Baseball Has A.J. Burnett Finally Hit Rock Bottom? Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before a turn around can be put together. Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett has struggled the past two months and Saturday’s start may be the worst yet. Not just because of his performance on the mound though. The worst part is what happened on his way into the clubhouse between innings. by Staff Post July 18, 2010 Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before a turn around can be put together. Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett has struggled the past two months and Saturday’s start may be the worst yet. Not just because of his performance on the mound though. The worst part is what happened on his way into the clubhouse between innings. Baseball is as much about keeping your emotions in check as it is pure talent. The best players normally are able to stay calm through the good and bad times. Burnett did anything but stay calm on Saturday. After struggling through the first two innings, Burnett took his frustration out of the door of the Yankees clubhouse. As he made his way into the clubhouse, Burnett apparently slammed his hands on the clubhouse door and cut his hands on the plexiglass lineup holder that was hanging. Bring bad memories of Kevin Brown to mind? Sort of but Brown actually broke his hand after punching a wall and would end up missing time. It appears Burnett will be able to make his next start. After suffering the cuts, Burnett continued to make poor decisions by lying to team trainings, telling them the cuts occurred after he tripped on the dugout steps. It wasn’t until later that he admitted what really happened, after being questioned by manager Joe Girardi. So, now the question is: Is this rock bottom? Or is there more struggles to come from the Yankees $82.5 million pitcher? Burnett had a horrific June, going 0-5 with a 11.35 ERA. He showed improvement in his past two starts but everything fell apart once again in Saturday’s Old Timer’s Day loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Yankees fan and front office have to be frustrated with Burnett. Maybe this is a good time to skip Burnett’s turn in the rotation. Giving him some extra time to get focused and forget about his struggles might be good for him. The team did it earlier this season with Javier Vazquez and in return the righty turned his season around. No matter what happens, the Yankees emotional pitcher needs to find a way to keep those emotions in check. Getting hurt by doing something stupid like hitting a door or wall will not help anything. Hopefully this is the bottom and Burnett can now turn his season around for the Yankees. We will need him down the stretch. Post Views: 1,118 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Staff Post Latest posts by Staff Post (see all) In The Zone Announces Initial Podcast Lineup - November 13, 2020 The Essential Resources You Need to Start Your Own Gym in 2020 - February 6, 2020 Wilder vs Fury II – How the second fight will be different to the first? - February 5, 2020 Early turnovers, defensive struggles plague the Scarlet Knights - January 26, 2020 Related TopicsA.J. BurnettInjuryJavier VazquezJoe GirardiNew York Yankees Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Women in Sports: Podcast Host, New York Riptide Sideline Reporter, Dani Wexelman by Luke Porco | posted on March 3, 2020 From Paramus High School to CBS Sports, Spero Dedes is making waves in sports broadcasting by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on October 27, 2020 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 More in Baseball You Know I’m Right, Episode 112: New York Jets’ Insider Brian Costello (Audio/Video) On the 112th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) On the 109th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 108: WFAN’s Sweeny Murti (Audio/Video) On the 108th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 107: New York Post’s Columnist Mike Vaccaro (Audio/Video) On the 107th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... 5 Players The Yankees Need To Step Up In 2nd Half Mets Woes Continue: Slip Into 3rd Place