A.J.'s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine has to be a concern

by Ed Valentine on Sep 13, 2009 8:43 AM EDT in New York Yankees News

The most obvious thing that could derail the New York Yankees' 2009 run for a 27th World Series title is inconsistent starting pitching.

Let's face it. Joba Chamberlain is a huge post-season question mark. CC Sabathia is a wonderful pitcher, but has a checkered playoff history (7.92 career ERA) and Andy Pettitte is 37, and you just can't be sure.

So, how worried are you about A.J. Burnett, who is now 1-5 with a 6.14 ERA in August and September?

John Harper of the New York Daily News gets right to the heart of the matter.

With each A.J. Burnett implosion of late, more and more Yankee fans surely envision a frightening October scenario: what if Tigers ace Justin Verlander throws a gem in Game 1, and suddenly it is up to Burnett to keep the Yankees from going down 0-2 in a five-game series, heading for Detroit?

We're still a long way from any of that, of course, and the championship form the Yankees have displayed the last couple of months should supersede any nagging fears about another early exit in October.

But for the moment, anyway, it's hard to ignore the potential ramifications of Burnett's second-half slide.

What you see is what you get with Burnett, 32. No one has better stuff, but you just never know whether you will see good A.J. or bad A.J. And that can change from inning to inning, sometimes hitter to hitter.

Harper add this about Burnett, who is now a pedestrian 11-9 with a 4.33 ERA.

The Yankees, for their part, gambled $82.5 million, in the form of a five-year contract, that Burnett's 18-10 season with the Blue Jays last year was proof that he had matured into a big winner. Lately, however, he has looked more like the pitcher who has never won more than 12 games in any of his other nine seasons. ...

The problem is that Burnett has made too many big mistakes when he gets in jams, at least partly because he seems to have trouble harnessing his emotions, as evidenced by gestures of disgust and such.

The subplot to Burnett's issues has been his less-than-harmonious pitch-calling relationship with Jorge Posada, which Joe Girardi has quietly addressed by having Jose Molina catch Burnett in three of his last four starts since his last meltdown in Fenway.

Burnett didn't seem to have an issue with Molina calling that 1-2 fastball to Roberts, and if he'd thrown it a bit more inside, maybe everything would have turned out differently.

But lately there have been too many such mistakes to shrug off as happenstance. October is coming.

All we can do, I guess, is hope that the good A.J. shows up when the Yankees need him. 'Bad A.J.' could be bad news for that Canyon of Heroes parade we are hoping for.

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post season

a.j. should be a num.3 starter in plaoffs ,if we get down 1 ,pettie starts.again do not tell me about shit c.c. did berfore in post season different year and team.

BIG YANKEE FAN,FROM MASS. HAVE TO PUT UP WIYH ALL THESE HOLE SOX FANS

by JEETS on Sep 13, 2009 8:47 AM EDT reply actions

starters

at this point aj is just as bad if not worse than joba. We need to start one of them in the postseason though. We are going to have to roll the dice on burnett and put joba in as a long reliever in the first round. The key to the playoffs will be to win early so we can afford to blow at least 1 game with our shaky back end of the rotation.

by eddieo311 on Sep 13, 2009 9:33 AM EDT reply actions

Something tells me....

don’t worry about AJ.

All this WHAT IF!!!! What if Verlander shuts down the Yanks and CC coughs up 2 runs to Verlander’s 1. OH GOD! What will we DO!!!

We’ll be fine. I aint worried about the pitching. The past years we’ve been knocked out, it wasn’t the pitching’s fault. The bats need to show up.

What the f$%k is the internet?

by FreeBradshaw on Sep 13, 2009 10:25 AM EDT reply actions

I have a feeling AJ is bored and waiting for the playoffs to start.

/crosses fingers

Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.

by CasanovaWong on Sep 13, 2009 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions

+1

All this sky is falling bullshit after every loss is getting old. Yes, his pitching as of late is concerning a little, but let’s keep perspective. How many of these recent losses was because we only scored one or two runs. That’s not his fault. Everybody gets into slumps, and he will work this out. Remember how good he was from may through July. He didn’t just forget how to pitch. Remember we are still 7.5 games ahead! Let’s just take a deep breath, and relax. Go Yankees and let’s get our next 7 game win streak started today with Cc.

by swanny4eva on Sep 13, 2009 11:27 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Amen

I try to avoid “the sky is falling” when it’s not, though it makes for dull September blogging.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Sep 13, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

lol

And I enjoy your righting jscape as well as Travis and cyc. I just get very annoyed how one game, or one loss fans just turn on this team. This is the same team that just two days ago people were writing how much they loved them. This is the same team.they just had a rough two games, that bare in mind had a lot of our offense riding the pine. We will be fine, and so will aj. Trust me

by swanny4eva on Sep 13, 2009 12:21 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

True...

…but it’s not like the offense is only scoring 1 or 2 runs and he’s only giving up 3.

When your pitcher puts you in a 6-1 hole after two innings, you can’t blame the offense for not supporting him. That’s on AJ.

9 runs in Boston? That’s on AJ.

7 runs in Chicago. That’s on AJ.

He needs to be MUCH better.

by New York Sports Jerk on Sep 13, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Yea..

but its been 4 games of of the past month and a half that can be considered his “bad stretch”.

I don’t know why its happening, but these 4 games are the ones that drove up that ERA.

He’s still really the same guy that "lived on the edge’ during his excellent streak, they are just plating the runners they get on vs. AJ getting out of those jams.

But aside from those 4 games, he’s pictched well enough to win in all the games in his “bad stretch”.

Much better? In those games, yea. But the other ones are all on the O.

What the f$%k is the internet?

by FreeBradshaw on Sep 13, 2009 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Four bad games in 9 starts...

…bad odds.

by New York Sports Jerk on Sep 13, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions

well that's why its a bad stretch.

but the way some make it seem (not you) is that AJ has been horrible in every one of his starts during this stretch, when it’s been every other game.

That’s not good, he needs to be more July AJ. But even this season we’ve seen a few starts where he sucks then comes back and does well.

I think if he had some more run support in those 3 run games, this would be downplayed a lot more.

What the f$%k is the internet?

by FreeBradshaw on Sep 13, 2009 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions

AJ's pattern

One really really bad inning surrounded by zeros. At this time of year, we can let that go. In playoffs, its a killer. Joe should start pulling him at the first sign he is ineffective, because thats what should happen in Oct. We have a few extra arms in the pen now.

We did better 'cause we got better...Yogi

by mickey07 on Sep 13, 2009 5:44 PM EDT reply actions

A Little Concerned

Another gutsy performance by CC today and in spite of his not so great but limited playoff games, I `m very pleased to have him on our side come playoff time.Pettitte is a big game pitcher and I don`t see that changing in spite of his age he`s a proven winner when the game is on the line. A.J. I`m a bit concerned, because in a series with either the Red Sox or the Angels we all know it`s all about the pitching when it comes to playoff time. The Yankee `s line-up is without a doubt stronger then either of those teams and I believe our bullpen is better also but when hitting is stopped by great pitching it`s the starting pitching that allows you to get Hughes and MO into the game in order to preserve the victory. Not worried, not yet anyways, but I hope we get the AJ of May andJune and not the one that showed up in August and September

by geyser69 on Sep 13, 2009 6:03 PM EDT reply actions