Burnes remains a starter long-term, but the Brewers let him get his feet wet at the major-league level as a reliever, and the move worked brilliantly, as Burnes got to complete his development and provide excellent innings during the team's playoff push. His stuff played up in relief, with Burnes posting a 15.2% swinging-strike rate and a 47.4 O-Contact%, nearly 20 percentage points lower than the league average. So when hitters swung at Burnes' pitches out of the strike zone, they very rarely even put bat to ball let alone connected for base hits. The Brewers want him to keep starting, and he will get a chance to compete for a rotation spot during spring training. If he does not earn a spot there, it's likely he will work out of the bullpen and be next on deck should a spot open up.

Burnes showed flashes of brilliance while throwing just 35.2 innings in his 2016 professional debut, but that turned out to be a sign of things to come, as he flat-out dominated minor-league hitters in 2017. He fell just short of averaging a strikeout per inning at both the High-A and Double-A levels, but was otherwise spectacular, limiting opposing hitters to just a .200 batting average while also posting a sparkling 4.20 K/BB and giving up just three home runs. He doesn't possess elite strikeout potential, but he will at least be serviceable in that area given his deep, high-quality arsenal, which includes a mid-90s fastball, a hard slider, and also a curveball and changeup. Burnes figures to get a run at the Triple-A level before he makes his big-league debut, but as long as he does not fall victim to the thin air of Colorado Springs, he stands a good chance to join the Brewers at some point in the summer of 2018.

Burnes was completely off the prospect radar his freshman year at St. Mary's, when he posted a 6.18 ERA as he bounced between the rotation and the bullpen. But over the next three years, Burnes developed into a major prospect, thanks in particular to a notable summer in the Cape Cod League following his junior season. Now he owns a fastball that sits 92-95 to go with a changeup and breaking ball, all capable of drawing whiffs. That was enough to earn Burnes a fourth-round selection from the Brewers. He looked fantastic in his first professional action, as he struck out 41 batters and allowed just eight runs over 35.2 innings between rookie ball and Low-A Wisconsin. At 21 years old, he should be able to handle batters at those levels, but his stock will be worth watching as he progresses up the ladder.