A 2.86 ERA, then a cautious shutdown
Cincinnati placed Chase Burns on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with a right groin strain, backdated to Saturday. With one week left in the regular season, that ends his year.
The numbers he leaves behind are the ones that carried the Reds all summer. Burns went 15-3 with a 2.86 ERA across 29 starts, striking out 185 and walking 56 over 154 1/3 innings, and made his first All-Star team at 23. His career line reads 15-6, which tells its own story: every major league win the second overall pick of the 2024 draft owns arrived this season, after going winless in three decisions as a rookie.
“We’re being very cautious,” manager Terry Francona told reporters. “I think it makes sense to not push him for a three-inning start. So his year is over.”
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The groin had been talking for months
None of this arrived out of nowhere. Burns skipped the All-Star Game as a precaution with tightness in the same groin, and his last unrestricted outing came on August 30 against the Cubs. Cincinnati capped him at three innings in each of his final three starts.
He signed a seven-year, $105 million extension in July, which gives the club every reason to protect the asset. Francona framed the shutdown as clearing the runway rather than closing a door: next year, he said, Burns pitches on merit instead of on restrictions.
“It’s not how I wanted it to end,” Burns said. “But looking back and seeing how much growth and progress I made, going from not even knowing if I was going to make the roster out of camp to being here and having a pretty successful season, I think it’s gone a good way.”
Spiers up, Friedl out
The Reds selected the contract of right-hander Carson Spiers from Triple-A Louisville to fill the spot. Spiers, 28, had Tommy John surgery in July 2025 and posted a 3.54 ERA over four starts at Louisville. He carries a 5.69 ERA through 29 big-league appearances with Cincinnati and gives Francona a bullpen option for the final week.
To clear room, the club designated TJ Friedl for assignment. The 31-year-old outfielder hit .172 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in 91 games, comfortably the worst year of a Cincinnati career that had brought 58 homers and 60 stolen bases since he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
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