Cincinnati Reds starting pitchers Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder are two of the 25 youngest pitchers in baseball, and they\u2019re also two of the most impressive players on the Reds through three weeks this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Reds suffered notable losses when Hunter Greene (elbow) and Nick Lodolo (blister) opened the season on the injured list. The front office\u2019s plan is for pitching and defense to lead the way, and Greene and Lodolo are former first-round picks with immense potential and track records of success in the big leagues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fortunately for the Reds, they had two more former first-round picks in Burns and Lowder who were ready to step into prominent roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with rookie first baseman Sal Stewart, the Reds are having success while counting on the team\u2019s youngest players in critical roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(The success) is because of the staff that we have here, the development we have in the Minor Leagues, the coaches that we have,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of young guys. It\u2019s not an accident. The way we draft as an organization. The people that we get. We get a lot of hard workers. Kudos to the organization. Sometimes, the organization doesn\u2019t get as much credit as they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Rhett Lowder (25) throws to first base during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Miami.<\/p>\n
Marta Lavandier – AP<\/p>\n
Against the Giants on Wednesday, Lowder earned the win by throwing a career-high 6 \u2154 innings and allowing three runs. His poise, command, deep pitch mix, consistency and reliability all give him the presence of a veteran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 10 career big league starts, he has a 2.18 ERA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a taste of what Lowder was capable of a couple of years ago when he was healthy,\u201d catcher Tyler Stephenson said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun to watch what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Reds lost, 3-0, to the Giants on Thursday in the series finale, Burns pitched six shutout innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to mix and match his pitches today, he had everything dialed in,\u201d catcher PJ Higgins said. \u201cHe did a really good job mixing the ball around. The slider was special, as always. He has good stuff. When he\u2019s spotting it up and pitching where he wants to, that\u2019s a dangerous recipe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burns looks the part as the top pitcher taken in the 2024 MLB Draft. He has elite velocity, a slider that can force ugly swings from elite hitters and an emerging changeup that he\u2019s starting to have success with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s developing a routine that can make him more consistent from start-to-start.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I go out there, I\u2019m very pumped up to throw,\u201d Burns said. \u201cThat can be a con with my pitching sometimes. I just try to stay smooth and go out there and pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday was a revenge game for Burns. Giants manager Tony Vitello was Burns\u2019 college coach at Tennessee, and Burns entered the transfer portal at the end of the 2023 season and went to Wake Forest after it didn\u2019t work out with the Volunteers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the game on Thursday, Burns declined to comment on the emotions of pitching against Vitello.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Burns might have been amped up before the game, but he didn\u2019t show it on the mound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d991fa937d3.image.jpg\")
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Cincinnati Reds pitcher Chase Burns throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Cincinnati, Friday, April 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ben Jackson – FR172357 AP<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing honest, warmups were a little iffy,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cHe said, once the jitters settle down, I\u2019ll settle in and be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
While veterans Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer have had ups and downs this season, Burns and Lowder have pitched very well and shown a lot of potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Reds are asking for a lot out of their youngest starting pitchers, but Burns and Lowder have the stuff and the presence to meet expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor them to be here and be a part of this, there\u2019s so much for them to learn,\u201d 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Reds starting pitchers Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder are two of the 25 youngest pitchers in baseball,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2400],"tags":[5,535,50,4259,4,536,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-677877","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","14":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116422006121549698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677877","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=677877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}