So are you still not worried about the Yankees starting rotation? AJ Burnett has pitched to an ERA over 6 since August 1st. That includes the 7.2 innings of 1 hit shutout ball against Boston at Yankee Stadium. I mentioned yesterday that Andy Pettitte should be the #2 starter in the playoffs after CC Sabathia. I hope some of those in the audience start to see things that way as well.

The Yankees will have their champagne celebration within the next two weeks. Enjoy it, because I am starting to wonder how many we can expect the rest of the season. A rotation that looked to be five deep in spring training now is an ace, a crafty veteran, and a bunch of question marks 3 to 5. The one positive is that Burnett is less of a question mark than Chamberlain or any of the scrap heap trio. Peter Abraham broke down Burnett’s season at his LoHud blog yesterday. In short, Burnett has been pretty mediocre for two thirds of the season. Remember, three of his starts during that great 11 game stretch were against the Mets and Marlins. Not exactly Boston, Anaheim, and Detroit. This time of the year is not when you want to speculate about injury, mechanics, or mental health on the mound, but you have to wonder what is wrong. What happened to the pitcher that was pitching just as well, if not better, than Sabathia? Sounds like no one, including the Yankees, has an answer.

Obviously the playoffs haven’t started yet and there is time to fix the problem. After an offseason of landing two big fish Brian Cashman might regret not bringing in an experienced back of the rotation starter like Jarrod Washburn or Jon Garland. I realize that teams were asking for top prospects, but Ivan Nova, Zach Kroenke, or Jeremy Bleich shouldn’t prevent you from importing another arm. You just don’t know when opportunities to win come around again. As we have learned the last eight years pinstripes don’t get an automatic bye to the World Series.

Fortunately Andy Pettitte is around. When I wrote about his Hall of Fame resume I brought up his stellar postseason numbers. He has a knack for coming up big when they need him in a short series. However, after a hot August, he has struggled a bit his last two starts. The bats and bullpen will bring the Yankees far, but they are going to need someone to step up behind Sabathia in that starting rotation. If not Pettitte than who? Right now I think we all would agree to be ignorant to that answer.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Jeremy Bleich, New York Yankees, Zach Kroenke