CINCINNATI — For the second year in a row, the Reds have selected a right-hander from Wake Forest with their first pick in the MLB Draft, selecting Chase Burns with the second selection.
Burns, 21, was 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts for the Demon Deacons after transferring from Tennessee. He struck out a total of 191 batters in 100 innings and reaches 100 mph with his fastball.
In his first two seasons at Tennessee, Burns went 13-5, including a 2.91 ERA as a freshman and 4.25 ERA as a sophomore.
Former Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd criticized the pick on MLB Network, saying he believed there was reliever risk with Burns and saying he had just two pitches.
However, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello raved about the makeup of Burns, noting Burns got better during COVID and said “he wants the ball.”
The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Burns as the fifth best overall player in the draft, noting that “The Reds go with the best pitcher in the class, in my opinion, in Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns, who left the eventual national champs Tennessee and took a huge step forward on the mound for the Deacons, leading Division I in strikeouts with 30 more than any other pitcher this year. I had Burns ranked fifth on my board just because of the risk associated with pitching, but he was the best starter available, college or high school, and the Reds could certainly use him in the majors soon. I also believe this is the first time in draft history that neither of the first two picks was born in the United States (Bazzana was born in Australia and Burns in Italy).”
It’s the fourth time in Reds history the team has picked as high as second, although the team has never picked first. All-Star right-hander Hunter Greene was the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft, the year after the Reds took Nick Senzel with the second pick. The only other time the Reds selected that high was 1983, when the team took shortstop Kurt Stillwell.
Of the Reds’ previous nine top picks in the draft, six have made the big leagues and of the three who have not, two were in Saturday’s Futures Game with 2022 first-rounder Cam Collier taking home MVP honors after hitting a home run. Last year’s top pick, right-hander Rhett Lowder, pitched a scoreless inning in the National League’s victory. The third was outfielder Austin Hendrick, currently at Double-A Chattanooga, in a 2020 year that saw the draft shortened to just five rounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greene was picked after the Twins selected his childhood friend, shortstop Royce Lewis. Greene was perhaps the most heralded player in that draft and received the highest signing bonus. Lewis has been fantastic while on the field, but has struggled with injuries. Greene also had injuries on his way to the big leagues, including Tommy John surgery in 2019. Greene made his big-league debut in 2022, signed an extension in 2023 and was picked for his first All-Star Game in 2024. He’s 15-24 with a 4.22 ERA in 65 starts. This year he’s 6-4 with a 3.34 ERA.
Senzel was drafted as a third baseman, debuted as an outfielder in 2019 after several injuries on his way through the minors. Senzel played parts of five seasons for the Reds before being non-tendered after last season. He signed with the Washington Nationals in the offseason and was recently designated for assignment and subsequently released by the team.
Stillwell made his big-league debut for the Reds in 1986 and was supplanted as the team’s shortstop the next year by future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin. The Reds traded Stillwell to Kansas City along with Ted Power for lefty Danny Jackson and shortstop Ángel Salazar. Stillwell, Jackson and Larkin were all All-Stars in 1988. Stillwell wouldn’t make another, while Larkin finished with 12. Jackson was a key member of the Reds’ 1990 World Series-winning team.
Other recent top picks include shortstop Matt McLain (2021), lefty Nick Lodolo (2019), 2021 National League Rookie of the Year Jonathan India (2018) and catcher Tyler Stephenson (2015).
(Top photo of Burns: Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)
