Nova In And Burnett Out Should Be The Call For The Yankees

Ivan Nova has more than proven that he should be in the Yankees rotation.

This is not rocket science. This should not be a hard decision.

If Joe Girardi is smart then here is what he should do about his current pitching problem… pencil Ivan Nova in and take A.J. Burnett out.

It’s simple mathematics really, Nova has been stellar since being called back up from AAA Wilkes-Barre and he was on his way to stellar even before then.

Nova has won 6 consecutive starts dating back to June. He hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in any of those starts. What’s even more impressive is that with each start Nova is getting better and better.

Since his return Nova has allowed 3 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings of work. He has turned into the Yankees second best pitcher and despite his youth he has looked like a ten-year vereran on the mound with his poise and unshakeable attitude.

The same can not be said for Burnett.

As much as I love Burnett and his pie antics and loveable locker room personality he is not fit for this team as a starter right now.

With Burnett it’s all mental. When he’s throwing strikes and his pitches have movement Burnett could be a top 2 pitcher in any rotation. However, he can’t get there because he is too inconsistent.

Burnett looked like a gem in April going 4-1 and not allowing more than 4 earned runs in any outing. Since then? He’s 4-8 and has had more than a few moments where fans have been screaming bloody murder for Girardi to remove him.

Take for instance Wednesday night; the Yankees are up 13-1… 13-1 with Burnett on the hill in the fourth inning. With that type of lead you should be fine as a pitcher, no big deal. Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth and it’s 13-7 with one out and two in scoring position. I was actually concerned that Burnett was going to blow it because he looked like a batting practice pitcher by leaving all of his pitches high and flat.

Something's gotta give when it comes to A.J. Burnett.

Girardi mercifully removed him and Cory Wade got out of the jam. Now the Yankees did win 18-7, but the story was still Burnett couldn’t even pitch well enough to earn a Win with a 12 run lead.

Funny thing is that this isn’t unusual, this is just how unreliable Burnett truly is.

(Side note: I can’t watch Burnett pitch anymore it’s too scary. Even when I see him penciled in I get the shakes. Watching Burnett is slow torture because, he reels you in with his fastball and makes you put your guard down. Then over the next few batters and innings he leaves balls up, gets out of jams that he causes, allows hit after hit, then there’s a shot of Girardi trying to let him work through it and encourage him while internally he’s probably going “you’re giving me hemeroids A.J.,” then either A.J. completely implodes or Girardi pulls him out just in the nick of time.

I swear Hostel 2 or any of the Saw movies are easier to watch than Burnett at this point.)

Coming down the stretch the Yankees need consistency in the rotation and Girardi needs to go with the hot hand and keep Nova in the rotation as well as Phil Hughes who has looked sharp in his return from arm troubles.

Nova is the Yankees second best pitcher behind C.C. Sabathia. As long as they don’t screw with his arm like they’ve done with their other young and talented pitchers Joba Chamberlain and to an extent Hughes (or trade him like Ian Kennedy… Excuse me while i vomit) then Nova should finish the year getting stronger with each start.

The Yankees can depend on Nova, they can’t depend on Burnett. Which is why by this time next week Joe Girardi’s rotation should be Sabathia, Colon, Nova, Garcia and Hughes and A.J. Burnett should be on the bench.

It’s the best move for the Yankees, and it makes everyone involved less stressed not knowing what to expect from one of it’s starters.

Introducing Your First Place Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks are the biggest surprise this year in the majors.

They have one of the best bullpens in baseball and their closer has 16 saves in 16 chances.

In the last 17 games their starters are 12-2 with a 2.85 ERA.

Their offense has led the league in runs in the last 3 weeks; consider that statistic after they dealt their best power hitter in the offseason.

They’ve jumped from worst to first in their division with a blazing hot May.

Nope these aren’t the Boston Red Sox that I’m talking about, it’s the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After another slow start the D’Backs have come alive by stringing together a 19-9 month, which includes a 15-2 stretch in the last 17 games featuring a 2 game sweep of the Atlanta Braves and taking 3 out of 4 from the one-time division leading Colorado Rockies.

They’ve done it with ridiculous performances from their young starting rotation. 24 year-old Daniel Hudson has a  5-1 record with a 3.22 ERA this month, 25 year-old Josh Collmenter has allowed a total of 4 earned runs in spot start duty and 26 year-old Ian Kennedy has been lights out going 5-0 in his last 8 starts and lowering his ERA from 6.88 to 3.01. When you couple that with Putz and the bullpen and the D’Backs haven’t allowed much on the scoreboard at all this month.

What has been an even bigger surprise is their performance at the plate. Even after trading big hacker Mark Reynolds to the Orioles the D’Backs are still 4^thin the NL in strikeouts (although they’ve cut their average by 2 K’s a game), however they have a higher on base percentage as opposed to last season and lead the league in home runs and are third in total bases and RBI. Even with a slow May new third baseman Ryan Roberts has provided some much needed patience at the plate and is hitting .280 with a .388 OBP and is projected to hit 20+ home runs and only strikeout 81 times. Mark Reynolds would’ve had 81 by the end of this month.

Ian Kennedy and the rest of Arizona's staff have been lights out thus far.

(Funny stat: Mark Reynolds numbers in Baltimore: .198/7/24/.310/.384, Roberts’s stats in AZ as his replacement:  .288/7/22/.388/.476 and he has half of the strikeouts. Oh and the reliever that the D’Backs got for Reynolds named David Hernandez? He has a 1.85 ERA, 7 holds and a 1.40 WHIP as Putz’s setup man. That’s right Baltimore, you just got robbed. Thank you and please come again.)

With all of this youth taking charge and leading Arizona, it should have Kirk Gibson in the heat of the NL manager of the year race by season’s end. Gibson has turned around this team with a steady hand and lots of patience with his players at the plate.

Chris Young and Justin Upton still have very little discipline as you can tell by their high strikeout numbers and middle of the road averages. However, with those two and Stephen Drew in the 3, 4, 5 hole (not to mention a very stable Miguel Montero in the 6^th hole) they do drive in a lot of runs. They also mash out lots of home runs as well (except Drew who only has 3) as they have 5 players with six or more including Upton who has 10.

If you’re wondering if these kids in the desert can keep this hot streak going consider their schedule. Their toughest opponents in the next month are the Cleveland Indians and they get them at home at the end of June. They play six with the Marlins and have three with Divisional rival San Francisco; the rest of their schedule is easy when you look at win percentages as they don’t play a team above third place except the Indians in the entire month of June.

What is currently a ½ game lead in the west over San Fran could be even larger as the Giants face St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Colorado all in the next month with all of those teams in early pennant races. Things are lining up nicely in Arizona as we speak.

I must admit that it was weird to look up at the standings and see Arizona on top of a division that features the defending champs, three possible Cy Young candidates and two MVP contenders. However, what Arizona is doing is just plain old impressive.

They’re pitching better than anyone else and with the heat of summer turning up, Upton, Young and the rest of their free swinging lineup should do just fine in making those leads stand up.  Something tells me that it’s going to be hotter than usual in the desert this summer.