Milwaukee Brewers: How did Corbin Burnes survive the latest roster purge?

The Milwaukee Brewers went through another round of call-ups, demotions, and activations on Friday. Prospect Corbin Burnes is still on the Major League roster. How did he avoid going back to Colorado Springs?

Alec Asher, Wade Miley, and Brandon Woodruff are back with the Milwaukee Brewers. Nate Orf, Freddy Peralta, and Jorge Lopez were sent back to Triple-A. Adrian Houser was called up on July 12th, and optioned back to Colorado Springs on July 13th Wouldn’t Corbin Burnes make sense as a casualty of the Brewers latest round of roster roulette?

How did Burnes manage to avoid the axe?

Well, first of all, he’s rested. Burnes looked solid in his first outing against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, and he hasn’t worked since.

Peralta started on Wednesday and won’t work again until after the All-Star break. Lopez worked multiple innings on Wednesday as well. Orf…is well, Nate Orf. He has options remaining, and someone had to go down to make room for Woodruff. Orf could actually turn around and come back if Eric Thames needs time off before next week’s break

Are there any other reasons why Burnes would stay up?

The Milwaukee Brewers tend to give top prospects a chance to prove themselves before shuttling them back to the Minors. Woodruff and Josh Hader both received extended looks last season. Both were top five prospects who figure into the Brewers long term plans. Burnes falls into the same category. It’s clear that he’ll get the same treatment as other top talents.

Burnes will likely have to work multiple innings in Saturday’s double-header against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s spent most of the season as a starter, and already has a multi-inning appearance in the Major Leagues. Burnes’ stuff isn’t quite as electric as Hader’s, but it appears that he’s working his way into the role that the 2018 All-Star lefty played last year.

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Hader worked multiple innings in over half of his appearances last year. He was forced into action as a LOOGY at times because he was the only lefty in the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen last year. Burnes is right-handed, and won’t have to come in for only one batter. He’ll have a chance to hone his craft at the Major League level, and take on a role in the rotation or bullpen in 2019.