Chase Burns keeps forcing his way into the National League Cy Young conversation, and Thursday’s 7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers only sharpened the case.
The Reds needed that one to avoid a sweep, and Burns gave them exactly what they wanted in the series finale. He took the ball against Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski and once again looked like the most reliable starter Cincinnati has had all season.
That reliability has become the defining trait of Burns’ 2026 campaign. Through 17 starts, he’s sitting at 10-1 with a 2.40 ERA. He’s logged just over 97 innings and piled up 116 strikeouts, which leaves him tied for seventh in the league with Philadelphia Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo.
ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle recently updated his MLB awards watch as July begins, and Burns has climbed into the National League Cy Young mix. Doolittle placed him third on the list of contenders, behind Misiorowski and Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez.
That’s a notable turn for a pitcher who, back in the winter, might have been viewed by many Reds fans as part of a rotation led by Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo. Instead, injuries have pushed Greene and Lodolo behind this season, and Burns has become the anchor.
Greene is set to return Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, while Lodolo is still working to find his rhythm. But Burns has been the steady one all along, the arm Cincinnati has leaned on every time it needed a stop.
There’s still a catch, though. Even with the Cy Young buzz building, Burns’ 2026 season comes with a looming question: at some point, the Reds are likely going to shut him down. That possibility has hovered around his starts all year, and it’s not something the club is expected to ignore just to keep the award chase alive.
So while the Cy Young talk is real, it may not end with Burns taking home the trophy this season. What seems clear is that this won’t be the last time his name shows up in that conversation.
In Other News...
Reds Suddenly Face A Brutal Deadline Decision Behind The Plate
With the trade deadline closing in, the Reds have a catcher decision hanging over the rest of their summer, and it comes at a time when Tyler Stephenson has been giving them plenty to think about. Cincinnati is 40-46, still in the thick of sorting out what this season is really worth, and Stephensons recent play has only sharpened the question of whether the club should keep leaning on him or use his value in a different way.
The complication is what comes next behind the plate. Alfredo Duno is the organizations top catching prospect, but he is still working his way through Double-A and may not be ready for the majors until sometime next season, which leaves the Reds trying to balance present-day needs against future planning. If they decide to move Stephenson, the path forward gets a lot less clear, and that is exactly why this deadline feels so tricky. [Read more 🡒]
Hunter Greene Just Raised The Stakes For Reds Postseason Hopes
Hunter Greenes return has been one of the biggest developments hanging over the Reds for weeks, and now it is finally close enough to shape the conversation around the rest of the season. After elbow surgery and a strong run of minor league rehab starts, the right-hander is set to rejoin a rotation that has already found a breakout arm in Chase Burns, giving Cincinnati a rare chance to line up two high-end starters at the same time.
Burns has been pitching like more than just a promising rookie, with performances that have pushed him into early Cy Young chatter and made him a central reason the Reds can even think about October. The bigger question now is less about whether Cincinnati has enough front-line stuff and more about how it balances the workload if both pitchers keep dealing and the club stays in the race deep into the summer. [Read more 🡒]