The Curious Case of AJ Burnett

We saw two sides of AJ Burnett in his first outing of 2011. In the first four innings, we saw the AJ that the Yankees hoped they were getting when they signed him to a five-year, $82.5 million contract before the 2009 season. In his final inning, the fifth, we saw the talented and very flawed version of Burnett, when he gave up three Tiger hits and two runs. He finally got the third out of the inning and the final out of his day, but many were left to wonder which AJ will show up for his next start. Many believe that the performance Burnett gave in the fifth inning is going to become the norm, but I am not one of those people. I believe pitching coach Larry Rothchild and manager Joe Girardi saved AJ's ego, and possibly his season, by removing him when they did. We know that AJ losing his confidence is not a short-term affair. I think Girardi took AJ out at the perfect time, before he gave up more runs and before losing his confidence completely. Good call, Joe.