Reds To Call Up Chase Burns Ahead Of Tuesday Debut Against Yankees (Report)
The Reds are set to call up MLB’s No. 8 prospect, Chase Burns, and he’s expected to make his big league debut on Tuesday, according to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo. Burns, 22, was the second pick in last year’s draft, but didn’t debut until this season, where he has been nothing short of excellent.
Burns owns a 1.77 ERA with 89 strikeouts to just 13 walks in 66 innings spanning three levels, including his most recent two-start tuneup in Triple-A. Burns’ dazzling arsenal is enough to paint his Baseball Savant page red. He parks his four-seamer in the upper 90s and touched 100.5 mph in his most recent outing for Triple-A Louisville. His slider hovers around 90 mph and may be even more difficult for hitters and accrues the bulk of his whiffs. Burns rounds out his arsenal with a mid-to-upper-80s curveball and a changeup. He’s also throwing plenty of strikes so far even despite a high-energy delivery, clocking a 68% strike rate in his 13 minor league outings this season.
The Reds saw what others did–Burns’ stuff was simply too overwhelming for minor leaguers. They’ll need to get Hunter Greene healthy, but their rotation could soon form two of baseball’s preeminent starting pitching velocity brokers, which combined with Elly De La Cruz’s nightly exploits gives Cincinnati plenty of electricity as it tries to keep up in a crowded NL playoff race.
