Vazquez still struggling mechanically

Javier Vazquez’s season has obviously not gone well, with the right-hander struggling in basically every start he has had to date (even his one win against Oakland). While many have been quick to blame Vazquez’s raw stuff, saying that it is just not good enough to set down American League hitters, and particularly the AL [...]

Girardi says Posada will catch Burnett this season

Not sure if this was reported as a standalone item anywhere, but Erik Boland of Newsday informs us that manager, Joe Girardi, has announced that Jorge Posada will catch A.J. Burnett this season. A serious amount of ink was devoted to the Burnett-Posada duo a season ago, after the two seemed to have “problems” working [...]

Mechanics betray Burnett in Game 5

Frankie Piliere, via Twitter, attributed A.J. Burnett’s poor first inning, in last night’s game, to mechanical flaws. “Burnett’s arm slot/delivery all over the place. People want to call it choking but this is what happens to guys with complex deliveries,” noted Piliere, as Burnett gave up 4 earned runs before retiring a batter. I’ve been [...]

For Burnett, mechanics are key

In Game 2 against the Angels, for the first 4 innings, A.J. Burnett was dominant. However, in the 5th frame, the wheels came off and the bad Burnett arrived, as he allowed 2 hits, hit a batter, walked a batter, and gave up a run on a wild pitch (in that order). He managed to [...]

Will Posada catch Burnett in the postseason?

A.J. Burnett has a 3.09 ERA over his last 5 starts. During the course of those 32 innings, he has struck out 37 batters while walking 14. It’s certainly been an impressive way to end the regular season, as Burnett seems to have figured it out at the right time. Even more impressive is that [...]

Sound mechanics for A.J.

From Jon Heyman (SI): A.J. Burnett looks like he might have solved his difficulties after two strong starts on the West Coast. Burnett went to tapes of his games in the second half of last year in Toronto, and he made corrections to some mechanical issues. Generally, he was moving side-to-side too much and needed [...]

Mechanics the cause of A.J.'s woes

From Tyler Kepner (NY Times): Burnett (12-9) said he conceded to himself that the Angels would slap a few hits. But he and Molina stuck to their plan, putting away hitters with fastballs, and for the second start in a row, Burnett’s mechanics were sound. He has been inconsistent for weeks, but feels better now. [...]

More On Hughes

Joel Sherman has a mind numbing read out on Phil Hughes, where he questions GM Brian Cashman in his decision to keep Phil Hughes and not move him for Johan Santana. This “we should have traded Hughes for Johan Santana” meme was bound to start up again after Hughes’ consecutive bad outings in the Arizona [...]