Cincinnati Reds select Wake Forest RHP Chase Burns with second pick in 2024 MLB draft

FORT WORTH – The Cincinnati Reds on Sunday selected Wake Forest University right-hander Chase Burns with the No. 2 overall pick in the MLB draft.

It's the second year in a row the Reds took a Wake Forest pitcher with a top 10 draft pick, selecting Rhett Lowder last year with the No. 7 pick.

"Chase has the ability to be a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher at the Major League level, and do it quickly," Reds scouting director Joe Katuska said in a team news release. "It's a profile that we always start with in the draft, and Chase checks all the boxes.

"We love the quality and depth of his pitch mix, and his competitiveness. He's made great strides since we first saw him pitch 4 years ago, and see him continuing on that same trajectory."

It's the fourth time the Reds have drafted second overall, including back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017, when they selected third baseman Nick Senzel out of the University of Tennessee and right-hander Hunter Greene out of Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, Calif., respectively.

They drafted shortstop Kurt Stillwell second overall out of Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High School in 1983.

Stillwell and Greene went on to become All-Stars.

The Reds have never had the first overall pick in the June draft.