Arizona Diamondbacks ace Corbin Burnes left Sunday's start against the Washington Nationals early after an apparent elbow injury.
Burnes called the coaches and medics out to the mound two-thirds of his way through the fifth inning. After motioning to the dugout, he was seen yelling what we can presume is an NSFW word or two. Then, for those lip-readers out there, he appears to tell Geraldo Perdomo, "my elbow."
This has all the telltale signs of heartbreak for the Diamondbacks, who simply cannot afford an extended (much less a season-ending) absence for Burnes. Their prized offseason acquisition has been predictably excellent through 10 starts, logging a 2.72 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with 57 strikeouts in 59.2 innings prior to Sunday's affair.
While Burnes is not the singular destuctive force he was at his absolute peak, the D'Backs' $210 million man can still control the strike zone and execute his pitches better than 99.9 percent of the league. His cutter isn't as unhittable as it once was, but in terms of command and poise, few are on Burnes' level.
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Diamondbacks suffer potentially catastrophic Corbin Burnes elbow injury
We don't yet know the full extent of the injury, but there is not a more troubling phrase for MLB pitchers than "my elbow" when asked to describe what's wrong. Burnes immediately called to the dugout after the pitch, so one has to assume there was a serious issue — something immediate and upsetting. His cutter velocity was also down "two to three ticks" before Burnes asked out, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.
This comes mere days after Atlanta Braves ace A.J. Smith-Shawver tore his UCL and was slated for Tommy John surgery. We've already seen Gerrit Cole have his season wiped away for the same injury — not to mention Burnes' own Diamondbacks teammate, Jordan Montgomery. UCL ailments are more common than ever in baseball, and while medicine has allowed pitchers to bounce back stronger, it's never a guarantee. We can only hope this is not so substantial an injury for Burnes.
Diamondbacks cannot afford a Corbin Burnes injury
Arizona has lost nine of its last ten to fall four games below .500 in a highly competitive AL West. Only the nine-win Rockies sit lower in the division standings. With Eduardo Rodriguez on the IL along with Montgomery, the D'Backs are short-staffed on the mound as it is. With Zac Gallen struggling, few could have imagined Arizona's rotation would end up in such dire straits. This team has invested more resources than most into top-line pitching.
Hopefully this is a bump in the road and it's not as serious as it looks, but Burnes looked utterly defeated in the moment. This has been a hellish stretch for the Diamondbacks and their fans, but if Burnes is forced to miss the rest of this season — or even just a few weeks — it could derail the entire 2025 campaign. Arizona is skating on thin ice, and this Burnes injury probably just caused it to cave.