The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Corbin Burnes has been placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, retroactive to September 22. Fellow righty José Cabrera was recalled as the corresponding move. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported the Burnes news prior to the official announcement.
It’s a notable development as the Snakes have been hanging by a thread for a while now. They have managed to stay alive by winning five in a row. They are two games back of the Phillies for the final Wild Card spot with three to play. Arizona holds the tiebreaker, so they would get in if they even things up with Philadelphia.
The Diamondbacks still need a lot to go right, so it’s not ideal to be losing Burnes. It was just over two weeks ago that he was reinstated from the IL, having worked his way back from Tommy John surgery. He has made three starts with his velocity ticking down and his results worsening. In his first outing, his sinker averaged 94.1 miles per hour as he threw three scoreless innings. In the next outing, he dropped to 93.1 mph as he allowed five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Last time, he dropped to 92.3 and allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Given those trends, it’s possible the shoulder started bugging him at some point along the way. Given his struggles and his declining velo, it’s understandable for the Snakes to put him on ice, but it means they will have to improvise something this weekend while they have a narrow margin for error. Brandon Pfaadt is scheduled for tonight and Michael Soroka for Sunday. Burnes was scheduled to take the ball on Saturday but that won’t be happening now. Eduardo Rodríguez just pitched yesterday and Merrill Kelly on Wednesday, so they won’t be available.
Piecoro suggests Ryne Nelson could be part of the plan on Saturday, either as a starter or a bulk pitcher as part of a bullpen game. Nelson also just returned from a lengthy IL stint, as a flexor strain put him on the shelf for almost three months. He is not fully stretched out. He made three rehab appearances in early September. The first two of those were one inning and the final one was an inning and two thirds. Since being activated, he has made two big league appearances, both of which lasted an inning and a third.
Zac Gallen, also recently reinstated from the IL, has thrown at least three innings in his past two outings. However, he has a 6.12 ERA this year. Cabrera could also help. He last pitched in Triple-A a week ago and logged six innings.
If the Diamondbacks manage to make it through to the postseason, they would have to assemble their a playoff rotation without Burnes, at least to start. Since Soroka is starting the final game of the regular season, he probably wouldn’t be available in the Wild Card round. That could leave Kelly starting a game, which isn’t great since he has a 4.94 ERA this year. If Burnes can get healthy, he could be back in the mix later, though his IL window will extend past the start of the NLDS.
Burnes has the chance to opt out of his contract at season’s end. It never seemed especially likely that he would walk away from four years and $140MM after spending most of 2025 and 2026 rehabbing from surgery. His recent struggles and shoulder troubles should make it even less plausible.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images