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Jeff Passan is reporting that Nick Burdi has a strained biceps tendon and flexor mass.
Considering how awful it looked, the preliminary exam on Pirates reliever Nick Burdi is promising: Nothing is fully torn or broken, source tells ESPN. MRI did reveal strained biceps tendon and flexor mass, which will sideline him indefinitely, but diagnosis would mean no surgery.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 23, 2019
This sucks, but it’s far from a worse case scenario considering how bad things looked yesterday. Pirates Prospects has a good discussion of the implications, assuming this holds up. Burdi would likely miss much of the season, but wouldn’t need surgery. Meanwhile, Burdi will sensibly get a second opinion.
The plan is for Pirates reliever Nick Burdi to seek a second opinion, per source. The injury was so painful and the feeling so acute, Burdi wants to ensure that rehab is indeed the preferred course of action and he can avoid another procedure on his surgically repaired right arm.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 23, 2019
Hopefully, we’ll see him back this year.
UPDATE: The Pirates have placed Burdi on the ten-day injured list — which probably has nothing to do with his prognosis, since they don’t need a roster spot yet — and have recalled Steven Brault. This makes no sense, since the Pirates need a short reliever and Brault, who essentially hasn’t pitched in three weeks, needs to get stretched out as a starter. But incoherent roster management is nothing new with the Pirates.