The Weatherford High School (TX) product has progressed steadily through the Tigers’ system since becoming the first-round (#22 overall) selection by Detroit in the 2015 MLB Draft. Burrows put together a solid full season debut in 2016 with Class A West Michigan, navigating 20 starts and 97 innings of work while holding opposition bats to a .240 batting average, and allowing just two home runs over the course of the season. After bumping up to High A Lakeland to start 2017 Burrows has looked sharp, working 10 1/3 innings over two starts and allowing just two earned runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out nine.

In his April 11 start against Clearwater (Phillies) saw the well-put-together righty working 92-to-95 mph most of the evening, and reached 96 mph on multiple occasions, including his final inning of work. Typically an above-average offering, his curveball was inconsistent during this outing, frequently lacking bite. His low-80s changeup, however, served as a capable out pitch and a nice change-of-pace offering from his heater. The offspeed showed solid depth with some fade and was effective in drawing plenty of swings and misses – particularly when ahead in the count.

The raw ingredients are there for Burrows to develop into a quality number three or number four starter, but he will need to find more consistency in his secondaries and better in-zone command with the fastball. He has seen a slight uptick in velocity to start 2017, which is a good sign, and the emergence of his changeup as an effective offering – on a night when his usually dependable curveball was not there for him – speaks well of the progress he’s made with the off-speed stuff.