Mike Burrows
Mike Burrows
Position: RHP
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats/Throws: R/R
Born: 11/08/1999
High School: Waterford (CT) HS
How Acquired: Draft 11th round, 324th Overall, 2018
Bonus: $500,000
40-man Roster: Yes
Rule 5 Eligible: N/A
Minor League Free Agency: N/A
Options Left: 1
Overview
The Pirates drafted Burrows as a projectable pitcher with a quick arm, throwing from a three-quarters arm slot. By the time of the 2018 draft, his fastball could touch 93 MPH, although it usually sat in the upper 80s with good sink and location. The fastball now sits in the mid-90s. Burrows gets very high spin rates, throwing an curve and a change that get high whiff rates. He also throws a slider. Burrows wasn’t ranked in Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects, but was the number five prospect out of Connecticut that year. He had a commitment to Connecticut but signed a few days before the deadline.
2018-19
Burrows got into four GCL games in his draft year and allowed just one unearned run. A prep pitching draftee ordinarily would have gone to Bristol in the now-defunct Applachian League for his first full season. Burrows, though, impressed the Pirates in extended spring training, partly with increased velocity, and they sent him to West Virginia in the also defunct New York-Penn League. He pitched well at times, but was erratic and generally did not go beyond four innings. He had a significant reverse platoon split, with right-handed hitters putting up an .806 OPS. He held left-handed hitters to .549. Burrows didn’t pitch in the pandemic season.
2021-22
Skipping low A, Burrows had a big year at Greensboro in 2021, at least when he was healthy. He missed nearly two months starting in mid-July with an oblique injury. When he pitched, he dominated, holding batters to a 143/244/250 line, although that was helped by a .208 BABIP. Unlike most of his teammates, he was deadly at home, holding hitters to a .387 OPS with a 42% strikeout rate. He also held right-handed hitters to a .398 OPS, compared to .618 for left-handed hitters.
Burrows continued with a big first half at Altoona. He put up impressive numbers (2.94 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 11.9 K/9), arguably even more impressive than they seem; he had a meltdown in his last start before moving up to Indianapolis, giving up five earned runs in an inning and a third. Of his other 11 starts for the Curve, he threw scoreless ball in six. Burrows had a lot more trouble in AAA, and also ran into some minor injuries. He missed a start in July, then missed nearly all of September with right shoulder inflammation. He returned to start the last game of the season and gave up six earned runs while recording just two outs. Without that outing, his ERA at Indy was 4.10 instead of 5.31.
2023-24
Burrows was Rule 5 eligible after the 2022 season, so the Pirates added him to their 40-man roster. Unfortunately, just two starts into the 2023 season he suffered an elbow injury and had Tommy John surgery.
In mid-June 2024, Burrows went on rehab assignment in rookie ball. He ultimately worked his way up to Indianapolis and threw 37.2 innings over ten games there. His performance was mixed, but not bad for a Tommy John return. He had a 4.06 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. Home runs were a problem, as he allowed seven. Maybe most importantly, Burrows’ walk and K rates were good at 3.6 and 10.8 per nine innings, respectively. The Pirates called him up for one appearance at the end of the season and he allowed one earned run in three and a third innings, picking up a win.
Stats
Transactions
June 6, 2018: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 11th round, 324th overall pick; signed on July 3.
November 15, 2022: Contract purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates.