Joba Chamberlain made his much anticipated debut as a starter for the Yankees on Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays and Roy Halladay. I guess he couldn’t draw a more formidable opponent, but with a strict pitch count, what could we really expect from this rookie phenom?

Amid hype and internal organizational conflict over when the day would finally come, Joe Girardi laid speculation to rest nearly two weeks ago and the conversion began. The headlines followed and debate among sports writers and fans alike kept the papers and blogosphere active until his first Major League pitch was thrown as a starter. After a very shaky first inning, Blue Jay bats patiently ate up his pitch count and managed to plate a run. He got a strike out to leave the bases loaded but throwing 38 pitches ensured a limited stay on the mound. The Jays went in order in the second and he appeared to regain his composure, but after a deep fly out and a walk to start the 3rd, Joe Girardi pulled the plug on day 1 of the Joba experiment.

I think if anything, the controversy regarding his position as a pitcher reared its ugly head when the heirs to Joba’s 8th inning slot faltered and blew the game wide open for another Yankees loss. It just proved how valuable Joba is to the bullpen. I mean, how can you have that kind of lightning in a bottle for one innings worth of work, and expect it to play out over 6 innings? For this season, I don’t see it happening, especially since the Yankees can not catch a break beyond their top 3 starters. Now, no one expected Hughes and Kennedy to be as awful as they have been, but does breaking apart the bullpen make sense if you are going to have to overuse it to account for his inability to make it deep into games? Don’t get me wrong, I definitely envision Joba making it as a starter, but for this season, he is better served in the bullpen.

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