New York Yankees fans should hardly be surprised by the report that manager Joe Girardi has decided not to include struggling A.J. Burnett in the teams starting rotation for the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins.
Because of A.J. Burnett's miserable season, the Yankees will use Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes in the best-of-five series that opens tomorrow night against the AL Central champion Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis.
Even though Burnett was 1-0 with 1.54 ERA in two games against the Twins this year, it would be sending the wrong message to the players to give the right-hander a start considering he went 0-2 with a 6.04 ERA in his last five starts when hitters batted .291 against him.
Seriously, what else could the Yankees do in a five-game series? Burnett (10-15, 5.26 ERA) has been awful in 2010. They will likely ride CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes.
Question is, will they even bother to include Burnett on the ALDS roster? We will know this afternoon.
