'Weapon': How Cincinnati Reds trade deadline might impact prized rookie Chase Burns

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2 days ago

Seventeen years ago this October, a top pitching prospect from Tennessee in his first full season of professional baseball came out of the bullpen to get the final four outs of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to eliminate the defending World Series champs.
'He was a weapon,' said Terry Francona, who watched Tampa Bay's David Price strike out J.D. Drew that night to end an eighth-inning threat then strike out two of the four Red Sox he faced in the ninth to close out Francona's Boston club in St. Petersburg, Fla.
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These days, Price is retired. Francona manages the Cincinnati Reds. And the only reason Francona brings up Price is that he was asked about his own first-year, prized pro, Chase Burns, as a possible bullpen option later in the season as the Reds approach the final two months since adding starter Zack Littell at the July 31 trade deadline.
Francona won't talk about possible personnel moves.
But team officials have been clear. And Burns is aware of the reality as he piles up innings during his first pro seasons after being drafted No. 2 overall a year ago.
'They could keep me in the starting role for a minute until I hit that limit. Or as I come closer to it, maybe put me in the bullpen,' Burns said. 'Just depends on what they want to do.'
Burns, who already has a career-high number of starts for any level, is 6 2/3 innings from an innings-pitched high as he takes the mound for Saturday's Speedway Classic game at Bristol Motor Speedway in his home state of Tennessee.
'Maybe I could see myself throwing those innings limits just because I do feel good,' he said. 'Just kind of play it by ear.'
Reds officials don't know what those limits are exactly. Front office officials and pitching coach Derek Johnson say the goal is for Burns to finish the season without being shut down, which requires closely monitoring his strength and bounce-back effectiveness as the season progresses. It also means taking advantage of extra days on the schedule for more rest, and could mean at some point a move to the bullpen.
Think David Price. Think unleashing Burns' top two pitches, a 100-mph fastball and exceptional slider, one inning at a time.
Think weapon. With an asterisk.
'If you get to September, you've got an extra pitcher,' Francona said. 'We certainly would never use him as a regular reliever. That's just not fair. Those are all good thoughts. We'll get to (those kinds of decisions)."
For now, Burns has settled into a competitive comfort zone six starts into his big-league career, with three straight starts of 10 strikeouts or more and 6-plus ERA inflated mostly by a hellish outing in Boston in his second start.
So what's next?
'I've been in both roles before, starting and relieving,' Burns said, 'so whatever they want to do with me.'
Getting through a trade deadline in which the team traded reliever Taylor Rogers and acquired Littell, a starter, added some clarity to the moving parts moving forward.
Francona said Littell drops into Nick Martinez's rotation spot, making his Reds debut Tuesday at Chicago, as Martinez moves to the bullpen.
Opening Day starter Hunter Greene, meanwhile, makes another rehab start Sunday, on a pitch limit in the 60-65 range, which could put him close to a return from a groin injury.
Is that decision time for Burns and a possible bullpen move? Does he get skipped once or twice until September and then it's decision time? What's the health and strength of the other five starters at that point?
'All those things we're thinking about,' Francona said. 'Addressing when we think it's the right time and the right place and how do to it, those are all things we've been talking about for a while.'
With the right move in the right place, the right time might start to look a lot like October.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Reds trade deadline impacts prized rookie Chase Burns