A.J. Burnett threw his first bullpen session today and Pirate management is ecstatic about the acquisition of Burnett who the team immediately views as their No. 1 starter going into the regular season. “We brought [Burnett] here to have a legitimate shot to win the game every time he takes the mound,” GM Neal Huntington said via Pirates.com. “Our scouts still saw some very good stuff: Power fastball, power in the breaking ball, a changeup he uses more. “If he pounds the strike zone with [his past] ground-ball rate, in a park favorable to pitchers in a little lesser league … we believe A.J. can have a very good couple of years for us.”

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