What Do the Differences in Corbin Burnes With Orioles Tell Us About the Brewers?
The Brewers took a leap of faith late this offseason, trading their incumbent ace starter (a year from free agency) for three key pieces of their long-term future. He’s thriving in his new home, but does that mean anything about the Brewers and their way of doing things?
Corbin Burnes has been everything the Baltimore Orioles had hoped he would be this season. Only six starting pitchers have pitched more innings so far in 2024, and only six have a better DRA-, according to Baseball Prospectus. Burnes is 6-2, with a 2.26 ERA and 76 strikeouts. Of his 13 total starts, 10 have been quality starts. He is, in some ways, enjoying a better season than he had in either of his last two campaigns with the Brewers.
That’s no reason for the Brewers to worry much. They knew Burnes might have a great season in Baltimore when they decided to trade him, and they should be very happy with their own side of that deal so far. Joey Ortiz is in the running for the NL Rookie of the Year Award, and soon, the team will get to make use of the extra draft pick they acquired as part of the deal. Whether Burnes is good for the O’s or not will only matter if they and the Brewers meet in the World Series, at which point it would be hard to call either side a loser in the transaction.
