The Pirates announced today that reliever Nick Burdi underwent Tommy John surgery last month. (Adam Berry of MLB.com reported news of the surgery shortly before the team announcement). He has since been designated for assignment, removing him from the 40-man roster.
According to the team, Burdi is expected to be out for sixteen to eighteen months. That’s a longer timetable than most Tommy John patients, perhaps reflecting the right-hander’s troublesome injury history. Burdi underwent a previous Tommy John surgery in 2017, then went under the knife to address thoracic outlet syndrome in 2019. The 27-year-old again went down with a forearm strain mid-season. While Burdi initially attempted to rehab the injury, he instead unfortunately had to undergo TJS a second time.
Health woes have limited Burdi to 12.1 innings over three MLB seasons, all with Pittsburgh. The former second-rounder was a well-regarded prospect coming up in the Twins’ organization but has never had a prolonged opportunity to carve out a big league role.
Good luck Nick, we barely knew you
might be time for the Pirates to cut bait. he cant stay healthy.
There is bad luck with arm injuries, and then there is Nick Burdi. Yikes.
Him and Jarrod Parker should join a support group
I hear Rich Harden and Mark Prior are looking for more friends.
Shame he likely won’t ever live up to his potential. When healthy he’s shown electric stuff. But 12.1 innings in 3 years is rough. Best of luck to Nick.
A Minor league deal to play for a non-contenders BP coming his way.
Nick Burdi may sign a minor league deal with some organization but with a 16-18 month rehab timetable he certainly won’t “play” for any of them any time soon. Perhaps Nick will consider joining brother Zack in the White Sox organization. Zack also had TJ surgery and recovered sufficiently enough to make his MLB debut this past season. They both hail from the southwest Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Il., attended the University of Louisville and grew up White Sox fans.
Now this seems like a real Burdi-den on someone
I’ll see myself out
With jokes like that, I’m glad you’re leaving. Just in the Nick of time.
This is brutal not only for Nick but the Burdi family. Younger brother Zack of the White Sox also had TJ surgery before finally making it back to the mound briefly this past season. Both were high draft picks with 100 mph + arms from the University of Louisville. Nick was selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2014 June Draft while Zack was a first rounder in 2016.
The crazy thing is he is still covered under Rule 5 draft rules so he would have to be offered back to the Twins before being outrighted
I thought he finally eclipsed the games requirement this year. I think the Bucs kept him active long enough to clear it.
id be curious to see the number. i figured he had been there by now, but im not sure. how many days did he have entering the year?
Not sure how many days he needed but saw somewhere earlier today that he did not have enough days this year to finally satisfy Rule 5. Apparently was offered back and the Twins said no. Will finally become a minor league FA and can sign anywhere once he clears
I seen a couple of articles from February that said he had at least a month to go.
How is that?
He hasn’t been on the active roster for 90 days. Rule 5 requirements role over until that occurs.
So even after 3 years and being traded? That’s crazy.
Yup. Dan Winkler was under Rule 5 requirements for 3 years due to injuries too
No.
He has satisfied his Rule 5 rule with his MLB service time( includes DL).
Nope, have to be on the active (non-IL) roster for 90 days to satisfy the rule 5 requirement
Two TJs and a TOS?? Man, I’d LOVE to see him make it back and pitch well.
If he makes it back I assure you that he will pitch well. The talent and ability is never in question with him. Only 12.1 innings as a Bucco but as a Pirates fan I’d say he has at least five of the most dominant innings any Pirate pitcher has thrown in the last 3 years.
Wow what bad luck this kid has! He seems to have the talent to be a legitimate ML pitcher but just cant stay healthy. Best of luck to him… maybe he’ll Get lucky and get back to strength and actually get a shot at establishing himself in the majors in 2022.
I do not understand why it took so long to figure out that he needed to have another surgery.
He certainly had the ability to close.
They definitely need to resign Kela now.
They should just let Omnicorp rebuild him at this point.