Auburn’s Tanner Burns ‘one phone call away' from MLB debut

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a rough pitching outing earlier this season, Tanner Burns called his dad back home in Decatur, Alabama, for some fatherly wisdom.

Like his son, Mike Burns played minor league baseball.

“’You’re one phone call away,’” Tanner recalls his dad telling him. “’You’re literally knocking on the door.’

“That really hasn’t hit me because I’m usually thinking, ‘What do I have to do today to get better? Or ‘What did I do yesterday that I can make better today?’ But I really am one phone call away from fulfilling my childhood dream.”

In his fourth professional season, Burns plays for the Columbus Clippers, Cleveland’s top minor league affiliate, 142 miles – and one phone call – from pitching at Progressive Field in the big leagues.

“I do think about it,” Burns said. “I think that’s what makes me want to work harder every day so I can have that conversation with (Columbus manager Andy) Tracy as soon as I can.

“I’m trying to be where my feet are, not trying to play GM. I’m a professional baseball player, I’m not a general manager. But I do look forward to that day, and the people I love are also looking forward to that.”

A full-time reliever for the first time in his career, Burns made the switch to the bullpen late last season, convinced that it was his quickest path to the majors.

“I’m available every night,” he said. “When I come to the field, I don’t know if I’m going to throw tonight, so I better be ready. I like knowing that.”

Since leaving the Plains in 2020 after becoming the ninth Auburn player drafted in the first round, Burns has compiled a 3.60 earned run average in 100 career appearances, striking out 317 batters in 295.1 innings.

“A lot of change,” Burns said. “Minor league baseball is hard. Getting to the big leagues is hard. It’s been tough but I’m having a blast.”

Burns made an instant impact at Auburn, earning a spot in the weekend rotation on his way to becoming a Freshman All-American. In three seasons, he was 14-9 with a 2.86 ERA, and the only player in program history to be named Freshman All-America or All-America in three consecutive seasons.

“I was surrounded with Coach (Butch) Thompson, Coach (Tim) Hudson, Coach (Steve) Smith – I was around people that knew a lot about pitching,” Burns said. “Here, they’re trying to make me better, just like at Auburn, they were trying to make me better.”

Playing at Auburn and competing against SEC hitters, says Tanner, prepared him for the pros.

“It really helped me,” Burns said. “SEC baseball reminds me of Double-A baseball, starting with the parks we play in, the way you get treated. I got treated really well at Auburn. We were flying, you had really good pregame and postgame spreads.

“Going to Auburn helped me grow up because you’re facing really good hitters. One through nine can beat you. They hit mistakes here. I could get away with it a little bit at Auburn, but guys here, they’re ready to hit a mistake. They’re going to make you pay.”

In the Clippers’ dugout at Huntington Park on July 27 before earning the victory for Columbus in Burns’ 100^th career appearance, Tanner put into perspective how close he is to Major League Baseball.

“Of the nine we’re starting tonight, seven of them have been in the big leagues,” Burns said. “They say Triple-A is practice for the big leagues.”

While moving up through Cleveland’s system, Burns concentrates on his pitch sequences, which pitches to throw in which counts, what he anticipates to be a hitter’s thought process, and how Burns might use that against his opponent.

“Focusing more on my craft, what’s going on in my mind,” Burns said. “I feel like, now, it’s 90 percent mental, the other 10 percent is my God-given ability.”

At Auburn, Burns once asked former pitching coach Tim Hudson, a 222-game winner in MLB, the difference between a minor leaguer and a big leaguer.

“’Shoulders up,’” Hudson told Burns. “It didn’t make sense to me until now. It’s like a game within your mind. It’s an emphasis on maintaining what thoughts are going through my mind.”

In his second season at Auburn, Burns helped the Tigers reach the 2019 College World Series, ending a 22-year Omaha drought.

“Seeing what my recruiting class did makes you feel good,” he said. “I loved my time at Auburn. I wish I could go back.

“My mom used to say, ‘Don’t wish this time away, It will be the best time of your life.’ She was right. I wish I could go back and do Auburn all over again.”

To the freshmen joining Auburn’s baseball program this fall, as Burns did seven years ago, he offers this advice.

“Enjoy your time at Auburn,” he said. “You get treated better at Auburn than you do all the way up to when you get to Triple-A. There’s nothing wrong with going to college.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer

 

“It prepared me for this level.”

One step away from @MLB & @CleGuardians, former @AuburnBaseball pitcher @TannerBurns_7 plays for AAA @CLBClippers

Tanner helped AU reach CWS in 2019.

Says TB, “I loved my time at Auburn. I wish I could go back.”#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/Hll8jq04oM

— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) July 27, 2024