Dec 26, 2007 3:21 PM EST

Joba Chamberlain is preparing for his role as a starter while knowing that he is unlikely to be as untouchable as he was as the Yankees' setup man.

"You know? No, because I put those expectations on myself," Chamberlain said, though he also is grounded in realism.

As a starter, "I'm not going to be able to throw 15, 16 scoreless innings, and do what I did as a reliever", Chamberlain said in a recent telephone conversation. "But I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep my team in the game and go deep in my starts.

"There's going to be times when I get hit around. But you understand that that's a part of it."

Via Bergen Record