ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The Cincinnati Reds\u2019 scouting report on the Texas Rangers was that the Rangers\u2019 hitters didn\u2019t chase much. Heading into the series, Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns knew that they were going to have to execute at a high level with two strikes. Texas\u2019 hitters weren\u2019t going to get themselves out.<\/p>\n
Lowder\u2019s approach on Saturday was using a diverse four-pitch mix, setting up his pitches and spotting pitches with precise accuracy. He threw six shutout innings against the Rangers.<\/p>\n
Burns\u2019 approach on Sunday in the series finale was the opposite. The Rangers didn\u2019t chase much, but Burns\u2019 stuff was going to be so filthy that he\u2019d force ugly swings anyway. Burns struck out nine on Sunday, a 2-1 win for the Reds, and Burns allowed just one run in six-plus innings.<\/p>\n
They have different ways of going about it, but it\u2019s easy to see why these guys were top-10 picks in the MLB Draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s more of a sinker ball, in and out kind of guy,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI\u2019m \u2018Here it is, try to hit it.\u2019 I love seeing how he goes about his business. His notes. I love asking him questions. He\u2019s a smart guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowder said, \u201cIt\u2019s a ton of fun. We keep pushing each other to be better. I don\u2019t think that will stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big storyline of the Reds\u2019 season so far is that Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are on the IL. Those are two pitchers who can carry the Reds to a win on any given night. Without them, the Reds need Burns and Lowder \u2014 two of the 15 youngest starting pitchers in MLB \u2014 to step into some big shoes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big ask for two inexperienced pitchers. But in Lowder\u2019s eight big league appearances going back to 2024 and in Burns\u2019 15 big league appearances dating back to last season, they\u2019ve pretty much only been good.<\/p>\n
The Reds feel like they can count on this duo, just like they counted on Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor them to be here and be a part of this, there\u2019s so much for them to learn,\u201d Tyler Stephenson said. \u201cLook at where they were when they first called up to where they are now. It\u2019s not a finished product. It\u2019ll be exciting when they are because they\u2019re already really talented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowder and Burns are getting better in real time.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Lowder\u2019s slider was his most-used pitch. He spotted five of them for called strikes and got swing and miss on two more of them, finding a way to get outs with his third-best pitch.<\/p>\n
He described his start against the Rangers as a \u201cgrind.\u201d He never felt like he got into a rhythm. He was extremely effective anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a taste of what Lowder was capable of a couple of years ago when he was healthy,\u201d Stephenson said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun to watch what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burns is completely different. His velocity and the spin of his slider are elite, but he has to prove that he\u2019s more than a two pitch pitcher with inconsistent command. On Sunday against the Rangers, Burns filled up the zone, got first pitch strikes regularly and even got big results with his changeup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was outstanding,\u201d Lowder said. \u201cHe\u2019s getting ahead and putting guys away. It was a lot of first pitch strikes, and it\u2019s electric stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the series finale, Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan and Emilio Pag\u00e1n were unavailable due to how much they\u2019ve pitched recently. The Reds really needed length out of Burns. He provided it and pitched into the seventh inning for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, his pitch count would be up in the fourth or fifth inning,\u201d Stephenson said. \u201cTo see the growth and go into the seventh inning, limiting mistakes, throwing more strikes, putting guys away when he needs to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Reds scored two runs on Saturday and two runs on Sunday. That was enough to win Lowder\u2019s start on Saturday and Burns\u2019 start on Sunday, completing the series sweep.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to be a big part of this franchise moving forward,\u201d Stephenson said. \u201cTwo special arms.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The Cincinnati Reds\u2019 scouting report on the Texas Rangers was that the Rangers\u2019 hitters didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2400],"tags":[5,535,50,4259,4,536],"class_list":{"0":"post-665556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-reds","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-reds","11":"tag-cincinnatireds","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-reds"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116355048560822028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}