3:23pm: The Pirates have now released a statement to announce that Burnett has been diagnosed with a flexor strain in his right elbow. Burnett received a platelet-rich plasma injection, and is estimated time of return is four weeks, per the announcement.
2:46pm: Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that Burnett says he’s yet to even receive a diagnosis following his MRI.
AUG. 3, 1:44pm: FOX’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter links) that Burnett received better news than he had hoped. Burnett has a strain in his right flexor tendon, but his ulnar collateral ligament is intact. He’ll undergo treatment with the hope of returning this season, per Morosi.
AUG. 2: After being placed on the 15-day DL with elbow inflammation on Friday, A.J. Burnett admitted that the injury may sideline him for the rest of the 2015 season. In an interview with MLB.com’s Tom Singer, Burnett predicted that his Monday appointment with Pirates doctors will reveal that he’s suffered damage to either his UCL or flexor tendon, yet the veteran righty has no plans to undergo surgery for either issue.
“It is difficult. I’m prepared for both…if I just need some rest or something more. In my mind, surgery is not an option. I’d built up some pain tolerance. It comes and goes, part of doing this 16 years. You figure out what you can and can’t do,” Burnett said. “It was just really bad on everything the other night. I never got loose, never got comfortable. We’ll find out tomorrow, when they look at it. I don’t expect it to go away, don’t expect it to get better.”
Burnett said he’d been dealing with some degree of elbow discomfort for years, though “it hasn’t been anything to worry about” until his start last Thursday. Given Burnett’s rough performance since the All-Star break (10.13 ERA over 16 innings), it could be that his injury has been bothering him for longer than just his most recent outing, or it could be that Burnett was simply regressing a bit after an outstanding first half.
While Burnett has ruled out surgery, he isn’t willing to return to mound unless he’s able to pitch effectively through the pain. He won’t try to tough it out just for the sake of coming back “if I can’t throw, or if I’m throwing what I was throwing the other night. I can’t do it to these guys.”
If the elbow injury indeed ends Burnett’s season, it will also mark the end of his 17-year career, as the veteran has already announced that he’ll be retiring once the 2015 campaign is over. Burnett went out on a high note, making his first All-Star team after posting a 2.11 ERA and 100 strikeouts (against 33 walks) over his first 119 1/3 innings. Even if the right-hander is done for the season, he’s already more than delivered on the one-year, $8.5MM deal he signed last winter to return to Pittsburgh.
The Pirates’ postseason chances will suffer a blow with Burnett out, though they still have Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano headlining a rotation that includes Jeff Locke, Charlie Morton and the newly-acquired J.A. Happ.
another one bites the dust. they aren’t getting it done w/o him.
As a nats fan, this is really sad. I wish him the best of luck. At least he made the All Star team before the end of his career.
Cj Wilson, Aj Burnett and it’s only the 2nd day of August. We will see what Preller does with Shields, Ross, Cashner in August. More pitchers that get hurt on contending teams the higher the price goes. JA Happ is a #5 starter. He’s not going to replace the production Burnett offered.
Ross isn’t passing through waivers, I doubt Cashner does and probably nobody wants that Shields contract
Ross and Cashner will never clear waivers.. Shields will be his only option..
Those guys have to be put on Waviers and Sheilds Might make it thru but others won’t.
The Pirates would be a nice fit for shields, but the padres better be prepared to eat the contract.
Then the Pirates better be prepared to send at least 4 decent to very good prospects. With one of them being a top guy, at least.
One or Two would do it !
Padres don’t need to eat anything , It’s the Pirates that are Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Cheap Owners should step up to the Plate for the Pirates Fans Faithful Years of Watching Bad teams, and go get Shields . Their making Plenty of Money Now, Let see them put their money where there mouths are about wanting to Win !
probably half. get him down to burnetts salary number since burnett will be a free agent anyway. but the pad’s will probably want too much.
At least he got to experience a championship with the 2009 Yankees.. I always liked Burnett even though he seemed to take it personally when fans would rag on his performance.. I will always wonder if he could have had a hall of fame career had he only pitched for small market teams like the Pirates and Marlins.. He always had the talent but just seemed to shed confidence in the big markets.. The Pirates are definitely going to feel his loss.. Liriano and Cole are a decent 1-2 but after that it looks like they just have a bunch of #5’s.. Hopefully, Glasnow does well in AAA and is an option for them in September.. I have not been keeping up with Taillon since his TJ surgery in April of last year.. Prehaps, he could be an option as well..
Taillon isn’t an option, he underwent surgery 3 weeks ago to repair a hernia. He’s yet to pitch this season.
Out for the season. They do have Volstad at AAA, who has been pitching very well.
I am all for giving Glasnow a call up, if he can get through his next AAA start on a positive not.
No excuse cause of age, or service time, he seems to be ready, and that philosophy seems to work for the Cardinals, when they need an arm.
I don’t see Taillon up until next season
watching voldstad with the cubs i hope he isn’t an option.
GLAAAAAASNOOOOOW!
They might not a choice to bring up Glasnow.
Then again,if Morton can pitch like he did today, that will somewhat soften the blow.
I wish they would have acquired a somewhat competent start on Friday, since J Happ does not do it for me.
If this is it for AJ Burnett, it has been a great career for him. I got to see him every 5th day (besides when he had his TJ surgery) for the first few years of his career. Always wanted to see him succeed. He always had great talent. Now, late in his career, he was still getting that fastball up there, and did a good job as a leader for some younger guys. You would have liked to see him end this year strong, but sometimes things like this happen, and it seems like he is ok with it. Hopefully, Pittsburgh can figure out what to do in the rotation. They’ve had a couple of arms go down this year (not necessarily in the big leagues, but guys close to the big leagues).
As they stand, Cole is an ace, Liriano is a two, and Morton will have to be a three turning in performances like today. He’s usually a four, but with all the injuries he has had and all the confidence the Pirates have put in Ground Chuck, it feels as if he owes them at least a three’s healthy performance for two to three months.
If he is out for the year, thats his career. He said hes done after this year. Heck of a run for a pretty good pitcher. Its a shame he didn’t pan out the way people thought, but he was still a really good pitcher for a long time.
Losing Burnett is a huge blow to the Pirates deep playoff hopes. it will be an interesting test for Neil Huntington on whether he promotes Tyler Glasnow when rosters expand.
I wish AJ the best if this his last pitch with the Pirates.
I think Glasnow makes much more sense than trading for Shields.
Wouldn’t wait til September though – if it doesn’t pan out, they need some pre-September time to look for trade alternatives on the cheap who’s still be postseason eligible.
I was just hoping he was getting knocked around since the AS break. Never wish an injury on anyone.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about A.J. – I recall him saying he’ll re-sign with the Pirates or retire..then inking a contract with the Phillies for a whack of cash, despite the team being a dumpster fire.
Hey, he redeemed himself this year by refusing an option that would have paid him more, becoming an all-star and proving that Bob McClure is a little league coach compared to Ray Searage.
It’s hard to believe he only made one all star game. His 2002 season was pretty dominant and so was his 2008…
I am sure he would have made several all star teams had he had those great years with a team like New York or Boston. The Marlins/Blue Jays don’t seem to have the fan base to vote many players into an all star game.. In 2002 the Yankees had 6 players in the all star game including 4 that were voted in.. In 2008 the Red Sox had 7 players in the game with 5 being voted in.. Roy Halladay was the only Blue Jays player to attend. The all star game rarely involves the players that have played the best for the year.. It is a popularity contest and should be treated as such with the results being taken with a grain of salt..
Interesting development. He’s setting himself up as a potential playoff hero if he can make it back. Although if he can’t the Pirates will have 2 very good starters in their one two spots and a question mark in the third spot. So do the Pirates try and make a move or do they stand pat and hope for the best?
Since he is on the DL he can comeback for maybe one or two starts in sept and be playoff eligible.
Could have been alot worse. At least he has a chance to come back
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