Chase

Burns

Burns allowed three hits — one of them a solo homer by Carlos Cortes — and he didn’t issue a walk and struck out three. It was his first relief appearance, and while he did give up the roundtripper, he looked comfortable in the role. Long-term, Burns is obviously a starter and potentially a great one, but the Reds are wisely playing it safe with one of their most important parts of their organization. That safety doesn’t lead to him being worthy of a roster spot in redraft leagues.

After missing a month with a flexor strain, Burns will finish out the season in the Reds bullpen, probably working once every three or four days. His first eight major league appearances were all starts in which he went 0-3 with a 5.24 ERA, though that came with an extremely impressive 38 percent strikeout rate.

One of the most electric young arms in the game, Burns will rejoin Cincinnati’s rotation for the final two-plus weeks after nearly a month on the shelf with a flexor strain. The 22-year-old has piled up 57 strikeouts over 34 1/3 innings in eight starts since debuting in late June. Workload restrictions are likely in his remaining outings, but he should be rostered everywhere and remains a must-start in all formats.

Francona added that he believes he’ll make it back rather quickly. The dynamic 22-year-old top prospect, who has struck out 57 batters over 34 1/3 innings (eight starts) since arriving in the big leagues was diagnosed with a Grade 1 flexor strain last week. It certainly sounds like he’ll be back at some point in early September.

Oh dear. It’s a Grade 1 flexor strain for Burns, and it’s very likely this injury will cost him more than the minimum two weeks that the 15-day stint requires. It comes after he threw 97 pitches and generated 14 swings-and-misses last week in a very impressive start against the Pirates. Fantasy managers should pay close attention to the plan the Reds lay out for Burns, which should be available in the coming days.

Well rested off his rain shortened one inning outing in the Speedway Classic, Burns was virtually unhittable here. Of his 97 total pitches, 92 were either fastballs or sliders and they combined for 14 swings-and-misses. He also threw seven total pitches at or above 100 mph and topped out at 101.4 in the first inning against Oneil Cruz. Apart from the explosive stuff, his command was excellent, especially with his slider low and darting out of the zone. This now makes four consecutive starts (that weren’t affected by rain) where Burns has struck out exactly 10 batters. Likely remaining in the rotation with Nick Lodolo on the injured list with a blister, Burns is lined up to face the Phillies at home next time out.

Greene struck out seven and walked one while throwing 42 of his 66 pitches for strikes. He sat 98.8 mph with his fastball and posted a 40 percent whiff rate, so he seems pretty healthy. The Reds have not yet announced a plan for their rotation moving forward, but if they opt not to go with a six-man rotation, Greene could return on Friday and take Chase Burns’ spot in the rotation.

Suter will kick off a bullpen game for Cincinnati after hard-throwing rookie sensation Chase Burns pitched just one frame before Saturday’s contest was ultimately postponed due to rain.

MLB tried their very best to get the game going, but there was just no way it was going to get played with sheets of rain falling from the sky in Bristol. The game has been rescheduled for Sunday at 1:00 ET. Spencer Strider was scratched from this game because of the long delay, so he could be the starter Sunday. Chase Burns threw an inning, so he probably won’t be available until later in the week.

That’s three straight 10-strikeout games for Burns. He has a 6.26 ERA, he’s yet to win in six tries, and his only quality start was a home outing against the Rockies. Still, it’s impossible not to marvel at the strikeouts. Of his 82 outs so far, 45 have come via the K. His career to date is actually one of the best arguments against ever using K/9 IP. Because he’s facing so many batters per inning, he’s at 14.8 by that measure, putting him ahead of Aroldis Chapman (14.7), Edwin Díaz (14.6) and Josh Hader (14.6) for what would be the highest career mark of all-time, minimum 20 innings. His actual strikeout rate of 35.7% is pretty awesome, too, but it’s considerably lower than that of record-holder Hader (41.1%), Díaz (40.0%) and Chapman (39.9%). It’s unclear if Burns will get to stay in the rotation after Hunter Greene returns, but he’s currently penciled in to start Saturday against the Braves.