Burnes’ changes are for the better
After a disastrous second season in the major leagues in 2019, Corbin Burnes knew he had to try something different. An 8.46 earned run average, even if over only eight appearances, will get a pitcher’s attention.
“Last year, I fell into the trap of having pitches all work in the same direction, away from righties and in to lefties,” the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander said. “They keyed on that and capitalized on it.”
Boy, did they. Opponents blasted 11 home runs in only 172⁄3 innings in four starts by Burnes, leading to a quick exodus from the starting rotation. Thus began a miserable year of going back and forth from the big leagues to Class AAA San Antonio, with mostly poor results.
New teammate Jedd Gyorko, who played last season for St. Louis and the Los Angeles Dodgers, confirmed to Burnes in spring training that the scouting report on him was to look away if you were a right-handed hitter.
“We were looking for something on the outer half,” Gyorko told Burnes.
Burnes was throwing mostly fourseam fastballs and sliders, with everything moving in the same general direction, right to left from the mound. His slider was a very effective pitch overall, but because he wasn’t giving hitters enough to think about, Burnes paid dearly for mistakes with his fastball.
Accordingly, Burnes set out over the offseason to remake himself as a pitcher. Off the field, he made the important changes of undergoing Lasik surgery that allowed him to toss his trademark goggles in the trash, while also working on his psyche with a sports psychologist.
On the field, Burnes dramatically changed his repertoire. He started throwing more two-seam fastballs, otherwise known as a sinker, which darted down and in on right-handed hitters. Burnes also began throwing a cutter, another way to keep hitters from squaring up his fastball, and started using his changeup more as well.
After throwing his slider 30% of the time in ’19, Burnes has used it at only 19% this season, making up the differ
ence with his cutter and higher changeup usage.
“The plan at the end of the year and going into the offseason was, ‘We’ve got to have a better mix, use pitches that move both ways.’ So far, we’ve been able to do that and it gives me something to continue to build on,” Burnes said.
The early results have been encouraging. Through four outings, the last three of which have been in relief, Burnes posted a 3.38 earned run average with only eight hits allowed and 24 strikeouts over 16 innings. His walk rate is up a bit with 11 allowed, but he has surrendered only one home run, a stark contrast from the shelling he absorbed at the outset of last season.
Now, with left-hander Eric Lauer out of the rotation and regrouping at the Brewers’ alternate training site in Appleton, Burnes will get another chance at starting. He will get the ball Tuesday night in Minnesota in the opener of a three-game interleague series against the Twins.
The plan always was to keep Burnes stretched out for a possible starting role by pitching multiple innings out of the bullpen, so he was prepared when given the news by manager Craig Counsell.
“It’s just another outing for me,” Burnes said of getting the start. “I’ve had multiple innings in every outing I’ve been out there. Now, it will be more of a set routine, a little more consistency. I was already on a five-day routine anyway. Now I know I’m going in from the first inning instead of the middle or back half of games.
“It will be the same. We’ve done game planning to go out and attack the lineup multiple times. I’ve game planned as a starter. We’ve known my outings would be multiple innings. So, as far as game planning and attacking hitters, that will be the same.”
The manner in which Burnes will attack hitters, compared to last season, will not be the same. Right-handed hitters no longer can dive over the plate, protecting against the slider and waiting for a fastball mistake. Lefties have to deal with the two-seamer darting away with similar action from Burnes’ changeup.
“It definitely helps to have multiple options to go to,” said Burnes, a fourthround
Corbin Burnes has given up only one home run in 16 innings this year, compared to 11 in 172⁄3 innings to start the 2019 season.
draft pick in 2016 out of St. Mary’s College in California. “Obviously, they still have to be serviceable big-league pitches. You can’t have something to throw just for show. They’re going to know it’s not something they have to worry about.
“You still have to put the work and time in to make sure it’s a good bigleague pitch. It definitely gives you options and puts extra thought in the batter’s head. I don’t think they were necessarily looking for the slider (last season). It still had good numbers even if they knew it was coming.
“Last year, I threw a fastball that had some cut to it and went away from righties. So, they knew they could lean over and look the other way, look for something moving away from them. And vice versa for the lefties. They knew that everything was going to come at them. So, they could step in the bucket a little bit and yank.
“I had fallen into certain patterns last year and didn’t have anything to match what they were doing.”
Now, hitters are finding it more difficult to sit on any one pitch from Burnes, whose high-octane velocity – his 96mph fastball average is up a click – plays better than ever. The transformation on the mound has been somewhat stunning to watch, even for his teammates.
“It’s really good to see him adjusting on the fly like he has been,” left-hander Brent Suter said. “He’s been great for us. I think the big thing is he’s got his armside movement improved from last year. Last year, guys could kind of sit on the movement.
“This year, he’s all over the place, both sides of the plate, elevating, going below the (strike) zone. It’s so fun to watch him pitch. He’s got stuff off the charts. He’s a guy I’m super happy for and proud of.”