Burnett well along on road to recovery

03/04/2006
FT. MYERS -- Pirates lefty Sean Burnett made an important pit stop on Saturday on his long road to recovery from elbow and shoulder surgeries.
Pitching in a competitive environment for the first time since Aug. 23, 2004, Burnett held the Red Sox scoreless on one hit in his lone inning of work. He mixed in his sinking fastball, curve, slider and changeup among the 12 pitches he threw in the game before heading to the bullpen for another 15-18 tosses.
"Everything went well, and I thought I threw the ball well," said Burnett. "I missed a few pitches, but it seemed like everything was working. If I missed, it was down."
For Burnett, the performance wasn't as important as the way his elbow and shoulder responded during his bullpen sessions and his inning of work.
"That's probably the best I felt all spring," said Burnett. "I don't know if adrenaline is the best medication or not, but there was no soreness, no tightness, nothing. It felt 100 percent."
It wasn't all that long ago that Burnett was the jewel of the Pittsburgh farm system. He was a can't-miss prospect, lauded in much the same way that Zach Duke and Paul Maholm are now.
A 2000 first-round pick taken 19th overall by the Pirates out of Wellington (Fla.) High School, Burnett went 26-13 in his first three professional seasons and was selected as the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year in both 2001 and 2002. In 2003, Burnett went 14-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 27 starts with Double-A Altoona and was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year.
By the middle of the 2004 campaign, Burnett was in the big leagues displaying the kind of poise and command of his pitches that scouts had raved about for years. After dropping his first two decisions with the Pirates, Burnett became the first Pittsburgh rookie since Mike Dunne in 1987 to win five straight starts. Included among those wins was a shutout against the Montreal Expos at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
Only 21 years old at the time, Burnett had arrived, and it looked as though he'd be a mainstay of the Pittsburgh rotation for many years to come.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long.
Burnett's elbow had been bothering him since the end his 2002 season at Lynchburg, and he was shut down for the 2003 Double-A playoffs because of pain in the elbow. When the problem persisted in 2004, Burnett didn't say anything to the team about it because he was determined to make the most of his first big-league opportunity, pain or no pain. But after allowing 26 earned runs in 22 innings over his final five starts, including a disastrous outing on Aug. 21 against the St. Louis Cardinals, Burnett could no longer keep the injury to himself.
"I knew I wasn't healthy," said Burnett. "I think it was kind of hidden because I was doing good. You want to keep your mouth shut and just go out there and keep pitching and keep pitching. But it got to the point where I couldn't compete any more. I was hurting the team and making myself worse."
Burnett underwent reconstructive elbow surgery on Sept. 22, 2004, and was back on the mound in time for the team's January minicamp. But just as it seemed that Burnett would be ready for a Minor League rehab assignment, his shoulder began to give him problems.
"I was a bullpen [outing] away from going to pitch in games last year, and, all of a sudden, my shoulder started barking," said Burnett. "I have no idea how I hurt my shoulder. I never had a shoulder problem in my life."
On May 24, 2005, Burnett went back under the knife again. Although the surgery ended any hopes he had of pitching again last season, Burnett now considers the injury a blessing in disguise.
"Maybe it was an act of God to give my elbow more time," said "Maybe that's why it feels so good now, because of those extra three or four months off."
Blessing or not, Burnett admits that it was very difficult to be in uniform at PNC Park every day last season, knowing that he had no chance to compete.
"It's mentally hard on you to be in the training room every day," said Burnett. "I went to the ballpark every single day at noon, two or three hours before the guys were there, and I knew I had no chance at playing. It's a grind."
Burnett finally returned to the mound this past January during the team's annual minicamp. He's since taken his regular turns during bullpen sessions with no setbacks. In fact, Burnett says he feels better than he has in years.
"Everything feels loose now," said Burnett. "It's kind of awkward, because that's not how it was a year and a half back."
Because of Burnett's medical history, the team is closely monitoring his progress with guarded optimism.
"We're just going to gradually walk into this situation. We're not going to race into it," said manager Jim Tracy. "We're very well aware of what has taken place as far as his medical history over the last year. There's not a major hurry here."
Coming into camp, the Bucs planned to have Burnett begin the season at Triple-A Indianapolis so that he could work off a year's worth of rust. Those plans were altered last week. With Kip Wells expected to be sidelined for at least two months because of a blood clot, there are now two openings in Pittsburgh's starting rotation. Burnett, if he can prove that he is completely healthy, is legitimately in the mix for a spot on the big-league staff.
"A lot of people were saying I had to start in Triple-A," said Burnett. "But I knew I was working hard enough, and I felt good enough.
"It's big, since Kip did go down, to have my name brought up and maybe have a shot of breaking camp."
Although the road from Ft. Myers to Pittsburgh is a long one, Burnett finally feels like he has his career back in gear.
"Today might have been more exciting to me than my big-league debut," Burnett said. "I know it's just a Spring Training game, but it's a big game for me just to get out there and get in the flow of things again."

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/