D-backs’ starter Corbin Burnes walks off the field on June 1, 2025, with an apparent right elbow injury. He had Tommy John surgery a week later. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
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PHOENIX – The chances of seeing D-backs starting pitcher Corbin Burnes on the mound this season just diminished to near slim and none after a strain of the teres major muscle in the rear of his right shoulder.
The muscle connects the shoulder blade to the upper arm, and that injury is serious stuff for a pitcher, who relies on fluid movement in that area.
Burnes was on the road back from last year’s Tommy John right elbow surgery and was perhaps on too quick a path only 11 months out. The usual prognosis is 12 to 18 months. Burnes underwent the surgery last June 9.
Burnes threw off the mound to some batters for the first time last Friday. He said on Thursday during a media conference at Chase Field he felt a twinge in the rear of the shoulder, but no acute pain.
“I know I can pitch,” Burnes said when asked by the team doctors and coaches before taking his next throwing session. “But stepping on it for 25 pitches I wasn’t sure. Just for peace of mind. That’s why I asked for images.”
“Sure, enough it came back and shocked everyone,” he said. “I had just thrown to some hitters, and the ball came out well.”
On the brink of a minor-league rehab assignment, he’s now been shut down again from throwing for an undetermined period and no one knows what the new progression will be. It’s early June. The weeks will turn into months and Burnes will be lucky to get out there to build up again by September.
Burnes May Have Come Back Too Soon From Surgery
Of course, he’s determined to make it back as soon as possible, which may have gotten him in this dilemma.
“Yes, definitely,” Burnes said. “When I can get back is up in the air. It depends on when I get back to throwing, how long it takes to build back up. If it was up to me I’d still be playing catch, but I have to listen to the training staff the best I can. My goal is to be back at least for September if not sooner. So that’s the goal: to push the envelope as much as I can.”
It’s not what anyone wants. Burnes signed a six-year, $210 million free agent contract with the D-backs prior to the 2025 season and threw 64 1/3 innings over the course of 11 starts before blowing out his elbow. When it’s all said and done he will have missed the greater part of two seasons.
The richest contract in D-backs history so far has been a disaster even with an opt out in Burnes’ favor after this season.
“We haven’t thought about that yet,” Burnes said. “That’s an offseason thing to deal with. [My agent] Scott Boras knows a lot more about that than I do. I’m just here to play baseball and do what I can to help these guys win. Whether this has any effect on that I have no clue. I just have to get back as quick as I can and play baseball.”
Let’s put it this way, Burnes is probably going to take the money and run, which he has every right to do. The D-backs will be on the hook for the remaining four years at $32.9 million per season and hope that Burnes returns at some point as a quality starter.
There’s also the matter of a pending lockout this coming Dec. 1 when or if collective bargaining negotiations break down between Major League Baseball owners and the players’ union. That will halt everything this offseason. The owners have proposed a cap and floor and the players have said, no. Never the twain shall meet. A lockout means no trades, a delayed free agent signing period, you name it.
Burnes will be protected. The D-backs won’t. Players get paid from the end of March through late September whenever regular season games are played. How much of their contracts will be paid if games are canceled will be part of the collective bargaining process. Deals would be prorated, that much is certain. Nothing else is at this juncture.
Burnes Is Not The Only Pitcher Slow To Recover
Signing pitchers to big contacts either as extensions or in free agency are always a crapshoot.
The Padres right now are paying $36.75 million in dead money to three injured pitchers: Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta and Yu Darvish. Musgrove is now 20 months out from his Tommy John surgery on Oct. 11, 2024, and is just ramping up again after a spring training setback. Pivetta suffered a flexor strain in his right elbow and has been out since April 15. There’s no timetable yet for either to return. Darvish is on the restricted list after T.J. surgery and has talked about retiring. In any event, he’s not expected back this year.
The D-backs also have a pair of relievers – A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez – in different phases of recovery from Tommy John surgery and earning a combined $6.7 million this season. Puk is currently on a minor league rehab assignment and Martinez is much earlier in his progression. Both are expected back soon.
Burnes, of course, is the immediate concern.
“We’re just trying to align with him and get him healthy as soon as possible,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said Thursday. “He wants to be back as soon as possible, which is one of his greatest qualities. He’ll heal as fast as he can. I’ll keep you guys posted, but for right now there’s no throwing, there’s no timeline.”