Chase Burns is about to hit a notable checkpoint in a season that’s already stacked with them.
The Reds right-hander started Cincinnati’s Sept. 18 opener against the Cubs at Great American Ball Park, giving him 29 starts on the year. One more outing will get him to 30, a number the Reds have struggled to reach from their starting pitchers in recent seasons and one Burns is now set to join his teammates in clearing.
That next step is coming with an innings limit hanging over him, a limit the club made public in late August. Still, the Reds have clearly viewed this as a worthwhile ride.
“We thought it was important to get him this far, help set him up for the next year but also not to do something that’s probably not smart to do," Reds manager Terry Francona said.
Burns has already checked off plenty in his breakout season. He was named to the National League roster for the MLB All-Star Game, then signed a seven-year, $105 million contract just days after the game. Soon, he can add 30 starts to that list.
The 23-year-old’s record stayed at 15-3 after he worked three innings against Chicago, and his ERA moved to 2.86 in the Reds’ eventual 6-4 win. He’s now at 154 and 1/3 innings for the season, and Francona said afterward that Burns still looked effective late in the year.
“He's doing OK,” Francona said.
Burns said his approach in these shorter outings is pretty simple: go after swing-and-miss and make the most of the innings he’s allowed to throw.
"Mentally, you know you only have three innings," Burns said, "so, try to go out there and bring everything you got."
Cincinnati has gotten real mileage out of its rotation this season. Burns will reach 30 starts alongside Andrew Abbott, who had 31 starts as of Sept. 18, and Brady Singer, who also sat at 30. That stands in sharp contrast to Burns’ own 2025 season, when he was limited to 13 games and eight starts as he moved quickly through the minors.
The Reds haven’t had many seasons like this one from a starting-pitching workload standpoint. Hunter Greene’s high-water mark was 26 starts in 2024, while Abbott made 29 starts in his 2025 All-Star season after beginning that year on the injured list. Burns is now set to push past both.
And there’s reason to think this group could stay together. Greene is out of the picture for 2027, but Burns, Abbott and Singer are expected to remain in place then, giving Cincinnati a chance to open another season with real rotation depth. Francona also pointed to other names in the mix, including Rhett Lowder and Nick Lodolo, plus Brandon Williamson, who will be arbitration-eligible in 2027.
Singer is also expected to receive a qualifying offer this offseason.
“The more you don’t have to fill those (starts), obviously the better you are," Francona said. "It can definitely be challenging. ...
The next thing is not necessarily to get the starts - because they’ve thrown a lot of pitches. We just haven’t gotten deep enough into games.”
Burns had been working in September with Williamson in a piggyback setup, but Williamson was needed in the Reds’ Sept. 17 loss to the Dodgers. That opened the door for Julian Aguiar to come up from Triple-A Louisville and fill the role against the Cubs.
Aguiar, making his 2026 debut for Cincinnati, did his part and more. He allowed two runs on four hits, carried the Reds through the sixth inning after taking over for Burns and got the win. Cincinnati then scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to grab a 6-4 lead.
Emilio Pagán handled the ninth and locked down his 23rd save in 26 chances. Jose Trevino finished it off by throwing out Michael Busch trying to steal second on a pitch-out, ending the game with Ian Happ at the plate as the potential tying run after Happ had already homered earlier.
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