With the 227th pick of the 2026 MLB Draft, the Minnesota Twins selected Texas Longhorns flame-throwing reliever Thomas Burns.
With an electric fastball and an intimidating mound presence, Burns is one of the hardest throwers in the draft class — his fastball routinely lives in the upper-90s and if that isn’t enough, he has three off speed pitches — cutter, changeup, and curveball — that he can rely on.
His fastball arrives from an ultra high arm slot that generates backspin and carry. At times this
past season, it had the highest fastball whiff rate in all of college baseball. It plays faster than velocity suggests because of that slot and sets up his cutter.
Coming in around the mid-80s, Burns rarely throws the cutter for a strike, instead opting to induce swing and misses out of the zone.
While his stuff is electric, Burns has battled some control issues over the last two seasons, which may pose a problem at the next level. This past season, he struck out 43 in 22.1 innings but walked 16 batters and hit three others.
In his two seasons as a Longhorn, Burns walked or hit 17.6 percent of the batters he faced. Granted, he struck out 38.4 percent of those batters, but the free passes are a concern.
An underrated attribute for Burns is his mound presence. At 6’3, 240 pounds, Burns is a husky pitcher with a commanding demeanor. His arm slot and bull mentality make his stuff even more dangerous than metrics and stats would suggest.
As he transitions to the big leagues, Burns should continue to generate high rates of strikeouts. His fastball should have no issues against big league hitters and his arsenal of off speed will serve him well. If he can tame some of these pitches, Burns has the potential to develop into a reliable arm out of a major league bullpen.
