Biographical

Portrait of John Burkett

John Burkett PGiants

Giants Player Cards | Giants Team Audit | Giants Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years G IP W L SV ERA WARP
17 445 2648.3 166 136 1 4.31 43.9
Birth Date11-28-1964
Height6' 3"
Weight215 lbs
Age59 years, 4 months, 0 days
BatsR
ThrowsR
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

Historical (past-seasons) WARP is now based on DRA..
cFIP and DRA are not available on a by-team basis and display as zeroes(0). See TOT line for season totals of these stats.
Multiple stints are are currently shownClick to hide.
YEAR Team Lg G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA- WARP
1987 SFN MLB 3 0 6.0 0 0 0 7 3 5 2 102 10.5 4.5 3.0 7.5 0% .294 1.67 7.53 4.50 97 3.73 78.4 0.1
1990 SFN MLB 33 32 204.0 14 7 1 201 61 118 18 102 8.9 2.7 0.8 5.2 0% .279 1.28 3.75 3.79 95 3.72 86.5 3.5
1991 SFN MLB 36 34 206.7 12 11 0 223 60 131 19 99 9.7 2.6 0.8 5.7 0% .304 1.37 3.73 4.18 92 4.06 94.1 2.9
1992 SFN MLB 32 32 189.7 13 9 0 194 45 107 13 100 9.2 2.1 0.6 5.1 0% .287 1.26 3.31 3.84 93 3.38 82.0 3.7
1993 SFN MLB 34 34 231.7 22 7 0 224 40 145 18 98 8.7 1.6 0.7 5.6 0% .283 1.14 3.39 3.65 84 3.25 70.1 6.2
1994 SFN MLB 25 25 159.3 6 8 0 176 36 85 14 96 9.9 2.0 0.8 4.8 0% .303 1.33 3.94 3.62 95 4.35 87.8 2.7
1995 FLO MLB 30 30 188.3 14 14 0 208 57 126 22 101 9.9 2.7 1.1 6.0 0% .311 1.41 4.25 4.30 92 4.36 89.3 3.1
1996 FLO 0 24 24 154.0 6 10 0 154 42 108 15 101 9.0 2.5 0.9 6.3 0% .291 1.27 3.83 4.32 87 3.92 77.3 3.6
1996 TEX 0 10 10 68.7 5 2 0 75 16 47 4 101 9.8 2.1 0.5 6.2 0% .323 1.33 3.42 4.06 93 5.22 103.1 0.7
1997 TEX MLB 30 30 189.3 9 12 0 240 30 139 20 106 11.4 1.4 1.0 6.6 0% .346 1.43 3.58 4.56 92 4.86 101.1 2.1
1998 TEX MLB 32 32 195.0 9 13 0 230 46 131 19 107 10.6 2.1 0.9 6.0 0% .325 1.42 3.97 5.68 98 5.37 111.2 1.1
1999 TEX MLB 30 25 147.3 9 8 0 184 46 96 18 104 11.2 2.8 1.1 5.9 0% .337 1.56 4.47 5.62 94 5.69 110.6 0.9
2000 ATL MLB 31 22 134.3 10 6 0 162 51 110 13 110 10.9 3.4 0.9 7.4 0% .351 1.59 3.90 4.89 86 3.93 75.7 3.2
2001 ATL MLB 34 34 219.3 12 12 0 187 70 187 17 98 7.7 2.9 0.7 7.7 0% .273 1.17 3.34 3.04 84 2.99 62.0 6.8
2002 BOS MLB 29 29 173.0 13 8 0 199 50 124 25 97 10.4 2.6 1.3 6.5 0% .315 1.44 4.50 4.53 95 4.39 94.3 2.3
2003 BOS MLB 32 30 181.7 12 9 0 202 47 107 20 103 10.0 2.3 1.0 5.3 0% .302 1.37 4.27 5.15 100 5.21 109.2 1.0
1996 TOT MLB 34 34 222.7 11 12 0 229 58 155 19 101 9.3 2.3 0.8 6.3 0% .000 1.29 3.70 4.24 89 4.32 85.3 4.2
CareerMLB4454232648.31661361286670017662571019.72.40.96.048%.3071.353.844.31924.2289.243.9

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shownClick to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA-
1983 GRF Rk PIO 13 9 50.3 2 6 0 73 30 38 1 13.1 5.4 0.2 6.8 0% .000 2.05 4.78 6.26 0 0.00 0.0
1986 FRE A+ CLF 4 4 24.7 0 3 0 34 8 14 2 12.4 2.9 0.7 5.1 0% .000 1.70 4.20 5.47 0 0.00 0.0
1987 SFN MLB NL 3 0 6.0 0 0 0 7 3 5 2 102 10.5 4.5 3.0 7.5 0% .294 1.67 7.53 4.50 97 3.73 78.4
1990 SFN MLB NL 33 32 204.0 14 7 1 201 61 118 18 102 8.9 2.7 0.8 5.2 0% .279 1.28 3.75 3.79 95 3.72 86.5
1990 PHX AAA PCL 3 3 23.0 2 1 0 18 3 9 2 7.0 1.2 0.8 3.5 0% .000 0.91 4.31 2.74 0 0.00 0.0
1991 SFN MLB NL 36 34 206.7 12 11 0 223 60 131 19 99 9.7 2.6 0.8 5.7 0% .304 1.37 3.73 4.18 92 4.06 94.1
1992 SFN MLB NL 32 32 189.7 13 9 0 194 45 107 13 100 9.2 2.1 0.6 5.1 0% .287 1.26 3.31 3.84 93 3.38 82.0
1993 SFN MLB NL 34 34 231.7 22 7 0 224 40 145 18 98 8.7 1.6 0.7 5.6 0% .283 1.14 3.39 3.65 84 3.25 70.1
1994 SFN MLB NL 25 25 159.3 6 8 0 176 36 85 14 96 9.9 2.0 0.8 4.8 0% .303 1.33 3.94 3.62 95 4.35 87.8
1995 FLO MLB NL 30 30 188.3 14 14 0 208 57 126 22 101 9.9 2.7 1.1 6.0 0% .311 1.41 4.25 4.30 92 4.36 89.3
1996 FLO MLB NL 24 24 154.0 6 10 0 154 42 108 15 101 9.0 2.5 0.9 6.3 0% .291 1.27 3.83 4.32 87 3.92 77.3
1996 TEX MLB AL 10 10 68.7 5 2 0 75 16 47 4 101 9.8 2.1 0.5 6.2 0% .323 1.33 3.42 4.06 93 5.22 103.1
1997 TEX MLB AL 30 30 189.3 9 12 0 240 30 139 20 106 11.4 1.4 1.0 6.6 0% .346 1.43 3.58 4.56 92 4.86 101.1
1997 OKL AAA AA 1 1 5.0 1 0 0 6 2 3 1 10.8 3.6 1.8 5.4 0% .294 1.60 5.55 3.60 0 0.00 0.0
1998 TEX MLB AL 32 32 195.0 9 13 0 230 46 131 19 107 10.6 2.1 0.9 6.0 0% .325 1.42 3.97 5.68 98 5.37 111.2
1999 TEX MLB AL 30 25 147.3 9 8 0 184 46 96 18 104 11.2 2.8 1.1 5.9 0% .337 1.56 4.47 5.62 94 5.69 110.6
1999 TUL AA TXS 2 2 6.7 0 1 0 7 3 3 0 9.4 4.0 0.0 4.0 0% -1.167 1.49 3.84 2.69 0 0.00 0.0
2000 ATL MLB NL 31 22 134.3 10 6 0 162 51 110 13 110 10.9 3.4 0.9 7.4 0% .351 1.59 3.90 4.89 86 3.93 75.7
2001 ATL MLB NL 34 34 219.3 12 12 0 187 70 187 17 98 7.7 2.9 0.7 7.7 0% .273 1.17 3.34 3.04 84 2.99 62.0
2002 BOS MLB AL 29 29 173.0 13 8 0 199 50 124 25 97 10.4 2.6 1.3 6.5 0% .315 1.44 4.50 4.53 95 4.39 94.3
2002 PAW AAA INT 1 1 2.3 0 1 0 4 1 2 0 15.7 3.9 0.0 7.8 0% .500 2.17 2.65 11.74 0 0.00 0.0
2003 BOS MLB AL 32 30 181.7 12 9 0 202 47 107 20 103 10.0 2.3 1.0 5.3 0% .302 1.37 4.27 5.15 100 5.21 109.2

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr%

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2002-03-21 2002-04-20 15-DL 30 14 Right Shoulder Inflammation -
2001-07-30 2001-08-04 DTD 5 4 - General Medical Illness - -
2000-04-23 2000-04-29 DTD 6 5 Right Shoulder Inflammation - -
1999-04-21 1999-05-09 15-DL 18 16 Right Shoulder Inflammation Bursitis - -
1998-07-26 1998-07-31 DTD 5 4 - Neck Stiffness - -
1997-08-05 1997-08-31 15-DL 26 26 Right Shoulder Fatigue - -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2003 BOS $5,500,000
2002 BOS $5,500,000
2001 ATL $1,750,000
2000 ATL $750,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
4 yrPrevious$13,500,000
4 yrTotal$13,500,000

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
13 y 30 dTommy Tanzer

Details
  • retired after 03
  • 2 year/$11M (02-03) ($3M deferred) 02:$5.5M, 03:$5.5M+additional $1M in games started, innings pitched bonuses signed as a free agent from ATL 12/01
  • 1 year/$1.75M (01)

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT W L SV G GS IP H BB SO HR BABIP WHIP ERA DRA VORP WARP
Weighted Mean?????0.0?00?.0000.000.00?0.00.0

Comparable Players (Similarity Index )

Rank Score Name Year Run Average Trend

BP Annual Player Comments

YearComment
2004 With the expiration of his two-year, $11 million deal, Burkett may retire, perhaps to energize the floundering Pro Bowlers' Tour. A large subplot of Boston's post-season was how the team could delay, or avoid, Burkett's turn in the rotation. Ironically, the Sox ended up winning both of his starts (rallying after he had left), each time setting up a winner-take-all game the next day. A serious upgrade here was the club's largest need heading into the off-season. Curt Schilling will do.
2003 Burkett pitched well for most of the year. His promised snub of the All-Star game (in protest of Czar Bud’s various shenanigans) was not entirely ridiculous when it was first announced. Burkett had a 3.77 ERA through the end of July and a 2.76 ERA in September; in between fell a disastrous August, where he got pasted for 49 hits and 34 runs in 28 innings. While his career has been erratic, Burkett may yet have one more good season left in him.
2002 The multimillion-dollar question is whether Burkett was really something special in 2001. There are a lot of similarities between his 2000 and 2001 translations in terms of rate stats, so he was arguably just healthier. Mostly, you can explain his 2001 as the result of his being the beneficiary of the best bullpen support of any starter in baseball, seeing only two of the 23 runners he left for his relievers score. After some confusion, he really did sign a two-year deal with the Red Sox.
2001 He wasn't good enough to make the Devil Rays' rotation in the spring, so naturally he went to Pitcher Heaven and held his own for most of the season. He did his best work as part of the regular rotation: six good starts, averaging six innings with an ERA of 2.27 and a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. No fantasy value, though.
2000 Last year we predicted that Burkett would bounce back to his usual league-average self, and he did...eventually. Specifically, he was an above average pitcher June through September, but that was only after a disastrous April and May in which he allowed more than a run per inning. Maybe I'm refusing to learn from past mistakes, but I'm once again going to predict improvement for Burkett. All signs are that his early-season velocity problems, which were making his off-speed pitches ineffective, have been fixed. His fastball was in the high 80s by August. The prediction goes double since Burkett won’t be back with the Rangers. His ERA in Arlington, 1997-99: 6.12; outside Arlington: 4.41.
1999 Prior to '98, could have been nicknamed "Mr. Average". From 1993 to 1997, Burkett made at least 30 starts each year, and his Support Neutral Winning Percentage ranged from a low of .504 to a high of .559. Last year all that changed, as he gave up the most earned runs in the AL and had the highest ERA in Rangers history (among qualifiers). What happened? I don't know. But here are a couple of reasons why I think he'll bounce back this year: (1) His ERA was much higher than you'd expect from his peripheral stats. (2) He was a lot better after the All-Star break than before.
1998 His ERA was the highest of his career, but that was largely due to The Ballpark, as the translated ERA figures show. His home/road split was 5.59/3.75. Otherwise it was typical Burkett: lots of hits, good control, hope for the double play. His strikeout ratios have been climbing over the years, and he might be more effective now than ever.
1997 Burkett is finally with Texas, who traded for him after the ’94 season and let him go as a free agent before the next season started. He pitched well after joining the Rangers and recorded the only playoff win in their history.
1996  Burkett was forced to pitch as the Marlins #2 or #3 starter all last season, but he now becomes possibly the best #5 starter in baseball. He gives up too many hits to ever be an All-Star pitcher, but he has good control and in six years in the majors he has never gone on the DL.

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BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2011-06-29 13:30:00 (link to chat)Who are your favorite players to deal with, both past or present?
(Gerald from Savannah)
Geez. That's a tough one because there are so many good guys I have dealt with in 24 years of covering baseball. I hate to leave people out but some of my favorites would have to include Sean Casey, John Burkett, Jay Bell, Craig Wilson, Jason Schmidt, Michael Barrett from the past. From the present: Jason Bay, Cole Hamels, Carlos Pena, Scott Rolen, Brandon Phillips, Nyjer Morgan, Neil Walker, Joel Hanrahan, Adam Jones, Max Scherzer, Don Kelly, Chris Perez, Adam Dunn, Matt Capps, Torii Hunter, Kurt Suzuki, Ian Kinsler. (John Perrotto)


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