TEMPE, Ariz. -- During the White Sox week-long January trip to the Dominican Republic, director of player development Chris Getz had a discussion with Zack Burdi about the right-handed reliever not being part of 2019 big league Spring Training.

It was a difficult decision for Burdi to initially process, but he ultimately viewed it as another step in his recovery from Tommy John surgery on July 27, 2017.

“Most of that is just because you want to be around the guys, you want to be a part of everything that’s going on, and big league camp is a really special opportunity,” Burdi told MLB.com during a recent interview. “So yeah, you obviously want to be there.

“I completely understood where they were coming from with the idea of keeping me on a slower track, and not putting me in an environment where I pushed my body to a point where it was putting myself in a bad position. I appreciate them doing that.”

The old axiom of "slow and steady wins the race" has become a mantra of sorts for Burdi.

For example, the No. 16 White Sox prospect, per MLB Pipeline, dealt with lat aggravation early in Spring Training. Burdi let the problem calm down before getting on a throwing program -- basically setting him back to the end of April for breaking camp, but in a healthy mode.

“Worst comes to worst, maybe I stay here for a couple of extended [spring camp] games, because I probably won’t get as many looks as these guys,” Burdi said. “A week or two into the season, it’s missing baseball, which sucks. But at the end of the day, I missed an entire year. It’s not worth risking an entire other one.”

This patience doesn’t preclude Burdi, 24, from thinking about reaching the Majors this season. He made seven appearances for the White Sox Rookie-level Arizona League team during his return in 2018, striking out seven over 6 1/3 innings, and he then fanned five over 4 2/3 innings for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League.

Triple-digit velocity, which Burdi featured when he was selected in the first round of the 2016 Draft, hasn’t been quite there on the comeback trail. But he was more impressed with how hitters responded in Arizona than the speed readings, hoping soon to be known again solely as a high-end White Sox pitching prospect as opposed to the pitching prospect recovering from surgery.

“Saw a lot of good bats, and my stuff played, and it played well. I’m confident after the Fall League,” Burdi said. “Just need to kind of stay within myself, and if my velo is not where it was before, it’s not. Just got to go to the mound with weapons that I have and compete, and going to do that every single day.

“My goal was to make the big leagues straight out of the Draft. I know it wasn’t really a realistic goal. I pushed for it, and a couple of things went my way, and then the goal was to make it the next year, and something didn’t go my way. Now the goal is to make it this year. That’s always been the goal. My goal is to get up there and compete and stay up there.

“You have to put your head down, and make sure you are staying conscious of the fact you have your own way and you have your own path. There’s no reason to push it, or look to your left or right and compare yourself to your buddy or fellow teammates.”