"The process has started [now shut the fuck up]"

...because we know that's what Girardi really wanted to say.

Joba threw 35 pitches last night, mixed in his changeup, and finished the game in an 8-0 victory over the O's. Of course, the initial question was "Why?" but Girardi enlightened us. Of course, the question now is "Who pitches the 8th inning?"

A quick look through my previous posts shows me stumping for LaTroy Hawkins to get more meaningful innings, because he's been great over the past month and a half. And Kyle Farnsworth, though homer-prone, is still having a good season and is most likely to step back into the role that we brought him in for in the first place.

But let's face it. Most fans don't want to see those guys pitch the 8th. They'd rather see somebody else come up and do a good imitation of Joba Chamberlain. Who is most likely to do it? Well, let's go through the candidates, in order of likeliness:

Edwar Ramirez - In the current bullpen, he has the most potential of anybody. Just in general. His changeup is the best in the Majors, and thanks to some advice from Pedro Martinez, he has resolved to throw more fastballs and even mix in a cutter once in a while. It must be tempting for a pitcher to keep going to his money pitch, and hopefully he heeds Pedro's advice and only uses it when the time is right. Of course, most of us already knew that he should do this, but the important thing is that Edwar knows it!
My only problem with him is his walks, but considering he has never walked too many in the Minors, I'll attribute this to a combination of jitters and trying to be too perfect. The more time he sees out of the bullpen, the more confidence he'll get. Although I must be nitpicking, because a line of 0.00 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts in 10 innings is hard to not be happy with.

Ross Ohlendorf - Great stuff, good presence on the mound. I wrote about him at length the other day in the "Fireman" post, so I don't need to repeat myself here. He has the stuff to be an elite setup man, probably a closer on some teams. But he's only been a reliever for less than a year, so we'll have to be patient as he figures himself out. That could be in a couple of weeks, or it could be in a couple of years. We'll just have to wait and see. If it's in a couple of weeks, then Yankees fans should feel very secure about the bullpen going forward.

JB Cox - With all the fanfare surrounding Mark Melancon being "the next Joba", people forgot about our 2nd rounder from the 2005 draft. He has experience in closing, has good mound presence, and features a low-90s fastball and sharp curve. He's in AAA right now and is pitching very well, so he's pretty much just waiting for the Yankees to designate Chris Stewart for assignment and call JB up.

David Robertson - Snuck up through the farm system ever since being drafted in the 17th round of that great 2006 draft. He also throws in the low 90s but uses primarily a 2-seamer with a lot of movement, as opposed to a straighter 4-seamer. He used to employ a slider, but the Yankees had him scrap it and taught him a curveball...the fact that he is now pitching very well in AAA should tell you that it's worked for him. The Yankees will probably let him pitch a while longer in Scranton, but if there's a need for a solid arm in the Majors, look no further than Mr. Robertson.

Of course, you could look further than Mr. Robertson and find the man himself:

Mark Melancon - That's right, the guy most people lauded as the "next Joba" is the last on this little list of 8th-inning replacements. Some of us already know the story: dropped massively in the draft due to injuries, Yankees picked him up in the 9th round of the 2006 draft and paid him supplemental pick dollars to sign. He had Tommy John surgery and is pitching in his first full professional season (after making a few cameos in 2006-2007). He pitched his way up to AA Trenton, and his fastball-curveball combination (noticing a pattern here?) has brought him success since his closing days in Arizona. If he continues to pitch well in Trenton, he could be pushed up to Scranton by June, and after that it's just a matter of time. Depending on how his "competition" is doing, he might see time in the Majors this season, but most likely it won't happen until next year. Still, he's a great pitcher and I look forward to seeing him pitch in New York as soon as possible.