PITTSBURGH -- Mike Burrows’ second chance at a first impression didn’t go as smoothly as it did last year in the Bronx. A pair of home runs from Christian Yelich and Joey Ortiz spoiled his first Major League start Thursday at PNC Park, the deciding blows in the Pirates’ 8-5 loss to the Brewers.
A five-inning, four-run start isn’t going to extinguish the Pirates’ optimism for the 25-year-old right-hander, the club’s No. 15 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s list. He had a couple delays for a first start. Burrows made his debut in September of last season, coming out of the bullpen to pick up the win at Yankee Stadium. He also was briefly recalled when Pittsburgh was in Anaheim in April, but he didn’t appear in a game.
This go-around, it was time to give Burrows a start after he had been knocking on the door, striking out 28 batters with a 1.02 ERA over 17 2/3 innings (four appearances) in May with Triple-A Indianapolis.
“I think coming out of Spring Training, some specific challenges and goals were put in front of him. He’s attacked those,” general manager Ben Cherington said. “He’s been building up his volume while he’s been attacking the development goals. We’re seeing improved pitch quality and also separation of the pitch qualities. The performance, obviously, as you can see, has been there consistently and been really, really strong. … We felt like this was the time to give him an opportunity. He’s earned that and deserves it.”
Burrows took Carmen Mlodzinski’s place in the Major League rotation, with Mlodzinski being optioned to Indianapolis. Right now, the Pirates want to keep giving Mlodzinski opportunities to start games, and he’s going to join a crowded Triple-A rotation.
In addition to Mlodzinski, who has two solid years as a Major League reliever on his resume, Indianapolis has Top 100 prospects Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco, a former Top 100 guy in Braxton Ashcraft and, of course, the top pitching prospect in the game, Bubba Chandler. Harrington has had a cup of coffee in the Majors. The others could all make their debut this year, too.
“That’s a group of young starting pitchers who we believe either already have contributed to the Pirates in 2025 or we hope will in 2025, and we hope meaningfully with all of those guys,” Cherington said. “In terms of what the timing is and when it happens, it’s really case by case.”
“There's some really good baseball happening in Indy right now with everybody, top to bottom, pitchers and hitters,” Burrows said Wednesday. “You got good vibes down there and everybody's feeding off each other. It's really cool to see, especially with the staff. It's good.”
It does raise the question of how do all those pitchers will factor into the Major League staff, especially someone like Burrows. He certainly has stuff, mixing a 94-95 mph fastball with a high spin curve and a changeup that picked up eight whiffs against the Brewers Thursday night, but where does he fit in?
Basically every pitching prospect who isn’t Chandler at least has a possibility to go into the bullpen. That doesn’t mean it’s permanent -- Luis Ortiz was a former top 100 arm who started last year in the bullpen and earned a rotation spot as the year progressed, and Harrington hung out in the bullpen early this year -- but it could be an avenue to get a pitcher a Major League opportunity. Nothing is imminent with Burrows there, but if the Pirates did go down that route, his stuff could play in shorter outings too.
If the Pirates wind up being sellers at the Trade Deadline -- which at the moment seems like the most likely outcome -- some spots could open up, especially since Andrew Heaney is on an expiring deal. That should create another opportunity down the road.
For now, though, Burrows is getting his shot, and he’s not looking over his shoulder.
“I feel like I compete with myself,” Burrows said. “I don't want to pin my teammates into a competition. It's about coming in every day and competing with myself, finding out who I can be and the best player I can be every day.”