Corbin Burnes missing 1st series the ‘only option’ after Opening Day decision

PHOENIX — Corbin Burnes has worked meticulously to maintain a routine he built early in his career, and that will not change to start his Arizona Diamondbacks tenure, even though that means he’ll miss the first series at Chase Field.

Burnes was searching for sustained major league success in the back half of 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers when he changed his approach to the game.

Since then, he has earned a Cy Young award and four All-Star nods while carefully mapping out everything from the moments following an outing to his offseason schedule.

So when Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo announced Zac Gallen would start on Opening Day against the Chicago Cubs over Burnes last week, the latter’s debut date became clear to him.

“Obviously he had a tough decision to make,” Burnes said on Monday. “Myself and (pitching coach Brian) Kaplan had kind of set our schedule for the spring in mid, late January. So it was something that had been out there for a while of when I was going to pitch and what my progression leading up to the season was going to be like. So I don’t think it really caught anyone by surprise that I was throwing those days.

“So when he made the decision, next was figuring out where it would fit into my routine. … Obviously, the decision was made pretty late in camp, so we didn’t have much time to adjust to it, and so that was really the only option.”

Burnes is not going to start in Arizona’s opening four-game series against Chicago after signing a six-year, $210 million deal this winter. He will throw on the backfields on Wednesday to stay on a strict schedule and debut at the New York Yankees on April 1.

Lovullo fell on the sword on Sunday, saying he made a technical error when handling the decision given its impact on when Burnes will start. His decision pushed into the final week of camp with the announcement coming last Thursday. Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez will start behind Gallen at Chase Field.

Burnes was not worried about possibly losing a start this season because of his delayed debut, saying five slots still have to make 32 rounds. The All-Star break could play a factor, as well.

Burnes has started 32 or more games in three straight seasons, ranking third in MLB in innings with 590 in that stretch.

“The reason why I’m here today and am the pitcher I am is because those routines,” Burnes said.

“I brought that up. I said the reason I’m here and the reason you guys signed me, the reason you gave me this contract is because of this process and that routine. Is that something we want to change the first start of my D-backs tenure? And that was a pretty (resounding) no.”

Starting Arizona’s second game of the season would have given Burnes six days of rest between outings. His Wednesday outing gives him the standard four days of rest, and the opener in New York five days.

The Diamondbacks have five off days through the end of April, which can throw off a pitcher’s routine as off days do every year. Burnes can prepare for that well in advance, including how he approaches mental work, workouts, arm care and work in the training room.

“When I come out of a game, I’m already working on the next time through,” Burnes said. “Whether it’s four days rest, I get right to work that night. If it’s the five days, I know I can give myself a night to kind of enjoy it. But for me, it’s just something that I’ve done over the past four or five years, and it’s worked. So I don’t really see a reason to change it.”

Burnes said that starting in August 2019 until spring training 2020, “essentially every hour” was documented in an Excel spreadsheet and a journal, and he worked with sports psychologist Brian Cain to ingrain that routine.

Burnes in 2019 worked an 8.82 ERA in 49 innings for the Brewers, spending time in the bullpen and Triple-A San Antonio. His ERA since then is 2.88, and he has been a top-10 finisher in the Cy Young race each season. Adaptations he made on the mound, including the implementation of a devastating cutter, have paid dividends.

His precision and process have been well documented throughout his career. He told MLB.com in 2021, his Cy Young season, he goes through every pitch of each start and determines whether or not they were executed. While a six-inning, one-run outing looks great in the box score, he looks at the game a bit differently.

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