Burnes Near Return, Gallen Close Behind | MLB News

0:00It's September 2nd. Welcome to MLB News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Alright, let's talk about Corbin Burns and his comeback trail with the Diamondbacks. The initial thought was, he might be back in the rotation this week, but that's not happening. He slated to pitch in a bridge cam game on Thursday. The main reason for the delay is to get his pitch count up, as he only threw 17 pitches in his last rehab start. They don't want to put too much strain on the bullpen by having him pitch only a few innings. Now there was some chatter about his velocity being a little lower than usual, sitting in the low 90s instead of the mid 90s. But the manager made it clear that wasn't the primary driver behind this decision. It's pretty common for pitchers coming back from injuries to see a dip in velocity initially. The focus is on building him up properly so he can give the team solid innings when he does return. If all goes well in that bridge game, Burns could be back in the starting rotation for the final series against the Kansas City Royals or the home, set against the Texas Rangers.

1:03This would be his first action since June 1st when he went down with that elbow injury that required Tommy John's surgery. It's been a long row back, but it sounds like he's getting closer. Meanwhile there's also an update on two other injury pitchers, Ryan Nelson and Zach Galen. Galen seems to be the closest to returning. He scheduled to throw 60 pitches to live hitters this Friday, which puts him on a similar timeline to potentially rejoining the team around the end of that Royal series. Nelson on the other hand, just through 21 pitches to live hitters for the first time. He's not looking like a starting option anytime soon, but he might be able to contribute out of the bullpen once he's built up enough. He hasn't even started a rehab assignment yet, so he's definitely further out than Galen or Burns.