A.J. Burnett has a strained flexor tendon. Could pitch again this year. - MLB

UPDATE:

AJ Burnett was diagnosed w/a flexor strain in his right elbow today. He received a PRP injection & estimated time of return is approx 4 wks.

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) August 3, 2015

2:43 PM: The news on A.J. Burnett seemed dire as of yesterday: the possibility of a torn UCL and, given his lack of a desire to have surgery, the likely end of his career.

Today things are slightly better. But only slightly.

A.J. Burnett has a strained flexor tendon. UCL is intact. He will undergo treatment in hopes of pitching again this year. #Pirates

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 3, 2015

It’s still not a given of course. Lots of guys miss whole seasons with flexor tendon issues and surgery is often an option to address it. Morosi suggests that Burnett could pitch through the pain of it, but of course there’s no guarantee that he can even be effective.

Better than a torn UCL I suppose, though still not fantastic news.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A former Angels employee has been charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in connection with last year’s overdose death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, prosecutors in Texas announced Friday.

Eric Prescott Kay was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, and made his first appearance Friday in federal court, according to Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Kay was communications director for the Angels.

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in the Dallas area July 1, 2019, before the start of what was supposed to be a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. The first game was postponed before the teams played the final three games.

Skaggs died after choking on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the powerful painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, a coroner’s report said. Prosecutors accused Kay of providing the fentanyl to Skaggs and others, who were not named.

“Tyler Skaggs’s overdose – coming, as it did, in the midst of an ascendant baseball career – should be a wake-up call: No one is immune from this deadly drug, whether sold as a powder or hidden inside an innocuous-looking tablet,” Nealy Cox said.

If convicted, Kay faces up to 20 years in prison. Federal court records do not list an attorney representing him, and an attorney who previously spoke on his behalf did not immediately return a message seeking comment.