Corbin Burnes ‘most likely’ to return, start for D-Backs on Tuesday

Former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes is “most likely” going to make his season debut on Tuesday, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said on Friday while appearing on the Burns & Gambo Show.

Burnes’ return could be a significant boon for a team that went into Friday with a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the National League’s third wild-card spot.

The Diamondbacks signed the 31-year-old starter to a six-year, $210 million contract before the 2025 season. Still, he made just 11 starts for Arizona last season before calling for the team trainer in the middle of a start against the Washington Nationals. Burnes underwent Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter, then suffered a teres major strain this June that shut him down from his throwing progression.

Luvullo said Burnes will be in the 60-pitch range on Tuesday if he is indeed available. Luvullo added that Michael Soroka and Zac Gallen threw in simulated games on Friday and could return soon as well, which bodes well for Arizona’s postseason push. The Diamondbacks have managed to remain competitive with a middle-of-the-pack rotation for most of the season. They would almost certainly benefit from even a diminished version of Burnes, who pitched to a 2.66 ERA last season.

Theoretically, this should give Burnes enough time to handle a postseason workload, were the Diamondbacks to make it back to October for the first time since they reached the World Series in 2023.