Pittsburgh Pirates News: Nick Burdi Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

On Sunday it was announced that Nick Burdi will have to undergo Tommy John Surgery. The Pittsburgh Pirates then desiganted Burdi for assignment.

There are few people in MLB who have worse luck than Nick Burdi. With Keone Kela starting the year on the injured list, Burdi began the 2020 season as the closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately, he would pitch just 2.1 innings for the Bucs.

After just 2.1 innings pitched in 2020 Burdi was placed on the injured list. Things continued to worsen for Burdi, and it was determined he would need to undergo Tommy John surgery. This is the second time in his career that Burdi has undergone Tommy John surgery.

As a result, the Pittsburgh Pirates have also designated Burdi for assignment. With this move, the team’s 40-man roster now sits at just 35 players. This gives them plenty of wiggle room to protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, as well as to add players in free agency and via trades.

Injuries are nothing new to Burdi. In additio nto this being his second Tommy John surgery, he also had thoracic outlet surgery last year. This cut his 2019 season short after just 8.2 innings of work.

In 11 innings pithced with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Burdi allowed 11 hits, one home run, he walked five batters, and he struck out 19. Burdi possesses a power fastball that averaged 98.1 MPH in 2020, this came after averaging 97.0 MPH in 2019.

Burdi also possesses a wipe out slider. His slider averaged 87.2 MPH in 2020 and 87.8 MPH in 2019. The ptich had a 2622 spin rate in 2020 and a spin rate of 2551 in 2019, both of which are above average. If he could stay healthy, Burdi could be one of the best relief pitchers in baseball.

Here at Rum Bunter we wish Burdi all the best moving forward. He possesses absolutely electirc stuff. Hopefully, he can get and stay healthy and turn into the dominant reliever he has the potential to be.