HOUSTON — Mike Burrows bears an odd burden. The Houston Astros paid a premium price to acquire him this winter, but on the day they did, general manager Dana Brown billed Burrows as an “upside play.” Trade centerpieces often are, but most arrive with certain expectations that they will make an immediate impact.Burrows has not made one. No qualified major-league starter has a higher ERA than his 5.86 mark. He will not make his next scheduled start in Houston’s rotation, a decision described by manager Joe Espada on Wednesday as a temporary “breather” during Burrows’ season-long search for consistency.By itself, the optics are ominous. As general manager, Brown is in a make-or-break season and has already witnessed some of his offseason acquisitions flounder. The profound struggles of two of them, Ryan Weiss and Tatsuya Imai, have further magnified Burrows’ problems.Imai and Weiss had substantial professional experience, albeit in foreign leagues. Burrows does not, a fact belied by how he was acquired. Burrows appeared in 24 big-league games with the Pittsburgh Pirates before being traded.“It’s been a constant feeling-out process with him since we acquired him,” pitching coach Josh Miller said. “He underwent a lot of delivery changes throughout last year in the big leagues with the Pirates. We’re still discovering what is the best range to be in for him.”Burrows remains a work-in-progress — and, yes, an “upside play” — but urgency exists to correct whatever is affecting him.“It’s hard to find the balance of how much work I can put in (between) outings, still recover and get back out there to throw six (innings),” Burrows said this week. “But I think I’ve been handling it well. Trying not to do something that will tax me every day. Just picking days throughout the week and in between starts to hammer home that stuff and figure some things out.”It is why Burrows and the team agreed that a one-series stint in the bullpen would be beneficial. Burrows last pitched on June 13, so logic suggests he could piggyback Imai on Friday night against the Cleveland Guardians.On Wednesday, Burrows said he expects to “slot back in” to Houston’s rotation during the next turn. If he does, his return will come with a higher arm slot.Burrows’ arm angle has dropped nine degrees since last season. His vertical release point is more than two inches lower, too. Neither Burrows nor Houston’s pitching coaches are blaming all of his struggles on this, but all believe raising his arm will rectify much of what has gone awry.“I do think it would lead to better results,” Miller said. “Don’t know that. He’s had a lot of tough luck stuff happen to him in his games — a lot of soft contact hits, a lot of sequencing of events that led to runs whereas if it happened other ways, it wouldn’t have.