SEAN BURNETT

9/17/82; '00 1st; Wellington, FL (HS)
L/L; 6-1, 185

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2000 R

2-1-0

31.0

0.87

6.97

1.10

.250

4.06

2001 A

11-8-0

161.1

164

134

1.84

7.48

1.22

.265

2.62

2002 A+

13-4-0

155.1

118

1.91

5.56

0.97

.210

1.80

2003 AA

14-6-0

159.2

158

1.63

4.85

1.17

.265

3.21

2004 NL

5-5-0

71.2

3.52

3.77

1.59

.301

5.02

2004 AAA

1-5-0

47.0

3.26

4.79

1.60

.320

5.36

2005 INJURED

2006 AAA

8-11-0

120.1

136

3.44

1.51

.291

5.16

2007 AAA

4-5-0

70.1

4.99

3.97

1.73

.307

4.48

2008 NL

1-1-0

56.2

5.40

6.67

1.61

.271

4.76

2008 AAA

1-1-3

17.1

4.15

7.79

0.98

.153

1.04

Burnett came right in the middle of a five-year run in which the Pirates used their first round picks on pitchers who became flops, usually due to injury. The others were Clint Johnston and Bobby Bradley, taken before Burnett, and John Van Benschoten and Bryan Bullington, taken after. Of the five, he probably will be the only one to make a meaningful contribution to the Pirates, as the only one still left with the organization is Van Benschoten, and his future looks bleak. Burnett, however, will have to make his contribution as a middle reliever.

In the minors, Burnett was generally ranked at or near the top of Pirates' prospect lists. He was an interesting prospect because of his outstanding performance coupled with very low K rates. He had a spectacular 2002 season, which he followed with a strong season in AA, although he seemed to tire as the season wore on. He missed his last start and the playoffs when he was shut down with a sore elbow. Although the Pirates as always downplayed it at the time, it was obviously an early warning of larger problems to come. In the minors, Burnett's main pitch was a changeup. His velocity seemed to come and go. In 2002 he reportedly threw his fastball around 89-92, but it dropped in 2003 to 85-88, although he did occasionally reach the low 90s. I saw him pitch many times in the minors and he always seemed to throw a little harder in key situations. He spent the latter part of 2002 working on a slider, which the Pirates came to regard as a good pitch. Although his ability to make batters swing and miss raised doubts, there were two factors in his favor: an extremely low HR rate-he allowed only two in 2003 and was very hard to hit the ball in the air against-and the fact that he was successful at AA at a very young age, as he didn't turn 21 until after the season.

Burnett made his long-awaited major league debut in 2004, but the results were disastrous. He opened the year in AAA, but didn't pitch well. He admitted that he found it difficult to focus after failing to make the team out of spring training. He was called up, however, in the middle of the season. Initially he was outstanding, sporting a 4-2 record and 2.18 ERA after his first seven starts, one of which was a CG shutout. In his last six starts, however, he went 1-3, 9.11. He started feeling elbow pain during that time but didn't tell the team initially. After a puzzling series of tests, during which he was initially diagnosed as not having any structural damage, it was finally determined that he had a torn ligament. He had Tommy John surgery in September. He was expected to be able to return to the mound late in the year, but shortly before his scheduled return he hurt his shoulder and needed labrum surgery, leaving him unable to pitch again until spring 2006.

Burnett spent 2006 in AAA and struggled to recover. He started the year slowly and then posted an ERA of 6.39 in August and September. The terrible BB/K ratio says a lot. Burnett struggled with the strike zone all season, frequently running up high pitch counts. He also gave up 13 HRs, a very high total for a pitcher who previously had been extremely difficult to go deep against. LH batters hit seven of those in only about 100 ABs, although he held them to a .196 BA. RH batters hit .315 against him. The Pirates did not call him up in September.

Burnett seemingly had a good spring, allowing no earned runs in eleven innings, but the Pirates sent him to AAA. This caused some controversy among the fans, because the team kept Tom Gorzelanny, who had a terrible spring. It also caused some bitter words from Burnett himself, who at times has made very clear his unhappiness with the organization. It turned out the team was right, as Burnett pitched much like 2006. His ERA improved a little and he allowed only four HRs, but his BB and K numbers got even worse and hitters batted .307 against him. His ability to get groundballs fell off, too, as he had a groundout to air out ratio of 1.41 in 2006 and 1.36 in 2007. He was shut down twice with continuing elbow problems, the second time for good in early July.

With Burnett out of options, the Pirates designated him for assignment after the 2007 season when they claimed Ray Olmedo off waivers. Burnett went into spring training as a long shot for the rotation, but the team quickly decided to move him to short relief. He pitched as well as anybody in camp, allowing no hits over his last seven appearances. According to pitching coach Jeff Andrews, Burnett's stuff was sharper than it had been at any time since he had surgery. He nevertheless got caught in a squeeze and didn't make the team. The Pirates wanted Phil Dumatrait, who was out of options, to pitch in long relief and serve as a spot starter, which gave them three lefties without Burnett. They also wanted to keep Rule 5 pick Evan Meek.

Burnett dominated in AAA, even posting a good K rate. The Pirates called him up in early May and he struggled badly at first. In his first thirteen outings, he had an ERA of 7.31 and WHIP of 2.25. The rest of the way the numbers were 3.76 and 1.35. The improved numbers include a terrible stretch at the end of August in which he allowed eight earned runs in four innings. When Burnett had trouble, it was almost always due to poor control, a problem that didn't entirely go away at any point. He did show an improved K rate. He doesn't throw a changeup much any more, relying instead on a fastball that's now in the low 90s and a curve. He's gone back to being more of a groundball pitcher, with a GO/AO ratio of 2.36 in the minors and 1.64 in the majors. He had a reverse platoon split in his brief time in AAA, but in the majors LH batters hit .171 against him and RH batters .328. The Pirates maintained that he did not have a guaranteed bullpen spot for 2009, but he kept his job despite a very poor spring when no other viable relievers emerged.

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