Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects 2021 Recap: Mike Burrows

Following a strong season at High-A Greensboro, Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Mike Burrows put together a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League

There may not be a more overlooked and underrated pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system than Mike Burrows. The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher has the stuff needed to be a quality starting pitcher for the Pirates, and, if starting would happen to not work out, a dominant reliever.

During the 2021 season Burrows made his first appearance at the High-A level. Burrows was limited due to injury, making just 13 starts for the Greensboro Grasshoppers. While Burrows was limited to just 49 innings and 13 starts, he took advantage of the opportunities he was given.

Burrows posted a strong 2.20 ERA and 32.8 FIP in his 49 innings pitched. The righty walked 10.4% of batters faced, which is higher than you would like to see, but he countered this with a very strong 34.2% strikeout rate. He also did a great job limiting the home run ball allowing just 3 home runs which comes out to a 0.55 HR/9 rate.

One area you would like to see Burrows improve moving forward are his ground ball and fly ball rates. His ground ball rate in 2021 was just 29.7%, which was a career low, while his fly ball rate was a career high 49.5%. Honestly, it is a slight surprise that Burrows did not have bigger issues with the home run ball due to this discrepancy. Moving forward, this is something Burrows and the Pittsburgh Pirates will likely look to improve.

Following his strong season with the Grasshoppers, Burrows pitched this fall with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. Burrows turned in his final AFL start on Wednesday and was dominant in the start.

Burrows allowed just 1 hit to go with a walk and 6 strikeouts in 3 scoreless innings of work in his final start of the fall. With this outing Burrows finished his AFL season by allowing 13 hits, 2 home runs, walking 5, and striking out 16 batters in 15.1 innings pitched. All of this resulted in Burrows posting a strong 3.52 ERA.

FanGraphs gives Burrows’s fastball and future value of 50, while his curveball has a FV of 55. With two strong pitches, as mentioned above, Burrows already has the tools needed to be a dominant reliever when he reaches the Majors. If he can develop a third pitch, then he will be a strong starting pitcher. Regardless, Burrows has a bright future ahead with the Pittsburgh Pirates.