BOSTON -- Five batters into his Major League career, Chase Burns had already made history.
Retiring five straight Yankees on June 24, the Reds’ No. 1 prospect became the first starting pitcher in at least the Expansion Era (since 1961) to strike out his first five batters faced in his MLB debut.
One week later, Burns was subjected to the harsh realities of pitching in the big leagues.
Making his first road start at Fenway Park on Monday night, Burns gave up seven runs (five earned) on five hits and walked two while recording just one out before he was relieved by Brent Suter. When the first inning finally ended, the Reds were in a seven-run hole which led to an eventual 13-6 loss to the Red Sox.
“Just trying to flush it, and then back to the drawing board,” Burns said. “See what works, see what didn't work and go from there.”
What didn’t seem to be working for Burns were his offspeed pitches. After a leadoff walk of Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony grounded a changeup from Burns to Matt McLain at second base, who committed a throwing error, allowing Duran to advance to third. Carlos Narváez followed Abraham Toro’s RBI single with an RBI double on a first-pitch slider. Then came the dagger of the inning when Trevor Story drilled a 1-1 slider into the center-field seats for a three-run homer. Marcelo Mayer quickly followed with a double off Burns’ 92.5 mph changeup.
The parade of Red Sox batters prompted the question of whether Burns was tipping his pitches.
“I don't know,” manager Terry Francona said. “That's something that you always probably need to check. He threw some pitches that caught a lot of the plate and they were definitely looking hard. And those are always things we try to check for. [Red Sox Manager Alex] Cora is one of the best at that. … They were certainly ready and they were coming out hacking, and they were squaring it up pretty good.”
Burns echoed his manager in that he didn’t know if he was tipping his pitches, and gave credit to Boston’s hitters.
“They put a lot of good swings on a lot of good pitches, a lot of mistakes out there,” Burns said. “So I couldn't really tell you.”
When the Reds called up Burns, the No. 11 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline had just 13 professional starts under his belt. Burns soared through the Minors in 2025 after going No. 2 overall in the ‘24 Draft, making stops in High-A Dayton, Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville before making his Major League debut against the Yankees.
Burns joined the Reds as a reinforcement following a series of injuries to their starters, including the hard-throwing Hunter Greene, who is currently sidelined with a right groin strain. Sitting at his locker three chairs down from Burns pregame, Greene spoke highly of his teammate.
“Had high hopes from him ever since he was drafted to us, and I’ve kept a really close eye on him and I’ve tried to kind of be that sounding board and be there for him,” said Greene, who is slated to throw a simulated game at Fenway on Wednesday. “But he’s his own man and he’s going to be extremely successful, so I’m happy for him.”
While the potential is high for the 22-year-old, his manager knows this version of Burns is not yet “the finished product.”
“You want to see him develop and try to win at the same time,” Francona said ahead of the series opener, “because we have to keep an eye on his innings and things like that and pitch count. So if we do this right, hopefully we can win, but in the future, you'll see him hauling a big load. So that's the idea. He's a great kid, too.”
Two starts in and Burns has already experienced the extreme highs and lows of pitching in the Major Leagues. Burns’ career won’t be defined by either start. But how he responds in his third outing will say a lot about the young right-hander.
“My hope is that it doesn't get in the way of his next start,” Francona said. “Because that was tough on him, tough on us. But a lot of people were putting [their] arm around him. He's a good kid. It'll be real interesting to see his next start.”