👋 GOOD MORNING
Happy Monday, and I hope you had a great weekend! It was pretty hard to not enjoy the cooler temps and rain yesterday.
I’ll get to the Corbin Burnes dilemma below, but first, make sure you tune in to Southwest Bias today at 11 am! Espo’s going to be live every weekday, discussing all of your favorite Arizona sports teams, but with a spicy spin that you can only find right here in Arizona. Tune in to on our Youtube channel, or you can get the audio feed here.
I truly hope you check it out — Espo is must-see TV. On to the show!
Burnes’ Injury Caps Off Nightmarish Diamondbacks Stretch
The hits just keep coming for the Diamondbacks.
Not the good kind, either.
Ace Corbin Burnes left yesterday’s 3-1 win against the Nationals in the fifth inning with right elbow tightness, and it was later reported he will have an MRI on Monday to evaluate it further.
Honestly, it figures. The D-backs finally bounced back and got a win, and there wasn’t even an opportunity to enjoy it. It should have been cause for at least some optimism after Arizona snapped its five-game losing streak, but it felt like anything but.
Burnes Has Been Rock Solid After Rocky Start
The 2021 NL Cy Young Winner had an ERA of 5.28 just three starts into his Diamondbacks tenure, but bounced back beautifully. Burnes posted an ERA of 1.67 and WHIP of 0.93 in May, striking out 29 batters while issuing just two walks over a combined 27 innings.
Prior to his injury he led all qualified Diamondbacks starters in ERA (2.66) and opponent batting average (.210), while his 63 strikeouts are just three shy of Zac Gallen’s team-leading 66.
The last time he allowed more than three earned runs? April 6, against the Nationals. Note to Torey Lovullo: Maybe pitch Burnes on an as-needed basis whenever Washington is on the regular season schedule.
I kid, I kid. But just last week I preached patience considering the number of games remaining, but they are already eight games out of the NL West race and five out of the final Wild Card spot. It’s time to get moving!
If it’s any consolation, last year’s 89-win team was 27-32 at this point last year (compared to 28-31), and they didn’t really get it together until after the All-Star break.
Burnes’ Take: “I’ve never had anything like it before, so I really have nothing to compare it to,” Burnes told MLB.com beat reporter Steve Gilbert. “My body does a pretty good job of telling me when I need to not do things and when I can push things, and it was telling me not to push it. So hopefully, it was me kind of shutting things down before it got too bad. But I won’t really know until we get it looked at.”
That’s Super: Congrats to the Arizona baseball team, which rolled through the Eugene Regional to clinch a berth in the Super Regional. The Wildcats hit eight home runs in their 14-4 win over Utah Valley on Saturday, and followed that up with a dominating 14-0 win over Cal Poly last night.
Arizona has made the post season in each of manager Chip Hale’s four seasons at the helm.
The 16-team Super Regionals kick off Friday, and the Wildcats will face the winner of today’s Chapel Hill Regional Final between North Carolina and Oklahoma.
Burned: The ASU baseball team’s season came to an end following back-to-back losses at the Los Angeles Regional. Things started well enough following a Friday win over UC Irvine, but the Sun Devils fell to UCLA on Saturday before dropping the rematch against Irvine yesterday.
It was a great season for the Sun Devils, who advanced to an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2021!
Solid Weekend: The Mercury (5-2) lost 74-71 at home to Minnesota on Friday, but bounced back with a Commissioner’s Cup win over the Sparks yesterday. Phoenix erased an 18-point deficit en route to the win, and is back in action tomorrow night at unbeaten Minnesota (7-0).
By the Book: NBA insider Marc Stein reported yesterday that Suns star Devin Booker has “had a level of involvement with candidates in this stage of interviews.” Oh, one other note: Stein also said superstar Kevin Durant could be on the move (for real this time).
It’s a Little Drafty: Make sure to check out the NBA Diehard Draft Guide — Led by ALLCITY draft analysts Derek Bodner of PHLY and Will Gottlieb of CHGO, this guide is your one-stop-shop as teams across the league gear up to reshape their rosters
Note the Diehard draft guide is best viewed on desktop or tablet!
Drawing an Extra Point: Rising FC played to a 3-3 draw against New Mexico United in the Jagermeister Cup on Saturday, and earned the extra point in part thanks to goalie Patrick Rokovsky’s heroics. The keeper stopped New Mexico’s first three penalties, securing an additional point in the group stage.
Tip Of The Hat By Branded Bills
Tune in today (and tomorrow, and Wednesday…)
