Players talk about “home town discounts” all the time, but rarely has it borne itself out as dramatically as AJ Burnett’s return to Pittsburgh; he spent one ugly year in Philadelphia and then turned his nose up at $12-13 million dollars when it came time to decide on his player option. In the same breath, he had his agent call the Pirates and came back to pitch for the Bucs for $8.5 million. The money didn’t matter; the chance to win did.
Burnett’s been excellent thus far in 2015, offsetting his loss in velocity and strikeouts with a ton of ground balls. The Phillies are countering with Sean O’Sullivan, who’s had an alarmingly long career for a pitcher that I’ve literally never heard of. This is his Baseball Reference page, which speaks for itself.
First pitch tonight is at 7:05. If the Pirates don’t get Burnett some runs tonight, it’s safe to assume they never will.
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
