After having a second Tommy John surgery last month, Nick Burdi won’t pitch next season. But the right-handed reliever’s career with the Pittsburgh Pirates isn’t over yet.
The Pirates designated Burdi, 27, for assignment last weekend but he cleared waivers and was outrighted Friday to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the MLB transactions page.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Monday that the club would “love to continue working with” Burdi but the club wasn’t willing to protect him on the 40-man roster because he will be out for the next 16-18 months while rehabilitating his right elbow.
“It was going to be really hard to keep him on that throughout the whole year,” Cherington said. “We’ll just have to see what happens with that. If circumstances allow and there’s a way to keep him in the Pirates organization, help him through the rehab and get him back to the big leagues, we’d be excited about doing that.”
Burdi was 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three games last season before being shut down with right forearm inflammation and placed on the 60-day injured list. The Pirates acquired Burdi in a trade from the Philadelphia Phillies after they selected him in the Rule 5 draft from Minnesota while recovering from his first Tommy John surgery.
While Burdi averaged 16.8 strikeouts per nine innings in 16 games over three seasons with the Pirates, he injured his right elbow in April 2019 and had surgery for neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. Cherington expressed hope that Burdi could have a future in the majors, if healthy.
“There’s certainly plenty of examples of pitchers who have gone through significant injuries early in their career and then figure out a way to stay healthy and have a really good run of success,” Cherington said. “I think Nick is definitely capable of that. He’s obviously got really good stuff. He’s an incredibly hard worker. He’s really smart. He’s learning all the time. You add all that stuff up, and as much as it’s been frustrating for him to this point, I think all that gives him a chance to be a really good major-league pitcher.”
