The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced A.J. Burnett's surgery will keep him out between 8-12 weeks. Burnett was injured during a bunting practice, where a ball he deflected hit him near the eye. The face/ball collision resulted in a fractured orbital bone and Burnett flew into Pittsburgh Thursday.
From MLB Network Radio:
The surgery was performed by Dr. Randall Beatty.“A.J. will work through the three step return to pitch progression,” said General Manager Neal Huntington. “The initial step will be to heal from the surgery. Secondly we will recondition his arm and body to where he was prior to the injury. Lastly, we will put A.J. through the same progression as he would have gone through here in spring training. The very rough timetable to complete this process and have A.J. prepared to compete without restrictions at the Major League level is 8-12 weeks.”
- Twitter / @BiertempfelTrib - "Pirates say timetable for AJB return from surgery is 8-12 weeks"
- Twitter / @BiertempfelTrib - "AJB plans to return to #Pirates camp in Bradenton sometime during spring training."