Aside from Pedro Alvarez struggling in spring training, the other big story of the Pirates off-season was the acquisition of A.J. Burnett from the New York Yankees. In year’s past, the Pirates were the ones sending proven Major League talent to ball clubs such as the Yankees for unproven prospects. This time around, the shoe was on the other foot. The Pirates took on $13 million over the next two years for Burnett who was thought to anchor the staff this year and next. During their annual bunting tournament in Bradenton however, the Pirates and Burnett were set back after he broke his right orbital bone after fouling a ball off of his face.
Burnett was scheduled to make his fourth and final rehab start tonight (Saturday) in Altoona, but upon arriving to the stadium, we were told that Burnett was going to skip his final rehab start. The probable pitchers for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh were Kevin Correia and Jake Westbrook. The Pirates instead activated Burnett off of the disabled list and announced that he will make his 2012 Major League and Pittsburgh Pirates debut tonight against the Cardinals.
Correia was experiencing some discomfort in his left side and was being evaluated by trainers before the game. To make room for Burnett, the Pirates have sent reliever Jared Hughes to Triple-A Indianapolis. Depending on the health of Correia, he could replace Brad Lincoln as the starting pitcher to open the series against Colorado.
Three things to watch:
1) A.J. Burnett – As if this wasn’t the obvious choice. Burnett will be making his debut in Pittsburgh tonight, and will be watched closely. The Pirates have the fourth best ERA in baseball at 2.73, so Burnett will have a lot of pressure on him to continue the trend.
2) 6-7-8 hitters – I found the stat last night that Pedro Alvarez, Clint Barmes and Rod Barajas are hitting just .080 as a collective unit. They have only eight hits in 99 at bats. The positive, if there is one, is that six of them, including three home runs, are for extra base hits. The pitching is there, the hitting has to follow.
3) Errors – The Pirates have committed 11 errors on the season, tied for the ninth most in the league. After the four they committed last night, the defense needs to come to the aid of Burnett.
St. Louis Cardinals (10-4) at Pittsburgh Pirates (5-8)
Jake Westbrook (2-0, 0.64 ERA) vs. A.J Burnett (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
First pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Pirates:
Presley 7
Tabata 9
McCutchen 8
Walker 4
McGehee 3
Alvarez 5
Barmes 6
Barajas 2
Burnett 1
Cardinals
Furcal 6
Carpenter 3
Holliday 7
Beltran 9
Freese 5
Molina 2
Descalso 4
Robinson
Westbrook
Photo Credits: Getty Images
Discussion about this post