Mike Burrows News: Starting again Sunday

Burrows is slated to start Sunday's game against the Nationals in Washington.

After making a pair of relief appearances Aug. 30 and Sept. 3, Burrows slotted back into a starting role Tuesday against the Orioles, though the Pirates continued to manage his workload in his first full season back from April 2023 Tommy John surgery. In his start versus Baltimore, Burrows struck out six and generated 14 whiffs while permitting one run on two runs and one walk, but he was lifted after just four innings and 56 pitches. Braxton Ashcraft ended up piggybacking Burrows and covered three innings out of the bullpen, and the two appear likely to be deployed in tandem again Sunday, barring Ashcraft being used in relief behind starter Bubba Chandler on Saturday. Assuming the Pirates go with the Burrows/Ashcraft pairing again in the series finale in Washington, Burrows could struggle to reach the five innings he would need to qualify for a win.