On Deck: Joba Mania!

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

New York Yankees (28-29) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (31-28) - 7:05PM Est.

Today is the day that Yankees fans have been waiting for all season. After deciding against making a trade for Johan Santana this off-season, and instead choosing to go with youngsters Phillip Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the Yankees find themselves just trying to get back to .500.

You see, even though the merits of the decision to not go after Santana are still up for debate, there's no question that Hughes and Kennedy have sucked (the duo has combined to go 0-7 with a 7.99 ERA in 14 starts). The magnitude of their suck has been so great that it would take a very large man with a blazing fastball to counteract it.

That's where Joba Chamberlain comes in, as the starter turned set-up man turned starter again makes his first start as a member of the New York Yankees tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Hank Steinbrenner called for this a while ago, and now he'll finally get his wish as Joba prepares to start tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays. While Joba has been a set-up man for Mariano Rivera since joining the Yankees, starting is nothing new for him.

He started in college at the University of Nebraska, and he made 15 starts in the minors before the team called him up last year.

Of course, he probably never had to go against anybody like Roy Halladay in the minors. Halladay has been Halladay-ish in his last few starts, though he was a little off in his last start. Sure, he only allowed a run in eight innings while striking out nine in his last start against Oakland, but he wasn't perfect. He did walk somebody for the first time since May 9th. In his career against the Yankees, Halladay is 10-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 25 starts.

San Francisco Giants (25-33) vs. New York Mets (28-28) - 10:15PM Est.

While Joba Mania is sweeping through New York this afternoon, he's not the only pitcher people are talking about in the Big Apple. That's because Pedro Martinez will be making his long awaited return to the Mets rotation tonight out in San Francisco.

Pedro hasn't pitched since April 1st when he got knocked around four runs in 3.1 innings against the Marlins before having to leave the game with a strained hamstring, and doing his annual time on the disabled list during the first few months of the season. Nobody is quite sure what to expect out of Pedro tonight, since he hasn't pitched in so long, and he was only healthy enough to make seven starts last season. He's picked a good opponent to make his comeback against, though, as Pedro is 9-2 with a 3.59 ERA in his career against the Giants.

Personally I'm setting the over under at four innings before Pedro pulls something else.

Barry Zito starts for San Francisco, and Giants fans probably wish he spent as much time on the disabled list as Pedro does. Though it should be mentioned that Zito hasn't been too god awful lately. He didn't get a decision in his last start, but allowed only three runs in six innings against Arizona, and he won his first game of the season against the Marlins in the start before that. Zito is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts against the Mets, both of which came last season.

Boston Red Sox (35-25) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (35-22) - 7:05PM

While Yankees fans get their panties in a twist over Joba's start tonight, the two teams in the AL East who actually matter right now begin a three-game set at Fenway Park tonight. So far these two have played each other six times this season, with the home team winning every game, so that bodes well for the Red Sox who currently trail Tampa by 1.5 games in the division.

Of course, all those games were played with David Ortiz in the lineup, and that won't be the case tonight as he's been placed on the disabled list. Hell, he may even miss the rest of the season, which would be wonderful news for the Rays.

The Red Sox lineup will have to make do without him for now, though, but luckily Manny Ramirez is on fire right now. He's homered in three straight games and looks to make it four off of Tampa starter Matt Garza tonight. Garza is coming off the longest start of his career after going eight innings and striking out ten his last time out against the Rangers. He's 2-0 with a 3.45 ERA in three starts against Boston.

The Red Sox will start Justin Masterson, who's filling in for the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Masterson is hoping to continue the success he's had so far. Masterson picked up his first Major League victory in his only start of the season against the Royals a few weeks ago, allowing only one run in 6.1 innings.

Everybody Else

Braves vs. Marlins - 7:00PM
Phillies vs. Reds - 7:05PM
Pirates vs. Astros - 7:05PM
Nationals vs. Cardinals - 7:10PM
Brewers vs. DBacks - 8:05PM
Rangers vs. Indians - 8:05PM
Twins vs. Orioles - 8:10PM
White Sox vs. Royals - 8:11PM
Athletics vs. Tigers - 10:05PM
Padres vs. Cubs - 10:05PM
Mariners vs. Angels - 10:10PM
Dodgers vs. Rockies - 10:10PM