Wednesday March 7th, 2012

Sam Evans: The Pittsburgh Pirates made a very aggressive move, acquiring Yankees starter A.J. Burnett a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, due to a freakish injury, the Pirates will miss Burnett for the first couple months of the season. Let’s look at Burnett’s injury and the effect it will have on the Pirates roster.

During his healthy years with the Marlins, A.J. Burnett was one of the top pitchers in the N.L. East. After seven years with the Marlins, and three solid years with the Blue Jays, Burnett signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees. Burnett’s last three years with the Yankees haven’t been pretty. He had a decent year in 2009, but in 2010 and 2011 Burnett had ERAs over 5.00, and he didn’t eclipse two hundred innings in either year.

Burnett, the thirty-four year old right-handed pitcher came to Pittsburgh in a trade this past February 17th. The Pirates traded Diego Moreno and Exicardo Cayones for Burnett. The Yankees will pay part of the $30.375 million dollars left on Burnett’s contract.

Superficially, this appeared to be a solid move for the Pirates. They acquired a veteran starting pitcher to lead their inexperienced pitching staff. Burnett hasn’t been very impressive the last two years, but he was playing in an extreme hitter’s park, and his peripherals suggest he wasn’t really that bad.

A.J. Burnett had a 5.15 ERA last year in thirty-three starts. However, he had a 3.86 xFIP, and he relied less on his fastball more than any year of his career to date. Part of Burnett’s struggles were with home runs. His 1.47 HR/9 in 2011 was a career high, and his HR/FB (17%) ratio was the second highest of his professional career.

Last weekend, we learned that Burnett a fractured orbital bone after bunting a ball off his face during a bunting exercise. He will miss two to three months. This is terrible news for both Burnett and the Pirates. The Pirates, will have to cope without their top starter for at least the first couple months of the year.

The Pirates don’t have very many options to fill Burnett’s spot in the rotation. If Brad Lincoln has a decent spring, he will get an extended look as a starter during the regular season. But that just goes to show you how shallow Pittsburgh’s starting pitching depth is.

Playing half of his games in PNC park is going to help Burnett a lot. If he can get back on the field quickly, Burnett will have his most valuable season in three years. However, recovering from an injury that happens in early spring training is not an easy thing. It will probably be weeks, maybe months before Burnett can even start pitching again. Add in the time it takes to get ready for the season, and a minor league rehab assignment, and the Pirates can only hope that Burnett is pitching in Pittsburgh before June. Nonetheless, when Burnett returns, he will be a huge boost to the clubhouse, and more importantly, the Pirates’ chances of winning more than half of their games for the first time since 1992.