Corbin Burnes was the prize of the offseason for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but their fans will have to wait until the fifth game of the regular season to see him pitch in a meaningful game.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo admitted Sunday that Burnes’ debut will be delayed because he made a miscalculation with the pitcher’s spring training schedule. Burnes had originally been lined up as a potential Opening Day starter, but when Arizona instead gave that assignment to Zac Gallen, Burnes’ schedule was thrown off.
“This was probably a tactical error on my part. I’ll take the responsibility for that,” Lovullo told reporters. “Corbin is a very routine-oriented player, and I had yet to understand that until recently. He’s got a process and I respect that and I blame myself for not getting to know him, how important the routine is. … He is elite in this space. It took me a little time to figure that out.
“When we stepped into a space where we had to make an adjustment, that he wasn’t going to start Opening Day, we had to recalibrate and get him on the right routine. I respect that 100%.”
