Here are the Cincinnati Reds, in desperate need for their resident ace to give them a shot at turning around their season amid a dismal spate of terrible baseball.
Here are the Cincinnati Reds, forced to call a 23 year old with just 20 career starts at the big league level to be their resident ace, talent be damned.
Chase Burns has been completely dominant for the Red so far in this, his second season in the big leagues. So much more is being asked from him than the Reds ever imagined, I’m sure, as just
last year the trio of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott combined for over 420 IP and 14.3 bWAR from the starting rotation and all were slated to return in 2026. However, that trio has yielded just 1.4 bWAR through 65 games so far in 2026, and it’s been Burns who has been tasked with being the ‘stopper’ just about every single time he takes the mound.
Burns gets the start in the second game of the series out west against the San Diego Padres, and will do so after the Reds have melted down in elite fashion in each of their last [/insert large number] of games. Cincinnati needs him now, more than ever, as seemingly nobody has been able to step up and into the void left by Greene, Emilio Pagan, the rest of the bullpen, and Elly De La Cruz.
First pitch will be thrown by San Diego starter Lucas Giolito at 9:40 PM ET. Lineups for both clubs are listed below.
Go Reds!
