Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke were optioned to Triple-A after struggling in Major League starts. The Minor League assignments are intended to allow both pitchers to experiment with different approaches without the immediate pressure of Major League innings. Burke threw 89 pitches over five Triple-A innings in his first start, while Cannon initially allowed nine earned runs in two Minor League starts before posting a 6.1-inning outing with one earned run. Pitching coach Ethan Katz wants Cannon to attack left-handed hitters up and in to open his changeup and breaking pitches. Katz is pushing Burke to trust his changeup and use his slider more to lengthen outings.
"When you go down to the Minor Leagues," Katz said. "It gives you and opportunity to try some things that you maybe talk about up here that in the moment it's harder to accomplish because you're trying to get through an inning and you're going to stick to what you feel is best, [as opposed to] trying to open up some other avenues."
In his first start in Triple-A on Friday, Burke threw 89 pitches across five innings with eight hits, four earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts. Cannon allowed nine earned runs across 10 innings in his first two Minor League starts, but he bounced back well on Saturday with a 6.1-inning outing with just one earned run. Katz called it a nice step in the right direction for the 25-year-old right-hander.
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