The Cincinnati Reds have spent much of the season trying to survive without Hunter Greene, and Chase Burns has been the reason they’ve had a chance to do more than just tread water.
Greene’s elbow surgery knocked the club’s ace out for about half the year, and while he finally came back on July 4, Baltimore greeted him harshly in his first start. In the meantime, Burns has taken the ball and run with it, giving Cincinnati exactly the kind of stability it needed at the top of the rotation.
That surge has now earned him major recognition. MLB.com’s Jared Greenspan ranked Burns as the No. 6 starting pitcher in baseball this season, behind Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sanchez, Chris Sale, Cam Schlitter, and Shohei Ohtani.
Greenspan wrote, "The Reds are on the verge of getting their ace back, with right-hander Hunter Greene nearing a return from elbow surgery. In Greene's absence, a co-ace emerged: Burns, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 Draft, has taken a star turn.
According to Baseball Reference, he is the third-most valuable pitcher in baseball, with his 4.0 bWAR trailing only Sánchez (5.7) and Misiorowski (4.5). Through 16 starts, Burns owns a 2.36 ERA and a 185 ERA+, while his 30.5% strikeout rate is fifth highest among qualified starting pitchers.
He does things his own way, too. In an era where starting pitchers are embracing diverse pitch arsenals, Burns relies almost exclusively on his fastball/slider combo."
The numbers back up the buzz. Burns is 10-1 and hasn’t taken a loss since early April. Cincinnati is 13-4 in his 17 starts, and he has worked at least five innings in every one of them.
For a Reds team that has had a rocky season, Burns has been the steady hand. With Greene sidelined until this week, Cincinnati needed someone to anchor the staff, and Burns has done that while flashing the kind of upside that makes the future look a lot brighter.
At 23, he’s already forcing his way into the conversation among the game’s top arms. If this level holds, Burns won’t just be a bright spot for the Reds - he’ll be a fixture in the Cy Young race for years to come, as long as he stays healthy and available.
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