Joba Chamberlain Back In Major Leagues

Joba was expected to be out this long just from Tommy John surgery; then he suffered an ankle injury jumping on a trampoline with his son that was at first thought to be career-threatening.

Joba made seven appearances on rehab assignment, throwing 9⅓ innings, allowing just four hits, one walk and one earned run, with 10 strikeouts. Rehab appearances don’t always tell the whole story, but that’s pretty dominant. The Yankees have been looking to upgrade their pen, and this might be the best move they could have made.

When Joba Chamberlain injured his ankle during a freak trampoline accident, it looked like he’d miss most of the 2012 season, if not all of it. But the right-hander -- who was already rehabbing from Tommy John surgery -- is coming along quickly.

That would be the Gulf Coast League Yankees against the Gulf Coast League Pirates, so it isn’t the highest-possible competition, but the important details are that he threw a baseball in some capacity, and he threw it hard. That’s unquestionably good news.

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Throwing pitches in a batting cage in a minor-league complex is pretty far from throwing pitches in a major-league game. Still, it’s much farther along in the rehab than anyone expected Joba to be at this point. And he’s optimistic about the future:

Chamberlain says he will pitch this season.

“Is that even a question?” he said.He seems pretty determined. I wouldn’t count a tough competitor like Joba out.

Following this so far? The ankle injury was so severe that Joba was to stay off of any “weight-bearing activity” for three months; that period wouldn’t end until the end of this month.

Now, though, he appears to be ahead of that schedule:

That’s the good news. Here’s the bad:

Chamberlain and the team are both optimistic that he could return sometime this summer, according to the New York Post, but given the fact that he was still coming back from Tommy John surgery, that seems optimistic: