INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Mike Burrows saw success across two levels in 2022, making 12 appearances with Triple-A Indianapolis.
In all actuality, the 12 games with Indianapolis was probably the most pushback Burrows has seen in his professional career. The numbers on paper were not overly kind. He a 5.31 ERA in 42.1 innings of work. His strikeout numbers were down to 8.9 per nine innings.
Behind the numbers, Burrows showed the tools that made him into that top prospect.
Burrows possessed reverse splits, as he tends to dominate left-handed hitters. In 2022, left-handed hitters hit just .201 against Burrows, with a much higher strikeout rate. He allowed just 13 extra-base hits in 173 plate appearances against left-handed hitters.
As for that success, Burrows views it as pitch usage.
“I think the changeup is a huge part of it,“ Burrows said. “I’ve been trying to get my changeup usage up to righties as well. It could just be a little bit of that, with the lefties having three pitches to really worry about. They see that I threw the changeup 30 percent of the time, whereas right handed hitters might be 10 percent. They might be eliminating that pitch a little bit more. That’s something I’ve been working on a little bit more, to throw to those guys.“
Additionally, on the mound, Burrows has made changes to his windup to make it much more repeatable and consistent. With that, his walk rates with Indianapolis were at a career low of 2.6 per nine innings.
“I really just wanted to be as efficient as possible, and that’s what came out of it,“ Burrows said. “I wasn’t looking to do anything specific, other than be efficient and have something that’s repeatable. Also, being able to hide the ball the best that I can.”
Things work best for Burrows when he can hide the ball from an efficient, repeatable delivery. That’s true of a lot of pitchers, but Burrows is still in the process of making the upper level adjustments toward that goal.
Burrows posted a 2.10 ERA in 25.2 innings down the stretch, before going on the IL in late August. He returned for one more start at the end of the season, which didn’t go well after a month’s absence. Burrows will start the 2023 season with Indianapolis, and could make the majors by the end of the year.
