TAMPA — It was hidden deep inside A.J. Burnett’s head, but something positive seeped out of last season’s pitching nightmare.
“Last year it really hit me how important I am to this team,” Burnett said yesterday on the way out of George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“I am not saying that we didn’t win the World Series because of me, but I know if I had been right, it would have been a lot easier chore. I never knew how important I was to a team. That’s not being cocky or arrogant, it’s the way it is. I mean, what did I do to help?”
Nothing was easy for Burnett a year ago, when he went 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA, was dropped from the ALDS rotation against the Twins and gave up a ALCS-changing homer to Texas’ Bengie Molina in Game 4.
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Now in the third year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal, the 34-year-old Burnett understands the spotlight will be on his every move this spring and knows the Yankees need a big rebound season from him in order to contend for a postseason spot — because what’s behind him in the fourth and fifth spots is very questionable.
“I get it,” said Burnett, who is slated for an 8:30 a.m. bullpen session this morning. “I am fine with that and I understand that. I know that 2009 was the good part and last year was the complete opposite.”
Burnett’s work with his third pitching coach in four years — Larry Rothschild — began at Burnett’s Maryland home after Christmas. The first day they talked for four hours getting to know each other. The next, Rothschild made an adjustment with the right-handed Burnett’s landing leg.
“My leg should be going down, not swinging,” said Burnett, whose breaking ball flattened out and fastball lost velocity when the leg had too much swing in it. “I have to make sure it’s going down.”
Yankees manager Joe Girardi talked about Burnett’s heart as a main reason the manager believes Burnett can rebound from a season he deleted from the memory chip quickly.
“An hour after it was over,” Burnett said when asked how long it took him to forget about the nightmare season in which he punched a clubhouse door and surfaced late in the season to pitch against the Orioles with an unexplained black eye.
“I get a lot of support from my family. My wife and kids support me more than anybody, but I have also gotten a lot of support from New York Yankee fans in New York and other places.”
Girardi has two reasons to believe Burnett will bounce back.
“I have seen what he can do and I know his heart,” Girardi said. “I know how disappointed he was with some of his starts last year. I saw how it affected him. I saw how much he wants it.
“He has made adjustments with Larry Rothschild already. I know how much A.J. cares about this organization, and he cares about the teammates in that room. I have a feeling in my gut that he is going to have a good season.”
george.king@nypost.com