Chase Burns was selected 2nd overall by the Reds in the 2024 MLB Draft

With the second pick in the 2024 MLB draft, the Reds selected Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns.

Burns, the sixth-ranked prospect in the MLB Pipeline, was the best pitcher available on the board. The junior right-hander has an electric arm that allows him to throw fastballs over 100 mph and smash an elite slider that has made many college hitters look like fools.

The ACC Pitcher of the Year and Golden Spikes finalist easily led all of college baseball last season with 191 strikeouts in 100 innings, and he averaged just over 17 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranked second in the NCAA.

Burns, who transferred to Wake Forest in 2023 after two years at Tennessee, has double-digit strikeouts in 12 of 16 starts in 2024, punctuated by a career-high 16 strikeouts against Clemson in May. Adjustments to his delivery have helped address the command issues that plagued him at times earlier in his college career, evidenced by a career-low .920 WHIP in 2024. It’s a development that has drawn plenty of praise.

“He’s the best college pitcher I’ve seen,” Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter said.

The 21-year-old is also known for his fiery nature on the pitch, which Burns believes is just another way he helps his team win.

“I feel like a firecracker on the mound,” he said in April. “Baseball is a game of back-and-forth, dynamics. So when I’m on the mound, I’m just trying to get our dynamics back. … When your defense has dynamics, they can transition to offense very easily.”

Judging by Wake’s success when Burns took the mound in 2024 (13-3 in games he pitched), that demeanor on the mound seemed to fuel the team almost as much as his pitching.

“What makes him great is his mindset. He’s one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever been around, and he’s helped me improve my mindset and my competitive spirit,” fellow pitcher Josh Hartle said. “He’s got all the makings of being really good.”

Off the mound, Burns is constantly in learning mode, looking for any way to improve his game.

“I’m always going to be that way. That’s how I was raised,” he said. “I’m not going to sit there and feel worse and worse. I’m always going to try to get one percent better every day.”