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New Boss Wants to See Chamberlain Start (Now)

Hank Steinbrenner, left, said "you have to be an idiot" to keep Joba Chamberlain, center, as a setup man. No word on whether Manager Joe Girardi, right, will take the boss's suggestion to move Chamberlain into the rotation.Credit...Left to right: Steve Nesius/Reuters, Nick Laham/Getty Images, Barton Silverman/The New York Times

With the Yankees off to a 10-10 start, and with two of their young starters struggling, the Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said there was one thing in particular he would like to change: He wants Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees’ hard-throwing setup man, to move into the rotation.

“I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now,” Steinbrenner said Sunday by telephone. “There is no question about it, you don’t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don’t do that. You have to be an idiot to do that.”

Steinbrenner said the Yankees were working on easing Chamberlain into the rotation, but he would not be specific on a timetable. The Yankees’ brain trust had wanted to limit Chamberlain’s innings by having him spend at least part of the season in the bullpen. “The mistake was already made last year switching him to the bullpen out of panic or whatever,” Steinbrenner said. “I had no say in it last year and I wouldn’t have allowed it. That was done last year, so now we have to catch up. It has to be done on a schedule so we don’t rush him.”

When Chamberlain, a starter in the minors, was promoted to the Yankees last August, he quickly became an essential part of the bullpen. The Yankees planned to put Chamberlain, 22, in the rotation this spring but chose to begin the season with Phil Hughes, 21, and Ian Kennedy, 23, there. Hughes (0-3) has allowed 16 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings. Kennedy (0-2) has struggled with his control, allowing 15 earned runs in 14 innings.

“I think once Hughes and Kennedy get plenty of starts and get Joba back, and with Wang and Pettitte, we will be fine,” Steinbrenner said, referring to the Yankee starters Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte.

He also said he thought Mike Mussina, who is 39, “just needs to learn how to pitch like Jamie Moyer,” the Phillies’ 45-year-old starter, suggesting that Mussina shouldn’t try to rely on his diminished fastball to get hitters out.

“The starting rotation is not what I would have chosen at the beginning of the year, but that is not a big news flash to anyone,” Steinbrenner said.

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