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.