a.j. burnett

MLB: Pirates anticipating A.J. Burnett to seek around $15 million per season?

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 / by /  /   , , , ,
 

A.J. Burnett made $16.5 million in 2013. The Pirates, though, only paid the 36 year old pitcher $8 million of his $16.5 million salary with the Yankees picking up $8.5 million of it. Are the Pirates ready to nearly double what they were paying Burnett last season? That’s the million dollar question when it comes to Burnett’s future with the team. Pirate officials are anticipating a tough negotiation with the Pirates already expecting Burnett to seek around $15 million per season. The team does not plan to make Burnett a qualifying offer of $14.1 million. Burnett has floated around the retirement talk but few are buying it and believe he will seek one last big pay day. How high the Pirates are willing to go will be interesting with some high ranking officials tired of Burnett’s act and there’s also talk of Burnett not being the great teammate behind theRead More »

Despite Burnett’s dominant outing, Liriano should still get the nod if Pirates host Reds in wildcard game

Sunday, September 22, 2013 / by /  /   ,
 

PIRATES 4 – REDS 2 Win: A.J. Burnett (9-11) Loss: Homer Bailey (11-11) Save: Jason Grilli (31) BURNETT HAS DOMINANT OUTING After falling down two runs early in the game, A.J. Burnett (9-11, 3.39 ERA) took things over, pitching seven dominant innings and striking out a season-high 12 batters, while allowing just three walks in the Pittsburgh Pirates (89-66) 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds (88-67) on Saturday night to move a game ahead of the Reds for the No. 1 wildcard spot with seven games remaining. “It’s a big game, it’s a big series and you want to attack,” Burnett said. “We were able to do that and get through seven somehow. I felt like I got stronger as it went on.” What stood out with Burnett was how effective his curveball was which had players and coaches saying afterwards that Burnett’s command of his curveball was the bestRead More »

Burnett earns 7th win of season, allowing 1 run over 7 innings

Sunday, September 01, 2013 / by /  /   ,
 

The Pittsburgh Pirates put up 7 runs through the first three innings Saturday night and A.J. Burnett (7-9, 3.09 ERA) took it from there. Burnett went 7 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run, striking out 6 and walking 1 in the Pirates 7-1 win over the Cardinals. It was an excellent start for Burnett whose recent outings have been shaky to say the least. Prior to tonight’s start, Burnett allowed 15 earned runs in his previous 4 starts.

A.J. Burnett throws highest pitch count since August 26, 2011

Sunday, August 25, 2013 / by /  /   ,
 

A.J. Burnett (6-9, 3.18 ERA) suffered his 9th loss of the season in a Pirates 4-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants Sunday afternoon. Burnett went 7 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits and 4 earned runs, while striking out 6 and walking 3. Burnett has allowed at least four runs in three of his last four starts. With his pitch count at 105 after 7 innings, manager Clint Hurdle sent Burnett out for the 8th inning with the Pirates down 1-0 and that’s when the Giants struck as Pablo Sandoval crushed a two-run triple to right center off Burnett. Burnett would end up throwing 116 pitches in the game, a season high for the 36 year old and the highest pitch count for Burnett since August 26, 2011. Hurdle on sending Burnett out for the 8th inning with his pitch count already over 100: “It was his game out there,Read More »

Opening Day Post-Game Report: Burnett strikes out 10 but Pirates offense silent in 3-1 loss to Cubs

Monday, April 01, 2013 / by /  /   , ,
 

CHICAGO 3 – PITTSBURGH 1 Win: Jeff Samardzija (1-0) Loss: A.J. Burnett (0-1) Save Kyuji Fujikawa (1) PITTSBURGH — Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija was flawless, striking out nine in eight shutout innings, leading the Chicago Cubs (1-0) to a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates (0-1) at PNC Park. Samardzija allowed just two hits and walked one in the win. The Pirates bats were silent, managing just three hits overall in the game, including one extra base hit, a double from Andrew McCutchen in the sixth inning. The Pirates were 1-7 with runners in scoring position. “He can go get 95, 97, can drop that breaking ball. He was throwing whatever he wanted,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Samardzija. “Last two times we’ve seen him, he’s been very difficult. He made pitches.” A.J. Burnett making his first career opening day start, gave up three runs on six hits inRead More »

Morning Pirates Buzz: McCutchen joining MVP Discussion & more Buzz

Monday, June 11, 2012 / by /  /   , , ,
 

MORNING PIRATES BUZZ Winners of four straight, and 12 of their last 15 games, the Pittsburgh Pirates (32-27) enter Monday’s off-day in first place in the NL Central, following a 7-6 Reds loss last night to the Detroit Tigers. What we saw this past weekend is that the Pirates are beating teams they should and winning at home, sweeping the Royals and improving to 19-11 at home this season. [instory] The Pirates 13-16 on the road, now embark on a six game road trip that begins Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles (34-26) who sit in fourth place in the tough AL East, followed by a three game set against the Cleveland Indians (32-27) who are in second place in the AL Central. The Indians (-16) and Pirates (-17) are the only first or second place teams in baseball that have a negative run differential. MCCUTCHEN JOINING MVP DISCUSSION A bitRead More »

Perrotto’s Weekly Pirates Report: Lincoln starting to blossom in bullpen role & buzz on Burnett, Tabata & Taillon

Thursday, May 03, 2012 / by /  /   , , , ,
 

WEEKLY PIRATES REPORT *Analysis, Rumblings, & Musings* By John Perrotto Brad Lincoln has a pretty good sense of humor, which is why he isn’t scared to joke about being “the guy the Pirates took instead of Tim Lincecum.” The Pirates chose Lincoln with the fourth overall selection in the 2006 amateur draft from the University of Houston. The Pirates felt Lincoln was a safer pick than Lincecum, then the ace at the University of Washington, because he had much cleaner mechanics and better makeup. Lincecum has gone on to win two National League Cy Young Awards. Lincoln, on the other hand, has won just four major-league games. However, at 27, Lincoln seems to be finally starting to blossom, albeit in a different role than the Pirates envisioned when they drafted him. Lincoln has made five relief appearances this season and posted a fine 0.87 ERA as he has allowed oneRead More »