NEWSLETTER
While I will never be happy to see a player like Corbin Burnes get injured, I am certainly taking note of this development. A prolonged absence (or reduced performance) of any kind could have big ramifications in the NL Central, where the Chicago Cubs (9-6) find themselves two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (12-5) to start the year.
So here’s the deal: Last night, Corbin Burnes left his fourth start of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning, calling for the trainer and grabbing his left pectoral muscle before walking off the field.
You can read more about the injury at Brewers.com, where Adam McCalvy seems to be echoing some general Brewers optimism: “Burnes has a left pectoral strain, which was described as ‘minor’ by both him and manager Craig Counsell after the game.”
“It’s something that I think is very minor that could have gotten worse if I had kept going,” Burnes said. “There hasn’t been any talk of pushing back [the next start] or anything.”
Okay, so maybe he’ll be just fine? Well, maybe. Even if he doesn’t miss his next start, and even if this injury is on his non-throwing side, you can’t just assume there’ll be no impact to his performance. And you know Brewers fans are sweating the next update, given the way things just unfolded with their other Ace, Brandon Woodruff.
In case you missed that one, Woodruff had to leave his start early on April 7, after watching his velocity drop due to discomfort in the back of his shoulder. The initial prognosis was just a minimum IL stint, but now he’s shut down somewhat indefinitely:
“Instead of attempting to return to the Brewers’ rotation after a minimum stint on the 15-day IL, he will refrain from picking up a baseball for the remainder of this road trip. Woodruff will then be evaluated by team physicians in Milwaukee at the end of next week,” wrote McCalvy.
I don’t think I need to tell you how important these two pitchers are to the Brewers, but make no mistake: They are an entirely different team without them. And that’s not an insult to Milwaukee. Not many teams can afford to lose basically their two best players (Remember, Burnes was the NL Cy Young award winner in 2021 and finished among the top-10 in the voting last year in a 33-start 2.94 ERA season. Meanwhile, Woodruff is a legitimate No. 2, who often pitches like an ace, and has been a huge part of the Brewers success these last few seasons).
We’ll follow the story closely to see how Burnes’ body responds and update you when we know more.
