AJ Burnett can really shock the baseball world if he steps up with a quality outing.
For AJ, of course, quality is a relative term. I think the New York Yankees will live with four runs in roughly six innings. But it also depends on when he gives up those runs. If the Texas Rangers knock him around for four runs in the 1st inning, he will not see the 2nd inning. Joe Girardi will pull him faster than the Yankee Stadium crowd can muster the energy to boo him off the mound.
The Yankees have done everything they can to prepare him for this start and express as much confidence as they can publicly demonstrate without choking on the words, even though their spoken faith in him seems tenuous at best. They named him as the Game 4 starter even after he hit two guys in a simulated game, which showed his long layoff would create a major control problem. They didn't back down even after falling behind two games to one in the American League Championship Series.
Now it's up to AJ to surprise the experts, the fans and even his teammates with a nice start in the pressure cooker that is the baseball playoffs. For the Yankees sake, I hope he can do it.
For AJ, of course, quality is a relative term. I think the New York Yankees will live with four runs in roughly six innings. But it also depends on when he gives up those runs. If the Texas Rangers knock him around for four runs in the 1st inning, he will not see the 2nd inning. Joe Girardi will pull him faster than the Yankee Stadium crowd can muster the energy to boo him off the mound.
The Yankees have done everything they can to prepare him for this start and express as much confidence as they can publicly demonstrate without choking on the words, even though their spoken faith in him seems tenuous at best. They named him as the Game 4 starter even after he hit two guys in a simulated game, which showed his long layoff would create a major control problem. They didn't back down even after falling behind two games to one in the American League Championship Series.
Now it's up to AJ to surprise the experts, the fans and even his teammates with a nice start in the pressure cooker that is the baseball playoffs. For the Yankees sake, I hope he can do it.
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