Atlanta Braves: Thomas Burrows Could Be A Secret Weapon in the Bullpen
After a terrible end to the 2018 season for the Atlanta Braves bullpen, they have plenty of young arms that could help in 2019.
The Atlanta Braves will need a lot of help from their bullpen arms this year, and Thomas Burrows has a chance to be a secret weapon for them.
With all of the young starters the Braves are planning to use in the rotation this season, the bullpen may have to throw a lot of innings.
Last year the Braves’ starting pitchers actually did pretty well going deep into games compared to the rest of the league. They had the 10th fewest innings from their bullpen last season.
But again, I expect them to be much higher in 2019 with so many young pitchers expected to be in the rotation.
And that’s where someone like Thomas Burrows can really make an impact.
The former fourth-round pick by the Seattle Mariners came over to the Atlanta Braves in a trade that saw Mallex Smith and Shae Simmons go to Seattle for Luiz Gohara and Burrows.
In 2017 he posted a 2.16 ERA in Rome over 66.2 innings pitched with 92 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.10.
Last year he pitched 67.2 innings across three levels, finishing at Double-A, with an ERA of 2.66, 86 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.24.
The Braves sent him to the Arizona Fall League after the season and he impressed there as well with a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings with 13 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.25.
The left-handed reliever has an excellent K/9 rate of 12.2 in the minor leagues.
He earned an invite to Spring Training this year and continues to have success with four scoreless innings pitched so far without allowing a hit. He has walked two batters, and he’ll need to work on that before getting significant work at the major league level.
Burrows only has 159 minor league innings under his belt, so I can understand if the Atlanta Braves want to let him start the year at Double-A and see if he can duplicate his success.
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But if he continues to put up the numbers he has so far, I don’t see how the Atlanta Braves keep him in the minor leagues very long.