CINCINNATI -- Thoughts on which role rookie pitcher Chase Burns will have down the stretch this season with the Reds will be on hold for a little while. Burns was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a right flexor strain.
Lefty reliever Joe La Sorsa was recalled from Triple-A Louisville.
It's not immediately known the extent of Burns' injury or how much time he might have to miss.
Burns, 22, is 0-3 with a 5.24 ERA in eight big league starts during his first professional baseball season. The right-hander last pitched on Aug. 8 vs. the Pirates and got a no-decision during a 3-2 Cincinnati loss to the Pirates. Over six innings, he allowed one earned run and three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts.
In four of his past five starts (the one exception being the rain-shortened Speedway Classic on Aug. 2), Burns has recorded 10 strikeouts. He's one of three Major League pitchers since 1893 (Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and Bob Feller in 1936) with 10 or more K's in four of their first eight career starts.
Since making his pro debut in April, Burns has totaled 100 1/3 combined innings across stints in High-A, Double-A, Triple-A and the big leagues, already past the 100 collegiate innings he threw in 2024 with Wake Forest before he was made the second overall selection in last year's MLB Draft.
The club had been contemplating the role he might have the rest of the season. It wanted him to finish the season pitching in the big leagues, but the bullpen was viewed as the best way to curtail his innings load.