Burnes tossed 3.2 scoreless innings in his final appearance of the exhibition season Tuesday against the Blue Jays. He allowed just two hits and posted a 5:0 K:BB in the game.
Burnes' 5.06 ERA this spring was inflated by two outings in which he gave up a total of seven earned runs over 5.1 innings, but he was impressive otherwise, giving up just five earned runs over 16 innings (2.81 ERA) in his other five outings and posting a stellar 26:4 K:BB over his 21.1 total innings. It was announced last week that Burnes would break camp with a spot in the Brewers' rotation, and as was the case during the exhibition season, he could be prone to some inconsistency in his first year as a starter at the big-league level. However, Burnes' strikeout rate this spring bodes well for his fantasy prospects, and there are other reasons for optimism, as he was a consensus top-100 prospect before exhausting his eligibility and more than held his own while playing a key role out of the bullpen down the stretch and into the postseason a year ago.