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| Photo courtesy of the NY Post. |
Yet Brian Cashman has said that the Yankees believe "the best course of action is to utilize a fourth starter in the best-of-seven series, rather than push its best starters on short rest, as it did last season." This means CC Sabathia will pitch Games 1 and 5, leaving Burnett, who went 1-3 with a 5.60 ERA in September, to pitch Game 4 at home in the Bronx. In case you were wondering how he performed before September, Burnett went 0-4 in August with a 7.80 ERA. Not exactly the stretch run you'd like to see right before the postseason.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I do not trust AJ Burnett in these playoffs. I would not give him the ball to start any game, no matter the series or the opponent.
And if you look at his splits, there is only some cause for hope -- he pitched relatively well against the Rangers, but pitched terribly against the Rays:
Texas: 3 starts, 1-0 record, 2.50 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 2.43 K/BB, 16 H in 18 IP. Batters hit .232/.303/.319.
Tampa Bay: 4 starts, 1-3 record, 6.27 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 3.9 K/9, 0.89 K/BB, 21 H in 18.2 IP. Batters hit .300/.393/.429.
My opinion is that the Yankees should stick with a 3-man rotation. I'd say it worked pretty well in 2009 and the Yankees are perfectly set up, after efficiently sweeping the Twins in the ALDS, to do the same in 2010. They will be able to rest their pitchers for five full days before beginning the ALCS. Since the Yankees' starting pitching was their single biggest question mark going into this postseason, and given the strong performances we saw from Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes (not to mention how CC battled in Game 1), how could the Yankees not choose to ride their three presently confident starters throughout the rest of the playoffs?
For Brian Cashman's perspective on why he trusts AJ in the ALCS, check out the following quotes:
"[Burnett] was a big part of why we were successful last year, and he can be a big part of why we're successful this year, too. I do have confidence in him. I understand that he struggled, but that was before October. October can bring out a competitive side in people, and I know A.J.'s got a lot of competition in him. I know he'd like to eradicate everything that's occurred here in the second half. A terrific start would go a long way toward doing that."I just don't get it. I'd love for Burnett to prove me wrong, but I don't see that happening. The Yankees have three effective starters right now, so why risk putting the ball in AJ Burnett's inconsistent hands at any point during these playoffs? I know that some will say that the Yanks may struggle with such a long layoff, but I consider that much rest a good thing for a team that has so many aging stars. Besides, CC has stated that he is ready to pitch on short rest (i.e. Games 1, 4, and 7) in the ALCS. So why not go that route? Isn't the goal to win games? And isn't this team more likely to win with CC on the mound rather than AJ, even on short rest??
Let me close with this: if Burnett pitches poorly and loses Game 4, and the Yankees end up losing this series, Girardi and Cashman are going to get hammered for this move.
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Wasn't he on the ALDS roster?
ReplyDeleteYes, but the Yankees made it clear that he would not be starting a game. So he was relegated to (presumably) mop-up work or perhaps long relief. And with the availability of Sergio Mitre and Dustin Moseley, I'm not sure he was going to be used even in those roles. That's why I didn't understand why he was even on the roster.
ReplyDeleteSo, for all intents and purposes, he was left off the roster. That's what effectively happened. But yes, he was officially on the list.
Also, I don't think it's set as to which game Burnett would start.
ReplyDeleteIf they are up 3-0, I would imagine that Burnett would probably get the start, since doing so would allow Sabathia to pitch on full rest if they lost a game four.
However, in any other situation, despite what Cashman says, you will probably see Sabathia on short rest in game four. Up 2 games to 1, getting the series to 3 to 1 is big, as you will have pushed your opponent to an elimination game, as which point you basically have two games to play where you have the advantage and Burnett could pitch one of them. Down 2 games to 1 or 3 games to none, I need not say more. Pitching Burnett down 3-0 would be the ultimate white flag.
I believe the key purpose behind using Burnett is not to get CC the extra rest as much as he will be used to give Andy the additional rest. They got lucky when he pitched on three days rest in game 6 of the WS last year but his history of pitching on short rest is not good and one would not to put any additional stress on his 38 year old arm.
As Ben talked about forgoing A.J. means not only CC going on short rest twice, but also having Andy and Hughes go on short rest. Last year there was a ridiculous game off between Games 4 and 5 which allowed them to keep from pitching anyone other than CC on short rest but that option is gone this year.
ReplyDeleteSo while I'm scared shitless of A.J. in a big spot, I understand it. You hope that they get lightening in a bottle (like he did in helping the Yanks win each Game 2 last year). And if he's bad the first inning, have the bullpen ready with a quick leash. They have enough arms out there they should be OK if Bad AJ shows up in the first few innings.
That all being said, I don't think the Yankees will announce when he will start yet. In some ways it makes sense to start AJ in Game 4 but I wouldn't be surprised to see them start him Game 5 so they can get CC back in Games 4 and 7. I also think they'll pray for rain so they can skip AJ all together.
For all the talk about AJ I hope the Yanks are focusing more on how to beat the Rangers. As far as Burnett I am not so worried because if he actually does pitch, we know this Joe like the last Joe loves to lean on his go to guys in the pen. Go Yankees. Does it bum anyone else out that they rarely show the national anthem before games any more?
ReplyDeleteSomeone just had the crazy idea to start Burnett in game 3 against Lee under the notion that they will probably lose to Lee so why waste a good pitcher
ReplyDeleteWhile that's not a good idea, it's even worse because it means that Burnett would be in line to pitch two games in the series which is just crazy.
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