New York Yankees Could Put Burnett in the Bullpen: A Radical Idea for the ALCS

Most New York Yankees fans are groaning with the idea of having A.J. Burnett start a Game 4 which could be a must win for the Yankees, but a radical idea would have Burnett in the bullpen.

Throughout the season it has been easy for anyone to tell you Burnett has filthy stuff. With Burnett it is not a question of talent, but a matter of keeping together throughout a whole start. Burnett can be dazzling through the first few innings then unravel in the next. 

The Yankees can combat this by putting Burnett in the bullpen and, no, not at the end of it as a long man, but for the late innings. Burnett is basically a two pitch pitcher and if that is not the perfect definition for a reliever I don't know what is.

Burnett's two pitches also happen to be some of the nastiest in baseball. Last year during his must win Game 2 World Series start against the Phillies, his fastball had filthy movement to go along with the velocity. He was able to follow it up with one of the games best curve-balls which allowed him to basically toy with the potent Phillies lineup.

Now imagine Burnett coming in from the bullpen. If he possesses a mid 90s fastball as a starter, it is not out of the question to see him throwing in the upper 90s coming out of the bullpen. Coming out of the pen breathing that type of fire would be devastating to the opposition. 

The question that of course springs to mind is will Burnett be effective? The answer is a resounding yes, as hitters normally pounce on him in the later innings of games. If he is coming out of the bullpen to throw one inning, he would not have to worry about setting up hitters for later in the game and instead just come right after them.

Going into the bullpen limits the amount of thinking Burnett has to do and just lets him be himself. Take Phil Hughes for example. His trip to the pen has made him into the confident pitcher he is today. 

Hughes struggled in the rotation in his trial run, possibly from over thinking the situation, and going to the bullpen eliminated the problem. He was able to rely fully on his raw ability and retired hitters at will.

Putting Burnett in the bullpen and having him pitch important late innings is a radical idea, but one which could have major benefits if the Yankees ever did try that route.