Sean Burnett went nearly an entire year between appearances for the Angels thanks to elbow surgery, finally returning to the bullpen last week. And now, after all of three games and two-thirds of an inning, he’s headed back to the disabled list with more elbow problems.
Burnett exited Tuesday’s game with elbow soreness and Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports that the left-hander’s “eyes welled up and he had to walk away from the interview” with reporters in the clubhouse afterward.
Angels teammate Jered Weaver offered some thoughts on the sad setback:
He’s worked his ass off to get back to this poin. He’s a great guy, man. He wants to go out there and he wants to help his team win. I know he’s very frustrated. Tough time for him right now. Hopefully when they get results back of whatever they’re going to do tomorrow, hopefully it’s not as serious as something torn or something like that. It’s tough, man.
Exactly. Pitchers get hurt. That’s just part of the gig. But when they fight their way back after lengthy stints on the sidelines only to immediately get hurt again … that just doesn’t seem fair.
Burnett has thrown just 10.1 innings as part of a two-year, $8 million deal with the Angels and it’s a shame too, because during the previous four seasons he tossed 234 innings with a combined 2.85 ERA for the Pirates and Nationals.
