PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BREAKING: Corbin Burnes OUT FOR SEASON, Will Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

The Arizona Diamondbacks are snake-bitten once again as big free-agent signing Corbin Burnes will be out for the season and will undergo surgery. With such an injured pitching staff, what is next for the D-backs? Can Zac Gallen carry this rotation? Can Ketel Marte and Corbin Caroll make up enough runs? An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets! Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order! Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Circle K:  Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnx Carol Royse Team: To buy/sell your home, call Carol Royse at 480-776-5231 or visit carolroyseteam.com All Pro Shade Concepts: Call 623-204-1476 or visit https://allproshadeconcepts.com/ now to schedule your free estimate! When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #dbacks #diamondbacks #arizonadiamondbacks #mlb #zacgallen#corbincarroll #ketelmarte #mlbtheshow #mlbtraderumors #tradedeadline #traderumors #allstargame Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Corbyn Burns' season is over and I'm deciding which of these two liquors to pour in my cup. We are discussing the unfortunate news right now on an emergency podcast. Don't you go anywhere. We're starting in 30 seconds. Well, no skis. No welcome in. Just sadness here in Studio K presented by our friends at Circle K. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the mayor of whatever the hell is happening here to Arizona Sports.

Nothing good happening here for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of course, I got my guy Shane Diefenbach on the ones and twos, and we are here to discuss the news that Corbyn Burns will miss the 2025 season and a portion of the 26th season, most likely, due to needing Tommy John surgery. And it was the news we feared. It was the news we did not want to get. We were hoping that a second opinion, maybe even a third opinion, was going to save Burns this season.

And that is not. What we have here. What we have here is a terrible blow to the Arizona Diamondbacks, a terrible blow to Corbyn Burns. And, of course, just an all-around awful situation here for the debacks. Tori Lavallo announced today that Corbyn Burns will need to have season-ending Tommy John surgery for his elbow. The surgery will happen next week, and it will take place with Dr. Neal at Trache,

I believe is how you say his name. but this is based on Corbyn Burns coming out of his last outing after throwing four scoreless innings and telling the trainer Max Esposito that his elbow was done, is dead, is was the, I believe was the terminology Burns used. And I think when we saw him all say that, we were, we knew it was bad. We knew it was going to be this bad. But again, I think the idea here that the Diamondbacks and Corbin Burns were seeking out a second opinion, maybe brought a little bit of hope.

It does make all the sense in the world as to why you would want to get a second opinion before making this decision. But now, again, this is one of those situations where the tightness set in his elbow. Byrne said after the game he had never experienced anything like this. Could not really differentiate a little bit between the elbow and the forearm tightness, but once you hear things like forearm tightness, you know it's not good. he said that there was no popping sensation, so there were a couple of things during his post-game interview after that injury occurred that maybe gave us a little bit of hope. But instead, here we set now at the MRI and the second opinions leading to Corbyn Burns needing, you know, season-ending Tommy John surgery. Me and Shane were talking about it beforehand, and unfortunately, the recovery time for Tommy John surgery,

ranges from 12 months to 18 months, which means not only have the Diamondbacks lost Corbyn Burns for this season, but they could potentially lose him for the entirety of the 2026 season. And that's the part that's especially devastating. It's one of the worst injuries in sports. It really is. And it's one of the hardest surgeries to recover from. I think we get really used to the idea that you have Tommy John surgery and yes, it's a long wait, but you know, you come back from it.

But it's not guaranteed, especially for a pitcher that you'll ever come back from Tommy John surgery and be the same that you were prior to it, right? And that's another thing that's very scary about this situation with Corbyn Burns. Of course, we are all reeling from this news. The Diamondbacks once again sign a starting pitcher that is one of the best starting pitchers available on the free agency market. And they have lost him. This situation happened with Jordan Montgomery, who flat out wasn't good. In some of his time as a starting pitcher, some of his time, most of his time, as a starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks. And then he was also lost at the beginning of this season to Tommy John surgery.

Burns signed a six-year, $210 million contract with the Diamondbacks. He has an opt-out after the 2026 season. It seems like since that I guess if you want to, there is no silver lining to this cloud, right? There is no, if you want to think of a good thing here. I can't believe those words were about to come around out. No, yeah, that's crazy. What I can say, though, is I mean, a lot of, I guess the thought process a lot of people had here was Burns was, you know, has an opt out after the two seasons and that it was looking like there's a good chance he might opt out if this team, you know, doesn't perform well this year, struggles next year. Well, now there's a good chance he won't exercise that opt out clause because he won't have pitched very much since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Even if he returned in 12 months, it's still June of 2026, right? he's going to come back to a world where the automated balls and strike system are in play. It's going to be like a completely different universe. There's robots serving alcohol in the stands. The jets and ships are flying around the stadium. The balls are much smaller in dynamic. So much will change this opposite. They're using aluminum bats.

Yeah, it's crazy. He was incredible this season for the Diamondbacks. He had a slow start. A lot of people were like, oh, crap, here we go again with another guy not performing well, despite what he did in his past. but Burns was excellent this season. He had posted a 2.66 ERA and 12 starts. He had a 3 and 2 record.

Not that that matters. That's nothing he can control. But he was really, really good posting a 1.67 ERA since April 30th. So in those last couple of starts, Burns was excellent. This just sucks all the way around. And it especially sucks for the Diamondbacks who, like I said on today's podcast, we're all in on this season. That's the reason why they invested in Burns.

there's a good chance that this is the last season that Zach Gallin and Merrill Kelly are part of this team and it felt like this was the best starting rotation that they've ever had in franchise history, right? One, Randy Johnson even said that about this team's starting rotation and now here we sit, you know, losing the key piece, the crown jewel, if you will,

of that rotation right now where Corbyn Burns was this team's ace and, you know, now it kind of rests squarely on the shoulders of those guys that are still here that quite frankly are pitching for a big contract or at least, you know, their future in Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly. They have all the personal reasons why they need to come out and shove and be their best this year. But now they have extra motivation.

They have to save this team this year. We need Zach Gallen to once again be the ace of the staff. We need Merrill Kelly to basically be 1A, 1B with Zach Gallen. We need Brandon fought to figure things out after his last two horrific starts. and most importantly, we need Eduardo Rodriguez. The Diamondbacks need Erod more than they've ever needed him before. And quite frankly, it's not to say in the past they haven't needed him, but at this point, the Diamondbacks need something to work out

with some of these pitchers that they acquired. Erod was putting up great numbers for the Tigers when he was a member of that team. And that's what the Diamondbacks need is him to get that ERA from the sevens back down under four. If he could do that, you feel like this starting rotation with the addition of Ryan, Ryan Nelson, who quite frankly has been a godsend as somebody that can step in when the Diamondbacks are missing starting pitchers, they can still get this done. You feel like the Corbyn Burns loss is huge and devastating and is hard to get over, hard to mentally get over the idea of losing a guy that was essentially your ace of your staff. But it's not to say that

the Diamondbacks are dead in the water, right? They sit at 31 and 31 right now. And again, they do have a starting rotation of guys that, quite frankly, Erod is like the weak link there. Ryan Nelson has been outstanding. Merrill Kelly has been incredible this year. Zach Gallen and his last start was very good. Brandon Fott is a lot of question marks about what is going on with him right now, but you still feel like Brandon Fott can return to what he was at one point this season. So again, if Erod can come back and not, you know, have the inconsistent outings that he's had this season, you feel like the starting rotation can still do enough for this team to win. They also have some pieces that they've added that have been pretty good.

Christian Mena is there as part of the bullpen as well as Tommy Henry. So the Diamondbacks have some guys that were starters for AAA Reno that can go long and give them long relief. They can also step up into those roles if they have another starter potentially go down. Knock on wood, I can't believe I'm saying that. But right now, the Diamondbacks depth is being tested. It's probably almost as thin as it can get, right? You got Bryce Jarvis, again, who was just voted PCL player of the week. He's a guy that could come back and absolutely, you know, fill a role for either the bullpen

or the starting rotation at a major league level, but just still not somebody you want to count on. Same thing with Tommy Henry. Christiane Manow feels like he's really coming along, but for now you really need Gallen, Kelly, fought Erod and Ryan Nelson to figure it out as a group. Candace is offering up, what, both of her elbows? Candice said he could have both mine. Yeah, Stephen says, I will personally.

donate my elbow to Corbyn Burns if it makes for a speedy recovery. God, I would, I would love that. I mean, yeah, we do still have Yumen Lin in AAA Reno. And again, he hasn't had a lot of time back since that period of time off where he serves both military time and was off as being a new dad. But Yumen Lin is a guy that I still believe in strongly. And I think, you know, as we as we sit right now, it's more and more likely that we will see him make his major league debut this year and be a part either of the bullpen or maybe even of the starting rotation just to give the diamondbacks, you know, a lift here or there. Man, do you need at least a quality start for me, Rob, tonight?

Like, just to give you hope because if he has another horrible start, you're right. This fan base is going to just, it's, they're going to give up. And that's what it is. Right now it's about belief, right? The diamondbacks come off of one of the most improbable comebacks they've ever had in franchise history and belief in themselves as. a team to win baseball games couldn't be any higher and then you get this news, right? And this news just kind of has to drag you back down as a player. I doubt that a lot of guys in the clubhouse

didn't already expect this to be the case. I'm sure they have like more information than we do. I'm sure they probably knew that they were going down the path of Tommy John surgery. However, they still wanted to get a second opinion just to make sure they weren't making any kind of hasty decisions just based on, you know, one one medical expert's opinion, which is, which is weird to say, but when you're talking about losing 12 to 18 months of your career, you absolutely should get maybe fourth and fifth opinions. I want a quack doctor's opinion. If Nick Riviera comes in and tells me that I need Tommy John surgery and agrees with the other three guys,

then we're talking, you know what I mean? But I will say that this is one of those situations where the Diamondbacks right now already are very bad as far as their pitching is concerned. Relief pitching is bad. Starting pitching is bad. We were talking today about the numbers, but the Diamondbacks are currently 24th in Major League Baseball in ERA. They are 27th right now, or 24th in overall ERA as well. So in the starting pitching obviously is much better than that.

We know the struggles the bullpen have had, but you really do feel like the starting pitching is much better than a 4.4 or 4.76 ERA this year. So I don't know what the Diamondbacks can do other than have these guys step up. I mean, we talked on the show today about doing your job, and the Diamondbacks do have the depth, right? The depth is there. This is an actual, you know, starting rotation that isn't really the Diamondbacks trying to put something together. They had a problem kind of with Ryan Nelson that has solved itself in the fact that

you didn't want to see someone pitching as well as Ryan Nelson be put in the bullpen simply to bring Erod back. Well, now you can think of it differently. Now you could just say Ryan Nelson deserved to stay in the starting rotation and did. And now Erod's back to replace corporate. and burns. However you want to cut it, the diamondbacks have five starting pitchers that are fully capable of leading this team to a winning season. It's just what version of these guys are going to show up, right? What version of Erod is going to come back from this injury? They need

to do something to step up. Zach Gallen, again, he's a guy that he's put it together. He's had some huge performances this year. He's been brilliant at times, especially against teams from the East Coast and those that are called New York something. He's very good. those kind of teams. But this is one of those unfortunate instances where the Diamondbacks went out and not only picked up the best starting pitcher on the free agent market, but they picked up a guy that was absolutely durable, right? Like one of the most durable starting pitchers that existed in baseball.

But look at it this way, Derek. Let's put some positivity in here. Oh, let's do it. Not positivity. Excuse me. Let's just try to rework this and maybe be grateful for what you have still. if you looked back at this at this season or in the off season you look at this season and you look at this rotation and you like corbin burns what what we were talking about in the off season was never corbin burns it was one brief mention of him and whatever so imagine this never even happened yeah they don't even sign him well this is the starting rotation right exactly so you be it so you have your starting rotation now he ruts back regretfully some fans might think but I Again, you need a quality start right now.

And if he gives you a good start tonight, then you can look at this rotation like, okay, yes, we lost the riches that you thought you were going to have this season. However, this isn't like you're losing your starting pitcher or your ace and everyone else and you have nothing and whatever. Like, yeah, this rotation has been horrible and it's underperformed to the max. Absolutely. But if they can just get back to medium, this team still has the offensive firepower to be able to compete. So the season has not lost, but it's teetering.

It's teetering and it's a lot worse than what you thought going into this year. Yeah. And I think the bigger problem here is that it's teetering on the brink of disaster right when the, you know, the trade deadline is coming up on July 31st. That's why this is so important for the Diamondbacks to play their best baseball over this next stretch. They essentially need to prove to the front office that this team has a chance of making a wildcard spot, making the postseason and performing well. just go out there and say, F it at this point. You guys have nothing to lose. Nobody is expecting this team with the loss of Corbyn Burns to make the playoffs except us.

You guys in the chat. We are the ones that are expecting this team to do that. And they can. This might be that moment. I said this about the Padres, right? The Padres had all sorts of inner turmoil with their ownership situation. And I knew during the off season, I was like, watch it galvanize that team, because that's a team that loves to say, F it to all of you that doubted them. and the Diamondbacks need to be that team right now.

They need to say to all the doubters, this is still, potentially on paper, a better team than the team that went to the World Series in 20203 and that they have the pieces in order to make it as far as they did that season. But if the Diamondbacks fall so far out of the hunt here over the next couple of weeks or even once July comes around that it doesn't really look like the playoffs is a possibility, there are far too many pieces on this team

that are valuable to be traded off that the Diamondbacks could arguably get a haul for, but would basically waive the white flag on the season and end their season, right? You basically have to look at this, like the season just started, but it has been shortened. Because you're zero and zero right now. Yeah, that's a great way to look at it. You're at 500. Yeah. And I know, I know Gallon has been horrible.

I know this rotation in general has been horrible. Nothing before today matters. But nothing before today matters. It's all just numbers. Because that was all spring training. I like it. Let's, let's reset. I like that. I like that. I would go into the clubhouse with that attitude and that that mantra because that's exactly what they need to do and that's exactly who they need to be at this point, right?

Corbyn Burns was in a wonderful addition of this team and it caused us to lose our minds about how good this starting rotation could be this season. And then we lose Jordan Montgomery and then we lose Blake Walston or flip-flop those. Then we start losing piece after piece after piece. The bullpen kind of gets, you know, depleted there. We start having the call up guys that we were not really thinking we were going to see this year due to the depth of the diamond. back's had. And now we sit in a spot where, yeah, one of their biggest, you know, star players is gone for the season. But that guy only pitches every five days. And it's no guarantee on any day that he pitches that this team is going to win. So they need to use this as their moment to galvanize and come together. A connected team is an effing dangerous team. And that's what they need to be right now.

They need to get each other's back. And they need to say that they can still do this with the team that they had. Nobody expected that team in 2023 to do what they did in the postseason and now nobody expects this team to do it. Maybe that is the biggest problem with this team so far over the last two seasons has been those expectations hanging over their head due to how good the team was theoretically on paper before the season started. Now they're the underdog. Now they're back to that spot. And I mean, rightfully so, it's not like to say at any point they deserve to be thought of as a contending team this season. Many MLB analysts have all called the Diamondbacks one of the biggest disappointments of.

the year, rightfully so. Now your Corbyn-Burns is gone, right? Now you have your excuse to be bad, I guess. So prove everyone wrong. Go out there and play baseball and play it the way that the Diamondbacks are used to playing baseball. I don't know if they can get back to that, but I do believe in this team and I believe in the players that have been there. They have the experience to know that they can get it done. And again, the track record, when you look at the starting pitching staff on how good they've all been at times in their career and not just distant past just, you know, recently, except Erod, who still hasn't been good at his, as a member of this Diamondbacks team. So I would love to see Erod especially come back and kind of be the guy that,

I don't want to say saves the team, but is that piece that like is that guy that stepped up and performed well after Corbyn Burns was gone? Like, I believe that Gallon can do that. I don't believe Brandon Fott is at all the pitcher that he's been over the last two outings. Not at all. He's not a yes hitter guy. He's definitely not a yes hitter guy for sure, right? But Erod, I don't believe in Erod right now. And I know why people don't.

And he doesn't deserve to be believed in by people that root for this Diamondbacks team. So again, to Erod, prove us wrong. Prove us all wrong and go out there and shove and be the guy that you were for the Tigers and help this team make the postseason. Again, there was a problem there like a week and a half ago. when people were like, you're really going to send Ryan Nelson back to the bullpen? Well, guess what? Nope, we're not.

We're staying in the rotation and you get Erod instead of Corbyn Burns. So, I mean, Ryan Nelson, again, he has a lot to prove. And I think that he has shown that he can be a guy that wins baseball games for this team. Erod has proven he's a winner in the past. So do it now for this team. I just think that they are not as dead because of a loss of a starting pitcher as it feels like it. Yeah, most teams would be. But this is why you invest in a deep rotation.

This rotation at the start of the season, if it was all healthy, you looked at it and he said, this could go seven deep. Yeah, I did. So this is a frosty take. But this is why you do that. And that's what I keep thinking about. I wanted to pull the press conference clip, but it would have broke my heart too much to put on this program. But Corbyn Burns said during his opening press conference, because the narrative at the time was, what are you going to do with all these starters?

And Corvin Burns, out of his own mouth, said, you never make it through a season with just five starting pitchers. well those were prophetic words from corbin birds at the time and of course this sucks that it happened to him but he was also a very very surprising addition to this team and the diamondbacks last year won a whole heck of a lot of games without corbin burns so plus edgar makes a great point as long as damon's here you never know what can happen i mean yeah like that if he wasn't on wildcats maybe corbin burns doesn't get tommy john you're right i mean he was producing another show all that I don't want to that's that's putting too much on yeah that is that's unfair let's put a lot on you too yeah that's a lot of bad luck for well I wasn't producing

yeah that's I was just hanging out oh man well could have been on any of these fault I don't uh I blame Jesse Jr. I blame I blame Jesse senior in fact but I'll tell you man again this is a bad news I think we were all expecting but this is reality now now we deal with this and we push forward. And I think the Diamondbacks once again have the ability to win these baseball games with or without their starting pitchers. Look at what happened with Brandon Fott's outing yesterday in the win over the Braves in their sweep, right? Brandon Fott doesn't even deserve a no decision in that game, but he got one, right? And the Diamondbacks somehow win.

Kendall Graemean gets the win. And I, again, I don't know what to believe in this team anymore. But I feel like at times when the odds are stacked against them, they seem to play their best baseball. right so that's what we need and i'm sure that's the that's the feeling going on in the clubhouse today in cincinnati is that this series in Cincinnati against the reds just kind of increased in importance right because the one thing you want to do after getting devastating news like this is go out there and you know shake it off and and play a good baseball game you know get your head in the right place and start focusing on how important every single game is between now and the july 31st deadline

that's the next thing we need to worry about. We can't even focus on the postseason or a wildcard spot. What we need to focus on is having as good of a record as this team can have between now and July 30th so that this front office doesn't start trading off these pieces that are going to be gone at the end of the year and start moving on on this season. There's still just too much invested in this season. We can't let Zach Gallatin and Merrill Kelly's last year here just kind of peter out in the mediocrity. It's too important.

And again, it's too important to those two guys. They, that whether they're here next season or not, both of those guys deserve to get paid and paid well for whatever they get paid for playing baseball next year. So I would love to see them make this personal go out there and lead this team to victory in Corbyn Burns's absence. So maybe, maybe, you know, Zach Gallen kind of being the ace mentally again will be, will be something for them. I don't know. You know, sometimes you bring in a guy to replace your ace as the ace. and it's hard not to take that a little personally deep down inside

or at least make you feel bad about yourself. But Zach Gowan, Milkman, we need you to deliver more than ever. So anyway, we thank you guys so much for being here. Scott Mack says I'm expecting precisely Jack S out of old Edward Rodriguez. Well, okay, keep your expectations low, right? Under promise over-deliver is what we want here. We want to believe that E-Rod's not going to. do it but then we want him to prove us wrong and come out there and do everything you can to

help this team win baseball games for the rest of the year so uh here's hoping he he does make us eat those words and uh it's landed says sandy alcontra is a dback i don't get my hopes up here and i don't even know do we even want him right now he's doing bad he's doing good this year he's doing better but uh at this point i guess we'll take whoever we can get because we need more depth that's something the diamond the backs need for sure but uh we appreciate you guys so much for stopping by We will be back again on Monday with a mailbag Monday episode. Until then, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Cap underscore Kband with a K.

Shane is at Shane Deef. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again for popping in. We will see you on Monday. Unfortunately, try to have a good weekend. There's some fun stuff happening out there. Maybe watch some baseball, but also go live your life

and try to maybe do things that don't make you feel as bad as losing one of your ace pitchers for the entire season. So again, thank you for your time. Behave yourselves. Have a wonderful weekend. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it is way more fun when you don't have to do podcasts about subject matter like this.