North Shore Nine

Welcome to the weekly Scouting Prospects; The Top 30 series. Each week we will take a look at a different one of the Pirates Top 30 prospects, with a few bonus “double drop” weeks. The format of these articles will highlight and discuss the following.

• Scouting Score
• Performance
• Expectations
• Projected Debut
  
  When it comes to scouting grades, the scale used is 20-80. So, a 20-30 grade would be considered well below average. A 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average (Also called Plus) and 70-80 is well above average (or Plus Plus). For prospects the overall grade is where scouts expect the player to perform once in the majors. For example, a 65 grade would be an All-Star caliber standout player, whereas a 50 would be an everyday player and a 40 would be a bench player.

Mike Burrows:

Burrows was drafted in the 11th round of the 2018 MLB Amateur draft. This was the same year the Pirates took Braxton Ashcraft in the 2nd round as well as recently cup of coffee recipient Grant Koch in the 5th. Burrows had a commitment to UConn for college but decided to forgo when the Pirates offered him a 500k signing bonus. Burrows has never made a Top 100 prospect list, but was a participant in the 2022 Futures game for the National League. Sadly, injuries have limited him in his professional career as he has only managed to throw 210.2 innings across six minor league seasons.

Burrows has always been a pitcher, who if could stay healthy, would be a great player to have on the team. He has a plus fastball, and nearly plus curveball and changeups. This three pitch mix is what scouts have always admired about Burrows, along with his good command. Before his Tommy John surgery there was a plan to add a 4th pitch to his arsenal as his current mix relies solely on vertical movement without a lot of horizontal angles to them. Though most scouts think that even with just his current three pitches he would be good enough to be a starter in the majors. In 2022 before his injury his fastball would hit upwards of 97 mph with it sitting around 95 comfortably. His curveball was said to have a great bite too it and his changeup had become a great pitch for him as well.

Coming into 2024 and off of TJ surgery Burrows was still ranked as the Pirates 11th best prospect. The hope was that once he rehabbed he would be able to jump to the majors and maybe pitch out of the bullpen. That still appears to be the goal as he got his first game appearance for the FCL Pirates on June 17th. This was followed by a game for Bradenton on the 23rd of June. Neither outing were good for him statistically but both were encouraging for what he was able to show. He will be working continue to build up strength and prepare to potentially help the Pirates by years end. He will be greatly limited to his innings this year. But if he is able to get back on track, using him as a middle reliever would be great by years end. As long as all goes well, he should have a spot on the Pirates pitching staff next year and beyond.