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Yes, he's a Yankee. Yes, he's a young ace. Yes, it's unfortunate he must rest his arm for a bit. And yes, the Yankees have been dealt plenty of injury woes in 2008. But the sense of crisis surrounding the shoulder problem that has landed Joba Chamberlain on the disabled list is a bit premature. After all, there was plenty of good news related to what could have been a potentially devastating situation for the young starter-turned-closer-turned-starter-again.

Chamberlain has been diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis, according to the Yankees' Web site. Rotator cuff tendinitis literally translates to inflammation of the rotator cuff tendons, but all tendinitis is not created equal. Tendinitis can be graded as far as severity, and without any more detailed information from the team, or physically examining the athlete, we are left to draw some conclusions based on other observations. And simply put, these observations lead me to the conclusion that his injury isn't quite so dire. I'll explain.

First, we have to go back to Monday's start against the Rangers. Chamberlain left the game after complaining that his arm "grabbed and … got stiff," according to The New York Times. (Of note, Chamberlain also said initially that his arm "popped" but later retracted that descriptor, blaming his lack of experience with shoulder injuries on his poor word choice.) The shoulder did not bother him before the fifth inning, and it's wasn't Chamberlain who called for assistance. As the Times reported, it was manager Joe Girardi who saw Chamberlain shaking his arm and sent someone out to check on him. Proactively investigating the situation is a great call, but it also points out that Chamberlain was ready to continue had the Yankees not figured out something was bothering him.

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