Reds draft Chase Burns at No. 2: 'Top-of-the-rotation potential' (2024)

CINCINNATI -- Many thought that Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns would be the first pitcher to come off the board during the 2024 MLB Draft. But few expected that Burns would be selected as high as the Reds picked him, at No. 2 overall.

Not even Burns saw that one coming.

"I was pretty surprised," Burns said on Sunday evening after his selection. "I didn’t really know what to think. I kind of got a quick call. I’m just really excited."

Burns, MLB Pipeline's No. 6 overall prospect, was a junior this past season, featuring an electric arm routinely capable of reaching 100-plus mph. The 21-year-old went 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts. He was the ACC's Pitcher of the Year and Golden Spikes finalist, easily leading all of college baseball with 191 strikeouts in 100 innings while averaging just over 17 strikeouts per nine innings. That mark was ranked second in the NCAA.

Reds amateur scouting director Joe Katuska and his staff had a wider pool of potential choices on their board earlier in the week before zeroing in on Burns by Sunday. They felt Burns had the best slider in the Draft class.

"Tough decision, but we saw the overall talent he brings to the table," Katuska said. "We’ve scouted him for a long time, had significant interest from the first time we saw him in high school and all the way through. It’s top-of-the-rotation potential."

This is the second year in a row that the Reds looked to Wake Forest for their first pick in the Draft. With the No. 7 overall selection in 2023, Cincinnati took Rhett Lowder, who is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the club's No. 1 prospect and No. 20 overall.

Burns felt that he was able to elevate his performance, and perhaps his Draft stock, this past season at Wake Forest.

"That pitching lab they have is no joke," Burns said. "Just being able to get in there and work with all the new technology that baseball has coming, [I] learned how to move better, and the mental game really helped me elevate my game."

Burns was born in Naples, Italy, while both of his parents served abroad in the Navy. He grew up outside of Nashville, Tenn.

Over two seasons with his first college, Tennessee, Burns went 13-5 with a 3.54 ERA and 217 strikeouts across 35 games -- including 22 starts. Although he had a strong freshman year with the Volunteers, he struggled as a sophom*ore, but he turned things around after a move to the bullpen to help lead his team to the College World Series.

Because Burns transferred to Wake Forest in 2023 after two years at Tennessee, he was not teammates with Lowder. But the two know each other through common friends, and Lowder also worked out at the college the last offseason.

Lowder was a source of assistance about the Draft.

"He walked me through it, answered any questions that I had about the Reds' organization," Burns said. "I hope to be able to build that relationship better."

Tweaks to Burns' delivery have helped remedy command issues that plagued him at times earlier in his college career. He had a career-low 0.920 WHIP in 2024. He also upgraded his slider as a secondary pitch.

"Major improvements," Burns said of the slider. "I’m able to throw them for strikes, throw them across counts."

The Reds have never picked first overall, but they have had the No. 2 selection four times. On the previous occasions of picking second, they took shortstop Kurt Stillwell (1983), then-third baseman Nick Senzel (2016) and current starting pitcher Hunter Greene (2017).

Cincinnati also had two other picks on Sunday. The club took high school shortstop Tyson Lewis in the second round with the No. 51 pick and LSU right-handed pitcher Luke Holman with the No. 71 pick in the Competitive Balance Round B.

While talking to reporters Sunday evening, Burns was mellow and almost subdued. It was a stark contrast from the personality he often shows on the mound, where he is often animated and excitable.

Those intangibles helped draw the Reds to him.

"He is a competitor. He is fiery, he is intense. He goes into full attack mode at all times, but he is a smart kid," Katuska said. "He knows what he’s doing. He’s a guy who understands who he is and is able to flip the switch and kind of go into ‘blackout mode,’ as he told us when he gets on the field."

During the lead-up to the Draft, Burns spoke with Cincinnati multiple times. He even attended a Reds game vs. the Guardians at Great American Ball Park last month.

"They got to know me better and I got to know them better," Burns said. "I was really impressed with this organization. They just talked about development and pitching, and I had a good time with them."