MLB news

It’s possible that Burns suffered the injury during Friday’s start against the Cubs and that’s the reason that his workload was so limited. It’s also possible that the Reds were looking for any reason to shut him down early and curtail his overall workload for the season. Either way, fantasy managers in redraft leagues can cut bait and find an alternative option for the final week of the season.

Burns didn’t stick around long enough to factor into the decision as the Reds continue to carefully manage his workload down the home stretch. The hard-throwing phenom was permitted to throw 67 pitches over three frames in his penultimate outing. He struck out four and also issued a pair of walks. He allowed four hits, including a solo homer to veteran outfielder Ian Happ. He’ll wrap up the season with a road tilt against Atlanta on Thursday. Burns offers enough strikeout upside to be worth starting in deeper mixed leagues, but the workload limitations cap his realistic upside and make it difficult to justify rolling with him in shallow fantasy leagues.

Burns was wild today, walking three and throwing just 28 of his 56 pitches for strikes. Of course, because of the Reds’ plan to restrict his workload, he was going to be done after three innings regardless. Brandon Williamson again piggybacked off him and picked up a win after allowing one run in four innings. The Reds are expected to use the same arrangement again Friday against the Cubs.

Burns allowed just one batter to reach, that on a walk, in the 44-pitch outing. He’s expected to remain on a similar pitch count for the rest of the season. He’s currently at 148 1/3 innings with three outings to go, so it looks like he’ll fall just short of qualifying for the ERA title. He’s sixth in the NL and 10th in the majors in ERA at the moment.

Burns will not pitch this week with his next start being moved to next Monday in Los Angeles. Francona declined to elaborate on the exact innings limit. This latest development was alluded to by Reds analyst Jeff Brantley during Burns’ latest start against the Cubs on Sunday night. The hard-throwing 23-year-old, who has delivered top-10 fantasy value among starters this season, has already thrown 145 1/3 innings, which is nearly 40 more than he posted during last year’s professional debut. The move is designed to allow Burns to make his final handful of starts without a shutdown prior to the end of the season. It’s a tough development for fantasy managers in the middle of the playoffs, but he’s still worth hanging onto and starting outside of extremely shallow mixed leagues.

Burns got his 15th victory in what sounds like it will be his final traditional start of the year. This one put him at 145 1/3 innings for the season, an increase of 36 from his first professional season last year. Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley said on Sunday Night Baseball that the plan is for Burns to pitch about three innings at a time in his remaining outings, which would leave him ineligible for wins unless he pitches in relief. Burns, the first Reds starter to win 15 games since Luis Castillo in 2019, is due to face the Brewers next time out.

This might have been the weakest lineup Burns had faced all season, but it got the better of him anyway. He allowed two doubles in the first that would have been homers in the majority of ballparks and gave up a three-run homer to Rafael Devers in the second. The loss drops Burns to 14-3 with a 2.77 ERA. He’s slated to make his next start Sunday against the Cubs, unless maybe the Reds want to push him back with him now being 30 innings over his total from his first pro season last year.

Burns needed 104 pitches to record his 15 outs, allowing six hits and two walks along the way. He’s up to 136 innings this year after totaling 109 1/3 last season between the minors and majors. Burns has had some lower-velocity outings lately but continues to pitch effectively and pile up the strikeouts. He draws a favorable matchup on the road against the Giants next time out.

It was another dominant outing for Burns, who was in need of a bounce-back after allowing five earned runs in his last outing against the Nationals. Burns needed to be on top of his game to match Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara, who allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work. Burns limited the Marlins to just three hits on the night, all of which were singles, and never allowed a runner to get into scoring position. Burns has allowed one earned run or less in four of his last five starts. He’s next scheduled to take the mound Tuesday at home against the Cardinals.

Burns gave up six hits, walked three and struck out six. He fell to 13-2 with the loss. Burns cruised through the first two innings before running into trouble in the third inning. He allowed three hits, including a two-run single. In the sixth inning, Burns allowed three hits to start the inning and was pulled after walking Nasim Nunez to load the bases. Nunez was thrown out at home on an Andres Chaparo double after Burns left the game, which saved him an earned run. He has a 2.61 ERA. Burns is lined up to face the Marlins at home next weekend.

Burns got through six and won his 12th straight decision in spite of a lengthy unofficial delay in the fourth in which the grounds crew spent about 25 minutes working on the infield. He’s 13-1 with a 2.35 ERA through 22 starts. We wouldn’t expect much from him in September, but he’ll probably keep pitching like an ace until the Reds slow him down. He’ll face the Nationals next weekend.

Unable to pick up his defense, Burns gave up a grand slam three batters after an Edwin Arroyo error in the first. He then allowed one more run on a José Ramírez single, two steals and a sac fly in the fifth. Burns’ velocity today was about one mph lower than usual. He remains a fine enough bet for now, but with the Reds fading from contention, he might not pitch much in September. He’s due to make his next start Sunday against the Pirates, though if that happens, it’d be just his second on four days’ rest in the last two months.

It’ll be made up as a split doubleheader on Tuesday instead. Monday’s original starters Chase Burns and Slade Cecconi will presumably beb pushed back to take the ball at some point during the twin bill.

Making his first start since signing a seven-year, $105 million deal with the Reds, Burns shut the Mariners down over five scoreless frames. He scattered three hits and two walks while striking out six batters. The 23-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 2.42 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 124/39 K/BB ratio across 107 2/3 innings. He’ll take on the Guardians in Cincinnati on Monday.

The long-term extension, which was reported earlier this week, is now official and will keep Burns in Cincinnati through the 2033 season. The flame-throwing 23-year-old earned his first All-Star Game appearance, but declined to pitch in the Midsummer Classic because of groin soreness. He’s expected to make his first start of the second half against the Mariners next week. Burns has rapidly established himself as one of fantasy baseball’s upper-echelon starters, compiling a sparkling 2.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 118/37 K/BB ratio over 102 2/3 innings across 18 starts. It’s safe to say he’s exceeded even the loftiest expectations and should be among the first pitchers selected in fantasy drafts for years to come.

Burns has been absolutely electric in opening up the season 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA while striking out 118 in 102 2/3 innings before the All-Star Break. Opponents are hitting .223 against his fastball and .154 against his slider, which has been Burns’ main putaway pitch so far this year. It’s hard to forecast seven years out for any pitcher, but if a smaller market team is to invest in one for the long term, it’s hard to do much better than Burns.

It sounds like Burns made the decision to bow out of next week’s Midsummer Classic for precautionary reasons to avoid missing any time coming out of the break. It’s a situation that fantasy managers should monitor closely, but the extra time off should help him be ready to take the ball to open the second half. He was replaced on the National League’s roster by Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski.

A rare difficult outing for Burns, he didn’t get through a single inning cleanly and felt like he was battling himself all night. His fastball was extremely erratic with just a 44% zone rate and far too many of them wound up at the eyes of the Phillies’ hitters. That issue got worse as the game went on and he wound up being fortunate to get out of this start with just the three runs on his ledger. That’s the mark of a great pitcher though: giving your team a chance to win when you don’t have your best stuff. He’ll head into the All-Star break after an excellent first half with 11 wins, a 2.54 ERA, 118 strikeouts, and 37 walks through 102 2/3 innings.

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 tossed two scoreless innings, then gave up a three-run blast to Brandon Lowe in the third. The Pirates brought another run in on two hits in the fourth. Burns would start the seventh inning, giving up a leadoff double before departing at 93 pitches. The inherited runner would eventually come in to score. Burns struck out ten on the day, his first double-digit strikeout performance of the season. It was just the second outing in which Burns allowed more than three runs. The 23-year-old right-hander will take a 2.36 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 112/29 K/BB ratio across 91 2/3 innings into a start against the Brewers in Milwaukee on Thursday.