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.

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.