If you were absorbed by the return of the NFL on Sunday, you may have missed one of Hunter Greene's best performances as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. He was outstanding against the New York Mets and helped bring the Reds to within four games of the final spot in the NL Wild Card standings with 19 games left in the 2025 season.
Greene was filthy, striking out 12 batters over seven innings while allowing just one run. The lone run — and hit — the Reds' flamethrower surrendered came during the third inning when he tried to sneak a slider past Brett Baty. The Mets infielder sent that ball into the seats, but otherwise, Greene's performance was near-flawless.
Greene's outing on Sunday against the Mets should be a reminder to the front office of how they need to proceed with another fireballer in the organization — Chase Burns. If Cincinnati believes that Burns can reach the same heights as Greene, and there's nothing to suggest he can't, then the Reds need to sign Burns to a contract extension this offseason.
Hunter Greene just showed why the Reds can't afford to play it safe with Chase Burns
After Greene's rookie season, the Reds made the decision to hitch their wagon to the right-hander. Cincinnati signed Greene to a six-year, $53 million deal during the 2023 season after he went 5-13 with a 4.44 ERA in 24 starts during his rookie campaign. At the time, several Reds fans questioned the move, but it now appears that Greene may be signed to the biggest bargain in all of Major League Baseball.
Nick Krall and the Cincinnati front office must have the same type of attitude with Burns. There's absolutely no doubt that he has the type of stuff to be a front-of-the-rotation starter, and the Reds can't afford to drag their feet and wait for that to actually occur.
Burns has six-plus years of team control remaining, so there's no rush to lock him into a multi-year contract extension. But with each passing year, that deal is likely to get more and more expensive. Matt McLain rejected the Reds' contract offer this past offseason, and Elly De La Cruz has alrady priced himself out of Cincinnati's comfort zone.
Burns represents the type of player the Reds could sign to a long, but affordable, extension that would benefit both the player and organization. But just as the Reds did with Greene in 2023, Krall and Co. need to act fast.
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