Pirates option Carmen Mlodzinski, recall Mike Burrows in starting rotation shuffle

The Pittsburgh Pirates are shuffling their starting rotation, optioning right-hander reliever-turned-starter Carmen Mlodzinski to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalling Mike Burrows on Wednesday.

Burrows, a 6-foot, 200-pound right-hander, is 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 41 strikeouts against 11 walks in 32 1/3 innings over eight appearances (seven starts) for Indianapolis this season.

“Burrows has earned an opportunity to come up and start up here,” manager Don Kelly said. “His momentum has been really good, and looking forward to seeing him out there.”

The 25-year-old Burrows made his major-league debut in a 9-4 win at the New York Yankees last Sept. 28, allowing one earned run on two hits and three walks while striking out two in 3 1/3 innings of relief. Burrows was previously recalled on April 24 when the bullpen was thin but did not make an appearance and was optioned back the next day.

This time, Burrows is scheduled to make his first career MLB start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, in what would be Mlodzinski’s regular turn in the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

“I’m very appreciative,” said Burrows, ranked the Pirates’ No. 15 prospect by MLB Pipeline. “I’m glad that the team trusts me to go out there and start tomorrow, so just going to go out there and give it all I got.”

Mlodzinski is 1-4 with a 5.67 ERA, 1.61 WHIP and 28 strikeouts against 12 walks in 39 2/3 innings over nine starts for the Pirates this season. He allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk with two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings in his last start, a 5-2 loss at the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

“Carmen (is) just working on a little bit of consistency,” Kelly said. “He’s going to go down and start in Indy. Looking forward to him being down there and continuing to work on that.”