Detroit Tigers: Will Beau Burrows reach the big leagues in 2019?

The Detroit Tigers have a lot of prospects approaching big league ready. This is a series about those prospects, and when we think they will debut.

Detroit Tigers fans know that rebuilding isn’t easy. This team is not very good right now, and it may be a few years until they are back challenging for the playoffs and the World Series.

However, the most exciting part about rebuilding teams is getting to see prospects make their big league debuts, and watching them (hopefully) grow into star players.

The Tigers have a lot of high-profile prospects, although most of them (Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Daz Cameron) are a few years away from reaching the big leagues. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be some fun prospect debuts in 2019 though.

We here at Motor City Bengals are going to evaluate prospects who are on the verge of reaching the big leagues. We will take a look at how they performed in 2018, when we think they’ll reach the show, and of course how we think they’ll help the club.

Last week we took a look at promising young outfielder Jacob Robson. Today, we are going to look at one of Detroit’s top ranked prospects, right-hander Beau Burrows.

Beau Burrows

Burrows, 22, was Detroit’s first round pick back in 2015. He has continued to impress in the minor leagues, spending the entire 2018 season with Double-A Erie. In 26 starts, Burrows posted a 4.10 ERA with a 8.53 K/9, 3.76 BB/9 and a 1.36 WHIP.

Now, Burrows is the most experienced of Detroit’s minor league prospects, having been around the longest. It’s important to remember however that he is still just 22 years old.

Gifted with an electric fastball, a plus changeup and two average breaking balls, Burrows has the makings of a mid-rotation starter – if he can turn one of his breaking pitches into a plus offering.

Some scouts believe that Burrows will end up a bullpen piece, where his heater and changeup could vault him right into a late-inning role. I still believe his future is in the rotation, and I could see him getting a chance in 2019.

Burrows has made over 40 appearances at Double-A, but has yet to reach Toledo. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely he will be with the Tigers on Opening Day. I would not be surprised to see him in Toledo come March, and if he pitches well at that level it could be a midseason call-up.

At worst, a September call-up seems entirely possible for the prospect, assuming he stays healthy and does not regress next season.

Check back here for more takes on Detroit Tigers big league ready prospects and where we think they will spend 2019.