Chase Burns keeps doing something that’s hard to ignore: even when he’s not at his sharpest, he still looks like one of the National League’s top arms.
That was the case Saturday afternoon at PNC Park against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Burns was tagged for five earned runs, but he still didn’t issue a walk and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. The outing also snapped a remarkable run of 12 straight starts allowing two earned runs or fewer, and his ERA climbed to 2.36.
For a 23-year-old who was just drafted in the 2024 MLB draft, that kind of production is exactly the sort of leap nobody would have expected the Reds to get this season. And on a staff that was supposed to be built around starting pitching, Burns has become the guy. Hunter Greene still has yet to pitch this season, but the combination of Burns, Greene and Andrew Abbott has turned into one of the more dangerous starting groups in the league.
With Burns now firmly in the conversation among baseball’s best pitchers, the next question is how he stacks up with the National League’s other aces. In his division alone, he’s in the same neighborhood as the Pirates’ Paul Skenes, whom the Reds faced Friday night in a 6-4 win, and the Brewers’ Jacob Misorowski, who Burns is set to face Thursday in Milwaukee. The NL group also includes Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers, Cristopher Sanchez of the Phillies and Chris Sale of the Braves.
That company says plenty. Burns has made a strong case to be an All-Star in 2026, though it’s still unlikely he’d wind up as the NL starter in the game. Even so, the numbers show he belongs in the same tier.
Among that group of pitchers, Burns has the best record at 9-1. He ranks third in ERA at 2.36, fourth in strikeouts and third in WAR.
It’s a profile that puts him squarely among the game’s elite, with room left to grow. The Reds do have an inning limit on Burns, though the exact number hasn’t been disclosed. That could keep him out of the Cy Young race, but it shouldn’t affect his status as a midsummer All-Star in July.
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