Corbin Burnes returns to MLB mound after Tommy John surgery
· Yahoo Sports
Two former star Milwaukee Brewers pitchers were on the hill Sept. 8, making appearances that were notable for different reasons with teams preparing for a final playoff push.
Corbin Burnes, the 2021 Cy Young Award winner with Milwaukee, made his first big-league appearance since June 1, 2025, fully recovered from Tommy John surgery with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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Burnes threw three innings in his start against the Kansas City Royals, allowing two hits and two walks with two strikeouts but no runs, as the Diamondbacks defeated the Royals in extra innings, 5-3.
Just like the Brewers that same night, the Royals were down to their final out in the ninth when a player (John Rave) launched a game-tying home run, though in this case, the road team, Arizona, pulled out the extra-inning victory.
The Brewers have been monitoring Arizona with a little bit of interest. Milwaukee is close to clinching a playoff spot once it guarantees a better season record than Arizona or San Diego, two teams that came into Sept. 9 knotted with 68 losses and straddling the final National League wild-card spot.
The Brewers' magic number to finish ahead of one of them is a little complicated, but it's essentially three, leaving open the possibility that they can clinch baseball's first playoff spot Friday, Sept. 11.
Burnes, traded before the 2024 season for infielder Joey Ortiz and pitcher DL Hall, spent one season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2024 and then signed a six-year deal with Arizona worth $210 million. He had a 2.66 ERA in 11 starts with Arizona last year but then went down with the significant elbow injury.
Freddy Peralta back on track with Rays
Former Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, who struggled mightily with the New York Mets and was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline, appears to be all the way back.
And that proved valuable for the Brewers on Sept. 8, when Peralta allowed one earned run on five hits in six innings and helped the Rays down Atlanta. The Brewers are competing with the Braves for a top-two seed in the NL playoffs and the first-round bye that comes with it.
It was Peralta's third straight quality start with the Rays, who have the American League's best record. He also allowed one run on three hits in six innings against his old team, the Mets, on Sept. 1, and contributed six innings of two-hit baseball in a shutout of Detroit on Aug. 26.
Peralta, traded in the offseason to the Mets with Tobias Myers for Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams, had a 4.99 ERA with the Mets in 22 starts this season. It's still an uneven 4.35 in seven starts for the Rays, but he's allowed just two runs in his last 18 innings.
Could Peralta face his old teammates with Milwaukee in the World Series? Both teams would head into the playoffs with the No. 1 seed if the season ended today. The Brewers (90-56) are 1½ games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top NL record.
Isaac Collins struggling with Royals; Nick Mears lost for year with thoracic outlet syndrome
Former Brewers outfielder Isaac Collins has been struggling with the Royals and has gone hitless in his last 28 plate appearances, with five walks. His last hit was a double Aug. 29.
Collins has a .659 OPS this season, with six homers and six steals. He was a revelation for the Brewers in 2025 and received rookie of the year votes but hasn't been able to replicate that success. He was dealt along with reliever Nick Mears to the Royals before 2026 for reliever Angel Zerpa, who was lost for the year with injury.
Mears hasn't pitched for the Royals since May and will undergo season-ending surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, the same ailment plaguing Brewers starter Quinn Priester.
Caleb Durbin slumping, but Red Sox in prime spot
Caleb Durbin has just a .592 OPS with Boston since Aug. 14, with just one extra-base hit (a double) in those 96 plate appearances.
But for the year, Durbin still has a league-average OPS-plus of 100, with a .709 OPS, 12 homers and 17 steals, and his 3.6 WAR continues to rank him among the top five players on the playoff-bound Red Sox.
Boston (80-66) is situated as the No. 2 AL wild-card team, behind the New York Yankees.
Andruw Monasterio, who was also part of the trade package that brought Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan and David Hamilton to Milwaukee in the offseason, has a .687 OPS in 99 games.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Corbin Burnes returns to MLB mound after Tommy John surgery