Pittsburgh Pirates: The forgotten first rounder, Nick Burdi

Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Nick Burdi hasn’t had the career he would have hoped after being drafted 46th overall n 2014. That being said, he now has an opportunity to prove himself.

Get drafted, steadily ascend through the minor leagues, appear on prospect lists, get held off the MLB roster to

maintain service time

work on defense/changeups, debut and become an MLB Star. That is the smooth path every player who gets drafted hopes to follow. Rarely it ever happens so smoothly.

Now Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Nick Burdi was hoping for that steady ascension. As a pitcher drafted by the Twins 46th overall out of Louisville, they were hoping Burdi would quickly ascend through the minors.

Armed with a power fastball/slider combo that made him a nightmare to hitters in college and soon to be pros, Burdi would arrive in Minnesota and become a lights-out All-Star reliever.

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Unfortunately, it didn’t go that way for Burdi, not even close. Burdi accumulated injuries with a bone bruise in 2016 and the dreaded Tommy John Surgery in 2017.

Burdi ended up in Pittsburgh by way of Philadelphia in the Rule V draft. He spent 2018 rehabbing and made a late-season cameo and stuck with the Pirates. 2019 was supposed to be Burdi’s shot but the injury bug struck again and Burdi would need surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Burdi enters the 2020 Pirates Spring Training with a clean bill of health and restriction-free. This could finally be the season Burdi can stay healthy and produce for the Pirates. There are many encouraging indicators that he could be electric in the bullpen this year.

Let’s start off with the most obvious thing, Burdi still throws incredibly hard, averaging blistering 96.9 on his fastball. That fastball also has an above-average spin rate at 2422 RPMs that compares to that of Dellin Betances. That pitch alone will keep Burdi at the MLB level as teams love velocity more than ever.

Now for the out pitch, Burdi’s devastating slider presented without comment:

In his brief MLB stint in 2019, Burdi through that devastating pitch 54% of the time. That pitch is also above average by spin rate. Burdi’s usage of the pitch is a true thing of beauty throwing one version for a strike and the wipeout version featured above.

One area it’ll be interesting to see how Burdi adjusts his how he uses his pitches in 2020. Now that Neal Huntington, Clint Hurdle, and Ray Searage are out in Pittsburgh you have to wonder if their long-standing strategy of pounding the zone inside is on its way out. Burdi was no exception, routinely locating on the inside third of the plate with his explosive velocity.

Burdi has all the ingredients to be a successful reliever even after all the injury hardship he has faced. The Pirates are entering a rebuilding phase under Ben Cherington and will have plenty of innings and time to be patient to see what Burdi can be at the MLB level.

With electric stuff and just pure resilience to keep going after being knocked down so many times, Nick Burdi could be a fun to watch bright spot on a Pittsburgh Pirates team in need of a good story.