The Reds announced Friday that they’ve placed right-hander Chase Burns on the 15-day injured list due to a Grade 1 flexor strain. Left-handed reliever Joe La Sorsa was recalled from Triple-A Louisville to take Burns’ spot on the big league roster. A Grade 1 strain is the lowest grade of severity, but it’s an ominous injury nonetheless. Any flexor or elbow injury is an unwelcome development for pitchers. The team has not yet provided an expected timeline for the young righty’s return.
Burns, 22, was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2024 amateur draft. He quickly rose through the majors after a standout career at Wake Forest, and while his 5.24 ERA through his first eight big league starts isn’t particularly appealing, it’s skewed by one nightmare outing wherein he was shredded for seven runs (five earned) in just one-third of an inning at Fenway Park. Over Burns’ past six starts, he’s turned in a 3.72 ERA and reached 10 strikeouts four times. Burns has struck out a whopping 37.7% of his opponents on the season, including an even gaudier 40.5% mark in his past six turns.
Unlike so many young flamethrowers with elite velocity and bat-missing ability, Burns hasn’t struggled with his command. He’s walked 8.6% of his opponents in the majors, right around average, and walked only 5.4% of his opponents in the minors this season. He’s averaged 98.4 mph on his four-seamer, primarily coupling it with a slider that sits 90.5 mph but also (very) occasionally mixing in a changeup that’s averaged 90.8 mph.
For Reds fans, it’s easy to dream on a rotation fronted by power-armed righties Hunter Greene and Burns, with southpaws Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo standing as overqualified “third” and “fourth” starters. Nick Martinez and Zack Littell are free agents at season’s end, but right-hander Brady Singer is controllable via arbitration through 2026. A rotation of Greene, Burns, Abbott, Lodolo and Singer — if healthy — could be one of the very best in the sport. That doesn’t even include righty Rhett Lowder, the No. 7 overall pick from the 2023 draft who’s been out all season due to his own flexor strain as well as a subsequent oblique strain.
“If healthy” serves as a notable caveat with regard to the Reds’ rotation, however. Greene has been limited to just 65 2/3 innings this season thanks to a pair of groin strains — the second of which cost him more than two months. Abbott missed the final month of the 2024 season due to a shoulder strain and was out for three weeks early in the current season due to a separate shoulder strain. Lodolo’s 129 2/3 innings this year are already a career-high. He’s been on the major league injured list seven times since debuting in 2022, missing time for calf, groin, lower back and finger injuries. Lowder still isn’t on a rehab assignment and hasn’t pitched in a minor league game since May 22.