Astros Option Mike Burrows

The Astros have optioned struggling right-hander Mike Burrows to Triple-A Sugar Land, the team announced Tuesday. Fellow right-hander Alimber Santa has been recalled from Sugar Land in his place.

Burrows, 26, was one of the most notable additions to the Houston pitching staff this winter. The Astros added him in the three-team trade that sent touted outfield prospect Jacob Melton and minor league righty Andesrson Brito from Houston to Tampa Bay. Slugging second baseman Brandon Lowe, lefty Mason Montgomery and outfielder Jake Mangum went from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh.

Houston’s hope was surely that Burrows, a then-25-year-old righty with six full seasons of club control, could step in and lock down the third or fourth spot in a new-look rotation. He’s a former well-over-slot 11th-round pick who ranked as one of the more promising arms in Pittsburgh’s system for years and was coming off a strong rookie season. In 23 games (19 starts) with the Bucs last year, Burrows pitched to a 3.94 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate, a 7.7% walk rate and a 41.8% ground-ball rate.

All those rate stats are right in line with or slightly better than the league average. He’d finished the season on a fairly high note, notching a 3.27 ERA in 55 innings after the All-Star break. Burrows still had an option year remaining — he’ll burn that option now if he spends more than 20 days in Triple-A — but the expectation was that he’d step right into the Houston staff.

That’s precisely what’s happened, but the results haven’t been at all what the Astros envisioned. Burrows has been one of the most homer-prone and least-effective pitchers in baseball. He’s pitched 94 2/3 innings and been shelled for a 5.99 ERA, thanks primarily to a staggering average of exactly two homers allowed per every nine innings pitched. Burrows ranks 62nd among 63rd qualified starters, leading only Arizona’s Zac Gallen (6.36).

Burrows’ swinging-strike rate has dropped from 12% last year to 10.1% this year. He’s not missing any bats in the zone; opponents are making contact on just shy of 88% of their swings on balls over the plate. Last year, Burrows was at 82.4% in that regard. He’s lost a half mile off his four-seamer and more than a mile off his seldom-used sinker. Burrows’ strikeout rate has slipped from last year’s 24.1% to a 17.7% clip that’s about four percentage points shy of average.

This most recent outing against the Twins ostensibly forced the team’s hand. Burrows pitched 4 1/3 innings and surrendered a season-high 10 runs, albeit three of them being unearned. It was his third start of the season with seven or more earned runs and pushed his ERA over his past 10 appearances (50 innings) all the way to 6.84. He’ll head to Sugar Land and try to get back on track.

In the meantime, Houston’s rotation will now include Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Spencer Arrighetti and Tatsuya Imai. They’re hoping to get Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski back from the injured list in the second half, and Houston figures to be in the market for rotation help over the next four weeks, too. That’s especially true given Imai’s struggles. Brown (in only six starts), Lambert and Arrighetti all have ERAs well under 4.00. Imai has struggled even more than Burrows, however, pitching to a 6.12 ERA in a smaller sample of 48 1/3 MLB frames.

Burrows’ struggles put the Astros in a tough spot. As noted, he won’t burn his final minor league option if he’s recalled in fewer than 20 days. However, that doesn’t give him much time to get back on track in Triple-A. But if the ‘Stros opt to keep Burrows in Triple-A for a lengthier stint, they’ll have to carry him on the roster early next season, regardless of results, or else designate him for assignment less than 18 months after acquiring him.