Photo courtesy of MLB.com
Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes
It’s been almost 50 years now since one of the biggest medical advancements in baseball history: In 1974 Dr. Frank Jobe invented ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery. The surgery is better known for its first recipient, then-Dodgers pitcher Tommy John. John, who was 31 at the time of the procedure, returned to the majors in 1976 and pitched 14 more seasons before retiring just after his 46th birthday. In the decades since, hundreds of pitchers have had their careers extended by the surgery Jobe invented.
Today MLB teams are seeing the first beneficiaries of a different kind of advancement, possibly the most significant since Jobe’s. This time, however, the new process isn’t medical or surgical: It’s technological.
In recent years the process of pitching development has changed dramatically through the use of high-speed cameras and tracking devices that allow pitchers and coaches to spot minute details that can make a big difference in pitch control, movement and spin. For a while these processes were largely the domain of third-party organizations and pitching “gurus,” but they’ve been increasingly adopted and embraced by MLB clubs.
As teams compete to stay on the “cutting edge” of this new technology, they’re increasingly protective of proprietary information about what tools they’re using and how. The Brewers’ new “pitch lab” in Phoenix is off limits to reporters, but this season media and fans alike are observing some of the first outputs. One of them is Corbin Burnes, who started the Brewers’ second game of the season on Saturday.
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Mentally and Physically Ready
Burnes was a big part of the Brewers’ success down the stretch in 2018 but struggled to replicate those results during a disastrous 2019 season. He allowed 48 earned runs in 49 innings in what was expected to be his first full MLB season, a year that saw him move from the rotation to the bullpen and eventually off the roster entirely. Last August the Brewers sent him to Phoenix to work in the pitch lab and he’s spent a lot of time there since: He rejoined the team briefly in September but in January at Brewers On Deck he said he had returned to Phoenix before his birthday on October 22 to continue to work towards the 2020 season.
“I had a talk with (Brewers bullpen coach Steve) Karsay and Hookie (Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook) about a week after the season about some things we wanted to accomplish this offseason, so it’s been five days a week, three or four hours at the field just trying to get things the way we want, and get mentally ready and physically ready,” Burnes said.
No one could have expected, of course, how long Burnes would have to wait to try out his adjustments in game action. When he started Saturday’s game against the Cubs it was the first time he had gotten the ball to open a game in over 15 months. His outing was not without bumps in the road, of course: He struggled with his control and allowed a run in the bottom of the first inning. He also struck out Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber in that inning, however, demonstrating some of the skills that have made him such a tantalizing prospect for so long.
There’s some reason to believe that all Burnes needed to have an improved 2020 season was better luck: Opposing hitters batted .414 on balls in play against him in 2019 and homered on more than three out of eight balls hit in the air, both numbers that exceeded league averages by an enormous margin. The Brewers have reason to believe that some regression to the mean in addition to the fruits of his offseason labors can allow Burnes’ career to turn a corner this year.
To read more Brewers On Deck Circle columns by Kyle Lobner, click here.
