AJ Burnett

[brad1176]

Per ESPN: Pirates pitcher AJ Burnett will undergo surgery on Friday to repair a fractured right orbital bone.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/spring2012/st...bital-fracture

Unfortunately for Burnett and the Pirates, this once again proves that we never know what will happen day to day. He sustained this injury while taking bunting practice. I hope nothing but the best for Mr. Burnett.

[Captain13]

I think Mr. Albert King wrote a song about the Pittsburgh Pirates, Born Under a Bad Sign, and the main lyric in that song is "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."

[bigredmechanism]

Wow what terrible luck for Burnett and the Pirates.

[OGB]

I think Mr. Albert King wrote a song about the Pittsburgh Pirates, Born Under a Bad Sign, and the main lyric in that song is "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."

With the success that the Steelers and Penguins have, I have zero pity for the two decades of failure from the Pirates.
That said, you never like to see someone get injured, particularly in such an odd circumstance. It reminds me of when Sean Casey had a similar injury from a ball thrown in pre game.

[tedies]

He will be fine by the time the regular season comes around

[LaFlamaBlanca]

Bad luck, but I have a hard time seeing this deal being a winning proposition for the Pirates in any case.

[tedies]

He will be fine by the time the regular season comes around

wow 2-3 months is a long time for this type of injury. Guess I was wrong lol

[mroby85]

AJ Burnett has been garbage lately, and so are the Pirates. If this has any relevance to the Reds its going to be a loooong season lol.

[n8_TN]

AJ Burnett has been garbage lately, and so are the Pirates. If this has any relevance to the Reds its going to be a loooong season lol.

100% agreed. Bucs got Burnett for nothing, so no surprise really if that's what they get out of him this year.

Greetings, BTW.

[Maker_84]

AJ Burnett has been garbage lately, and so are the Pirates. If this has any relevance to the Reds its going to be a loooong season lol.

The Pirates absolutely dominated the Reds last season.

[Southpaw]

This is a bad break (no pun intended) for the Pirates. Although they got Burnett for next to nothing, they were counting on him taking them over the .500 mark.

The Pirates absolutely dominated the Reds last season.

Most of this was due to the fact that the Reds could not hit Charlie Morton to save their lives. Here's his 2011 line against the Reds.

W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BF	WHIP	SO/9	SO/BB
3	0	1.000	0.93	4	4	2	1	29.0	20	3	3	1	7	1	13	3	112	0.931	4.0	1.86

Just pathetic.

Overall, the Pirates have a decent young team. Good enough for third place, but not much better.

[mlh1981]

Before this, I actually thought they had a shot of having a decent rotation, but in any case, the offense, outside of a few guys, is too dreadful to compete.

and like the other poster said, no sympathy for the fans. The Pirates are the tonic of humility for those blessed sports fans there.

[RedsfaninMT]

Amazing to me to look back and see that the Reds went 5-10 against the Pirates and 9-6 against the Astros, while also going 9-6 against the Cards and 8-8 against the Brewers. There always seems to be one team that gives the Reds fits each year, but they HAVE to do better against the Pirates and Astros - something like 20-10 (instead of 14-16 a la 2011) to really make a run at the division. Whip up on the bad teams, play .500 against winning teams, and you're bound for the playoffs.

Count the Cubs as a team they better dominate.

[mroby85]

The Pirates absolutely dominated the Reds last season.

I guess, if you would rather win more games head to head and finish 7 games behind someone. They also haven't finished above .500 for I don't even know how long, and the Reds added Latos, Marshall, Madson, and Ludwick to go along young guys like Mesoraco/Cozart coming in, and young guys who should continue to improve like Bruce and Stubbs.