park starting pitchers who couldn't cut it.

They didn't want to use them, so they put them somewhere as far away as possible.

Anyway, I'm getting off track, what I was getting at was the fact that the move from bullpen to starter happens all the time nowadays. Just look in Chicago where Ryan Dempster has gone from being the Cubs closer last season to being their #2 starter this season. Boston's Jonathan Papelbon was a starter who became a closer then tried starting again only to return to closing and thrusting his pelvis in any given direction at any given time.

So why is Joba Chamberlain's move from the back of the Yankees bullpen to the rotation such a big deal?

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