Jeff Curry/US Presswire

The Yankees are being quite careful in monitoring 23-year-old Joba Chamberlain's workload.

By Peter Gammons, ESPN

Joba Chamberlain pitched four innings against the Angels on Monday night, four good innings. Oh, Vladimir Guerrero hit a curveball for a homer, but he is Vlad, and Joba is preparing for the postseason, next season and his Yankees career.

The "Joba Rules" that are so discussed now have him at 143 2/3 innings. He'll throw five innings in his next start, six the two starts after that, and when the playoffs begin, the 23-year-old (he turns 24 late next week) will have fewer than 165 innings.

"He will be right where we want him," says Yankee general manager Brian Cashman. "Our plan was not to take any chances with him. There is too much history for us to change our plan just because some people didn't understand what we were doing."

In contrast, 20-year-old Rick Porcello has 147 2/3 innings, and will go into the postseason -- probably a series with the Yankees -- still with fewer than 170 innings. The difference is that Detroit manager Jim Leyland charted a different course, giving Porcello close to two weeks off at the All-Star break and a couple of one-week blows. The Yankees tried that with Joba, but he was uncomfortable with a seven-game or eight-game layoff. He lost his rhythm, and preferred working shorter innings on four days' rest.

This is exactly what Yankees manager Joe Girardi has done, whether old-timers like it or not. On Monday, Chamberlain threw 67 pitches, and 41 for strikes. His curveball was a swing-and-miss pitch. He didn't walk anyone for the first time in 14 starts. Afterward, he talked about how this work and the consistent program has eliminated the hitch that troubled him earlier in the season and how he is going into the postseason with the best delivery he has had all season.

Remember, Joba isn't 24 yet, and he threw fewer than 100 minor league innings. He is going to end the season with 32 starts. He has eight wins now, so he could get into double figures. He can start in the postseason, and he can throw 190 innings next season.

Of course, if Girardi chooses to use three starters in the ALDS, Chamberlain will be in the bullpen. But he will be the fourth starter if they advance to the ALCS with Phil Hughes in the set-up role to Mariano Rivera.

It's not really that complicated.

"Common sense," says Cashman, "shouldn't be that difficult to understand."

Neither is taking the long view with an extraordinarily talented young pitcher.

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TOUCH 'EM ALL

Who went deep? Keep track of all the home runs hit each day on "Baseball Tonight" and on the Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page.

For more, check out the Home Run Tracker page.

Home Run Tracker
NAME	HR	OPP	SITUATION
Adam Lind, TOR	30	Mitre	Top 3: 0-0, 2 Outs. None on.
Adam LaRoche, ATL	25	Dessens	Bot 6: 0-1, 0 Outs. None on.
Adam LaRoche, ATL	24	Misch	Bot 2: 3-1, 1 Out. None on.
Luke Scott, BAL	22	Shouse	Bot 7: 2-0, 0 Outs. None on.
Pat Burrell, TB	14	Berken	Top 1: 0-0, 1 Out. 2 on.

The complete list of Tuesday's homers

ON DECK: WEDNESDAY'S BEST MATCHUPS

Blue Jays at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. ET

This was supposed to be Andy Pettitte's start, but the Yankees announced they will skip his turn to rest his tired shoulder. Chad Gaudin will take Pettitte's place in the rotation. The Yankees are planning on having Pettitte pitch Monday against the Angels.

Angels at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN

Opponents aren't having much trouble getting hits against Paul Byrd, batting .333 against the right-hander over his three starts with the Red Sox. He has given up 19 hits and nine runs in 13 1/3 innings. Joe Saunders has won his past four starts and five of his past six decisions.

Rockies at Giants, 10:10 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Giants won again Tuesday night, cutting the Rockies' lead in the NL wild-card race to 2½ and setting up a potential sweep in the series finale. Matt Cain tries to finish it off; the San Francisco right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA against Colorado in four starts this season.

For the rest of Wednesday's schedule, click here.