Rotation Struggling As Burnett Gets Rocked

Start the doomsday whistles in the Bronx, A.J. Burnett go roughed up yet again as the Yanks fell to the White Sox 9-4. I'm sure many will start to freak out a little bit, especially considering how the Red Sox beat the Rays in Tampa and are now within five games in the loss column to both New York and Tampa.

Really though, this is A.J. Burnett and I'm pretty sure the Yankees knew that when they signed him. Hell, I'm sure every Yankee fan knew it when they signed him. He is incredible streaky and is inherently unreliable at the top of a rotation. But I think that Brian Cashman understood that and knew CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte as that reliable horses who would make sure the Yankees got through the regular season and he knew that A.J. could be a dominant playoff force if the timing was right.

Last year that happened and the Yankees won a World Series title. That same scenerio could be playing out again. The only difference is that this season the Rays are markedly improved and are hanging with the Yanks, and Pettitte is still serving time on the disabled list.

August is the second month this season when Burnett has failed to win a game. I think that is what has weighed on the Yankees. Also Burnett has not had a signature game or hot streak to bouy the doubts of fans and management like he did last year.

The problem is that the Yankees have already used their one insurance policy in Triple-A when they called up Ivan Nova to replace Javier Vazquez. They had a back-up for the back-up plan with Zach McAllister, but he pitched his way out of that role and then into a trade as a player-to-be-named-later deal for Austin Kearns. Nova will likely stay in teh rotation for a couple of turns, but the Yankees need to get Pettitte back and get Hughes back on track for the stretch run.

Even Nova is unreliable. Not that he couldn't provide the Yanks with a spark, but he is approaching an innings limit similar to Hughes and just like Hughes he is young and you just don't know whether or not he will be solid on a start by start basis.

Right now only Sabathia and sometimes Dustin Moseley (with a lot of luck) have provided the Yankees with anything resembling stability in the rotation. That's a scary thought when you say it aloud. And it means certain doom if the Yanks can't get Pettitte healthy and Burnett back on track before the playoffs.