Pirates right-hander Nick Burdi's season came to a close Wednesday after being placed on the 45-day injured list with a right elbow injury.
Burdi came to the Pirates Tuesday stating his right elbow "didn't feel right" after his outing on Monday, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said.
Burdi made 20 pitches in that outing. His fastball velocity held steady and averaged 97.9 mph, which is normal for him.
He pitched 2.1 innings over three outings in 2020, allowing one run and recording his first major-league save.
"When I heard the news about Nick man, it's crushing," Trevor Williams said after Wednesday's game. "For what he's gone through and what he's done to get back in a big league uniform on the field. The amount of work that he puts in in his craft, to hear that, was crushing... You can see that he was pretty crushed."
The Pirates' medical team is still gathering information on his elbow, but they felt that between the injury and the rehab, it did not make sense for him to pitch again in 2020.
This is the latest in what has been a long line of injuries for the right-hander. Burdi underwent surgery to relieve symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome in 2019. He missed most of the 2017 and 2018 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and most of 2016 with what the Twins classified as a bone bruise, but was really related to TOS.
Another major arm injury could be career-threatening to the 27-year-old, but Tomczyk and the team want to gather more information before speculating on its severity.
"At this point, to speculate that it is anything but a right elbow injury, I don't think is accurate," Tomczyk said. "We need to make sure we go through a comprehensive exam, both locally here and the surgeon that did his operation, before we give an official prognosis, in all fairness to Nick."
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