Boasting a 2.73 ERA at just 23, the young ace is chasing history. See how his breakout campaign stacks up against legends like Jose Rijo and Johnny Cueto.
The Cincinnati Reds fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 on Monday night to open the series. The Reds have a streak of three straight series wins coming into this showdown with one of the best teams in baseball, so they are now in a spot where they have to win two straight to clinch the series.
Reds ace starter Chase Burns got the ball and threw just three innings of scoreless baseball as his innings are winding down for the 2026 season. He was very efficient, striking out five and walking just one on 44 pitches before handing the ball over to Brandon Williamson, who would ultimately lose the one-run lead the Reds had gained.
Before the game, Cincinnati Reds play-by-play commentator John Sadak said Chase Burns was having one of the best seasons of any Reds pitcher in franchise history. That made me wonder just how closely he stacked up to some of the aces in recent history and throughout the franchise’s existence.
Names like Johnny Cueto, Aaron Harang, Hunter Greene, Trevor Bauer, and others all had stellar seasons in Cincinnati. How exactly does Burns compare? Let’s look at the numbers.
Chase Burns currently has a 2.73 ERA with a 15-3 record in just his second season of major league baseball. At age 23, he is proving to have a very bright future.
In 2024, Hunter Greene posted a 2.75 ERA and went 9-5 in 26 games. Cincinnati finished 77-85, fourth in the NL Central, and couldn’t take advantage of one of Greene’s full seasons.
Trevor Bauer won the Cy Young with a 1.73 ERA and a 5-4 record in the shortened 2020 season, helping Cincinnati get to the playoffs. He had a 100-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Sonny Gray had a dominant 2019 season with a 2.87 ERA after being traded to the Reds from the New York Yankees for infielder Shed Long. The change of scenery seemed very beneficial.
Johnny Cueto had a 2.25 ERA in 34 games in 2014, the season before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals for Brandon Finnegan in 2015. He finished second in Cy Young voting with 243.2 innings pitched and 242 strikeouts. Cueto was also exceptional in 2011 and 2012, helping the Reds reach the postseason.
Before that 2011 season, Cincinnati hadn’t had a qualifying pitcher finish with an ERA below 3.00 until Jose Rijo posted a 2.48 ERA in 36 starts in 1993. He posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 1992, 1991, and 1990, as his legendary 15.1 innings of one-run pitching in the 1990 World Series overshadowed another stellar full season.
Debuting at age 18 in the 1984 season, Rijo could be a model for Chase Burns, who could very well be part of the Reds’ push toward the World Series in the next few seasons.
