Great points John.

If the starting pitching looks dicey now, what happens when Joba hits Tom Verducci’s “Rule of 30″ limit? The unofficial rule, followed by a lot of clubs, is that the risk of injury in the year after goes up dramatically when a developing pitcher is forced to pitch 30 more innings than they pitched the year before. I know that was a concern with moving Joba into the starting role on opening day.

Well he turns into a 30+ pumpkin in 62 innings – maybe 8 – 10 starts from now – which is sometime in the early, mid-September range. Do the Yanks sit him down in a division race? Do they pitch him as the #1 starter through the playoffs? I haven’t heard anyone talking about this as of yet. But if the surprising performance of Mussina turns out to be over and Pettitte’s 2nd half look more like yesterday and not his traditionally strong finish, the Yanks will be totally dependent on Joba. Hard to imagine them resting him.

Of course if Moose and Andy throw many more games like this week, everyone will be resting come September.

I for one would really hate to see that and not just because we’d miss the playoffs. I went into July hoping for either a 17-8 month or a 8 -17 month but not something in between. A 17-8 run puts us in the thick of the race and proves we can beat good teams. An 8 -17 colapse would have made us sellers at the deadline. As is, we were tracking towards the former, were buyers not sellers at the deadline and then nose dived. 15-10 is not bad and with Boston and Tampa pulling back, we are in the race . But when it was 14-6 last Saturday, finishing 15-10 doesn’t feel as good.

I’m picking the last 13 games since it’s been a “Jekyll & Hyde” time for the Yankees.
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Wouldn’t it be “Goofus & Gallant?”