Which Pittsburgh Pirates are likely to start the season on the 60-Day Injured List?

SP Mike Burrows

A similar story to that of JT Brubaker, Mike Burrows underwent Tommy John surgery in late April. While a return later in the season could be in the cards, it seems likely that the Pirates will either place Burrows on the 60-day injured list or option him to Triple-A to start the season. The latter could be the more likely result in order to avoid starting his service time clock.

Burrows was set to enter the 2023 season as one of the Pirates top 10 prospects, being ranked by MLB Pipeline as the organization's No. 8 prospect.

Prior to last season, Burrows posted a 9-11 overall record and 3.34 ERA in 54 games and 51 starts across six different levels.

Burrows began his career in the Pirates organization in 2018 in rookie ball before playing in the now defunct short-season league in 2019. After missing the entire 2020 season due to the cancellation of the minor league season due to COVID, Burrows made the jump to High-A in 2021 before playing in Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. He started last season with Triple-A Indianapolis, making two starts before being shut down for the year.

Despite missing two full seasons now, Burrows is still just 24 years old so it wouldn't be surprising if the Pirates take things a little bit slower with the former 11th round pick compared to the potential timeline they may have for Brubaker.

2024 OUTLOOK: JULY OR AUGUST RETURN