A.J. Burnett?

It feels like I am the only A.J. Burnett supporter left on PSA now after his recent rough outing. He's gotten hit hard his last two starts, and Yankees fans are calling for the DFA, trade, sending to the bullpen, and even suggesting sending him to AAA. Too bad the AAA season is almost over.

For me, the A.J. bashing seems a bit ridiculous. For one, he's pitched better than people seem to believe (not saying he's pitched well, but not bad enough to warrant the type of bashing he's been taking). And secondly, he hasn't even been the worst pitcher on the staff. 

Here are A.J. Burnett's stats since his start on July 2nd, not including tonight's abysmal performance (I would use a table,but I don't know how exactly- help by a mod on that, or from anyone for that matter, would be appreciated).

Innings Pitched- 53.2

Hits- 54

Walks- 19

Earned Runs- 24

HR- 6

Strikeouts- 38

ERA- 4.02

Lets be honest here, those are NOT bad stats at all. In fact, they are similar to his stats last year. A little more hits allowed and a little less K's, but for the most part he's limited the damage to a respectable 4.02 ERA over the last two months, including a 2.00 ERA in July.

If you want some measure of comparison, here is Javy Vazquez's stats through all his starts in July and August.

Innings Pitched- 49

Hits- 55

Walks- 19

Earned Runs- 27

HR- 12

Strikeouts- 32

ERA- 4.96

For those of you saying that Javier Vazquez has been a better pitcher than A.J. Burnett lately, and that you'd "rather have him start", quite simply put the numbers don't agree with you. He has logged less innings, given up more hits, more earned runs, less strikeouts, and has a 4.96 ERA through this time- almost a full run higher than A.J.s. Add in the fact that his only decent performance since the end of July was in a relief appearance and that it's been over a month since he's had a quality start by definition (because I don't agree that 6 innings 3 runs is a quality start). Statistics don't tell the whole story, but they tell a lot.

Lets look at Phil Hughes now, because his numbers over July and August haven't been too pretty either.

Innings Pitched- 56.1

Hits- 60

Walks- 16

Earned Runs- 31

HR- 11

Strikeouts- 41

ERA- 4.95

Believe it or not, Phil hasn't been to pretty either. Hughes has struggled actually quite a lot since his unbelievable start where he was the best pitcher in the league. He seems to be not able to put batters away as easily as he did in April and May. Guys are having better ABs, fouling more balls off. And stuff that used to be strikeouts are getting fouled back. The longer the at bat, the more it goes into a hitters favor. And hitters have favored Phil Hughes over the last two months, getting to him for roughly a 5 ERA with 11 HR (most of them given up at home).

I'm not going to look at Nova/Moseley. They are not in the Yankees long term plans, they are only fill in starters. And neither of them has as much of a sample space over the last 2 months as these three guys, so I can't really compare them. Barring a very unfortunate series of circumstances, Nova and Moseley will not be trusted with big innings come October. And if they are trusted with them, well, prey to Cervelli with all your heart!

This post is mainly to put out into pure, solid facts- how each of the members of the Yankees rotation has done over the last two months. CC Sabathia has been far and away the Yankees best pitcher this season- and is the only one I really trust at this point come playoff time. However, the rest of the rotation is up in the air.

The second reason for this post, was as more of a response to the constant bashing to A.J. Burnett. "Send him to the minors, send him to the bullpen, trade him, DFA". Some of that is just venting, which is OK. But what really doesn't make sense to me is things like, "he doesn't deserve to pitch in the playoffs", or "put Javy in his place". I don't get that. Because since Dave Eilands return after June he's been normal (for him).  I realize that A.J. can be very inconsistent, and has just as much potential to blow up as he does to pitch a no hitter. And when he pitches in the postseason, I will be crossing my fingers just like everyone that we get the good, unhittable Burnett that showed up in Game 2 of the World Series, and not the one that Chase Utley used as extra batting practice in Game 5. 

But the numbers, his contract, and his history all support my belief that if there's any question who will pitch in the postseason, there shouldn't be. Because like it or not, one of them should, and one of them is going to be A.J. Burnett.