Brewers starter Corbin Burnes began his career in Milwaukee as a bullpen arm, and it looks like Aaron Ashby is taking a similar path to the big leagues.

Burnes’ Minor League career went like this:

• He was picked in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft.

• He spent the next two seasons and the beginning of a third as a Minor League starter.

• He made his first relief appearance on June 18, 2018, pitching two innings, and made his big league debut (also out of the bullpen) on July 10.

Meanwhile, Ashby’s young career has gone like this:

• He was picked in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

• He spent the next two seasons and the beginning of this year (there was no Minor League season in 2020) as a starter.

• He made his first 2021 relief appearance on Wednesday, pitching two innings.

See any parallels there?

“We're going to put him in some shorter stints and see how that goes,” manager Craig Counsell said Friday. “We've done it with several of our pitchers before. It's something we like to do, and we'll see how it goes with Aaron.”

Ashby, 23, would be following in the footsteps of Milwaukee pitchers like Burnes and closer Josh Hader, who both made similar transitions to the club’s bullpen. Now, they are two of the most important arms on the Brewers’ staff.

Long-term, Milwaukee still sees Ashby -- the club’s No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- as a starter, but the plan (at least for '21) is to help manage his innings and utilize his talents out of the bullpen.

“He's one of our top people and we think he can help the big league club, at least out of the 'pen initially,” Triple-A Nashville manager Rick Sweet said on the Sounds’ pregame show Tuesday. “We do see him as a starter, so this is not a [permanent] move to the bullpen. … This is a move for this year. It's a move thinking that [Ashby] will be able to help the Major League team out of the bullpen, but, ultimately, he's a Major League starter.”

Burnes said Friday that when he was going through the same transition in '18, the toughest thing to adjust to was pregame preparation. He said starting pitchers have a basic period to prepare before games, but in switching to the bullpen, that period changes significantly.

Burnes only had six relief outings in Triple-A before he was called up, and he said it took him two or three outings with the Brewers before he really felt comfortable. According to reliever Patrick Weigel -- who was recalled from Nashville the day after Ashby made his first bullpen appearance -- Ashby is still in that beginning stage of adjustment.

“Weigel was like, ‘Yeah, he still has some learning to do as far as the prep period,’” Burnes said. “That’s the toughest thing. He’s been in the starting rotation his entire career. So now, to be able to figure out what it’s going to take in three to four minutes to get the body loose and focused and locked in to go in and get outs in the big leagues -- that’s the toughest thing.”

For now, there’s no firm timetable set for Ashby’s callup. If he follows the same pattern as Burnes, it could potentially come in early July.

Having been in Ashby’s shoes before however, Burnes knows Ashby is doing anything to get that call as soon as possible.

“As far as a Triple-A guy, you’re going to do whatever it takes to get to the big leagues, so it’s like, ‘Hey, do you want to come be in the bullpen? Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll come to the big leagues,’” Burnes said. “I think the experience of getting those outs in the big leagues is something that you can’t do at any other level. It’s not like you can go out and try to replicate it in Triple-A. It’s just not the same.”