Chase Burns collects 10 strikeouts vs. Pirates

He struck out only four. Burns’ velocity is dropping some; his 97.1-mph average on his fastball today matched his season low. He’s been under 98 mph in six straight starts after topping that mark in eight of his first 11 starts. His slider is down, too. He averaged 90.8 mph with that pitch in his first 14 starts, but he’s been at 89.6, 89.3 and now 89.1 mph in his last three outings. He’s already at 97 2/3 innings this year after finishing at 109 1/3 in his pro debut last year, so it seems quite possible that fatigue is setting in. He’s due to make his next start Wednesday against the Phillies, which would be his last outing before the break. There’s a good chance he’ll be named to the NL All-Star team, but the Reds might not want him to pitch.

Burns dealt with quite a bit of traffic today, allowing five hits, three walks and six stolen bases, but the only run came on a Ben Rice homer. That was actually also the only hard-hit ball he gave up, as the other four knocks all came on softer contact. Burns won his eighth straight decision, moving to 9-1 with a 2.00 ERA. He’s tied for second in MLB in wins, he’s fourth in ERA and he’s tied for seventh with 102 strikeouts. He’ll get the Pirates next.

Burns gave up four hits, walked three and struck out seven. He improved to 8-1 with the win. Burns had five of his strikeouts in the first two innings and then took the mound in the third inning with a 9-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to 2.01. Burns will face the Yankees on the road on Sunday in his next start.

Burns stranded two runners through two scoreless innings before the Padres broke through for two runs on three hits in the third. He’d go on to pitch into the sixth, giving up two hits with two outs to end his day at a season-high 105 pitches. Burns struck out seven. The 23-year-old right-hander will take a 2.14 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and an 88/23 K/BB ratio across 75 2/3 innings into a start against the Mets in Cincinnati on Monday.

Burns allowed four hits and one walk as his ERA now sits at 2.05 this season. The young righty had his start pushed back from Monday due to an illness, but it didn’t affect his ability to miss bats. He possesses some of the best underlying metrics among all big-league starters and draws a favorable road matchup in San Diego next time out.

Burns draws the starting assignment a couple days after being scratched from Monday’s scheduled start due to illness. The dynamic 23-year-old emerging ace has recorded a spectacular 1.96 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 72/20 K/BB ratio across 64 1/3 innings over 11 starts this season.

Lyon Richardson draws the starting assignment to open a bullpen game for Cincinnati. Burns is expected to take the ball for Wednesday’s series finale after getting some extra time to rest and recover. The hard-throwing 23-year-old rookie struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings to pick up a win over the Mets his last time out. He’s compiled a stellar 1.96 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 72/20 K/BB ratio across 64 1/3 innings over 11 starts this season. Simply put, he’s one of the most electric young arms in baseball.

Burns had a shutout going into the sixth, when Bo Bichette singled with one out and Juan Soto hit a two-run homer. A.J. Ewing followed with another single, ending Burns’ night. Still, Burns was good enough to improve to 7-1 with a 1.96 ERA. He’s turned in six straight quality starts and it’d be eight in a row if he’d gotten one more out on Apr. 21 against the Rays. He’ll likely make his next start Monday against the Royals.

It seems two pitches are sufficient when they’re as good as Burns’ heater and slider. Trea Turner’s solo homer in the third was the only damage against the 22-year-old. Burns reached triple digits with his fastball four times tonight and got 18 whiffs, 14 of which came on the 33 sliders he threw. Of note is that the last pitch Burns threw tonight produced a comebacker from Bryce Harper that got him pretty good on the leg but which he still turned into an out to end the sixth. His outing was over regardless, but no word yet if the bruise he’s sporting will pose any future problems. He’s 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA, and he’ll face the Mets next time out.

Burns’ ERA in three May starts is 0.69 and his WHIP is 0.85. He did weirdly only strike out two against the Astros on May 9, but otherwise he’s been on absolute cruise control. His slider got eight whiffs on 13 swings today and he allowed just three hard-hit balls. Burns might be Good. He’ll look to continue his run of good form against the Phillies next week.