In the middle of a season where he has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, 23-year-old Chase Burns became an All-Star and worked out a long-term $105 million with the Cincinnati Reds all within a couple of weeks.
“It happened in a blur,” Burns said. “It’s been a whirlwind. Going to the All-Star Game, I knew at the time that the contract was being negotiated. I didn’t know where it was going.”
He’s happy where he is now, the negotiations behind him and the focus fully shifted to the second half of the season.
“It’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” Burns said. “This game has life-changing money in it. Everyone knows that. You always talk about the next year’s pay or when everyone gets a contract, what would it be like. To finally get that offer, accept it and not having to think about it for seven years, I’ll be able to play freely and know me and my family will be taken care of.”
Conversations between Burns’ camp and the Reds started around the Yankees series in the middle of June. Burns said that talks started with Reds’ brass telling him that they were going to make an offer, and he received the first proposal a couple of days later.
“The better I played, the more it felt like they were going to go up or have confidence in me to put more money into me and more years,” Burns said.
“I was on the phone a lot with my agent, going back and forth, doing rebuttals and reading their stuff. It was cool just to learn about how the Reds or other teams do contracts and stuff. We went back and forth for a while. It was cool to see and read into it, how many years and stuff like that. It was cool to see my team get it and have their rebuttal.”
Burns was represented by agents Greg Genske and Erik Castro.
“Greg is a good negotiator,” Burns said. “There were times I didn’t think the Reds would come up, or I thought it was getting close to being done. I stayed patient with him. He has done many big contracts. I had confidence in my support group and an open line of communication.”
As the Reds ended their homestand before the break and Burns went to Philadelphia for the All-Star Game, he knew that the two sides were getting really close.
Burns said that talks picked back up on Wednesday of the All-Star Game week. On Monday and Tuesday, his focus was on enjoying the experience in Philadelphia. Looking back at the week, he took a lot from a conversation with Paul Skenes and Jacob Misiorowski.
“We talked about everything,” Burns said. “I picked their brain about baseball and also saw who they are off the field. I asked what the first thing is that they’ll do in the offseason and what they’re going to work on. I asked Miz how his arm felt throwing so many pitches at such high velocity.”
Burns said that he also took a lot from pregame speeches in the NL clubhouse from Freddie Freeman and Chris Sale. He took from those speeches to really enjoy the experience of being at the game.
Burns didn’t end up pitching in the All-Star Game due to a groin tightness. Looking back, he’s confident that was the right decision.
“It wasn’t feeling 100%,” Burns said. “I value the second half of the season. Going into the game, it was tough. But if I injure it even more, I’m on the IL for the second half. I talked to Tito about it. We agreed. They made it really easy. That was a pretty mature decision, valuing the second half. I want to try to help the team win. I can’t do that on the IL.”
Back in Cincinnati on that Wednesday, July 15, Burns was packing for the upcoming three-city road trip. His agents filled him in on the state of the contract talks.
“We were getting really close,” Burns said. “(That Wednesday), they offered 105. It was a pretty easy take. Secure your career for seven years. It was an easy decision to make. The guaranteed money, that’s huge. Hopefully, I can play this game as long as possible. Having the seven years, that’s easy. I’m a free agent at 31 (years old in 2033). Pretty young. People are still doing it at 31. We’ll see when we get there.”
The seven-year deal was finalized that day. News got out as Burns was on the team plane to Denver for the upcoming series against the Rockies. The entire team wasn’t on the plane because a lot of players and coaches were meeting the team in Colorado coming back from the break, but there was still a nice scene of congratulations in the air when Burns’ teammates saw the news.
Burns is excited to be a Red for the long haul. He says the organization is like “family.”
“When you get drafted by this organization second overall, I already knew they had a lot of belief in me,” Burns said. “Getting closer with Brad (Meador) and (Nick) Krall, they’re always around. I love that. I can talk to them about anything. It has that family aspect.”
While the Reds have a 47-54 record in what’s been a disappointing season, Burns is confident in the organization.
“We’re good,” Burns said. “We know we’re good. This year, we’re riding the wave. That’s baseball. Especially with a young core group we have, Rhett, Elly, Sal, I have high hopes for us in the future.”
And the Reds are incredibly confident in Burns.
When he debuted last summer with 13 minor league starts under his belt, Terry Francona asked him to “learn fast.” Burns has done that. The most impressive development from Burns over the last calendar year is the way he has figured out how to tap into his competitive streak in the biggest moments of a game. He’ll use the frustration that follows allowing a walk or a couple of hits to fuel him.
He’ll usually bear down, get a strikeout and yell toward the crowd. Burns did a great job of that on Tuesday in Seattle as he threw five shutout innings.
“He’s Chase Burns,” Jose Trevino said. “You’ve got to just get gritty, and he has done that. Any time he gets in a jam like that, he gets after it. You see a lot of great pitchers do that. They get traffic out there and turn it up to the second notch. Chase has that.”
Burns’ fastball and slider have been elite pitches this year. His changeup is so much improved. The command is in a good spot, and he’s becoming a more and more efficient pitcher.
The only real “next step” for Burns to take over the final two months of the season is figuring out the best way for him to handle a long season and throwing as many innings as he can.
“Right now, it’s adjusting to the workload,” Burns said. “I’m two innings away from being at 109, which is the most innings I’ve ever thrown in a season. I’m having my body adjust. Every outing, I’m trying to put up zeros.”
Terry Francona said there’s no hard-fast innings limit number for Burns this season, but they’ll have to keep an eye on it.
“I don’t have that answer,” Francona said. “I don’t think anybody could have that answer right now. We have to be cognizant of where he is in his career, but I don’t think we need to make a blanket statement. We need to use the best common sense we can using him, the pitching guys, the medical guys, Nick and Brad, and putting our heads together. That’s what we’ll do.”
Last year, Burns moved to the bullpen in August as a way to manage his innings.
Right now, he’s at 107 ⅔ innings. He threw 109 ⅓ innings last year between the minor leagues and major leagues.
Since 2021, looking at pitchers who are 24 or younger and are in their first or second year in the big leagues, only three pitchers have thrown more than 160 innings in a season (Paul Skenes, Bryce Elder and Alek Manoah).
Most pitchers with Burns’ experience level end up in the 125-to-150 inning range (notable examples include a young Tarik Skubal, Spencer Strider and Hunter Greene).
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Burns. For the final two months of this season, he just gets to focus on pitching.
“All I have to do is go out there and play the game I love,” Burns said.
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