SEATTLE -- Chase Burns is stepping back into the Reds’ rotation carrying a lot more than a strong first half.
The right-hander missed the All-Star Game after dealing with tightness in his right groin, an issue that surfaced when he covered home plate on a wild pitch during his July 8 start against the Phillies. Even so, Burns still made his first trip to All-Star festivities in Philadelphia, where he was part of Tuesday’s game on the exact two-year anniversary of the day Cincinnati took him with the second overall pick in the 2024 Draft.
That week in Philadelphia also brought major news off the field. Burns and his agent finished the details of a seven-year, $105 million extension that begins in 2027 and runs through 2033. The deal was agreed to on Thursday and finalized and signed on Saturday.
“It doesn’t feel real yet," Burns said of the contract. "I’m sure here soon, next year and the year after, it will start hitting me. I just like to keep it mellow.”
Now Burns is set to return to work on Tuesday, when the Reds open the second game of their three-game series against the Mariners. It will be the first time the 23-year-old has faced Seattle.
Burns has been one of the biggest stories of Cincinnati’s breakout 2026 season. He enters the start at 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA across 18 starts, with 118 strikeouts in 102 2/3 innings. He has also held opponents to two runs or fewer in 15 of those outings.
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Joey Votto Just Reopened A Painful Truth About The Reds
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This time, the subject was momentum, and Votto drew a sharp contrast between Cincinnatis years with him in the lineup and the kind of surge Boston is riding now. He said he never experienced anything quite like a true comeback wave during his Reds tenure, which is the kind of reflection that inevitably sends Cincinnati fans back through the what-ifs of that era and the gap between good seasons and something bigger. [Read more 🡒]