Burke returns from IL with strong relief outing and a lot to prove

SEATTLE -- Brock Burke was blunt in his assessment of his 2024 season so far, and where he stands within the Rangers' organization with just under a month to go before the All-Star break.

“I’ve got a lot of things to make up, and a lot of innings to make up for the team,” he said, after Texas’ 7-5 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Saturday.

After spending two months on the injured list with a broken bone in his right hand, sustained when he punched a door in the Minute Maid Park Clubhouse, Burke made his return to Major League action. Burke, who took over after starter Nathan Eovaldi racked up 75 pitches in just three innings, retired the first eight batters he faced before walking Tyler Locklear and getting pulled.

“What a great job he did,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I loved his pitchability today. Good changeup, good slider, and located his fastball well. That was really good to see.”

The 2 2/3 innings match the longest relief outing of Burke’s career, and his four strikeouts are the most he’s gotten in one outing since Sept. 29, 2022.

And if anyone needed a strong return from injury, it was Burke.

In five appearances to start the season, the lefty compiled a 15.00 ERA in three total innings. All of his stats ballooned in a six-day stretch when the southpaw was called in to face the Astros three times and gave up seven hits in 11 batters faced. The last of those outings was the roughest, when Burke hit Yordan Alvarez, gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Tucker and surrendered another double and a single before being pulled. Burke’s emotions boiled over on the way into the clubhouse, and the result put him on the IL for the first time in two years.

“Obviously in the heat of the moment you never think about the future and what’s going to happen,” Burke said. “Right after it happened, all of the thoughts about what was about to ensue definitely went through my mind, and [I was] definitely very frustrated.

“I feel like I not only let myself down but the team down, and during that whole two-month process my goal was to come back and do the best that I can to try to help this team.”

On one hand, there was a desire to make up for the burst of emotion that cost him 56 games. On the other, it was a chance to examine what exactly had gone wrong in the stretch that preceded it.

Bochy described Burke before his injury as being “a bit of a thrower,” who leaned too much on his fastball, which he threw 69% of the time. So when Burke began his rehab assignment in May, he spent the nine games in the Minors reimagining himself as a pitcher.

“I think that was the main thing, like, ‘How can I get this guy out?’ instead of just trying to dominate with fastballs,” Burke said. “Everyone here can hit fastballs if they know it’s constantly coming.”

Saturday, Burke came back and mixed it up. He threw 17 fastballs, 14 sliders and seven changeups. He only doubled up with his four-seamer three times, and pitched backwards to the majority of the batters he faced, throwing six first-pitch sliders.

In his first five appearances of the season, Burke threw six sliders -- total.

“They haven’t seen me in awhile, and they probably were sitting on fastballs a lot, so I tried to get ahead with offspeed and finish them with fastballs, and that worked,” he said.

Burke’s return could prove huge in the long run for a Texas bullpen that currently ranks fifth-worst in the Majors in ERA.

In 2022, Burke led all Major League relievers with 82 1/3 innings pitched, and posted a career-low 1.97 ERA.

The next year, the Rangers cut down on his innings, but put him in more high-leverage situations, with the righty inheriting a team-high 37 runners but posting a 24% inherited score clip, third-best in the Texas bullpen. The only two relievers ahead of him were closer Will Smith -- now on the Royals -- and Josh Sborz, who’s dealing with his own injury.

Now, he comes into the summer in a different sort of state. He’s a rested arm. He’s a different sort of pitcher. And he’s got the mindset to start a new chapter in his season -- and make up some innings.

“He can play a critical role in this ’pen, especially with the length he gave us,” Bochy said. “That was good to see.”