John Burkett  
Starting Pitcher | Retired or Inactive Players

Pitching
Now he's the consumate ground-ball pitcher, which I love: ground balls never leave the stadium. He's unflappable on the mound, possessing the confidence to throw any of his offerings at any time in the count. Burkett performs extremely well in the late innings, but unfortunately his endurance prevents him from getting there very often. Burkett's bread and butter pitch is his slider. I've seen it baffle many a lefty. Burkett can get into trouble with walks, and there's concern about him being able to maintain his stuff over the whole season. His fastball is just average, and therefore he relies heavily on placing it in different parts of the strike zone or setting it up with his slider. Burkett accomplishes what might be thought impossible: he works aggressively with soft stuff. This man owns lefties. Put it this way, if your lineup is full of them, you might want rethink your lineup.

Defense & Hitting
Burkett uses a slide step to keep runners close. He tends to fall off slightly to the first-base side of the mound, making him vulnerable to bunts toward third base. He makes up for that minor flaw by being aggressive in fielding his position. Burkett is a surpisingly good hitting pitcher. And I'm not sure you can say this about a pitcher, but Burkett has some pop in his swing. Interesting sidenote, The Retired or Inactive Players have been known to use Burkett as a pinch-runner on occasion.

2010 Outlook
I really like what this kid brings to the table.

          -- Moostard Nyman
 

 

Year Team AS EN CO HR GF vL Hm Sc CL FB CU SI SL CB SC KN Age Exp Delivery Slot CH PH SP FA Nyman Rating
1998 SAN 58 87 85 83 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 73 97 54 0 0 31 9 Overhand Active 0 3 18 64 428
1999 SAN 58 87 91 87 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 73 97 54 0 0 32 10 Overhand Active 0 0 0 64 438
2000 SAN 57 86 96 88 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 79 97 54 0 0 33 11 Overhand Active 0 0 0 64 445
2001 SAN 60 84 99 88 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 79 97 54 0 0 34 12 Overhand Active 0 0 0 63 449
2002 SAN 58 87 99 89 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 79 97 54 0 0 35 13 Overhand Active 0 0 0 62 450
2003 SAN 56 87 99 89 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 79 97 54 0 0 36 14 Overhand Active 0 0 0 65 447
2004 SAN 52 86 99 88 67 62 55 57 60 62 0 79 97 59 0 0 37 15 Overhand Active 0 0 0 61 445
Ratings Delta   -4 -1   -1                   +5     +1 +1           -4 -2
History generated by Biorhythm v2.6.86 on Sun Nov 14 13:28:08 EST 2004

Data printed in red denotes that player was in the top two percent for that category and year. Blue data denotes membership to the bottom two percent.