Corbin Burnes and the Arizona Diamondbacks have suffered a gut punch.

Burnes, who has not pitched since June 1, 2025 due to recovering from Tommy John surgery, was nearing a return to the rotation, but a right strained teres major has set him back months. After news of Burnes’ new injury was released, he spoke with the media and chronicled the events with the training staff leading up to his latest obstacle.

"Basically, they asked how it went," Burnes said. "I said, it felt good. Said there was maybe one or two pitches I felt like I couldn't let it go. I felt like it was almost like a cramp or something back there, but nothing alarming. 

"Played catch Saturday, or that was on Friday, sorry," he added. "Played catch Saturday, was off Sunday. Played catch Monday, everything was normal, was fine. Training staff asked, 'Hey, are you good to go tomorrow? Are you worried about stepping on it for 25 pitches?' And the question was like, I mean, I know I can pitch."

The questions being asked of Burnes by the training staff prompted him to have his cramping feeling investigated.

“Whether it's stepping on it for 25 pitches, that's why I wasn't sure,” Burnes said. "So, I said, 'Hey, just for peace of mind, let's go get an image.' And got it looked at, and sure enough, it came back. It kind of shocked everyone. I'm doing better today. Obviously, the last couple days have been tough.

“Literally, tomorrow I was supposed to go out on rehab assignment,” Burnes said. “So, it's tough to have put in work for 11 months, and you're a little over a month away from being back. It's tough."

Burnes, 31, had gone through 11 starts in 2025 and had a 3-2 record with a 2.66 ERA over 64.1 total innings of work before the need for Tommy John surgery ended his season. After a strong campaign in 2024 in which he posted a 15-9 record with a 2.92 ERA over 32 starts, Burnes signed a six-year, $210 million deal with Arizona.

Now, Burnes is doing what he can to get back this season.

“Yeah, the goal is to kind of listen to the training staff here,” Burnes said. “I'm gonna push the envelope. It's what I do. I pushed the envelope to get back two months earlier in TJ. So whatever the timeline is, I'll make sure it's on the short end of that. But just have to do what I can to get healthy and provide as much of an impact as I can.”

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