Sunday Notes: Mike Burrows Is a Bucco Who Went From Benders To Vulcans

Mike Burrows was rated as having the best curveball in the Pittsburgh Pirates system when I talked to him to for our old Learning and Developing a Pitch series back in 2022. Then a highly-regarded prospect, the 25-year-old right-hander relied heavily on his hook, a pitch that Eric Longenhagen assigned a 70 on the scouting scale and described as having “devastating bite and depth.” Our lead prospect analyst referred to it as his “meal ticket.”

Burrows is now a bona fide big-leaguer, but not because of a bender. Pitching in his first full MLB season — he made one appearance in 2024 — Burrows threw his erstwhile go-to just 11.9% of the time while logging a 3.94 ERA and a 24.1% strikeout rate over 96 innings. He’s evolved into split-change artist. Burrows threw what has become his most-used secondary pitch at a 23.7% clip this year. Moreover, he did so to the tune of a .147 BAA, a .220 slug, and a 43.1% whiff rate.

Why and how did he go from a killer curveball to a bat-missing splitter variant?

“The cat-and-mouse game gets a little different as you go up the ladder,” explained Burrows, who made 19 starts and four relief appearances for the Bucs. “At a certain point, I knew that I had to add another pitch, and that was a changeup. I really just had a four-seam and a curveball, and while I wouldn’t necessarily say I was getting away with that, the game wasn’t telling me I needed something else. Then I got to Triple-A, and it did.”

The pitch he developed wasn’t a standard splitter — ”I felt like that would have added a lot of stress to my arm” (he did end up having Tommy John surgery in April 2023) — but rather a changeup/splitter hybrid. As do a number of other pitchers I’ve spoken to this season, Burrows employs a variation of a Vulcan grip. The goal was depth, “not so much fade or horizontal,” and that was what he was able to achieve… at least to an acceptable degree.

“The metrics actually aren’t that great,” Burrows admitted. “I’ve gotten the vert down to where it’s usually a little above the zero line, and that’s really all I’m looking for. As long as there is enough separation [between] the fastball to the split-change, it’s effective.

Which brings us to the pitch that was once his bread and butter. What might he have said three or four years ago had he been told that it would largely be in his back pocket by the time he reached the bigs?

“If you’d have told me that I’d be throwing it less, I would have said, ‘No shot,’” Burrows replied. “At that time, I didn’t have the changeup, and I didn’t have the slider that I do now. But really, it’s about figuring out when and where to use my pitches. It’s not so much about dialing it back with the curveball.”

The changeup?

“On paper it’s my best pitch now,” said Burrows. “I mean, I love all of my pitches, but the average-against, the swing-and-miss… yeah. It’s my best pitch.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Jim Fregosi went 3 for 38 against Jim Bouton.

Larry Hisle went 3 for 31 against Marty Pattin.

Don Mincher went 11 for 21 against Tom Murphy.

Tommy Harper went 21 for 56 against Dave McNally.

Tommy Davis went 24 for 46 against Al Jackson.

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Tyler Mark tutored some promising Arizona Diamondbacks prospects this season. The 31-year-old former D-Backs farmhand served as the pitching coach for the High-A Hillsboro Hops, a club whose starting rotation included a 22-year-old right-hander who finished the campaign with a 3.76 ERA and a 32.4% strikeout rate over 117-and-third innings (including 19-and-two-thirds with Double-A Amarillo). A third-round pick in 2024 out of Presbyterian College, Daniel Eagen will be assigned a 45 FV when Eric Longenhagen next updates The Board.

“He was our pitcher of the year,” Mark said of Eagen. “A good north-south profile. Fastball. Slider. Big curveball. The fourth pitch is a split, which he’s working on. He’s mostly been developing it in side sessions, studying the Edgertronic to see how it’s coming out of the hand.”

Asked to elaborate on the work-in-progress offering, Mark described a one-seam split grip and a movement profile that is more akin to a changeup than a splitter. He told me that Eagen’s better ones are positive-five vertical and 16 horizontal to the arm-side. Velocity-wise they are in the 85-88 range.

Eagen did throw his split during the regular season, albeit, as Mark explained, as a fourth pitch. The plan was to “find the right times to use it,” while primarily utilizing his 94-mph fastball, a “really good curveball,” and a slider that is especially effective when he locates it down in the zone.

“It was part of his player plan going into last offseason,” said Mark. “Establishing and attacking the zone, and mixing in the breaking balls, were the primary goals. The third goal was to work on the split. As an over-the-top thrower, a split made more sense [than a changeup]. He came into the spring with a modified split grip, we made a little adjustment to it, and from there we kind of just ran with it.”

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A quiz:

Two Cleveland pitchers have led the American League in strikeouts five or more times. Who are they?

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NEWS NOTES

SABR is hosting a virtual scholar session tomorrow (Monday October 20) at 8pm EST. Targeted to students and young professional members of SABR, the session will feature MLB’s Tyrone Brooks, as well as Minnesota Twins front office members Josh Kalk and Josh Ruffin. More information can be found here.

Sandy Alomar Sr, a contact-oriented infielder who suited up for six teams across the 1964-1978 seasons, died earlier this week at age 81. The Salinas, Puerto Rico native made the 1970 All-Star team for the California Angels, the team with whom he played the longest and had his best years. His sons, Roberto Alomar (12) and Sandy Alomar Jr. (6) combined to make 18 All-Star teams.

Larry Burright, an infielder who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962, and for the New York Mets in 1963 and 1964, died earlier this week at age 88. Nicknamed “Possum,” the Roseville, Illinois native had 73 big-league hits, including four home runs.

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The answer to the quiz is Bob Feller (seven times between 1938-1948), and “Sudden Sam” McDowell (five times between 1965-1970).

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Hunter Gaddis had his second straight strong season, registering a a 3.11 ERA while making 73 appearances out of the Cleveland Guardians bullpen. I asked the 27-year old right-hander about adjustments in the week preceding the AL Central club’s Wildcard appearance.

“For me, sometimes it’s just the feel of a grip,” Gaddis said. “Maybe you change a little bit of a feel and you’ll get a little bit different action on a pitch. That’s what I’ve done this year: change a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It’s helped my slider — at least in my opinion — move a little bit better.

Gaddis relied on his go-to offering 53.7% of the time this season — only four pitchers who worked as many innings threw a higher percentage — but that doesn’t mean he could just roll out of bed and have it be at its best.

“The slider is always an adjustment,” Gaddis told me. “Like I said, I’m a feel-based pitcher. Changing a grip gives me a brand new feel, which gives me what I would want in a pitch.”

His saying that surprised me. It honestly doesn’t always feel the same?

“I wish it did,” said Gaddis, who described the grip as pretty standard. “I always have confidence in it, but each and every day it is feel-based. I mean, I’m not talking about any big changes. It’s maybe just a tighter grip, a looser grip, or something like that. Just little things. I basically just grip it and rip it.”

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association and NPB have agreed to introduce paternity leave, beginning next season (per The Japan Times).

The Hanshin Tigers advanced to the Japan Series — NPB’s equivalent to the World Series — by sweeping their best-of-seven series against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Hanshin will face either the SoftBank Hawks or Nippon Ham Fighters in the championship series beginning on October 25.

The Hanwha Eagles edged the Samsung Lions 9-8 yesterday in the first game of their best-of-five KBO semi-finals matchup. The winner will go on to face the LG Lions in the Korean Series beginning on October 24. Hyun Jin Ryu, who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays across the 2013-2023 seasons, plays for Hanwha.

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A random obscure former player snapshot:

William “Billy” Williams — not to be confused with the Hall of Famer whose full name is Billy Leo Williams — saw his lone MLB action in the the Seattle Pilots’ only season. Acquired from Cleveland, the outfielder from Newberry, South Carolina appeared in four games for the expansion club in 1969 and went hitless in a dozen plate appearances. Mickey Lolich fanned him in each of his last two at-bats.

Thirty-seven years old when he debuted, Williams had played professionally since 1952, logging 2,088 hits, including 155 home runs. Much of the outfielder’s time on the farm was spent in the Pacific Coast League, where he suited up for teams including the Salt Lake City Bees, Portland Bees, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Mounties. He’d earlier played for the Fargo-Moorhead Twins and Minot Mallards.

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FARM NOTES — ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE (Stats through Friday)

Luis DeLeón has arguably been the AFL’s top pitcher so far. The 22-year-old left-hander in the Baltimore Orioles organization has fanned 12 batters and allowed just one earned run over eight-and-a-third innings. DeLeon had a 3.30 ERA and a 2.59 FIP this year between three levels, the highest being Double-A.

Esmerlyn Valdez has come to the plate 25 times and is 6-for-14 with five home runs and 11 walks for the Salt River Rafters. The 21-year-old outfielder/first baseman in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization had 26 home runs and a 156 wRC+ between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona.

Max Anderson is 8-for-14 with three doubles and two home runs for the Scottsdale Scorpions. The 23-year-old second baseman/third baseman in the Detroit Tigers system slashed .296/.350/.478 with 19 home runs and a 135 wRC+ between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.

Seaver King is 11-for-27 with five doubles and a home run for the Scorpions. The 22-year-old shortstop in the Washington Nationals system slashed .244/.294/.337 with six homers and a 87 wRC+ between High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg.

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Which of the pitchers that Seaver King faced this year most stood out to him?

“There are a couple,” said King, who was drafted 10th overall last year out of Wake Forest University and is currently ranked as Washington’s’ fifth-best prospect. “Jonah Tong is a big one. There was a guy with the Guardians — I forget his name — but he’s a lefty with big ride. He was tough. But I would say Tong. We faced him three times this year and not only does he have good stuff, he’s got a plan, and he executes. He can go at you mostly with heaters, or he can switch it up by slowing you down and then speeding it back up. His mix is unique. I faced Trey Yesavage in college, and he’s similar.

Which of Tong and Yesavage is better?

“I don’t know, man,” King answered. “Yesavage has a bigger frame and is a little more funky. He hides the ball and then it’s on you. There’s ride, and then the ball can be going both ways.

“To me, pitchers fall in two categories,” added the infielder, whose offensive potential easily exceeds what he did in his first full professional season. “You have the unique guys who have something crazy — maybe it’s release height, or they have an outlier pitch — and then you’ve got guys whose stuff you’ve seen before. They could throw 100 [mph], or they’re pretty much east-west, whatever. The guys who have something you’ve never seen before are the toughest.”

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo wrote about how 6-foot-6, bat-first Minnesota Twins prospect Brandon Winokur is seeking a defensive home in the Arizona Fall League.

The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka told us about some of the internal options for the Orioles bullpen.

At NBC News, Andrew Greif wrote about how baseball’s .300 hitter has nearly gone extinct.

Rob Woollard wrote about Shohei Ohtani’s epic performance in NLCS Game 4 for The Japan Times.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

The Philadelphia Phillies got 706 innings from left-handed pitchers during the regular season, the most in the majors. The Minnesota Twins got 99-and-a-third innings (including just one from a starter) from left-handed pitchers, the fewest in the majors.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees hit 80 home runs off of left-handers, tied for the most in the majors. The Kansas City Royals hit 27 home runs off of left-handers, the fewest in the majors.

George Springer went 4-for-37 in spring training. He had a 166 WRC+ over 586 plate appearances in the regular season.

Joe Carter had 2,184 hits, 396 home runs and 231 stolen bases.
Larry Walker had 2,160 hits, 383 home runs and 230 stolen bases.

Jim Rice hit 382 home runs and 79 triples. Aaron Judge currently has 368 home runs and seven triples.

José Ramírez has 5,970 at-bats and 726 extra base hits.
Mookie Betts has 6,083 at-bats and 726 extra base hits.

On today’s date in 1981, Rick Monday hit a ninth-inning home run off of Steve Rogers to propel the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Expos in a winner-take-all NLCS Game 5. The Dodgers proceeded to best the New York Yankees in six games to capture the World Series.

The Baltimore Orioles acquired Jim Gentile from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for two PTBNLs and cash on today’s date in 1959. “Diamond Jim” played the next four seasons in Baltimore, slugging 124 home runs and putting up a 141 wRC+. A two-part interview with Gentile ran here at FanGraphs in 2020.

Players born on today’s date include Fred Snodgrass, an outfielder who logged a 114 wRC+ while playing for the New York Giants, and briefly the Boston Braves, from 1908-1916. He is best known for the “Snodgrass muff,” his having dropped a 10th-inning fly ball in Game 8 (Game 2 ended in a tie) of the 1912 World Series. The Red Sox went on to score twice off of Christy Mathewson to beat the Giants 3-2 and capture the title.

Also born on today’s date was Dave Haas, a right-hander from Independence, Missouri who went 7-5 with a 4.84 ERA while appearing in 43 games for the Detroit Tigers across the 1991-1993 seasons. MLB history includes five players who share his surname: Bert Haas, Bruno Haas, Eddie Haas, Moose Haas, and Mule Haas.