From Peter Gammons’ April 13 column at espn.com:
While John Burkett is the most enthused he’s been in three weeks as he heads out to his start at Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday, one Braves scout suggests, “the reason we didn’t re-sign him was that we were worried he was hurt in September. Check his walks.”
Burkett had 36 in 115 innings the first two months and 15 in his final 29 innings.
Burkett was so good (and transformed) last year, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of confidence he can repeat. I’ve been tempted to try to go after him. He was so transformed last year!
But the bases on balls did go unnoticed, and I thought it might be a service to go find that Pawtucket box score:
Well, the box score doesn’t seem to be available, though it looks like you’ll be able to view it at the USA Today Baseball page sometime tomorrow. At least now, as I write, they have Saturday’s box scores posted. But this is what the PawSox official home page had to say:
Burkett Makes Rehab Start for PawSox
Boston pitcher John Burkett made his first appearance in a Red Sox uniform Sunday for the PawSox on a rehab start at McCoy Stadium. Burkett’s start did not go perfectly, as the veteran and 2001 NL All-Star gave up 3 runs in 2.1 innings and took the loss in a 9-2 Red Wings win. Burkett threw 54 pitches, 33 for strikes, and said he felt completely healthy on the mound.
I guess I’m not going to go crazy, but I still think there’s a chance Burkett might be a good bet this year. If he’s free. Take a flyer on the guy and be prepared to bail quickly. Don’t pay for him. But don’t shun him, either.