Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Mike Burrows Heating Up

After a slow start at the Triple-A level highly touted Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Mike Burrows is starting to find his form

Friday night one of the top pitching prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system toed the rubber for Triple-A Indianapolis. This pitcher was righty Mike Burrows, who set the tone in a 3-2 victory for the Indianapolis Indians.

Burrows pitched 5 scoreless innings for the Indians on Friday night. He allowed four hits, walked a batter and struck out six. Burrows had great command in the start, hitting his spots and throwing 70% of his 74 pitches for strikes.

This was the 10th appearances, eighth start, for Burrows since being promoted to Triple-A. Following the outing, he now owns a 4.31 ERA and has struck out 40 batters in 39.2 innings pitched with the Indians. These stats, however, do not tell the whole story.

After a slow start at the Triple-A level, Burrows is starting to round into form. Following his strong start on Friday night Burrows owns a 2.51 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched in August. His turnaround dates back to late July, when Burrows allowed just 2 runs in 9.1 innings pitched across his final three outings of the month.

After a slow start following his promotion to Indianapolis, Burrows now owns a 2.28 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched across his last six outings. Burrows has walked seven batters and struck out 25 across these 23.2 innings pitched. He’s allowed 17 hits and just three home runs during this stretch.

Entering the season there were some questions on if the future for Burrows would be in the starting rotation of the bullpen. To make it as a starting pitcher Burrows was going to need to add a third pitch. Not only has he done that with the addition of a changeup this season, but it has quickly become a plus a pitch.

With the addition of a plus changeup, and the graduation of Roansy Contreras, Burrows has become arguably the top pitching prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. He is started to pitch as such at Triple-A Indianapolis, and he could be setting himself up to make a start or two in the majors in September.