Sean Burke

Burke had been ranked briefly as a top 400 prospect in May 2022 and January 2023, but he never generated much buzz and made his big-league debut late in 2024 without much fanfare after logging a 4.62 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 16 starts at Triple-A as a 24-year-old. He excelled over four big-league appearances in September, including a six-inning, eight-strikeout outing against San Diego that featured strikeouts of Fernando Tatis, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill. Burke cut his walk rate from 13 percent at Triple-A to 9.2 percent in the majors while keeping his strikeout rate north of 28 percent at both stops. Burke's 19.7 K-BB% would have ranked 15th in the majors among qualified starters, in between George Kirby and Michael King, and while his small sample lessens the weight of his performance, it was undoubtedly an excellent first four big-league outings. Keeping his walk rate under 10 percent will be important for him to have consistent success in his first full year in the big-league rotation, but his mid-90s fastball is a clear plus pitch (111 Stuff+), and he has a deep four-pitch mix. A shoulder injury limited Burke to 36.2 innings in 2023, and he didn't make his 2024 Triple-A debut until June, also due to a shoulder injury. He built up to 90.2 innings and should be able to go well past 120 innings this year with reasonable health, although back-to-back seasons with shoulder trouble should be factored into his innings projection.