When the Cincinnati Reds selected Chase Burns with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, they knew they were getting an arm with elite potential. What they probably didn't expect was for him to look this good, this fast.

At just 23 years old, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-hander is already pitching like a frontline ace. Through nine starts this season, Burns is 5-1 with a sparkling 1.87 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Those numbers place him ninth in all of baseball in ERA and 25th in WHIP—a remarkable turnaround from his rookie campaign in 2024, when he went 0-3 with a 4.57 ERA over 13 appearances (eight starts) after his June call-up.

While it's far too early to etch his name into the Reds' record books, the early returns are impossible to ignore. If Burns keeps this up, he could find himself in the same conversation as some of the greatest pitchers to ever wear a Cincinnati uniform.

Consider Tom Seaver, the Hall of Famer who spent six seasons with the Reds from 1977 to 1982. Seaver went 75-46 with a 3.18 ERA during his time in Cincinnati—a standard that Burns could realistically match if he maintains a sub-3.00 ERA over the next few years. Then there's Eppa Rixey, a Reds Hall of Famer who pitched for the club from 1921 to 1933 and posted a 179-148 record with a 3.33 ERA.

More recently, Johnny Cueto dazzled Reds fans from 2008 to 2015, going 92-63 with a 3.21 ERA. The Dominican right-hander earned an All-Star nod in 2014 and led the National League with 242 strikeouts that same year.

Burns will undoubtedly face bumps along the road—every young pitcher does. But the fact that he's already logged six quality starts and allowed more than two runs in an outing just once this season is a testament to his poise and stuff. His latest gem came Thursday, when he tossed six shutout innings in a 15-1 rout of the Washington Nationals.

If this is just the beginning, Reds fans might be witnessing the start of something truly special. For a franchise built on legendary arms, Chase Burns is making a compelling case to join the conversation.