The Two Sides of A.J. Burnett

Call him bipolar if you would like. Just in basebal terms, but A.J. Burnett can be considered a bit bipolar this season. We have been witnessing two very different sides to the Yankees pitcher.

Burnett seems to be a different pitcher on the road than he is at Yankee Stadium. The numbers are glaring.

If we could pitch A.J. during home games only, he would be considered an All-Star and possible Cy Young candidate. Throw in his road game performances and he is an average pitcher.

Keep in mind, Burnett has pitched in five games at home and eight on the road so far this season. He has completed 35.2 innings at Yankee Stadium and 48.1 away from the Bronx.

In his 35.2 innings at home, Burnett has given up less then a hit per inning. 32 hits in total at home. He has almost struck out as many batters as hits given up when on the mound at the stadium. Burnett has 31 strikeouts at home. On the road, he has given up 51 hits in 48.1 innings and struck out just 29 batters.

His strikeout’s per nine innings at home at a very good 7.82 compared to just 5.4 on the road.

Opposing batters are hitting .277 on the road against Burnett, but just .246 against him at Yankee Stadium.

Not only is the opposition getting more hits against Burnett, they are scoring as well. Burnett has given up just nine earned runs at Yankee Stadium this season. On the road however, he has given up 27 earned runs.He has also been susceptible to giving up the long ball more often on the road. While giving up just two home runs at Yankee Stadium, Burnett has been taken deep six times on the road.

Opponents are slugging .462 when Burnett pitches on the road, but just .354 at Yankee Stadium.

Whatever the problem is, the Yankees need to figure it out. Burnett needs to figure it out. For whatever reason, Burnett is a very different pitcher on the road than at Yankee Stadium this season.

Burnett carries a 3-1 record and 2.27 ERA at Yankee Stadium. Pretty impressive, All-Star caliber numbers. On te road however, he is 3-3 with a 5.03 ERA.

There has been two sides to A.J. Burnett this year. We need this to get figured out and have a more consistent Burnett.