3 prospects the Pirates should have opened the year with on their roster

2. Mike Burrows

Mike Burrows’ development was severely delayed by Tommy John surgery. Entering 2023, he was seen as a potential mid-season rotation reinforcement, as he was added to the 40-man roster that offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, but undergoing surgery just two starts into the season put everything on hold for the right-hander. However, he returned to action during the second half of last year, and is now another year removed from surgery.

Burrows had some up-and-down numbers at Indy last year, working to a 4.06 ERA, 4.95 FIP, and 1.41 WHIP. He struck out batters at an above-average 26.6% rate with a 31.7% whiff percentage. He also had a respectable 8.9% walk rate. But most of Burrows’ struggles came from the long ball, as he allowed homers at a 1.67-per-9 innings ratio. However, an 18.9% HR:FB ratio indicates some bad luck played a role in Burrows’ struggles to keep the ball in the park.

Burrows also made his MLB debut during the last week of the season, pitching 3.1 innings, while only allowing one earned run. His four-seam fastball sat 94-95 MPH with above-average induced vertical and horizontal break. He’ll also work with a curveball, slider, and changeup. While his walk rate was up slightly last year, he had a sub-8% walk rate in 2022.

Burrows opening the year on the Major League roster could have taken some pressure off of Carmen Mlodzinski if they didn't want to promote Harrington. The Pirates pitching prospect would have been an option for multiple innings out of the bullpen, or to start games, with Mlodzinski taking over after the first 3-to-5 innings. He has much better control over his stuff than Kyle Nicolas as well, and would have given the Pirates many ways to utilize him, whether that be out of the pen in a normal capacity, a multi-inning role, or to even start games.