NEW YORK — As the New York Yankees barrel toward the playoffs and the No. 1 seed in the American League, it is becoming apparent that they will not need four starters in the first round of the postseason.

Unless injury strikes, that means Joba Chamberlain will either be in the bullpen or off the roster for the ALDS.
Joe Girardi was asked Tuesday night about his plans for Chamberlain in the postseason. He noted that the top seed gets to choose the schedule for the first round, and one of the picks is a series with days off between Games 1 and 2.
The Yankees would have to be nuts not to pick the series with the extra day off. That would allow them to use CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte on normal rest the whole series.
Said Girardi: “There’s a possibility if you’re in the playoffs — and I’ve told you I don’t necessarily want to talk about that much until we see what happens the rest of the month — there are two different Division Series, where one you’d need three starters and one you’d need four. I’ll just leave it at that.”
“We’ll talk about that when and if the time comes,” Chamberlain said.