For the most part, life in Yankeeland is quite grand.

For AJ Burnett, however, it is not so. Just take a look:

Coming into tonight’s game, for the month of June Burnett was 0-4, 10.35, with a slash line of .337/.422/.744/1.166 against, and eleven walks to just fourteen strikeouts. You can see the stats here.

This doesn’t include what he’s done tonight thus far–five walks, five hits and five runs in three innings.

The issue’s apparently gotten so bad, that it was Joe Girardi–and not acting pitching coach Mike Harkey–that came out to talk to Burnett while he struggled in the first inning.

Yankee fans are used to having to deal with Good AJ and Bad AJ, perhaps, but there’s a difference between having one or two implosive starts among many good ones, and having an 09 Wangnerian-run such as he is right now. Given the money and years the Yankees have tied up in Burnett, and his position, trying to figure out a way to get him out of his rut is an imperative.

If we are to be optimistic here, however, Yankee fans can take comfort is that the rest of the staff–Sabathia, Pettitte, Vazquez and Hughes–has been performing admirably of late, helping the Yankees to the best record in baseball. For the moment, the team can weather the Burnett storm.