Brewers place Burnes on injured list
Barring an unexpectedly long run in the playoffs for the Milwaukee Brewers – if they get there at all – the 2020 season is over for Corbin Burnes.
The right-hander was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday with a left oblique strain. Burnes was forced from Thursday’s game at Busch Stadium after 32⁄3 innings and 80 pitches with what was originally described as lower-back tightness.
But after an MRI, the diagnosis was changed to the oblique strain – a much trickier injury for players to navigate and one that typically requires several weeks to fully heal depending on the severity.
“I expected that if he left the game we were probably looking at something that was going to be more than 10 days,” manager Craig Counsell said Friday in advance of his team’s doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals. “That’s the news we got.”
Burnes said after Thursday’s game the issue initially cropped up toward the end of his previous start on Sept. 19 but that he’d undergone treatment and felt fine heading into the five-game series opener.
“Everyone asked me beforehand, ‘Are you good to go?’ ‘I’m good to go,’” he said. “It was one of those things where there was just a little bit of tightness, but I thought it would be just fine.”
He needed 24 pitches to get through a scoreless first inning, then first showed signs he was hurting in the fourth. He proceeded to surrender a game-turning home run to Dylan Carlson immediately thereafter, and exited the game one batter later after inducing a Kolten Wong groundout.
“Yeah, coming out, I knew there was an issue in there,” said Burnes. “And then they brought up, ‘Let’s get some images and see what it looks like.’ After talking to the doctors and knowing exactly what it was, I knew it was going to be some time before I was able to get back out there.”
Counsell indicated Burnes would be unavailable for the opening round of the playoffs and “doubtful” for the next round should Milwaukee advance that far.
“The oblique injuries, it varies from person to person,” Burnes added. “It’s just all about how quickly your body can heal. I was actually just talking to (Brandon Woodruff) in there about it, kind of talking about how he went through the process, how long it took his body to heal. I think it’s in a little bit different spot than what he had.
“It’s just going to depend on, take the next couple of days off and then start slowly working back into it and we’ll see how quickly we can get things ramped up depending on how I’m recovering.”
Considering the train wreck his 2019 season was, finishing 4-1 with a 2.11 earned run average and 88 strikeouts in 592⁄3 innings should put him at or near the top of the list for National League comeback player of the year. Finishing one-third of an inning shy of 60 for the season knocked Burnes out of consideration for the NL Cy Young Award.
“Looking back, it’s been a pretty successful year,” he said. “I came out and did what I wanted to as far as preparation each week, mentality, pitch mix. Those are all some positives to take away from it.”
Woodruff ready to rock
It has been both an uplifting and at times frustrating season for Woodruff, who has a 2-5 record and 3.43 ERA through 12 starts.
Off the field, he became a father for the first time in early September. On the field, he has battled to keep his team in the game more often than not.
Now, Woodruff has one more assignment Saturday against the Cardinals in hopes of keeping the Brewers’ fading playoff hopes alive. He’ll be countered by 39-year-old right-hander Adam Wainwright, who pitched a completegame victory in a doubleheader in Milwaukee on the last home stand.
“That’s my favorite type of baseball game,” Woodruff said of pitching with something big on the line. “Just getting to throw in the wild-card game last year, it’s like a miniature season. Your season rests on one game and you’re the guy leading the charge.
“The way I approach it is I just enjoy going out there and competing.
“Not having fans is part of it; (having them) makes it so much more fun. Going into Washington (last year) and walking around and seeing that see of red makes it fun. It does take away from it but those are the games I like to pitch in.”
Healy, Feyereisen added
With Burnes going on the IL, the Brewers replaced him with first baseman/third baseman Ryon Healy. Reliever J.P. Feyereisen, who had two earlier stints with the club, was recalled to serve as the 29th player allowed for doubleheaders.
Signed as a free agent in December, Healy had a brief stint with the Brewers in early August, playing in three games and going 1 for 6. He was part of the taxi squad with the team in St. Louis.
Feyereisen, a native of River Falls, made the Brewers’ opening day roster, was sent out in early August and recalled later that month. In five appearances, he is 0-0 with a 6.48 ERA, holding opponents to a .154 batting average but with three home runs.