The No. 1 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization, right-handed pitcher Chase Burns, was promoted to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday, June 8, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLBPipeline.com.
MLB's No. 11 prospect Chase Burns is headed to Triple-A, @JonathanMayo confirms.
The 2024 No. 2 Draft pick by the #Reds posted a 1.29 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 11.79 K/9 in 42 Double-A innings: https://t.co/DWwVtF868d pic.twitter.com/28QM1RaLPl
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 9, 2025
The 22-year-old from Naples, Italy, is ranked No. 11 overall on MLBPipeline.com and was selected second overall in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft after his junior season at Wake Forest University. He signed for $9.25 million, breaking the MLB signing bonus record previously held by Paul Skenes.
Burns was assigned to the Arizona Complex League on August 5, 2024, after signing on July 18.
This season, Burns made his professional debut with High-A Dayton and posted a 0-2 record with a 3.09 ERA in three starts, throwing 11.2 innings, allowing five hits, four earned runs, two home runs, five walks, and a 0.857 WHIP before being called up to Double-A Chattanooga on April 22.
With Double-A Chattanooga, Burns went 6-1 with a 1.29 ERA in eight starts, including one complete game and one shutout. He threw 42 innings, allowed 26 hits, six earned runs, three home runs, four walks, and struck out 55 batters with a 0.714 WHIP before being promoted to Triple-A Louisville.
Across two minor league levels this season, Burns has a combined 6-3 record with a 1.68 ERA in 11 starts. He has thrown 53.2 innings, allowed 31 hits, 10 earned runs, five home runs, nine walks, and struck out 75 batters.
Before entering the professional ranks, Burns was named Freshman Pitcher of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2022 while at the University of Tennessee. That year, he went 8-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 103 strikeouts over 80.1 innings.
In his three collegiate seasons—two with Tennessee from 2022-23 and one with Wake Forest in 2024—Burns went 23-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 51 appearances and 38 starts. He recorded two saves, threw 252.1 innings, allowed 187 hits, 90 earned runs, 37 home runs, 77 walks, 408 strikeouts, and had a 1.046 WHIP.
According to MLB Pipeline, Burns’s scouting grades are Fastball 65, Curveball 60, Slider 70, Changeup 55, Control 50, Overall 60.
Per his Baseball Savant profile, “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. The athletic right-hander doesn’t use his upper-80s changeup as much, but it will flash plus fade when he’s really clicking. His biggest area of improvement post-transfer was with his overall command, but he’s always been a solid strike-thrower.”
"His upper-80s slider is one of the best secondary pitches in any system now, one that elicited a 64% miss rate last year."
Top Prospects: #ChaseBurns, RHP, Reds
🎥 https://t.co/x13mVCvAJB— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) June 9, 2025
The (26-36) Louisville Bats will begin their three game road series against the Chicago Cubs affiliate, (33-28) Iowa Cubs on Tuesday, June 10 at 7:38 p.m. EDT at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa.
All minor league games are streamed on BallySports.
