What Do A.J. Burnett, Stephen Strasburg, and Jordan Zimmerman Have in Common?

A.J. Burnett has pitched pretty well the past two seasons.

No, it’s not that A.J. Burnett, Stephen Strasburg, and Jordan Zimmerman all will be playing for the same team, the Washington Nationals soon.  (God, we trust that doesn’t happen.)  But it is in fact something that each of them does for a living.  They each have kicked ass almost on the same level the past two seasons.

Rob Neyer took a look at the pitchers who have pitched over 300 innings the past two years.  And if you look closely, Jordan Zimmerman has put up numbers similar, but not quite as good as Burnett who has put up numbers almost as good as Strasburg.

Zimmerman has 6.9 WAR, Burnett 7.0, and Strasmas has 7.3.

It’s especially funny when looking at how Tim Lincecum compares to pitchers on this list.  Grant did a great job doing just that in this post.  My favorite part?  Here you go…

"Tim Lincecum is a part of the brand. The Giants are gettin’ the brand back together. Which means the Giants believe there’s value in never letting the franchise icons go until it’s absolutely clear there’s nothing left. It’s what the Yankees did with Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada. It’s what the Dodgers will do from now until the end of time. The big teams pay a premium for sentimentality because the image of a beloved player in another uniform disturbs the causal fans. And they’re the ones who have to buy a program and four shirts when they go out to the park twice a year.You remember when the Red Sox didn’t buy into this idea with Pedro Martinez, right? They let him walk, and everything went to hell after that. Except for the World Series they won three years later. Oh, and the compensation pick they got for Martinez was used on Clay Buchholz, who’s a huge reason the Red Sox are in the World Series again"

The next time someone in your favorite bar says Burnett didn’t get it done.  Stand up.  Rip the sleeves off your Free Shirt Friday A.J. Burnett shirt and start spewing whatever you can recall from this information.  Burnett has kept lofty company the past two years.

And then sit down and order a double shot of tequila.  Or Amaretto.  Whatever it is that you drink.  You deserve it.