Undrafted out of Centennial High School back in 2013, Burnes wouldn’t be recognizable to most from his days as a prep as he’s grown roughly three inches and has added 25 pounds of strength when comparing his Perfect Game profile and current Saint Mary’s player page. Of course the pure stuff is also incredibly different otherwise Burnes would have been a high round draft out of high school and currently climbing up a team’s farm system.

After a rather unassuming freshman season in which he had a few turns in the rotation, though most of his innings came as a reliever, Burnes did a summer stint where he began transitioning into a starter as five of his six appearances in the Hamptons League were starts. Burnes showed impressive raw stuff but still struggled some with an ERA north of 5.00 before taking a sharp right turn as a sophomore when everything began to click. He began to thrive as a member of the Gaels' starting rotation and he also started to miss bats at a rather frequent rate before suiting up for the Orleans Firebirds last summer where he cemented his name on every prospect list.

Burnes didn’t necessarily blow his fastball past anybody on the Cape as he averaged less than a strikeout per inning (a clip he’ll well surpass this spring), but he did show some of his best pure stuff with reports coming of a fastball that touched upwards of 97 mph. And while he’s not consistently showing the big velocity in any given start, he is carrying a 92-94 mph fastball exceptionally well throughout a start showing a long and loose whip-like arm action through the back from which the ball absolutely explodes out of his hand.

His slider has been a swing-and-miss type offering this spring and it’s one that can work into the low-80s with short, late-tilting life down to the bottom of the zone. Maintaining his arm action and delivery, with a simple leg lift that appears similar to former Vanderbilt’s Carson Fulmer, but at a slowed down rate, Burnes throws his changeup with plenty of conviction and arm speed in the mid-80s with late fading life. Not only does he throw the pitch for strikes with sinking life, he shows the comfort to double or triple up on the pitch and can throw it to both righthanded and lefthanded hitters. (JB)