Right-hander Corbin Burnes is one of reasons the Brewers have one of the Majors' top starting pitching staffs. Entering Sunday’s action, Burnes has a 2.33 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings over eight starts. He hopes to win his third game of the season when he faces the Tigers on Monday afternoon.

Burnes has an arsenal of pitches to keep hitters off balance, including a curveball, a slider and a cutter, his go-to pitch.

“Everything feels good, body feels good,” Burnes said Sunday morning. “Overall, I think [I’ve] done a really good job of executing pitches. Outside of the last start, the command has been good. It has been the key focus for me throughout the season.”

Burnes has been consistent on the mound dating back to last season, when he finished sixth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. He said he has been successful because of the work he put in when it comes to the mental side of the game. He always had the stuff and the ability to pitch in the big leagues, but he had to start putting things in perspective.

It started after the 2019 season, a year he would like to forget. That year, Burnes had 8.82 ERA in 32 games for Milwaukee. He acknowledged that he was trying to live up to what he did during his rookie year, a year in which he won seven games out of the bullpen and had a 2.61 ERA.

During the '19 offseason, Burnes decided he belonged in the Major Leagues. But he still needed to enjoy things outside of baseball, like being a good husband to his wife, Brooke, whom he credits for his success. Burnes made sure that when he was home, he was there for her.

“For me, baseball became everything," he said. "That was something I had to get away from. Baseball is still a job, and you still have fun when we are playing, but you have to be able to have a family, enjoy the other things in life. That’s kind of how things started. It was creating that separator of baseball and everyday life.

“Once I got to the field and started to prepare for baseball, I had a better process of going about it and getting ready for the outing or whatever it may have been. Now that I’m in a solid rotation, I’m able to have that continued work and routine of what it takes to be ready every five days.”