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Sample size is an important thing because relying on too small of a sample can lead you to bad conclusions.  For example, the Yankees seem to think that Chan Ho Park's pitching in the World Series last year showed he could be a very good reliever, but I would be willing to bet he won't be on the roster by July 1st. 

Along those lines, the argument seems to be that AJ Burnett can't work with Jorge Posada.  That conclusion was based on 16 starts last year where Burnett put up a 4.96 ERA with Posada catching.  It became such an issue, that the Yankees actually benched Posada for the playoffs last year when Burnett was pitching.  Yet AJ racked up a 5.27 ERA in his 5 playoff starts with Molina catching.

So please excuse me if I skip the hype surrounding tonight's start and the decision to have Posada catch AJ.  Yes, the results haven't been good in the past, but I don't think that has anything to do with Posada.  I think Joel Sherman captured the problem with AJ in this passage today:

Burnett presents so many issues. He essentially does everything possible to downgrade what pitching coach Dave Eiland estimates is top-three stuff among all starters in baseball.

Burnett walks too many. He does not hold runners well. He became more susceptible to the long ball last year. And 244 starts into his career, Burnett still has not mastered the ability to let go of a bad pitch or a bad at-bat, and focus wholly on the next hitter. And so he is not very good at limiting damage.

Now, some catchers might be more helpful in getting AJ to relax and pitch, but ultimately it comes down to him and him alone.  That is what I am going to be interested to see tonight.  Does the fact that Burnett pitched in the playoffs and won a World Series translate into a better/calmer presence n the mound?  Or, will we see the typical AJ start where he is dominant for every inning except one and that one inning badly hurts him?

Tune in tonight as the Yankees try and dig out of last place.