Mike Burrows’ place in the Astros’ rotation still doesn’t seem permanent, but Wednesday in Toronto he showed the form that’s been fleeting during his first season in Houston.
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Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes (15) hits an RBI double against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros pitcher Mike Burrows (50) works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz (21) congratulated Astros pitcher Mike Burrows (50) after Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined out to end sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) eyes Houston Astros pitcher Mike Burrows (50) during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) works against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chris Young/Associated Press
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) reacts during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Toronto Blue Jays’ Nathan Lukes (38) celebrates in the dug out after hitting a solo home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (3) hits a RBI single off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Mason Fluharty during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros Raynel Delgado (29) hits a sacrifice bunt in front of Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk (30) to put Astros Brice Matthews on second during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Houston Astros pitcher Mike Burrows (50) and first baseman Isaac Paredes (15) cover first base as Toronto Blue Jays Kazuma Okamoto grounds out during fourth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
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TORONTO — A detour to the bullpen doubled for Mike Burrows as a possible demarcation. Burrows made one relief outing last Friday, working a scoreless ninth inning in a lopsided win, late in a first half that fell short of expectations for both the right-hander and the team that traded for him. He rejoined its rotation Wednesday at the numerical onset of the second half, two entwined parties seeking a turnaround.
“I think it was a good reset just to fire some out of the bullpen and feel good,” Burrows said. “Got to close a game for the first time in professional baseball, which was cool, so check something off the list … Use it as a reset and just come back today and get after it.”
Though Houston Astros manager Joe Espada termed the bullpen stint a “breather” for Burrows, it hardly affirmed his hold on a rotation spot amid his trials. Burrows had a 5.86 ERA that ranked highest among qualified major-league starters when Houston made the temporary move. In saying that Burrows would slot back into the rotation in Toronto, then, Espada offered only that “we’ll see where it takes us.”
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The Astros are carrying six starters in a stretch of 13 games with no off day. Hunter Brown returned last week and Cristian Javier’s arrival appears close. Before the Astros’ 3-1 win Wednesday, Espada deemed Javier a “possibility” to start this weekend in Detroit but said that the club was “not ready to make that announcement yet.” If Javier is activated, a rotation spot would need to be cleared for him.
One route could be shifting Kai-Wei Teng back to a bullpen role, flexibility his relief experience provides. Burrows’ situation creates a broader conundrum. The Astros consider him a long-term piece of their rotation, and are working with him to try to create better results, yet occupy a standing at 39-43 that requires the latter. Only by producing them may Burrows really reinforce his current role.
His outing Wednesday, then, was encouraging. Burrows allowed two hits across six innings of one-run ball against the Toronto Blue Jays, helping Houston secure a series win with one of his most effective starts of the season. Under what level of scrutiny it occurred is unclear, but the timing solely from his team’s perspective lent it heft.
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“I thought he threw the ball extremely well,” Espada said. “And he delivered on a night that we really needed him to step up.”
Neither of the Astros’ previous two starters had made it through five innings against Toronto’s lineup. Brown labored for three innings Monday while his pitch count ballooned. Peter Lambert lasted 4 ⅔ innings Tuesday. Astros relievers covered 11 ⅓ innings over two days, putting an onus on Burrows to provide length against an offense that foiled his rotation-mates’ attempts.
“They fouled off a lot of pitches, just worked counts pretty decently,” Lambert said Tuesday night. “I was kind of spraying the ball a little bit today, so part of that is on me. But credit to them — they put together some pretty good at-bats.”
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.243
.318
2757
370
669
133
6
107
354
278
674
27
12
31
Wade
.333
.385
12
2
4
2
0
1
4
1
3
0
0
0
Alvarez
.322
.435
292
57
94
16
0
25
56
55
59
1
0
1
Delgado
.286
.286
21
1
6
0
0
0
2
0
3
0
0
1
Peña
.285
.353
165
30
47
9
0
6
19
15
29
7
1
5
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Trammell
.275
.333
80
10
22
5
1
1
8
6
32
1
0
1
Allen
.250
.290
64
12
16
2
0
1
5
3
14
1
0
0
Paredes
.248
.347
270
31
67
15
0
10
40
31
53
0
0
6
Diaz
.246
.271
122
9
30
6
0
3
16
5
20
0
1
0
Shewmake
.243
.260
74
8
18
3
0
3
8
2
13
0
0
1
Loperfido
.241
.343
87
13
21
7
1
1
11
13
23
1
1
1
Altuve
.239
.313
226
36
54
12
0
8
21
24
56
1
2
2
Walker
.233
.306
300
43
70
14
1
18
52
28
74
0
0
0
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Smith
.220
.300
268
31
59
12
1
8
28
28
79
9
1
4
Vázquez
.217
.279
152
16
33
6
0
4
19
13
27
0
0
0
Meyers
.205
.263
122
13
25
5
0
3
11
9
28
1
2
0
Matthews
.201
.253
184
19
37
5
1
6
18
13
66
2
4
1
Dezenzo
.191
.255
47
5
9
4
0
1
2
4
19
0
0
0
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
39
43
4.76
82
82
23
725.1
659
409
384
105
357
705
Santa
0
1
0.71
8
0
0
12.2
5
5
1
0
5
8
Hader
1
0
0.90
10
0
6
10
2
1
1
1
2
16
Brown
1
0
1.40
4
4
0
19.1
12
3
3
1
11
28
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
Okert
1
0
2.35
38
1
0
38.1
24
10
10
3
11
36
King
2
1
2.38
32
0
6
34
29
11
9
1
14
26
Arrighetti
7
3
3.13
12
12
0
69
51
26
24
6
32
68
Lambert
6
4
3.28
12
12
0
68.2
52
25
25
7
28
64
Blubaugh
3
2
3.81
31
0
0
49.2
35
22
21
5
29
45
Pearson
1
0
3.86
10
0
1
11.2
12
7
5
1
5
12
Teng
4
6
4.03
22
9
0
60.1
51
30
27
9
27
62
De Los Santos
0
2
4.67
33
0
4
34.2
32
19
18
3
8
33
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Burrows
3
8
5.48
16
15
0
85.1
97
55
52
19
31
69
Imai
4
3
6.15
10
10
0
41
35
28
28
6
24
48
Abreu
2
3
6.39
29
0
5
25.1
22
20
18
6
24
33
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Sousa
0
0
8.10
5
0
0
3.1
3
3
3
0
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Javier
0
1
12.54
3
3
0
9.1
13
13
13
2
9
4
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Burrows navigated six innings against them on 93 pitches. His second batter, Nathan Lukes, pulled a 3-1 fastball for a home run, an inauspicious early swing. It was the 19th home run allowed by Burrows this season and the 12th on his four-seamer. From there, Burrows retired 17 of his final 19 batters, with the exceptions a walk and a fourth-inning single by Daulton Varsho.
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A focus of Burrows’ recent work has been raising his arm angle, which was down 9 degrees on average from last season entering Wednesday, per Baseball Savant. That is thought to have affected the action, and thereby the effectiveness, of some of his pitches. Burrows said last week his “biggest indicators” of whether the arm angle is in a good spot are his four-seamer and curveball.
Wednesday, Burrows threw 25 four-seamers on 93 pitches. Their average vertical drop was on par with his previous season average, per Statcast, though Espada noted it appeared Burrows “was getting that hop that we’ve seen in the past.” The Blue Jays swung at 10 four-seamers and put four into play, all with exit velocities above 95 mph, though Lukes’ home run was the lone hit.
Burrows averaged an additional 3 inches of drop on the 12 curveballs he threw, per Statcast. He also leaned more on his slider against a lineup with six right-handed hitters. While Burrows generated just seven whiffs on 45 swings, the slider created a 53% chase rate and the curveball a 40% chase rate. The Blue Jays averaged an 84.2 mph exit velocity overall on 17 batted balls in play against him.
“I think the fastball (performed better), but I think everything — I think the curveball was much better, I think the slider was better,” Burrows said.
Espada observed that Burrows’ “changeup today was not quite as sharp, but because of the fastball and the curveball, he was able to establish both sides of the plate and get some big outs for us.” The Blue Jays did not take an at-bat with a runner in scoring position against Burrows, who said he operated “just trusting the work that we’ve been doing.”
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“Go out there and execute,” Burrows said. “You don’t want to be locking yourself up with things you’ve been working on. So just let the work play.”
Trey Yesavage taming the Astros’ lineup after Isaac Paredes’ run-scoring single in the first inning required sharpness from Burrows. The right-handers traded zeroes after the first. Yesavage finished one out shy of a quality start. Burrows authored one, just the fourth in his 15 starts this season, in perhaps a promising return from a reset.
“You’re out there competing and everything’s just moving right,” Burrows said. “Yeah, it was good.”