- Full name Chase David Burns
- Born 01/16/2003 in Naples, Italy
- Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 195 / Bats: R / Throws: R
- School Tennessee
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Drafted in the 1st round (2nd overall) by the Cincinnati Reds in 2024 (signed for $9,250,000).
View Draft Report
School: Wake Forest
Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.5
BA Grade: 60/Extreme
Tools: Fastball: 70. Slider: 70. Curveball: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 50.
Burns was already touching 100 mph as a Tennessee prep in the 2021 class. Despite that huge velocity, he made it to campus at Tennessee, where he pitched as a starter and reliever for two seasons before transferring to Wake Forest in 2024. As a full-time starter, Burns put together one of the best pitching seasons in the country, with a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts, a 48.8% strikeout rate that led Division I pitchers, a 7.7% walk rate and a nation-leading 191 strikeouts. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound righthander, Burns has perhaps the best pure stuff in the class. He averaged nearly 98 mph with his fastball and has been up to 101. He attacks hitters with a high-effort, high-energy delivery that features plenty of recoil and moving parts. His fastball is a potential 70-grade offering, as is his hellacious upper-80s slider that features hard, biting action with spin rates in the 2,800 rpm range. Burns’ slider is his go-to secondary against both lefties and righties and generated a 64% miss rate. While his fastball/slider combination is his bread and butter, he also showcased a low-80s power curveball and firm upper-80s changeup more frequently in 2024. Both pitches have a chance to be solid-average—or perhaps better in the case of the curveball—and helped create more confidence in Burns’ starter profile. While his delivery screams reliever, he has consistently thrown strikes at a solid rate for three seasons, has a real four-pitch mix and consistently holds his stuff deep into games. While Burns is more of a control-over-command pitcher, he has the top-end pure stuff to make that work and miss plenty of bats. He should be the first or second pitcher drafted.
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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BA Grade: 60/Extreme
Track Record: Burns was already touching 100 mph as a Tennessee prep in the 2021 class. Despite that huge velocity, he made it to campus at Tennessee, where he pitched as a starter and reliever for two seasons before transferring to Wake Forest in 2024. As a full-time starter, Burns put together one of the best pitching seasons in the country, with a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts, a 48.8% strikeout rate that led Division I pitchers, a 7.7% walk rate and a nation-leading 191 strikeouts.
Scouting Report: A 6-foot-3, 210-pound righthander, Burns has perhaps the best pure stuff in the class. He averaged nearly 98 mph with his fastball and has been up to 101. He attacks hitters with a high-effort, high-energy delivery that features plenty of recoil and moving parts. His fastball is a potential 70-grade offering, as is his hellacious upper-80s slider that features hard, biting action with spin rates in the 2,800 rpm range. Burns’ slider is his go-to secondary against both lefties and righties and generated a 64% miss rate. While his fastball/slider combination is his bread and butter, he also showcased a low-80s power curveball and firm upper-80s changeup more frequently in 2024. Both pitches have a chance to be solid-average—or perhaps better in the case of the curveball—and helped create more confidence in Burns’ starter profile. While his delivery screams reliever, he has consistently thrown strikes at a solid rate for three seasons, has a real four-pitch mix and consistently holds his stuff deep into games. While Burns is more of a control-over-command pitcher, he has the top-end pure stuff to make that work and miss plenty of bats.
The Future: The Reds’ clear goal is to build one of the best homegrown rotations in baseball. Burns adds to the possibilities of reaching that goal.
Scouting Grades Fastball: 70 | Slider: 70 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50.
Draft Prospects
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School: Wake Forest Committed: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.5
Burns was a flamethrowing high schooler back in the 2021 class, and he touched 100 mph before he set foot on campus at Tennessee. Scouts wondered about his control, and there might still be some reliever risk for Burns, but he put together back-to-back strong seasons for the Volunteers with a strikeout rate north of 30% and a walk rate between 7-8% both seasons—mostly in a starting capacity before piggybacking behind righthander Chase Dollander late in the 2023 season. Burns transferred to Wake Forest for the 2024 season when he will be part of one of the deepest pitching staffs in the country. He has averaged 96 mph on his fastball in college, touched 102 and has shown an upper-80s slide that makes hitters look silly and grades as plus. Burns also has a firm changeup around 90 mph but he has thrown it less than 5% of the time. -
After making tremendous strides forward with his strength and velocity over the last two years, Burns now has some of the best pure stuff in the 2021 high school pitching class. Last summer he showed one of the better fastballs of the group, running his heater up to 100 mph and consistently getting into the upper 90s. Listed at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Burns attacks hitters downhill out of a high, three-quarter arm slot and his fastball has shown impressive riding life. Burns has two breaking balls—one is a downer curveball that has shown average potential and the other is a more promising mid-to-upper-80s slider with sweeping action that shows hard tilt and bite at its best. Scouts seem to prefer the harder breaking ball and have given it future plus grades, while evaluators are more mixed on Burns’ changeup. Burns brings some reliever risk to the table because of his history of throwing scattered strikes, and given his long arm action that leads to inconsistencies with the timing in his delivery and with the consistency of his secondary offerings. Burns has shown an ability to pitch with lower velocity and improve the quality of his control, but scouts think he still needs to learn how to control his body, figure out his wingspan and fine tune some of the details of his mechanics to get the most out of his top-end stuff (which is exceptional) with more consistency. Burns is a Tennessee commit, but could get drafted among the top-two rounds.
Top 100 Rankings
Career Transactions
- RHP Chase Burns assigned to Tennessee Volunteers.
