Minor League Baseball

Cincinnati Reds' Top Prospect, Drafted No. 2 Overall in 2024, Gets Quick Double-A Promotion

Chase Burns reportedly is set to pitch for the Chattanooga Lookouts on Saturday after just 11.2 pro innings.
Jami Leabow|
Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns (29) starts against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the ACC Baseball Tournament at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C., on May 24, 2024.
Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns (29) starts against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the ACC Baseball Tournament at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C., on May 24, 2024. | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

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Cincinnati Reds

After just three career starts as a professional, Chase Burns is taking his 100 mph fastball and devastating slider to Double-A and is expected to start Saturday for the Chattanooga Lookouts.

That’s according to MLB.com, which reported the news on Monday.

The Cincinnati Reds selected the right-handed starting pitcher with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest and signed to a $9.25 million bonus. Three years earlier, the San Diego Padres chose him in the 20th round as a high school prospect from Hendersonville, Tenn., but he went the college route.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound pitcher started the 2025 season at the High-A Dayton Dragons, posting an 0-2 record with a 3.09 ERA in three starts. He gave up four runs on five hits and five walks but struck out 20 batters in 11.2 innings.

Entering the season, Burns was a consensus Top 100 prospect. MLB.com lists him as the No. 24 overall prospect and also projects he will pitch in Cincinnati at some point this season. He is listed as the No. 1 prospect in a stacked farm system for the Reds that has six players in the Top 100.

But it was only a year ago that he was pitching at Wake Forest. He made 16 starts and finished 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA. In 100 innings, he struck out 191 batters and walked 30 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.37.

He broke the single-season strikeout mark at Wake Forest.

Here is what MLB Pipeline says about Burns:

“There are no questions about Burns’ velocity. His fastball sits in the upper 90s and touches 102 mph, but it did get hit a fair amount at Wake and he allowed 10 homers off the pitch in 2024, according to Synergy, because it tends to straighten out with a lack of deception. His upper-80s slider is one of the best secondary pitches in any system, one that elicited a 64 percent miss rate last year. His slightly slower, low-80s curve gives him a second plus breaking pitch.”

If Burns continues to show progress at Chattanooga, could a promotion to the Triple-A Louisville Bats – or even the Reds – be far off?

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Jami Leabow
JAMI LEABOW

Jami Leabow is the managing editor of Minor League Baseball on SI. Her love for the game began when her parents bought season tickets to the then-California Angels.

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