As much as I’d love to pin the blame on bad management or shoddy umpiring, there’s nothing else I can really say about this one – Bad A.J. showed up. Burnett had his worst start of the season, “lasting” two innings and allowing six runs. His performance was bolstered (and not in a good way) by the efforts of reliever Phil Coke, who allowed two home runs to two of the three lefties he was brought in to face. It’s hard to score six runs and lose the game, but that’s what happened to the Yankees.
I can’t leave, however, without complaining about at least one thing. The A.J. Burnett-Jose Molina tandem has worked to the tune of a 5.27 ERA this postseason. It’s sort of irrelevant at this point, because Burnett will not be making another start, but it’s worth mentioning. It’s worth mentioning because of the ridiculous idea that Molina’s presence improves Burnett’s performance enough to overcome the crippling effect of Molina’s bat in the lineup. It doesn’t. Next year, put Posada back there (warts and all), and hope for the best.
November 3, 2009 at 5:57 PM
True and usual performance showed.
November 3, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Perhaps this is obvious to the point of being insulting, but Burnett’s never had a season ERA of 27.00 (which is what his ERA was last night). He’s never even had an ERA close to 5.27 (which is his postseason ERA). So, to say this is his “true and usual performance” is a huge exaggeration.
What is absolutely unsurprising for Burnett is wild variance between starts. He has more good starts than bad ones, which is why his career ERA is roughly 10% above league average, but when he’s bad, he’s really bad.
Ultimately, Burnett disappoints people because he’s got incredible talent but has never really been able to put it together. Which is fine. It happens. The problem is that people look at him and EXPECT it to come together, ignoring the fact that he’s 32 and sort of is what he is at this point. He’s a totally, absolutely acceptable starting pitcher. He’s just miscast as a #2 starter.