New Corbin Burnes Injury Update is Brutal News for Diamondbacks

The latest news on Arizona Diamondbacks' injured ace Corbin Burnes is not positive.

According to manager Torey Lovullo, Burnes has suffered a setback in his recovery process, with a teres major strain in his throwing shoulder. Burnes will be pulled back from his throwing program entirely.

Lovullo did say he did not believe Burnes' shoulder injury was related to his elbow procedure. Still, it's a massive blow for an Arizona rotation that was expecting to get its $210 million ace back around the time of the All-Star break. That will no longer be the case.

"It's weeks, not days," Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks' Corbin Burnes suffers setback

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo and pitcher Corbin Burnes (right) during spring training workouts on Feb. 10, 2026, at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lovullo said Burnes felt the issue arise after his most recent live BP session, several days ago. He was supposed to throw again on Wednesday, but instead underwent imaging on his shoulder.

A Teres Major strain can take anywhere from three or four weeks, up to several months. Lovullo said a return for Burnes could be, optimistically, somewhere around September, but that there is no defined timeline at this time.

"There's no real defined answer. It could be [around September] and we'll just remain hopeful. We want to get healthy. Once he gets there, we'll start to get a time clock on this."

Lovullo said he had "three big circles" on his calendar. Those circles, of course, being the three pitchers who had to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2025 — Burnes, Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk. Puk threw a successful rehab inning in Triple-A Reno Tuesday night, while Martinez is still working his way towards a return to the field. A mid-to-late-August return is most likely for Martinez.

"Those are big, big pieces for us," Lovullo said. "So it's a blow, and it's something that we're gonna have to deal with. It's just what we do in this game, and we've got very qualified players in that clubhouse that are gonna get some opportunities, and we've got five really good starting pitchers right now, and they're doing a good job, and I want that to continue."

The Diamondbacks' rotation has been successful overall this season despite missing Burnes, who threw to a 2.66 ERA in just 11 starts last season before suffering the elbow injury. Arizona has gotten plenty of Quality Starts out of its current five, with a 4.15 team ERA (15th-best in the majors) thus far in the season.

Regardless, this is a tough blow for the Diamondbacks — and Burnes, who has been quite committed to an aggressive rehab timeline this season.

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