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Which statement is likely to be true

a) AJ Brunnett has never won more than 12 games in a season.

b) AJ Brunett had more than 2 seasons with 15+ wins.

c) AJ Brunette is a former CY Young winner.



I wonder what people think we should go from here. I don't want to give up on him too early. He can still mature and become a consistent pitcher and when he does he could be 15+ game winner.

Can we do anything to make sure he will be okay in the future? Maybe when he comes back pitch him on 6 days rest or something. If it is going to help to shut him down for the rest of the year then do it.

EDIT - Changed title to 'Burnett'

*glee*

Global Moderator status means I can bugger with baseball forum posts as well!

If he ever manages to get over his injury paranoia, I think he could be a 15 game winner and solid #2 starter - we saw that for a stretch this season when Halladay went out and he was striking out 9+ every game. His arm wouldnt have gotten so sore and tired if Gibbons did a better job managing his pitch counts and not letting him go to 130 every game.

Solution: keep him to a 7 inning/90 pitch count for the rest of the season.

90 pitches is a bit low; a good pitcher should be able to last around 100 pitches, at which point the manager should plan on bringing someone else in. Anything around 120+ repeatedly is murder long-term for a pitcher.

I am saying 90 for this season should help him in future seasons. I didnt mean 90 every season. His arm is tired and sore now, so cut him back for this season and get him back to the 100-110 range next season.

Ah, gotcha. Sounds like a decent enough plan, then.

now, all you need is Gibby's phone number

I say trade him once he comes off the DL and use that salary to strengthen the roster.

Raptorsrock wrote:I say trade him once he comes off the DL and use that salary to strengthen the roster.

You will never get anything of value back and will probably have to pay big chunk of his contract. Plus JP is not helping his trade value. We are stuck with him for a while. Hopefully he'll turn it around.

Mak wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



You will never get anything of value back and will probably have to pay big chunk of his contract. Plus JP is not helping his trade value. We are stuck with him for a while. Hopefully he'll turn it around.

I think you'd be surprised. I think JP could trade AJ pretty easily once he gets healthy and pitches a few games. His arm makes people forget his crappy track record. A contender would love to have his arm down the stretch and into the playoffs. Plus his contract isn't as ridiculous anymore compared to what some pitchers have signed for in the past year.

a) can someone please change the title on this thread. burnett! lol

b) i just want to see him in a Toronto jersey for a complete season and see what he can accompish, then judge from there.

Why do we bother with Burnett at all? He's overpaid for a guy who's so injured.

He's had 3 seasons over 21 starts, has never won more than 12 games and has only had two seasons with ERAs below the league average (his second year and his inadmissable injured year).

He gives up runs, he posts a relatively unimpressive WHIP (almost 1.3 on his career). Nearly a third of the strikes he pitches are put into play, he's nothing special about getting first-pitch strikes...

I mean, all that Burnett does is throw that fireball. His knuckle-curve is nice but he doesn't use it enough and he is, in general, a giant "we're trying to turn our franchise around" move and a waste of money.

EDIT - We'd be better off chasing prospect pitchers; fireballers are nice but Burnett isn't Roger Clemens, he's an average pitcher even when he's healthy.

I thought with Burnett coming over he would learn a lot from Doc. AJ still likes to get the strikeout and throw the ball hard. Doc could strikeout more guys if he wanted to, but he chooses to actually 'pitch' and get the hitters to put the ball in play. AJ's shown stretches where he can do this but sometimes he gets caught up trying to throw it by guys and then using his curve ( i believe it's the curve ).

If he could learn to be the type of pitcher that uses his fielders behind him and go for the strikeout only when really needed, he could be a devastating pitcher. I also believe that this would help preserve his arm a little more and let him go longer in games and prolong his career.

I love his intensity and you can tell he wants to do well, it's just a mental thing right now with his arm.

I thought it was a terrible signing from the get go.

In the last thirty years, has there been a single bonafide flamethrower with a solid winning percentage? Except Clemens?

If you ask me, a .500 pitcher this late in his career is a .500 pitcher. There's a reason Doc is 105-51 or whatever over his career. He's not a .500 pitcher. He also realized early in his career that having great stuff, firepower, but no make up made you a .500/4.50 pitcher. He went back to the minors, dropped some velocity, and hurt batters with pitch selection and moving ahead in counts. Now he's a .700/3.50 pitcher. Unfortunately, Burnett didn't have that luxury. I also think JP is right on this one. He needs to know the difference between tightness, soreness, and injury.