Posted by Dan
I’m bored with nothing to do, some I’m going to criticize Bill’s scouting report on A.J. Burnett for today: (And a Bill quote as I type this)
June Gloom
National League
Road Warrior
First off, Burnett has only made 3 starts in June, so to even comment on the gloominess (is that a word?) seems premature. But let’s pretend it isn’t and look at the three starts:
5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 K
4.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 4 BB, 5K
8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8K
Clearly, June Gloom means that of his three starts this month, 1 was bad. Granted, it was really bad. But for the month of June he has a 10.6 K/9 rate. His BB rate is certainly a high (5.8/ 9 IP) but let’s face it, Bill looked at his 6 ERA for June and decided “June Gloom” was fitting. Now, what does “National League” mean? Clearly the Brewers are in the National League and Burnett used to be (2005). I didn’t really catch his commentary on this point as I was scrambling to write the points down before they were appropriately removed from the screen for all-time, but I would love to see Yost firing up the guys before the game by saying, “Alright guys! Remember, this guy used to be in the National League! And we are now! You know what that means!” The heart of the Brewers lineup (Fielder, Braun and Hart) had like 100 AB total before 2006 so I just don’t get the significance of this point. Lastly, Bill anoints Burnett a “Road Warrior”. True enough, this year Burnett has a pretty extreme Home/Away split (8.16/2.98 ) which is obviously sample size related. (54 innings @ home, 32 on the road). For the rest of his career Burnett features a Home/Away line of 3.51/4.15 which obviously seems to disprove the “Road Warrior” title. It really is like Bill doesn’t even try. I would totally prefer he just tell us what pitches he throws and be done with it.
Finally, as I was typing this, Corey Hart smoked a 2-run double to center on an 0-2, belt high, heart of the plate fastball from Burnett. Bill questioned his pitch “selection.” Something tells me, that Zaun wasn’t back there giving the “meatball” sign. I have a hunch, that the problem was in the pitch’s execution.
This was my leader for the scouting report of the week. ‘National League’ was priceless, and the June Gloom thing is total proof that he completely slacks on his “research.”
…so to even comment on the gloominess (is that a word?)
You were just looking for the word “gloom.”