The New York Yankees tried playing it safe by using the Joba Rules, and their once-prized right-hander suffered a catastrophic elbow injury anyway.
An MRI with a dye contrast injected into Chamberlain revealed a torn ligament in his right elbow Thursday afternoon, which likely means season-ending Tommy John surgery for the Yankees set-up man. Chamberlain could be out for a longer period.
The Yankees put Chamberlain on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday because of a strained flexor muscle, but manager Joe Girardi reportedly was shocked to learn that Chamberlain's elbow was as damaged as it was.
"The interesting thing about this is if you do every strength exercise on Joba, he passes it with flying colors," Girardi said. "And he has no idea when it happened. He's pitched. He played long-toss yesterday and his power was there. He said it was a normal long-toss for him, so it really has us all kind of scratching our head."
Chamberlain had been pitching well, despite slower radar readings and the lowest strikeout rate of his career (hint, hint, Joe). His walks were down and he was putting fewer on base, and he was getting a lot of ground balls. But something was wrong, in hindsight.
Girardi and others within the organization have been ridiculed by some for utilizing the so-called "Joba Rules," a usage program designed to curb the risk of injury and preserve the bulk of his career for pitching as a starter.
But have the Yankees done the right thing by Chamberlain?
Former manager Joe Torre started the program in 2007 when Chamberlain was a rookie and used exclusively as a reliever. Joe Girardi has continued with rules, tweaking some along the way, when the Yankees tried making Chamberlain a starting pitcher for part of the 2008 season and for most of 2009.
Since then, the Yankees have said the Joba Rules no longer exist, but it's hard to know what that even means.
And now, despite the precautions taken (or, as some think, in part because of them), Chamberlain finds his career at a crossroads as he nears age 26. Players can be mishandled but sometimes, guys just get hurt.
The Yankees, who already are hurting in the bullpen because of injuries to Rafael Soriano, Damaso Marte and others, will have to dig deeper to bridge the gap from their starters to closer Mariano Rivera.
Good news: Phil Hughes, who was a success as Rivera's main set-up man before he moved to the rotation, has been doing better on a rehab assignment. And there's always a move for GM Brian Cashman to make, which could involve adding payroll. If the Yankees can dig up the loose change.
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