This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat e-newsletter. To learn the complete e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it often in your inbox.
He’s additionally now a Baltimore Oriole.
The O’s made one of many largest strikes of this offseason after they swung a blockbuster cope with the Brewers on Thursday evening to land Burnes.
In recent times, the Orioles have gotten a small glimpse at Burnes’ dominance, because the 29-year-old right-hander pitched 15 scoreless innings in opposition to them in two begins over the previous two seasons. Now, he’ll be toeing the rubber for the reigning American League East champions.
“It’s an thrilling group,” Burnes mentioned. “If I’m going on the market doing my job, these guys are going on the market doing their job, it’s going to create a whole lot of success.”
Listed here are seven issues Baltimore followers ought to find out about Burnes, the group’s new rotation ace.
1. He’s an “absolute horse,” as O’s GM Mike Elias put itThere’s a plethora of the reason why Burnes is the perfect match atop Baltimore’s rotation. However one of many traits Elias emphasised essentially the most is Burnes’ heavy workload.
The Orioles misplaced Kyle Gibson (who pitched a team-high 192 innings final yr) and introduced in Burnes, who threw 193 2/3 innings final season and a career-high 202 frames in 2022.
“He’s extraordinarily aggressive. He’s a real No. 1 starter,” Elias mentioned. “He’s the sort of man that wishes to be on the market till you completely drive him to come back out of the sport, after which, he desires to be on the market once more.”
2. He’s additionally a strikeout machineBurnes has racked up 200 or extra strikeouts every of the previous three years, fanning 234 in 2021, an NL-high 243 in ‘22 and 200 in ‘23. His 765 strikeouts for the reason that starting of the 2020 season are second most in MLB, behind solely Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (816).
In 2024, Burnes might turn out to be solely the fourth pitcher in Orioles historical past (since 1954) to report a 200-plus-strikeout season, becoming a member of Erik Bedard (221 in ‘07), Mike Mussina (218 in 1997, 210 in 2000 and 204 in 1996) and Dave McNally (202 in ‘68).
3. His cutter is amongst MLB’s nastiest offeringsBurnes had a five-pitch combine final season that includes a cutter, curveball, changeup, slider and sinker. His cutter utilization frequently elevated earlier in his six-year MLB profession, and it’s now his most steadily thrown pitch, having tossed it 55.4% of the time in each 2022 and ‘23. The providing can also be persevering with to enhance.
“Ever since I began throwing this offseason, the cutter has routinely been in a greater spot than it was final yr, weirdly sufficient,” Burnes mentioned.
4. He’s had success vs. AL East groups, albeit in a small sampleBurnes owns a 1.26 ERA in 5 profession begins in opposition to AL East groups, though two of these outings got here in opposition to the Orioles. He’s confronted the Pink Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays one time apiece, and he threw eight scoreless no-hit innings in his solely begin vs. New York final Sept. 10.
Heading into 2024, Burnes is raring to pitch in arguably essentially the most aggressive division in MLB.
“Going into these outings, I’m going to be as ready as anybody on the sector,” Burnes mentioned. “It’s a enjoyable new problem that I’m going to embrace and stay up for, as a result of I like digging in and doing the homework, and studying about guys and studying the best way to get guys out.”
5. He’s skilled a whole lot of winningOver Burnes’ six seasons with the Brewers, the group made 5 postseason appearances and received three NL Central titles. He has a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings over eight profession postseason outings (together with two begins).
“I do know what it takes out of a group to get to the postseason frequently,” Burnes mentioned. “The expectation is to come back in and to win a whole lot of baseball video games, in order that’s my purpose as properly.”
6. He’s desperate to be a rotation leaderBurnes is aware of to not be stingy with data to his teammates. Early throughout his time in Milwaukee, he gained quite a bit from veteran pitchers — Brent Suter, Jhoulys Chacín and Gio González, to call just a few — and he’s desperate to share data with O’s children corresponding to Kyle Bradish (27 years previous), Grayson Rodriguez (24) and others.
“I’ve realized quite a bit over my time within the massive leagues, and hopefully, I can move a few of that data alongside to these guys,” Burnes mentioned.
7. He and his household are excited to come back to BaltimoreBurnes, a local of Bakersfield, Calif., mentioned that he and his spouse, Brooke — together with their son, Carter, who shall be turning 2 this week — are prepared for the journey of coming to a brand new metropolis.
“We’ve come into this reasonably rapidly, so we’ll do our greatest to make these connections and get out in the neighborhood and do issues,” Burnes mentioned. “We’re excited to be in Baltimore, and hopefully, the entire followers in Baltimore are excited to have us.”
