Mike Burrows thriving as Pirates minor leaguer, listed as Pittsburgh's No. 10 prospect
Jul. 9—Shortly after his latest Triple-A start for Indianapolis on Thursday night, Mike Burrows sounded a little frustrated by what transpired.
Burrows believed he pitched much better than his statistics — four innings, eight hits, five earned runs in a loss to the Iowa Cubs — indicated.
"Just about the unluckiest outing I've ever had," Burrows said during a phone conversation. "I don't think I gave up one hard hit. Just a lot of weak contact that ended up falling in the right places.
"That's kind of been Triple-A so far. I feel I've done a lot better than the numbers have shown. I know eventually there's going to be a stretch where it all comes together and none of those hits fall, so it's no big deal."
A 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander, Burrows, a former Waterford High School star, is kind of a big deal in the Pittsburgh organization. He's ranked as the Pirates' 10th best prospect.
At the age of 22, Burrows, an 11th-round draft pick in the 2018 Major League amateur draft, already is playing for Pittsburgh's Triple-A team.
Burrows had the option after graduating from high school to play at UConn and wait to begin his professional career. He feels good about his decision given where he is in his development.
"Five years ago, this would have been ahead of what I thought my schedule would have been," Burrows said. "Knowing the pitcher that I am, I know that I'm well beyond Double-A now. I'm right in this group of guys that are a helluva lot older than me.
"But my work ethic, my abilities and the stuff that I can do with the ball, I know it plays at this level and I know that I belong here, which is really cool."
Earlier this week, Burrows received a huge honor, being selected to play for the National League team in the All-Star Futures Game on July 16 at Dodger Stadium.
Burrows will head to Los Angeles late next week. His family and girlfriend will join him out there for the game and festivities.
"It's an honor, for sure, just to have my name called for that and realize that all the work that I've put in hasn't gone unnoticed," Burrows said. "I know my organization notices but it's really nice to be recognized by all of baseball."
Before reaching Triple-A, Burrows put up some impressive numbers during his minor league career.
He started off this season at Double-A Altoona (Pennsylvania) and quickly developed into one of the Eastern League's top pitchers. He ranked in the top seven in the league in earned run average (sixth, 2.94), batting average against (sixth, .199) and strikeouts (seventh, 69). He allowed just 38 hits in 52 innings.
On June 16, Burrows was called into the manager's office at Altoona and told about his promotion. He caught a flight to Georgia to join Indianapolis on a road trip.
He's confident in his ability to perform at a higher level despite his 0-2 record with 7.31 earned run average in four starts. He's allowed 23 hits in 16 innings, striking out 15 and walking just one. He's regularly gotten ahead in counts.
"There's no doubt that I can handle it," Burrows said. "I know the player that I am and the abilities that I have. This is all just practice for when I'm in the big leagues someday."
As far as the rest of this season, Burrows is focusing on staying healthy and making every scheduled start. His next start would be his 17th combined this season between Altoona and Indianapolis.
He also has other goals.
"Getting acclimated to an entire full season of pro baseball, getting up over 100 innings, rolling with the punches and figuring out what works for me through a full season and what I have to do to keep my body right," Burrows said. "On top of that, just being a consistent pitcher on a day-to-day basis.
"I don't ever want to come to a field on my start days and not have a pitch ready for me. Just making sure everything is there every start and regardless of how I'm feeling I'm still executing my pitches the way I need to be."
No doubt that Burrows has a promising future. Pitching coach Dan Meyer, who lives in North Stonington during the off-season, has helped Burrows improve.
Burrows is so close to achieving his dream of playing in the major leagues. He's seen some minor league teammates experience the joy of being promoted to Pittsburgh.
He's looking forward to the day he's called up to the big leagues.
"Everybody sees hope around here, so it's really cool," Burrows said. "Everybody knows that they're right there. Everybody knows that the Pirates are playing their young guys and playing the guys that are better in Triple-A and calling them up and giving them their opportunities.
"So, that's a really cool atmosphere to be in."
