To me this is a matter of art. Not like the "art" of pitching but the kind you would find in a museum. I once heard someone describe starting and relieving in terms of painting. A starter is more like a painter. They have a blank canvas and with every pitch, like a brush stroke, they begin to form a picture. Every pitch has it's meaning just like every line sets up the next in the painting. If something goes awry you need to be able to parlay that into something positive. That is the mentality of a starter. A reliever however is more like the guy who touches up paintings. Sure his craft takes it's own degree of skill. However his skill is a lot different than the painter. The touch-up guy comes in and gets out. He does not worry about the next step nearly as much as the original painter. The same can be said for relievers, the reliever does not set-up one at-bat later in the game with the present one. His focus is to get the batter out as quickly as possible. Therefore he is like the touch-up guy who comes in with a specific goal and that is to finish out the painting.
First let's start with Hughes. Hughes just doesn't have the mentality to get it up and fire it in. Sure that isn't the blueprint needed for a closer, ie. Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman, but it was clear that coming out of the bullpen was not his preference during the 2009 playoffs. In other words Hughes is a painter. He needs to be able to work batters and manipulate their idea of what is coming next. Keep them guessing. Coming out of the bullpen hinders this mentality. In my opinion, everything about Phil Hughes screams starter. When I look at him I see a thrower who is learning how to become a pitcher. Phil Hughes is still young (23) and I believe this year has reestablished his confidence in himself. With time he could be the next Andy Pettitte.
Now for Joba. I wish I knew more about politics to provide a proper simile to how intensely this has been debated amongst fans and even internally in the front offices. My belief from the get-go was that this young man (24) should be in the bullpen. Nothing about Joba says painter to me. Everything from his fiery mentality right down to his electric slider. When he broke onto the scene, Joba was untouchable, almost literally. He had a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.75. He even said it himself that starting wasn't the same rush as coming out of the bullpen. If you can't get yourself mentally right for a start, you shouldn't be starting. It is so obvious that I can't believe it doesn't have a sign denoting how obvious it is. One final note on this topic. When Chamberlain came in to the World Series up by a run in the 8th inning, he was dominant. I hadn't seen him pitch like that since he first came up and I believe that there is a common denominator there: the bullpen.
This issue brings up another question about the bullpen. Who will replace Mariano Rivera. I am terrified of the day Mariano Rivera retires because I know that the greatest closer to ever live will have thrown his last pitches. I do not believe this day will be for another 3 or 4 years but I do believe it will happen. If history has taught us anything, it is that we need to learn from it and not make the same mistakes twice. This why I think Joba needs to be the 7th and 8th inning guy. Mariano Rivera did not just jump from starter to closer. No, he spent a year in the bullpen grooming his talents and preparing for his role. Joba should be doing the exact same thing so that we can prepare this guy for that day off in the distance when Mariano does retire.
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