ANAHEIM, Calif. — Conceding that what comes out of a player’s mouth talking to the media is often different than what he tells the manager, Yankee skipper Joe Girardi admits Joba Chamberlain has to start pitching better.
“It’s time for him to step up,” Girardi said prior to last night’s game against the Angels. “He needs to step it up.”
Sunday in Seattle, Chamberlain wasn’t down about getting spanked for seven runs and six hits in three innings when he was scheduled to go at least five frames in a game the Yankees dropped 7-1.
He said his delivery was great, the velocity on the fastball good and his offspeed pitches solid. One or two pitches in different locations and the math wouldn’t have been so ugly, he said.
But yesterday, Chamberlain told The Post he understands the need to improve.
“It’s like a guy who goes 0-for-30, you need to pick it up,” Chamberlain said in the runway behind the first-base dugout after completing a running workout and sitting in the sun-splashed stands down the right-field line for 20 minutes by himself.
Since Andy Pettitte’s left shoulder bounced back from a fatigue problem last night and the veteran lefty is healthy, the Yankees will likely go with three starters — CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Pettitte — in the ALDS.
That means Chamberlain (8-6, 4.73 in 29 starts) will be in the bullpen for the first round. Beyond that, with Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre the options for the fourth spot, Chamberlain remains the leader to be the fourth starter if the Yankees advance to the best-of-seven ALCS.
