Burnes generated 10 swings and misses while throwing 89 pitches; 54 of those landing for strikes. The right-hander allowed only three hits, and his defense did him no favors in what was one of his better efforts of the young campaign. Burnes takes a 4.05 ERA into a scheduled start against the Mets next week.

Three strikeouts, seven whiffs and a 21% CSW made for an effective yet rather uninspiring effort from Burnes. Normally one of the game’s best at limiting hard contact, Burnes’ exit velocity numbers look like something one would see from Juan Soto in the batter’s box. He currently has a 50% hard-hit rate. His worst mark in the last five year was 34%. At least today was better in that regard, with only eight of 20 balls in play being hard hit. Burnes’ velocity remains strong, and we’d expect him to get back to being a top pitcher at some point in the coming months. He just isn’t one right now.

Burnes gave up a pair of runs in the second inning, and then gave up a homer to Jackson Chourio in the sixth. The right-hander was better than his effort Sunday against the Nats (five innings, four runs), but he didn’t miss bats in either start with just five swing-and-misses generated during Saturday’s start. A frustrating beginning, but Burnes should be fine and obviously should be in fantasy lineups over the weekend against the Cubs.

Burnes finished with only three strikeouts, surrendered seven hits, and struggled uncharacteristically with his control, handing out a staggering four free passes. The 30-year-old fantasy ace’s cutter has looked on point from a velocity and movement standpoint, which makes it challenging to pinpoint the exact reason why he struggled to command it in this outing. He’s issued seven walks through two starts to open the year, which is highly unusual. We’re confident he’ll turn things around given his track record and how his stuff has looked so far, but he hasn’t been dominant in his Arizona debut. He’ll attempt to get back on track when he faces the struggling Brewers on Saturday at Chase Field.