Just How Good is Chase Burns?

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  • By Nathan Baker

    Last Updated on June 27, 2025 2:13 pm by Paul Williamson | Published: June 27, 2025

    Yet another flame-throwing right-handed phenom has arrived in the National League Central, this time giving Reds fans a taste of the excitement their division rivals have enjoyed over the past couple of seasons. Chase Burns is regarded as the best pitching prospect in baseball by some, with more NL central competitors Bubba Chandler and Jacob Misiorowski joining Andrew Painter in the mix, and it isn’t unfair to argue Burns is the best of four; but what will he really be in 2025?

    Burns boasts a high octane fastball/slider combination that he leans on heavily from an over the top arm slot, dominating righties with those two offerings (almost) exclusively. The heater averages 98, and he’s capable of reaching back to touch triple digits with consistency, particularly at the beginning of games. 18 inches of induced vertical break and a bit of arm side run combine with the elite velocity to create one of the best fastballs at any professional level, and his slider might be just as good. Sitting in the high 80s, his slider creates impressive depth with gyro spin, diving under bats and creating incredible deception in the same tunnel as that fastball.

    His dominance with those two pitches have earned him some comparisons to Jacob deGrom, which are admittedly way over the top, but his unique reliance on two pitches as a frontline starter is deGrom-esque; almost mirroring a top reliever, if they were to start games. He does throw a changeup and a curveball to lefties, and will flip an odd curve in to righties as well, but the slider is the money pitch to same sided hitters. That changeup earns average to above average reviews, with tremendous arm side run compensating for below average depth on the pitch, and the curve is an adequate fourth offering as well.

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    June 27, 2025, 2:13 pm