45.5 F
Pittsburgh

P2Daily: Mike Burrows Is Showing He Has Little Left To Solve In Altoona

Published:

One of the best in season test for a pitcher is how they bounce back after a bad outing. It’s not like being a position player and having an 0-for-4 game and then being able to come back the next day and try to rebound.

Starting pitchers sometimes go up to a week before their next start, giving plenty of opportunities to get in their own head and overanalyze everything that went wrong.

The good ones leave it at the stadium right afterwards, the ones that struggle take it with them.

It has been a dazzling season for Mike Burrows, making the jump from High-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona this year. In many ways, he has replaced Roansy Contreras from a year ago as far as the hype surrounding the times he takes the mound.

It hasn’t been often that opposing teams have gotten the best of him, but last week against Bowie was one of those instances. He didn’t have his best of outings, only pitching three innings, allowing seven walks, and three runs while walking four.

Burrows quickly threw that start in the trash, and was back to dealing on Wednesday. Pitching against Reading in game one of a double header, Burrows pitched five innings of one-hit, three walk baseball while striking out a season high nine batters.

Entering the season there were a few questions surrounding Burrows as a prospect. At the top of the list was his change-up, which he has not only shown the ability to throw one, but it flashed being at least an above-average pitch at times.

Now showing that he has three pitches in his arsenal, and he can easily bounce back from bad starts, Burrows is slowly showing that he may have answered all the questions that Double-A has presented.

So does that mean it’s time to ship him to Indianapolis?

One thing to watch when it comes to talking about his potential rapid ascension in the system is his innings pitched. For the first time in his minor league career, Burrows has passed the 50 innings pitched mark.

It doesn’t seem likely the Pirates are going to let him completely blow by last year’s totals. They’ll be monitoring him very closely down the stretch. Outside of that, his play has clearly risen to the top among his competition.

With Contreras in the majors, and Quinn Priester still out, Burrows is ‘the guy’ in the minors when it comes to Pirates pitching prospects. He’s shown it time and time again, that whatever puzzle Double-A has dished up, he has the answer for.

Whatever the next challenge is, he may not be able to find it in Altoona anymore.

THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS

Williams: The Youth Movement Arrives, But One Prospect’s Future With the Pirates is Unclear

Prospect Roundtable: Pirates Who Are Trending Up in the Rankings

Prospect Roundtable: Pirates Who Are Trending Down in the Rankings

Ji-hwan Bae Looks to Continue Second-Half Trend

Cody Bolton Is A Spin Rate Master

Mason Martin Focuses on His Defense at First Base

Travis MacGregor Adapts Well to Bullpen Role

Song of the Day

Anthony Murphy
Anthony Murphy
Anthony began writing over 10 years ago, starting a personal blog to cover the 2011 MLB draft, where the Pirates selected first overall. After bouncing around many websites covering hockey, he refocused his attention to baseball, his first love when it comes to sports. He eventually found himself here at Pirates Prospects in late 2021, where he covers the team’s four full season minor league affiliates.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles