Sean Burnett is Furious and Frustrated at His Demotion

What do you get for throwing 11 and 1/3 scoreless innings while only giving up five hits in spring training? If you're Sean Burnett, you get a demotion to AAA Indianapolis.

He's none too pleased:

"I'm furious, frustrated," Burnett said. "I threw the [stuffing] out of the ball and I thought maybe I had a chance, but it's a numbers thing right now."

Sounds like a case of out of sight, out of mind. Burnett missed the 2005 season after Tommy John surgery, and pitched in Indianapolis during 2006. Tom Gorzelanny, meanwhile, actually pitched in Pittsburgh in '06, and he didn't pitch too bad. He did, however, have a horrendous spring after giving up beer for lent:

Gorzelanny this spring has allowed 17 hits, 11 walks and 16 earned runs in 15 innings. But the Pirates prefer to look at his 3.25 earned run average after the All-Star break last season. "We saw a lot of very positive things when he came to the big leagues last year," manager Jim Tracy said. "He had some very special moments." That didn't lessen Burnett's displeasure. "I thought it would be a competition and may the best guy win," Burnett said. "Unfortunately in this business, that's not how it works. It's definitely tough knowing you outpitched somebody or the talent level's the same and it was your job three years ago."

I could take the easy way out and advise that Burnett drink some more ... but perhaps with three lefties already in the rotation (Zach Duke, Pat Maholm, and Gorzelanny), maybe Burnett should pitch with his other arm for a faster track back to the big club.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Beer Fuels Tom Gorzelanny