Cleveland Indians: Top 30 Prospects Countdown, 16-20

No. 16: Tanner Burns

While there has been a lot of info on the other players on this list, we can’t say the same for Tanner Burns. The Cleveland Indians selected Burns with the 36th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, still a first round pick, so he hasn’t had the opportunity to suit up yet in the minors. However, we do have some stuff to go off of from his time at Auburn.

Originally a 37th round pick by the Yankees in 2017, Burns opted to attend Auburn and wow was that a good decision. Jumping from the 37th round to the first, Burns was rather impressive at Auburn.

Burns’ numbers improved each year at Auburn, including a 2020 campaign that saw a 2.42 ERA along with 32 strikeouts over only 22.1 innings, striking out nearly half of his outs. On top of that, he walked just seven batters and registered a WHIP of 0.99. Now, those numbers are from a much smaller sample size since the season was cut short, but they are impressive regardless.

With three years of college experience, maybe more like two and a half with the COVID season, it will be interesting to see where Burns starts out in the minors and how far he can rise this season.