Injured Ace Gives Message to Diamondbacks' Draft Class

Arizona Diamondbacks ace starting pitcher Corbin Burnes might be recovering from Tommy John Surgery, but that isn't stopping him from staying close to the organization in his downtime.

Though unable to help the D-backs on the field, Burnes shared some wisdom with the the organization's future at Salt River Fields this past week.

Arizona's $210-million offseason signing made just 11 starts for the D-backs before landing on the IL with the elbow injury that would ultimately require surgery.

Burnes threw to a 2.66 ERA in those 11 starts. Despite beginning the year slowly, he had begun to firmly round back into the Cy Young-winning starter the D-backs were hoping to get.

But he'll spend the rest of 2025 down, and likely most of 2026.

During Sunday afternoon's rout of the Colorado Rockies, Burnes joined D-backs.TV's Steve Berthiaume and Bob Brenly to talk about his recovery process and more.

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Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Burnes Gives Message to Draft Class

Burnes told the broadcast he met with members of Arizona's 2025 Draft Class the prior week, offering insight into the life of a professional baseball player.

"I believe it was last week, got to go over and talk to all the new draft guys. ... I think there were 17 of them that were in house, doing a little camp before," Burnes said.

"Went over there, got to talk to those guys a little bit just about professional baseball. And that was kind of the next step for those guys. So that was good to meet some of those new guys and see the next line of D-backs."

Burnes said the advice ranged across a variety of (mostly baseball-related) topics as the young prospects take a significant next step in their careers.

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"Good advice, bad advice you receive. Just kind of the ins and outs of professional life, going through the minor leagues, that kind of stuff," Burnes said.

"There's always young minds, always wanting to learn new things. So it's good to be able to talk to those guys and hopefully start them in the right direction."

Perhaps some of those prospects will force their way into the D-backs' future plans. After Arizona stripped their roster of many veteran players at the Trade Deadline, opportunity has become ever more bountiful for young, rising members of the organization.

"We're at this point in the season now, you get a lot of young guys are getting opportunities to prove themselves, to see what kind of role they can have on the team next year," Burnes said.

"It's one of those pieces that it's not always a bad thing, but, this gives these guys a chance to prove themselves."

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