Burnes to make season debut tonight vs. Royals in return from Tommy John surgery

The Diamondbacks, holding onto the third National League Wild Card and seeking to separate from the pack, are receiving quite a boost on Tuesday. The club is activating right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes off of the 60-day injured list to make his season debut.

Burnes is scheduled to start against the Royals on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium, opposing Kansas City All-Star Michael Wacha for the series opener. First pitch is slated for 7:40 p.m. ET.

It has been a long road back to a big league mound for the 31-year-old Burnes. He’s 15 months removed from Tommy John surgery, from which his recovery was set back by a strain of his right teres major muscle in June.

Burnes took the first big step in his recovery on Aug. 29 with a Minor League rehab start, and he threw upward of 50 pitches in a bridge league game and bullpen -- the equivalent of about four innings -- last Thursday.

He said the goal is to run up to 60-65 pitches his next time out, which will be Tuesday’s start.

"I'm ready," Burnes said. “Today, I think was, for me, a good last step if that's what it's going to be. Got swing and miss on cutters, sinkers, the curveball, the slider, the changeup. So I think we got a swing and miss on every pitch today, which is good. I was around the zone. For me, the thing is that I want to be able to command the baseball, and we were able to command it today, so it was good."

A four-time All-Star and the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner while he was with the Brewers, Burnes signed a six-year, $210 million contract with the Diamondbacks ahead of the 2025 season. He pitched just 11 games last year with a 2.66 ERA before his injury.