Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training at the beginning of the week, although most had already arrived. One of the more interesting things early in camp has been the addition of a new pitch for prospect Mike Burrows.
Already armed with one of the best fastballs and curveballs, as well as a changeup he made great progress with, Burrows flashed a new slider this week, shown in a great side-by-side video by Alex Stumpf below. Alex had more about the pitch in a recent post on DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Couple of Mike Burrows videos. First is his curveball. Second is his new slider.
Really can see how they move differently pic.twitter.com/SbX9CIqlPu— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) February 16, 2023
Burrows struggled after reaching Triple-A, posting a 5.31 ERA in 42.1 innings with Indianapolis. He saw his strikeout rate drop nearly 10% from Double-A.
Adding the slider will give hitter’s another pitch to account for, on top of his already two plus offerings he had before hand.
We saw Quinn Priester add a slider to give a different look, and it was actually one of his better pitches this past Arizona Fall League.
The Pirates major league rotation seems to be set, for the most part, so Burrows will have plenty of time to work on incorporating the slider in with the rest of his pitches.
Rich Hill Leadership
Especially when you have such a young team, having a strong veteran presence can really make the difference in certain players making the next step in their progression or not.
Jose Quintana got rave reviews from the remaining Pirates pitchers after he was traded last year to the St. Louis Cardinals. This offseason, the Pirates made sure they went out and brought in another veteran that can mentor some of the younger starters.
If you are looking for experience, it’s hard to do better than Rich Hill, who has over 13 years of service time. It looked like that mentorship was at work already, as he was seen talking to Johan Oviedo.
Rich Hill, 42, assists Johan Oviedo, 24, with his breaking ball following Oviedo's bullpen session on Feb. 17, 2023 at Pirate City in Bradenton.
(Photo: Justice delos Santos) pic.twitter.com/chXxk3s55t
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) February 17, 2023
After the Cardinals moved Oviedo to the bullpen last year, the Pirates switched him back into the rotation after joining the organization. If there is a competition for the fifth spot, he’ll be in the thick of it, and if Oviedo wants to further develop as a starter, there may not be a better person to get tips from.
Pirates Prospects Daily
By Tim Williams
**The Pirates Daily Video Rundown has returned! This site is so old that there was a time when we were prohibited from posting video on the internet of a short-season A-ball appearance from a young Joely Rodriguez — for the sole reason that posting prospect videos to the internet just wasn’t done back then.
Today, there are tons of videos of prospects before we even step foot into Pirate City. We’ll be providing our own videos throughout the year from all over the system, but the Pirates DVR will aim to keep you updated on every source.
**The Pirates won their arbitration hearing against Ji-Man Choi.
**The Pirates’ Spring Training schedule will include all 16 home games.
**Missed yesterday? Anthony wrote about how Ji-Hwan Bae could be a wildcard in the Pirates’ lineup this year.
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