Nick Burdi

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2014
A:  0-0-4, 4.15 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 13.0 IP, 5.5 BB/9, 18.0 K/9
A+:  2-0-1, 0.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 7.1 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 14.7 K/9

The Twins sent Burdi to full season ball after he signed; he got into 13 games in low A and seven in high A.  He had some control issues initially, but hitters obviously had serious problems making contact against him.  Baseball American ranked him the Twins’ seventh best prospect after the season.

2015
A+:  2-2-2, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 1.4 BB/9, 13.1 K/9
AA:  3-4-2, 4.53 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 43.2 IP, 6.6 BB/9, 11.1 K/9

Burdi moved up to AA and struggled through the end of July, as he had trouble falling behind in the count.  The Twins moved him back to high A until late in the season.  He dominated there, then pitched better in a return to AA, although he still walked a lot of batters.  BA ranked him tenth in the Twin’s system after the season.

2016
AA:  1-0-0, 9.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 3.0 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 3.0 K/9

Burdi got into just three games at the start of the season, then missed the rest of the year due to a bone bruise on his right humerus.

2017
AA:  2-0-1, 0.53 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 17.0 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 10.6 K/9

Burdi returned to AA and dominated through 14 appearances, including substantially improved control.  He had Tommy John surgery in May, though, ending his season.

2018
A+:  0-0-0, 4.50 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 27.0 K/9
AA:  0-0-0, 6.75 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
AAA:  0-2-0, 5.40 ERA, 2.60 WHIP, 5.0 IP, 7.2 BB/9 9.0 K/9
MLB:  0-0-0, 20.25 ERA, 3.75 WHIP, 1.1 IP, 13.5 BB/9, 13.5 K/9

Burdi opened the season on the disabled list and returned to action in mid-July, working his way up to AAA on rehab.  (The maximum rehab, normally 30 days for a pitcher, is 60 days for Tommy John recoveries.)  The Pirates called him up on September 1 and he pitched twice during the month.  The first game went very badly, but the second went fine.  His velocity appears to have recovered, as his fastball averaged over 96 mph in the two outings.

2019
MLB:  2-1-0, 9.35 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 3.1 BB.9, 17.7 K/9

Burdi went into 2019 needing to stay on the active roster for the first 60 days to satisfy the Rule 5 requirements.  He had a strong spring and earned a bullpen spot on merit.  Through his first ten games, he had a couple shaky outings, mainly due to control issues, but as the K rate shows, he showed extreme swing-and-miss ability.  In his 11th game, he went down in severe pain.  At the time, it was thought he might need another Tommy John surgery, but in the end he had thoracic outlet surgery, ending his season.

Theoretically, Burdi could be ready by the start of the 2020 season.  But the recovery rate for thoracic outlet surgery — although there haven’t been a lot of cases involving major league pitchers — isn’t good.  About a third of the pitchers who’ve had it don’t come back at all and many others haven’t recovered their former ability.  If Burdi does return, he’ll have to spend just over a month on the active roster for the Pirates to retain him.