Red-letter day for Burns (with lots of K's) in pro debut at High-A

The wait was worth it for the Reds and Chase Burns.

In shirt sleeves on a 51-degree night, MLB Pipeline's No. 25 overall prospect was nearly spotless in his professional debut, more than eight months after he was selected second overall in the MLB Draft. Burns struck out six and allowed two baserunners across four scoreless innings for High-A Dayton, which kicked off its 2025 campaign with a 7-0 loss to West Michigan at LMCU Ballpark.

"Ex-cellent. Ex-cellent," as another famous Burns would say on "The Simpsons."

The 22-year-old was in command from his first pitch to his last, fanning Max Clark (DET No. 2/MLB No. 5) to begin his pro career. Burns struck out the side in the second inning, worked around a walk and a single in the third and capped his performance by fanning two more Whitecaps in the fourth.

The Reds' No. 1 prospect induced 10 swings-and-misses among his 57 pitches (38 strikes).

It was a long-awaited and much-anticipated outing for Burns, whose transfer from Tennessee to Wake Forest paved the way for the right-hander to morph into one of the biggest Draft prospects on the map. Burns established a Demon Deacons single-season record with 191 strikeouts, propelling him to ACC Pitcher of the Year honors. Cincinnati came calling, selecting the Naples, Italy-born Burns with the No. 2 pick and signing him to a record signing bonus of $9.25 million.

Burns did not make his pro debut last summer, instead working out at the team's Spring Training complex in Arizona before pitching in a handful of instructional league games in the fall.

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“My body enjoyed it, just to be able to shut down, work on some arm care and be able to watch some baseball," Burns told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon last month. "At the same time, I was definitely itching to be out there.”

Featuring a fastball that sits consistently in the upper 90s and has reached as high as 102 mph, Burns made one Cactus League appearance during the spring, striking out three batters in a scoreless frame.

“It’s been everything I’ve expected and more just to be around the big league guys," he said. "To be around a guy like Hunter Greene is really cool. But also to be around the younger guys who are my age and making an impact too is really cool.”