Pirates fans reliving familiar trade narrative with Mike Burrows hype in Houston

Somehow, someway, pitchers always seem to unlock another gear the moment they leave Pittsburgh. It only took one spring training start, but Mike Burrows already appears to be no exception.

Burrows walked off the mound Sunday after two efficient innings in his first Grapefruit League appearance with the Houston Astros looking exactly like the pitcher the Pirates once believed he could become — confident, attacking hitters, working quickly and forcing uncomfortable swings. Of course he did.

But let’s slow this down before anyone starts throwing chairs. The Pirates didn’t make a reckless trade this winter. They didn’t dump Burrows because they didn’t believe in him. They didn’t give him away for salary relief. And they certainly weren’t operating from desperation.

Pittsburgh entered the offseason with arguably the deepest collection of young pitching in baseball. Paul Skenes sits atop the rotation like a generational monument. Jared Jones is working his way back. Mitch Keller remains a stabilizer. Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and a wave behind them created a reality the Pirates haven’t experienced in decades: they actually had more arms than innings.

Meanwhile, the offense desperately needed help. An 82 wRC+ and 117 home runs don’t win in October. They barely keep you relevant in July. So Ben Cherington did what good front offices are supposed to do. He dealt from surplus to address a weakness.

Baseball logic says trading Burrows to land Brandon Lowe and Jake Mangum made sense, but fan emotion doesn’t always listen to baseball logic — because Pirates fans carry scars.

They remember Tyler Glasnow turning into an October monster elsewhere. They remember Gerrit Cole becoming the version of himself everyone always imagined once he escaped organizational philosophies of the past. They remember watching arms blossom somewhere else while Pittsburgh waited for the next rebuild promise to arrive.

So when Burrows steps onto a mound wearing orange and navy and immediately starts carving hitters with a disappearing changeup? People notice. Especially when Astros pitchers tend to… well… become Astros pitchers.

Mike Burrows' Astros spring training debut has Pirates fans twitching

Houston has built an entire reputation around maximizing arsenals. Pitch shapes improve. Secondary pitches sharpen. Confidence grows. Suddenly a mid-rotation arm looks like something more. And Burrows already looks comfortable there.

His tempo alone jumps off the screen. Fourteen seconds between pitches last season with Pittsburgh. Attack mode. No hesitation. Sunday looked like a continuation of that rhythm — strike after strike, hitters swinging because they almost didn’t have time to think.

But again, this was one Grapefruit League start. Spring training box scores are filled every year with future Cy Young winners who never were and fringe roster players who turned into March legends before disappearing by May.

And honestly? The Pirates might still win this trade. They needed offense, and they aggressively chased it. They reshaped a lineup that had become too easy to pitch against. If the bats they acquired help push Pittsburgh into legitimate contention behind Skenes and a loaded rotation, nobody in the city will complain about a pitching prospect thriving elsewhere.

That’s how smart roster construction works. Sometimes both teams win. But Pirates fans are human. So when Astros analysts start talking about Burrows as the sneaky best pickup of their offseason, don't be surprised if Pittsburgh collectively sighs — not because the trade was wrong, but Pirates fans have watched this story before.

And even when you know the ending might be different this time, you still can’t help leaning forward in your seat when the opening scene starts to look familiar.