PHILADELPHIA -- It seems likely, but not certain yet, that Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes will miss his scheduled start Monday when Arizona returns home to play the Mets due to right shoulder inflammation.
Burnes, who signed a six-year, $210 million contract in the offseason, is not with the team in Philadelphia after returning to Phoenix following Thursday’s game against the Mets in New York.
The shoulder issue had been bothering Burnes for a few starts, manager Torey Lovullo said, but the veteran wanted to pitch through it. After his start against the Mets on Wednesday, though, the team decided it was best to send him back to Phoenix to have an MRI taken.
“Just some right shoulder inflammation,” Lovullo said of the MRI results. “Just very normal for what pitchers go through at this point in time. You know, honestly, Corbin has been dealing with this for a couple starts, he’s just been really grinding it out. And that's who he is, just a true professional and he wanted the baseball.”
Lovullo indicated there were a number of options, with the one that seems most likely being that Burnes misses his start Monday and then starts when his turn comes back through the rotation.
“We’ll probably know in the next 24 hours,” Lovullo said.
If Burnes doesn’t pitch Monday, the logical candidate to replace him is Ryne Nelson, who is currently pitching out of the bullpen, but remains stretched out since competing for a rotation spot in Spring Training.
Nelson last pitched April 29 when he worked four innings and threw 68 pitches.