Emerging Pirates prospect Mike Burrows looks like a starter now more than ever before

Heading into this season, plenty of questions swirled around Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Mike Burrows' ability to stick as a starter long term. While at one point, Burrows looked like he'd secure a rotation spot as early as midseason 2023, Tommy John surgery early in the year eliminated any chance of him doing so. He returned halfway through 2024, but was put on a limited workload given he was coming off a major elbow surgery. When Burrows made his MLB debut late in the season, he was instead used out of the Pirates' bullpen.

With 2025 being his age-25 season, nearly three years removed from working in a normal starter's workload, it seemed like he was destined to eventually make the transition to the bullpen once the Pirates called him up to the major leagues. His month of April left more questions about his ability to be a starting pitcher long term, with a 4.30 ERA, and only a 21.3% K%, 11.3% walk rate, and 2.45 HR/9, albeit in a small sample size of 14.2 innings.

However, since that cold start, Burrows has gone through arguably the most promising stretch of games he's had since 2022. His next 17.2 innings have seen him pitch to the tune of a 1.02 ERA, 2.54 FIP, and 0.85 WHIP. Walks have been no issue for Burrows, with a 5.2% BB%. He's also struck out a ton of opponents with plenty of swings and misses, with a 41.2% K% and 41.1% whiff rate. 

One downside emerges from Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Mike Burrows' excellent month of May

The only downside is that he's getting hit hard. Burrows' 1.02 HR/9 may not be poor, but his 13.6% barrel rate throughout his recent hot stretch is. Still, it's about the only thing you can criticize about his recent performance. Another big positive is that he's maintaining his fastball velocity in his starts.

Burrows is sitting at 95 MPH with his four-seam fastball. He's also pitching with a reworked slider. Last season, Burrows sat 88 MPH on the slider with 28.3 inches of downward movement/2.4 inches of glove side break. He sacrificed some velocity for much more movement, now averaging 85 MPH, but with 38.6 inches of downward movement/3.1 inches of glove side break. Burrows is still mixing a changeup and curveball into his pitch arsenal as well.

Based on Burrows' performance this month, Pirates should be thankful the team promoted him as a starting pitcher this week, rather than out of the 'pen. He's been outstanding in May, and with how much he's been held back the last two seasons due to injury, seeing him excel once again in a SP role is impressive.