Cory Burns 2011 Scouting Report

Here is the scouting report written around this time last year in advance of the 2011 season for right-handed pitcher Cory Burns. The Indians lost him today in a trade with the San Diego Padres in exchange for outfielder Aaron Cunningham. This report has only been available in my 2011 Prospect Book and not available on-line until now. (Note: the video included below is new and would have been for his 2012 scouting report.)

Cory Burns – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 10/09/1987 – Height: 6’1” – Weight: 180 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

Photo: Lianna Holub

History: Burns was selected by the Indians in the 8th round of the 2009 Draft out of the University of Arizona. While pitching for short season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009 he finished 3rd in the NY-Penn League in saves (11), 4th in games finished (21), and was also a mid-season NY-Penn League All Star. He started the 2010 season a perfect 27-for-27 saves, and his 30 saves at High-A Kinston ranked 1st in the Carolina League even though he spent the first month and a half of the season at Low-A Lake County. He finished 2nd in all of minor league baseball in saves, second only to Jonathan Albaladejo of Scranton-Wilkes/Barre who had 43 saves.

Strengths: Looking at Burns’ high save total, .212 batting average against, and 13.3 K/9 last year you would think he overpowered hitters with a lot of heat. But that is not the case at all as he does not really have a dominating repertoire as he throws an 88-91 MPH tailing fastball, a good changeup, and a biting knuckle-curveball. He gets a lot of deception and movement on his fastball because of a sidearm arm slot where it has whiffle ball like movement and is hard to square up. His above average changeup is his best pitch and at times flashes plus ability, and he gets a lot of swings and misses with it and it is very effective against left-handers. His knuckle-curveball showed a lot of development last year and has become a very effective pitch against right-handers because of his low arm slot and the way it darts away from them.

Burns’ success last year mostly came from his ability to command and control all of his pitches, the good movement he gets on all of his pitches, and a very unorthodox tornado-like delivery which creates a lot of deception. His delivery is not patterned off of any one pitcher; it is more a hybrid delivery which combines a lot of attributes from pitchers like Hideo Nomo, Luis Tiant, and others. He used to throw straight over the top as a college freshman, but after a rough first year there he changed his arm slot to low three quarters and started pitching exclusively out of the stretch and he had much more success. When he returned to Arizona for his senior season, he was put into the starting rotation at the beginning of the year and the change necessitated the addition of a windup back into his delivery since he had only thrown from the stretch for two years, and that is when the "Tornado" was born. The delivery looks like something you would see in a Japanese league with how he pauses in the middle of the delivery, rotates his back to home plate, and then fires the ball home all without ever looking at the hitter or showing them the ball until the last possible second. He varies up the time he pauses in his delivery which along with his arm slot and the way he hides the ball creates a lot of deception, and as a result gives opposing hitters fits. Hitters just are not comfortable when they stand in the box against him.

Opportunities: Burns lacks dominating stuff and has relied a lot on deception at the Single-A level with his gimmicky delivery. Due to his age and his delivery there is some concern that he was just taking advantage of some very young, inexperienced hitters. It remains to be seen how his stuff and delivery hold up when facing more advanced hitters at the Double-A and above level, so he still needs to prove himself at a higher level before he truly jumps into the prospect discussion for relievers. His knuckle-curveball is a fringe average pitch and needs a lot more work in refining it to make it a consistently effective pitch in his repertoire. He also needs to continue working on his fastball command in order to limit walks, something that has not shown to be a problem so far as a pro but was an issue for him in college.

Outlook: You will be hard pressed to find any publication coming into the 2010 season who took Burns very seriously as a relief prospect, but that is no longer the case after the year he had in 2010. His save totals were amazing last year, and while saves have little bearing on prospect standing, it showed an amazing ability to pitch in tight situations and close out ball games. He has loads of experience in the bullpen as he only made one start in college, so going forward that is where he will be developed. He should get a big test this upcoming season as he moves up into the higher levels of the minors, which will begin to show if his gimmicky delivery may translate and hold up well against more advanced hitters. He should open the 2011 season as the closer at Double-A Akron.



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