The difference between fighting for survival in the big leagues and potential greatness? In the case of Milwaukee Brewers right-handed Corbin Burnes, just a minor adjustment in the way he handles a baseball.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that Burnes was the worst pitcher in the majors two seasons ago, going 1-5 with an 8.82 ERA and giving up 17 homeruns in 49 innings. His transformation started off-season when he started tinkering with a new field; then he broke out in 2020 and nearly won the National League ERA crown with a score of 2.11. And now he is the hottest pitcher in the world.
The 26-year old Burnes dismantled a struggling attack by Chicago Cubs on Wednesday in a 7-0 victory, striking out 10 batters without a walk and two hits over six innings. His season line after three starts: 1-1, 18⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 30 SO.
“Someone just told me there are no walks, 30 strikeouts,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “That must be pretty historic to start a season, I’m not sure, but that’s an incredible stat.”
It’s historical. Only three pitchers started a season with more strikeouts without walking:
Kenley Jansen, 2017: 51
Adam Wainwright, 2013: 35
Noah Syndergaard, 2017: 31
In 2019, the league hit .330 at Burnes. They knock .067 off him in 2021, as Burnes fueled 30 of the 62 batters he faced. The maker of the difference: a bad cutter that Mariano Rivera would be proud of.
What’s interesting is that the field actually started out as a slider that Burnes tried to develop after that disastrous 2019 season.
“I had the idea of throwing two sliders in the off-season,” Burnes said on Tuesday during a Zoom call with reporters. “It was the slider we had seen in ’18 and ’19, and then a harder, tighter slider, which eventually turned into this cutter. So at one point I threw two different sliders – one with a little more depth, one with a little more horizontal – and the curveball for more vertical, so I’d come in with three break distances. When we got into spring training, we realized it was going to be more of a cutter, and that’s when we made some adjustments Let’s make it a real cutter or slider with some depth, and I wouldn’t worry about fusing things together. ”
That little tweak to the grip – from slider to cutter – changed everything. In 2019, Burnes was primarily a four-seam fastball / slider pitcher, mixing up a few turns and changes. The problem: Batters absolutely destroyed his fastball and hit .425 against it. According to MLB.com’s Mike Petriello, Burnes’ wOBA allowed on his fastball was the second worst in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
Now, in possession of this non-grabbing cutter, Burnes has essentially dumped the four-sailor. Against the Cubs, he threw 42 cutters from his 81 pitches and only nine fastballs (seven of those two-seamers). Yep, it also helps if that cutter comes in at 97 mph and is part of a deadly six-pitch arsenal: cutter, curveball, slider, changeup, two-seamer, four-seamer.
Of course it is not as easy as having one new field. Burnes now throws exclusively from the rack. He said he’s focused on getting the curveball and changing it to the same level as the cutter and slider. He throws with the utmost confidence.
“Mentally I have been locked up for 18 turns,” he said.
As was the case with Rivera, the cutter apparently got to Burnes quite easily, a natural outgrowth of his fastball.
“I have always been able to turn the ball very well; that has actually been my calling card,” Burnes had said on Tuesday. “Even throwing a four-seam fastball, in the past it always had a little bit of cutting action. In ’18 we could get away with it. In ’19 it was one of those things I didn’t do. out of control, I could throw it into the strike zone but I didn’t know where it would be.
“With a few things we cleared out, with a few things putting the ball in the hand, we could get it and basically it’s the cutter. When I throw it I think about the process of throwing a fastball with Four seams. For me, I think that’s why it has become such an easy pitch.
There is no reason to think that he cannot sustain this new level, other than to prove that he can do it over 30 starts. The list of pitchers who can match his speed, movement and pitch selection – that list can start and end with Jacob deGrom – is short. Burnes looks like a legit Cy Young contender.