Ever since Joba Chamberlain decided to use Youk’s melon for target practice, I’ve had a slow-boiling hate on for the big doofus. So seeing this headline made my night.

After the lifting of the famed “Joba Rules,” the fifth spot in the Yankees rotation looked to be Joba Chamberlain’s to lose. Like Phil Hughes, Chamberlain was expected to use spring training to distance himself from a pack of also-rans and give the Yankees two equally potent hurlers at the back end of the staff. Now it’s Chamberlain who’s looking like an also-ran.

To me, spring training is like Kate Jackson in Charlie’s Angels; nobody really cares but they’ll check her out if Farrah and Jaclyn aren’t in the scene. And the stats probably don’t mean a whole lot…but I still love seeing this:

After giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings (all six coming in the third inning) against the Tigers on Wednesday, Chamberlain saw his spring training ERA rise to 27.00 and now appears destined for the bullpen — assuming he can avoid the bus to Scranton.

Could he really break the suck barrier and not make the big club? Awesome.