Corbin Burnes explains his frustrating September: Will he be ready for next season?

PHOENIX — When Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Corbin Burnes underwent Tommy John surgery last season, he believed he would have the opportunity to help the team make a playoff push the following year.

An All-Star break target was pushed back to September, and when the Diamondbacks needed him on Saturday in a must-win game against the San Diego Padres, the pitcher they gave a $210 million contract to was not able to go. The D-backs pivoted to a bullpen game and lost, 10-7.

So, what happened?

“The shoulder didn’t hold up,” Burnes explained during locker clean-out day at Chase Field on Monday. “The teres (major) is completely healed, looks great, got that positive news to lead into the other news. But basically it’s presenting itself as an overuse, inflammation, no real new injury, basically just chronic inflammation that built up and was shutting the shoulder down.

“For me, I guess, was good news because I couldn’t figure out what was going on, why the ball wasn’t coming out. Just needs time to calm down, and unfortunately it came at a time when I needed to be out there helping the team the best I could.”

Burnes made three starts in 2026, each progressively more concerning with diminished velocity and stuff compared to the four-time All-Star’s pre-injury abilities. He did not see the progress he anticipated.

His body felt normal, so Burnes was having trouble picking up what was wrong. So, he gave himself another bullpen to try to get right, could not get a good feel for his pitches and underwent another MRI.

“The missing piece was that the shoulder was just not moving quick,” Burnes said. “I guess the best way to explain it was my body was moving at 100%, the arm was moving at about 75%. It just wasn’t translating. I could do it in small spurts, four or five pitches at a time, and just couldn’t do it much longer than that.”

Burnes shut it down and is expecting to have a normal offseason, something he has not experienced since he joined the D-backs.

He described going through nearly two years of rehab that involved arm care and his throwing program, which he thinks took a toll.

Burnes was aggressively pushing to be back by July, but a teres major strain set him back to September. He did not go through a full stretching out process in rehab in order to get back to the majors and help the rotation, building up his pitch counts in a playoff push.

The 2021 Cy Young winner feels that with rest, a normal offseason build-up starting in November or December and spring training, he will be good to go for next year.

But it was wholly disappointing for Burnes, the Diamondbacks and the fans that he was not able to provide more this season.

“It sucked,” Burnes said. “Went 15 months with not being able to compete and then to be able to come back and compete and not be at the level you wanted to be was tough. You want to come back after that long of a layoff and be 100% and do what you can to help the team get into postseason. I gave it all I had.

“These guys played (their) butts off all the way. … I wish I could have played a bigger part.”

Pitching coach Brian Kaplan worked in private training before becoming a major league coach, so he had seen firsthand pitchers working their way back from injuries many times. He said you don’t always know what you’re going to see out of the rehab process since everyone’s body is different, but he shared optimism that Burnes can regain his strong form.

“He’s had a remarkable career up to this point. He’s pitched a lot of innings, done a lot of really impressive things and the body needed a break. So I think now, more than anything, it’s just getting him in a good mindset, getting him positive, moving forward and having a really strong offseason,” Kaplan told Arizona Sports.

An elephant in the room with Burnes is his contract, as he has an opt-out after 2026. He would have four more years and $96 million (plus deferred money) left if he opts in.

Burnes said he has a few weeks to make that decision final, so he left it at that.

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