The Cincinnati Reds may be reaching the point where Chase Burns has done so much, so fast, that they have to start protecting him from himself.
Burns has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, but his workload is becoming impossible to ignore. On the Reds’ broadcast during his latest start against the Seattle Mariners, former MLB pitcher and Cincinnati broadcaster Jeff Brantley said he doesn’t expect Burns to stay in the rotation through the end of the year.
"I think this is what we're going to look at for the next five, six starts for Chase Burns," Brantley said on the broadcast. "I don't think there's any reasonable expectation that he's gonna finish the year in the rotation, because he's going to run out of innings.
But I think you're just gonna have to be happy with what you got here tonight. Get him ready for his next start five days later.
He is going to run out of innings.
That concern is rooted in the numbers. Through 19 starts, Burns has already logged 107 2/3 innings this season. For comparison, he threw 109 1/3 innings in 2025 between the majors and minors.
Reds manager Terry Francona addressed the situation after Tuesday’s game, when Burns was lifted after five innings and 91 pitches. Francona said the club is keeping a close watch on him.
"He gets it," Francona said. "He's a pretty sharp kid.
I know he loves competing, but we have to keep an eye out for him. I told him, 'There's gonna be a day when you'll probably go out and throw two more innings, but it's just not now.'"
Even with the innings conversation hanging over everything, Burns’ first half has been loaded with milestones. He became just the third Reds pitcher to reach the All-Star break with at least an 11-1 record, joining Wayne Simpson in 1970 and Brooks Lawrence in 1956.
He also became the first Reds pitcher since John Smiley in 1995 to win 11 of his first 12 decisions.
And the winning has kept piling up. Burns’ 10 straight winning decisions are the longest by a Reds pitcher in a single season since 1985, with the franchise mark since then belonging to John Franco and Tom Browning, who each won 11 in a row.
Burns added to that run on Tuesday night, picking up his 12th win and stretching his streak to 11 consecutive decisions. According to the Reds’ television broadcast, that made him only the fourth Reds pitcher since 1969 to win 11 straight decisions in a single season, alongside Tom Browning in 1985, John Franco in 1985 and Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in 1979.
The Reds have been rolling with Burns on the mound, too. Cincinnati is 15-4 in his starts, a clear sign of just how much he has meant to the club while putting together one of the most remarkable stretches of the season.
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