Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett has endured pitching through pain in his career and is no stranger to it. On Thursday night, Burnett was rocked yet again in the second half for seven earned runs in just 4.1 innings pitched. Burnett is historically a first-half pitcher, but something serious may be wrong with Burnett's elbow. It was one thing for Burnett to pitch through a hernia last year, but this may be something that even he cannot overcome.

MLB.com's Tom Singer reported on Burnett's injury, and he quoted Burnett discussing his options. Burnett said,

"It's either the ulnar ligament or the flexor tendon. I'm prepared for both. Either way, I'm not going to be bothered by the result. I'm not coming out of a game unless I can't pick up the ball."

In the first half of the season, Burnett was tremendous and pitched himself to a 2.11 ERA and looked like an ace. He did that while passing the likes of Sandy Koufax, Dennis Eckersley, Luis Tiant, and Andy Pettitte among others on the all-time MLB strikeout list. Burnett's last strikeout on Thursday is his 2,484th career strikeout, which puts him two behind yet another Hall of Famer, Don Drysdale, for 32nd place.

It appears that Burnett wants to pitch through this thing if he is able to. He is going to retire after this year, so he may just go out and give it all he can regardless of the diagnosis. Burnett has already ruled out surgery, but he will not put his guys in any harm or danger as far as winning goes. Burnett said he will not entertain the thought of returning "if I can't throw, or if I'm throwing what I was throwing the other night. I can't do it to these guys."

Burnett said this is something he has been dealing with for some time now. In fact, he said he has been dealing with discomfort in his pitching elbow for about 10 years. The biggest impression that Burnett left came when he said, "Everybody goes through stuff, especially pitchers, but it hasn't been anything to worry about. I was doing my thing, going about my business -- until the other night."

Burnett has not been the same since the All-Star Break, and on Thursday night, it appeared as if his elbow may be telling him it is his time to hang it up.

If this the end Burnett's career, it has been a pleasure seeing him pitch. He was not always lights-out or dominant, but he typically gave great starts night in and night out. Burnett has a career 3.99 ERA with a record of 163-155. Burnett's FIP, which is used to adjust his ERA to where it would be based on Major League averages, is 3.85.

Burnett had a solid career -- again, saying this hypothetically if he is done -- especially with striking out as many batters as he did because he passed quite a few reputable baseball names, especially Koufax, who was named to Major League Baseball's Franchise Four team for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.

Essentially, Burnett will return if he feels he can go out for each start and just deal with the pain -- after he gets some rest from the time he will spend on the 15-day disabled list. However, if Burnett cannot endure the pain, he is not going to jeapordize his teammates and their chances at doing great things this year. The Pirates could go out and try to acquire another starter, but that player will now have to clear waivers.

Hopefully, this is not the end of the line for Burnett, especially for the Pirates. If it is, he was one of the better pitchers of the modern era. He is not, though, in the upper echelon of the great pitchers over the course of the past 20 years or so. There are many names out there that are better. However, with the names Burnett passed on the all-time strikeout list, he may end up in Cooperstown one day.

Burnett will have an MRI Monday in Pittsburgh to determine the status of his elbow. It is either going to be inflammation or damage to his elbow. Regardless, Burnett will try to battle through whatever the diagnosis is. That is just another testament to the kind of competitor Burnett has been in his storied career.