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All of the great pitchers follow a trend: They have the ability to throw inside and throw inside effectively. This allows them to control the plate and set up hitters. A.J. Burnett, in his most recent start on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, showed this and why he could be worth $82.5 million to the New York Yankees.
The Yankees got their money's worth from A.J. Burnett so far.
Who hasn’t seen this sequence: Fastball low and away, strike one. Fastball belt, inside, strike two. Fastball high, up out of the zone, ball one, two strikes. And finally, breaking pitch, low and out of the zone, swinging strike three. Think of the pitchers throughout history that did things this way. Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Pedro Martinez. And today, guys like CC Sabathia, Johan Santana, Felix Hernandez and, most especially, Tim Lincecum all do it. All are successful.
Tuesday night, AJ Burnett took the hill for the Yankees. It wasn’t a terribly must-win start, not for a normal team with normal fans who aren’t insane. But for Burnett and the Bombers, of course, a handful of games into the season, panic was about. CM Wang is done! CC Sabathia sucks! Mark Teixeira can’t hit a fastball! Joe Girardi is a quack! You understand that such talk so early is foolish, right? Okay. Good.
On to Burnett. He received a 5 year, 82.5 million dollar deal, which I was decidedly not in favor of. I need to tread lightly here and not ignore my Jedi training, but I must wonder if he, as Burnett claims, turned a corner in 2008. Gosh, I should slap myself, but then I remember that quick, biting curve and that blistering heat and the 200 innings he threw last year and the fact that he’s the Yanks third starter and I smile.
He was awesome Tuesday, absolutely wonderful. Burnett pounded the strike zone all night with heat, usually 93 to 96, never below and I don’t recall ever north of that range. He no-hit the Rays through seven, mixing in his slurvy-curve constantly and getting swings and misses all night with it. The Rays were off-balance, which is something a mostly two-pitch starter like Burnett has to do every night. Credit him and Jose Molina for that -- those two seem to work well together.
He kept his pitch count fairly low, which is a concern for Burnett, whom often appears willing to throw fastball after fastball after fastball, trying for the strikeout when a change-of-eye-level and change-of-speed is so needed my 14 year old sister is wondering what’s going on. The fact that he rarely shook off Molina on Tuesday is a good sign.
He had consistent command of his fastball, a huge part of a big start. He hit the inside and outside corners all the time, up and down, all around, usually inside though, to set up a curve off the plate low and way. Remember that, from above? Uh, huh! See? I’m a crazy fool, least you don’t that.
This is the kind of start the Yankees need consistently from Burnett, who has potentially the best stuff of any starter in baseball. If he’s healthy -- and willingly, damn it all -- he could be filthy. The Yankees sure needed it.
(Again, throw inside kids, it’ll do you wonders!)
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