Mac on Burnett

Steve Novotney reports comments from Mac on Sean Burnett. From Steve's article I learned a number of interesting things:

The team's original plan called for Burnett to pitch the majority of the 2004 campaign for Class AAA Nashville. Once he missed action during spring training and in April with shoulder discomfort, not many expected Burnett would appear as a Pirates starter until after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

However, after the start against Houston, McClendon decided to unseat right-handed rookie Ryan Vogelsong (2-7, 7.13 ERA) from the rotation and add Burnett.

"The fact is he's a talented individual who knows how to pitch. He's one of our best options to try and win games, and that's why he's in the rotation.

"He's had some little injuries that have made it tough for him to find his groove this season, but I think he'll be fine. He's built up now to where he can go out there and throw 110, 115 pitches just like the rest of them."

"He's missed some starts this year (with Nashville), Pittsburgh farm director Brian Graham explained. "But he wouldn't be up here if we didn't think he was ready physically. Nothing is that important. We're not rushing him at all.

So at the end of March, the Bucs didn't plan to bring him up here at the half-way point. And Novotney's wording makes it sound like McClendon was the one who made the decision on keeping Burnett around. Also we hear Mac shrugging off Sean's "bad" AAA numbers as the consequence of little injuries.

Elsewhere in the article, Burnett complains that he's never been allowed to throw more than 100 pitches per game since he signed with the team.

All in all, I'm really pleased with the way the team has handled this guy. My expectations are low in the short-term but high in the long-term. I think he'll be a good one.