Pat Burrell: Innocent of all charges

To the surprise of critics, there have been no signs of collapse in Pat Burrell’s game this season. The only question now is whether his wrist will fail him. (AP Photo)

Obviously, Brett Myers has been the nicest surprise in the Phillies starting rotation, finally living up to his first-round promise. But overall I’d say Pat Burrell’s steady season with the lumber is the nicest story thus far.

I buried “the Bat” this winter, writing three or four posts on the dangers of keeping his contract. After a wretched 2003 and sub-par 2004, I was convinced the writing was on the wall. His mechanics were terrible. He was pulling off the ball. He was cooked for sure.

Burrell wasn't without his supporters, however, as fellow Phils blogger and attorney at law Mike Berquist defended the franchise slugger as we engaged in a mock-trial. As evidence, I had stats on my side. Now, the stats are on his.

The difference: In spring, he entered camp with a new approach. He wasn’t going to think anymore. He was going to hack. And hack he has.

Aside from one stretch in late April, Burrell has earned every cent of his $7.25 million, named NL player of the week twice, the first Phillie that’s done it since Von Hayes in 1986. He still looks terrible at the plate, but so what.

Surprisingly, the ever-underrated Bobby Abreu has received most accolades, otherwise Burrell would be the one getting the push for all-star votes. Rest assured they're both getting my vote.

In terms of runs created (RC)*, he has 33, among the league leaders in that category and tied with the much ballyhooed Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins.

This winter I’m embarrassed to admit I made a wager, betting Burrell would finish with fewer runs created than Raul Mondesi of Atlanta. Mondesi so far has 10.

Burrell is certainly a big reason why the Phils are still hanging on, but suddenly there’s concern. From Ken Mandel of mlb.com yesterday:

It didn't look good at all when Pat Burrell lost his bat on a swing in the sixth inning of Wednesday's 8-5 win over the Marlins.

It looked worse when he grabbed his wrist and grimaced, and still worse when Endy Chavez replaced him in the bottom of the sixth.

Manuel said taking Burrell out was a precaution, and the skipper expected him to be ready for Friday's game in Atlanta.

"It's fine," said Burrell. "I'm not going to overreact. That's for [the media].”

If blogs represent media, than this blogger is about to overreact. I’m pretty scared about this. If Burrell goes down, any chance at the post-season could be dashed.

I want to know your thoughts on Burrell and the ongoing situation with his wrist. More than anything, I want to know if you counted him out as I did, or that his comeback comes as no surprise.

*Runs Created. Invented by Bill James, RC is a very good measure of the number of runs a batter truly contributed to his team’s offense. The basic formula for RC is OBP*TB, but it has evolved into over fourteen different versions. The Hardball Times uses the most complicated version, which includes the impact of hitting well with runners in scoring position, and is adjusted for ballpark impact.

Phillies blog note:
After some minor technical setbacks, Tom Goodman is back writing on Swing and a Miss this morning. Check him out.

Comments

[Oisin]

I was confident that Pat Burrell could build on last year for one reason - his strong start last season by all accounts reflected the coaching and suggestions of manuel during spring training. So I assumed if manuel was manager, his continued presence would reflect well on burrell's hitting if burrell was starting to slump.

However, I have not been confident about the wrist. As per usual, I can't say for sure because I've not seen pat swinging this year, but Bill Conlin's articles last year suggesting that his follow through were putting strain on the wrist were persuasive. When burrell himself says that the tendon is still 'slipping out of its sheath' but that it just doesn't hurt, you have to think that every swing is going to do long term damage. I'm not a doctor, but a) it shouldn't be happening and b) if it is happening, surely it's putting more strain on the tendon itself.

[J. Weitzel]

Thanks for the comments, Oisin - I added a link to your blog BTW, and thanks for linking to mine.

[Oisin]

I saw that you'd included the link jason - got very giddy about it, truth be told, since this is all virgin territory for me! It'll be a while before it looks anyway nice, but i'm hoping to post some decent content as apart from lunchtime rants in the next couple of weeks (provided my fiance doesn't get hacked off with me spending even *more* time on the computer!)

[dr. cheeks]

i think pat's been ****** too much. that helped him develop the wrist strength but sadly left him more open to injury.

honestly, i'm going to have to see a full season of pat doing what we all thought he would do before i proclaim he's back. we've been up and down on this guy so much in such a short amount of time. let's ease up and let him do what he can.

[theragtopguy]

I am also worried about Pat's wrist. I guess it depends how much pain the man can tolerate. He's obviously much more relaxed at the plate these days and it shows. Hopefully he can keep it going.

Everybody have a nice Memorial Day weekend!

[Bill]

Pat's put up good cumulative numbers this year, but almost all of it has been from 2 hot stretches (early April and recently). Look at his numbers on a week by week basis. He has poor hitting mechanics with a tendency to lunge. Look at the picture attached to the blog entry which shows his "collapsing back leg." I hope I am wrong, but I don't ever see Burrell being the star player we had expected after 2002.