The Yankees added right-hander Dan Burawa to the 40-man roster last year rather than leave him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. They called him up to the majors for an appearance in June that didn’t go well, sent him back to Triple-A and then never brought him back before designated him for assignment on Aug. 5.
Burawa went from thinking he might be a part of the Yankees’ future to wondering if he’d be back in the minors. But the Braves claimed Burawa before he cleared waivers and on called him up from Triple-A Gwinnett when rosters expanded on Monday.
“It’s a tough game and you are not sure how many chances you are going to get,” Burawa said. “For a lot of guys, getting DFA’d is a closing of a window and you are not sure if anyone really likes you because the team you were with didn’t. So to hear another team liked you enough to put a claim in, it’s a great feeling. It’s a huge confidence boost that someone saw something they like in you.”
Burawa, 26, had a strong debut for the Braves. He pitched two perfect innings in relief against the Marlins with four strikeouts and two ground ball outs. Burawa showed off a fastball that hit 95 mph.
“He threw the ball well,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He threw the ball over the plate. I went in to watch it on TV a little bit and the ball had some sink and (he has) a pretty good slider. That was a nice couple innings watching that young man pitch.”
The Yankees selected Burawa in the 12th round of the 2010 draft out of St. John’s University. He missed the entire 2012 season because of an oblique injury. Burawa posted a 2.59 ERA over 66 innings at Double-A Trenton in 2013 and had a 5.95 ERA over 42 1.2 innings in Triple-A last year.
In his one appearance for the Yankees Burawa allowed three hits and four runs in 2/3 innings against the Tigers. The Yankees designated Burawa for assignment to make room for starting pitcher Luis Severino on the 40-man roster.
“The Yankees are in a weird spot right now in that they have so much talent,” Burawa said. “Can’t really blame them for the way things went down. They picked their guys, and I wasn’t one of them. Baseball is a business and that’s just how it goes sometimes.”
