Corbin Burnes Gives Positive New Update On His Shoulder Injury

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes will not have surgery on his shoulder, he told reporters at Chase Field on Monday.

Burnes landed on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation just days prior, which ended what little was left of his 2026 season at the time.

The injury was not unconcerning. Burnes had spent most of 2026 rehabbing Tommy John surgery, but also suffered a Teres Major strain (also to his right shoulder) while working his way back. That forced him to sit out until September, in which he made three mostly ineffective starts.

But according to Burnes, this current injury is not related to the Teres Major strain nor the elbow surgery. It will not require a procedure.

Diamondbacks’ Corbin Burnes on his shoulder injury

“The Teres is completely healed,” Burnes said. “Basically [the new injury is] presenting itself as kind of like an overuse. Inflammation, no real new injury. Basically just some chronic inflammation and stuff that kind of builds up.”

Burnes had displayed a significant reduction in velocity on his trademark cutter in his fina start against the New York Yankees, in which he gave up three home runs.

The cutter was already in the low 90s after generally sitting upper-mid-90s, but it began to dip even further, down below 90 MPH in that outing.

After that start, Burnes could not get a feel for his stuff in his subsequent bullpen session. It wasn’t so much pain as it was that his pitches simply weren’t coming out right.

“Everything in the body was working fine. … The missing piece was that the shoulder was just not moving quick,” he said. “I guess the best way to explain it was the body was moving at 100 percent. The arm was moving at about 75 percent.

“Basically it was the shoulder was telling me it’s tired and we need to quit doing this for a while. So basically no new injury, no new tear. Just kind of some overuse inflammation type stuff that just needs time to calm down.”

“Unortunately it came at a time where I kind of needed to be out there helping the team the best I could. But I couldn’t go out there and continue what I was doing at that moment.”

Burnes said he has consulted with famous surgeons Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Dr. Keith Meister, both of whom are known for performing arm surgery for pitchers. His imaging revealed only inflammation.

The right-hander will not have to ugo through a rehab program. He plans to have a normal offseason — something he was not afforded by his elbow surgery post-2025.

Burnes will have plenty of time to rest and ramp back up. The Diamondbacks, with their Sunday elimination, will be watching the postseason from afar, again.