CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Recently, Cincinnati Reds right-hander Nick Martinez came up with a new handshake between himself and rookie Chase Burns.
“We high five,” Burns said. “And then we yell at each other.”
Martinez wants to help break Burns out of his shell and show some more fire on the mound now that Burns is pitching in the bullpen.“He’s always telling me to bring the dog out,” Burns said. “I’m trying to slowly get comfortable enough to be able to do that.”There are plenty of viral clips from Burns’ college career that show him pounding his chest, yelling out and celebrating as much as you’ll see from a pitcher on the mound. Burns hasn’t quite been that guy in the big leagues so far.
“Everyone sees the video of Chase in college going absolutely ballistic,” Nick Lodolo said. “Where is that? Where is it, Chase?”
There was one example of that on Wednesday as Burns threw two scoreless innings in a win over the Cardinals. After getting a strikeout to end the seventh inning, Burns flexed and shouted to celebrate the out.
“I did that a lot in college,” Burns said. “Martinez is bringing it out of me. It just comes out naturally.”
Martinez and Burns talk throughout the game. Martinez is the worldwide expert on moving from the rotation to the bullpen, and Burns has two professional relief appearances.
“He’s always coming up to me and say: ‘Move around a little bit. Stay ready.’”
Even though Burns pitched out of the bullpen a bit in college, there was a lot that he had to learn as he moved to the bullpen in September.
“The first time, he looked lost,” Lodolo said. “Even the clock. Something small like that. He got out there, and I think he only threw like three warmup pitches. He walked in from second base. If you’ve never done it, you don’t know. As a starter, you throw eight or nine pitches when you start the game.”
Burns is pitching out of the bullpen as a way to manage his innings and get him through the entire season during Burns’ first year as a pro. He pitched in 100 total innings at Wake Forest last season, and he has thrown 104 total innings between the minors and majors in 2025.
The Reds need some more high-leverage bullpen depth as they chase a playoff spot, and Burns immediately slotted in as one of the team’s most trusted relievers. But deciding when and how often to pitch him has been an inexact science.
“It’s difficult, to be honest,” Derek Johnson said. “He has been a starter. He’ll continue to be a starter moving forward. When the injury happened, it was a way to get him in. we weren’t going to be able to build him all the way back up completely. We felt this would be the best way.”
He threw two innings in Sacramento last Friday, which was the day that Burns returned from the IL. He then received three days off, was available to pitch out of the bullpen on Tuesday (he didn’t as the Reds trailed in the game) and then threw two innings on Wednesday.
Johnson called Burns’ role an “all purpose” role.
“Really, it’s just about managing his recovery,” Johnson said. “I remind him every day to tell me how he feels and what would be the next step. Is it two days off? Three days off? Right now, our plan isn’t to use him in a one inning stint. It’s multiples every time. If he can give us two, three or four coming out of the bullpen, that’s a bullpen saver.”
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Over the long run of the season, a big part of Terry Francona’s philosophy is keeping the structure of the lineup consistent. For the 2025 Reds, the best example of that was keeping Santiago Espinal in the No. 2 spot in the lineup for a month back in May and June.
The lineup construction in September has looked very different. Elly De La Cruz moving down to the bottom half of the order is one of piece of the puzzle. But the nearly entire lineup is changing now on a day-to-day basis.
“There’s always a balance of urgency versus panic,” Francona said. “When you completely go against everything you’ve done, that can be perceived as panic by the players. But there has to be a sense of urgency because there is.”
The best example of Francona’s approach toward lineup construction this September has been Will Benson going from a bench role to a middle of the order spot in the lineup over the course of a week. Sal Stewart went from hitting sixth or seventh to having games recently where he has hit second, fourth or fifth. Gavin Lux has been bouncing around. The only consistent slots over the last week has been TJ Friedl leading off and Matt McLain hitting ninth.
“I really do like consistency,” Francona said. “I probably have fought with myself recently over consistency versus stubbornness.”
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After throwing two innings last week, Rhett Lowder is continuing his rehab assignment in Triple-A.
“The plan really is to get him ready for the fall league,” Johnson said. “It’s not for him to necessarily be ready for us. If he is, that’d be cool. If not, it’s the way it is. Until we know more about where he’s at and until he throws more, there’s no plan for us at this point.”
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