Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes has been on a tear over his last seven starts. During this stretch of games he has covered 45 innings with a 2.00 ERA, has a .113 batting average against, and has 52 strikeouts. What has fueled his recent success? David Adler of Statcast for MLB recently pointed out three things that have been different.
What three things are fueling Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes recent success? (MLB News)
The first thing David Adler points out is a change from a tight late breaking slider to a sweeper. This pitch has much more horizontal break and generates a ton of weak contact against right-handed batters. Here is video difference of his slider movement when comparing April to August of 2023.
Corbin Burnes’ slider, April vs. August
April K: 88 mph / 5 inches of break
August K: 84 mph / 16 inches of breakBut he won’t call it a sweeper 🤫 pic.twitter.com/ISx20U0QsG
— David Adler (@_dadler) August 9, 2023
A second point made from David Adler’s article is that his sinker and curveball each have five more inches of vertical depth to them. His curveball has been one of his off speed pitches this year but it has only improved. Since July that pitch is generating a 56% swing-and-miss rate and 64% strikeout rate.
Lastly is the fact that Corbin Burnes is throwing more strikes with his cutter. In July his cutter was thrown for a strike 56% of the time and 63% during his first August start. Earlier this season he was landing it in the zone less than 50% of the time.
This season Burnes now has a 3.42 ERA over 23 starts. His ERA may not currently be a sexy low number, but he is at or near the top in several other pitching categories including batting average against, WHIP, H:9, quality starts, and innings pitched. If he continues to pitch this well he could put himself in Cy Young finalist contention again.
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