AJ Burnett (game 147)

You know, maybe I intentionally started the blog while we’re going on a rough streak because I have more to say.I guess I’m not as bothered by Girardi’s bullpen/bench management because quite frankly, I don’t know if I’m qualified to be annoyed, and plus, Girardi knows more than us, even if he doesn’t always make the right decisions. Like us, he is human and might sometimes go with his gut no matter what the statistics say, and you know what – I would too. If that means not pinch-hitting for Colin Curtis, then so be it. Sometimes, yeah, he’ll strike out. Sometimes you’ll put him in when Brett Gardner gets ejected and he’ll bash his first major league home run ever. Things happen.

But AJ Burnett. Man. I should not ever, under any circumstances, be concerned about facing Kevin Millwood. Even the new and improved Baltimore Showalters (kung fu grip included) shouldn’t bother me. But we need this win pretty bad. We’re a half-game back of the Rays, which I don’t like, but I don’t mind being the Wild Card, either. But the Rays have a significantly easier schedule than us (most of the teams we play have over .500 records – for them, it’s just us in that category), and we need to pick up the games we should, by all means, win. The last time we faced the Orioles, we dropped two to them, and were only one big Nick Swisher walk-off away from a sweep.

Now, we’re up against them again, starting with Burnett. What we need here is the guy to find his curveball and keep it with him. He needs some major Eiland conferences. I’m not asking for AJ to be CC, here, but something that makes his 5Y/82M contract at least reasonable while I’m drunk would be nice. And out of a team that’s got injuries and a major RISP issue, I think Burnett concerns me the most. He’s here, he’s here to stay, and if there was some magical way to get him to get his stuff back – a cortisone shot to the pitching sections of the brain, for example – I’d really like if we found it. Or at least, Burnett found it. Because injuries will heal, RISP difficulties will resolve themselves, but when your #2/#3 starter’s ERA is creeping up above five, that’s the biggest problem to me.

In brighter news, Andy Pettitte will be pitching on Wednesday, and I get to watch the game, because it is a matinee. HORRAY.