GOODYEAR, Ariz. — It was only the Cactus League opener, and Cleveland Guardians superstar José Ramírez isn’t in midseason form. But in a nutshell, the strength of the Cincinnati Reds’ battle for the fifth spot in the rotation was summed up by two swings that Ramírez took on Saturday.
Chase Burns got Ramírez to swing half-heartedly on a 98 mph fastball for strike three. A few innings later, Rhett Lowder set up a changeup that forced a big swing and miss strike three against Ramírez.
Burns and Lowder are the types of special talents that the Reds can only land through player development.
“We know that for us to compete and be competitive, we’re going to have to develop a lot of our pitching,” Terry Francona said. “That’s just the way it is. That’s ok. I actually kind of like it because there are fewer surprises. The more successful you can be developing, the better you’ll be organizationally.”
With a rotation that was built almost entirely through the draft (plus the addition of Brady Singer via trade), the Reds’ rotation in 2026 should be better than it was in 2025. And last year, the Reds’ rotation ranked fifth in MLB in WAR.
“It’s special,” Andrew Abbott said. “We can’t take that for granted. A lot of teams don’t have that. We know those guys can compete with the best of the best. It’s an amazing feeling to know they’re in reserve at the moment.”
In the spring training opener on Saturday, Burns pitched two shutout innings and Lowder allowed one run in two innings. Spring training statlines don’t matter much, and individual moments like striking out Ramírez can be overhyped because the guys on each side aren’t in full compete mode yet.
Still, Burns and Lowder delivered plenty of good signs as the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation (behind Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and Brad Singer) officially kicked off.
“A huge part of this team and the success we’re going to have is based on the depth of the starting pitching,” said Singer, who’s entering the final year of his contract. “It’ll be really helpful for us. They’re unbelievable arms. It’s really cool to watch these guys. Young talent. It’ll be really good for the Reds for years to come. They’ll have a really good rotation for a long time.”
Burns got the ball first on Saturday, and he admittedly felt some jitters. He pulled a few fastballs and walked a couple of guys. More importantly, he was his normal athletic self on the mound, showcased great velocity and demonstrated the fact that his changeup is significantly better than it was a year ago.
Last year, he pushed developing changeup to the side as the Reds threw him into the fire in his first year of professional baseball. To pitch deeper into games, he’ll need that changeup as his third pitch. On Saturday, he got Guardians All-Star Steven Kwan to chase a changeup and hit a weak fly out to center field.
“To work on that pitch and get a good hitter like that out, I know they’ll be good for me,” Burns said.
Two batters later, he got Ramírez to chase a high fastball for strike three.
At the start of the day, Francona was reflecting on his spring training experiences as a player. He said that he preferred facing established veterans who were working on aspects of their game. The last guy you’d want to see would be a rookie trying to make the club who had elite stuff and a 100 mph fastball.
Burns’ command — which wasn’t a big issue last year as he allowed an average walk rate — was the type of thing that you typically see in February. His changeups, velocity and nasty breaking ball that he used to strikeout CJ Kayfus were reminders of what he’s capable of.
On a lot of Reds teams over the last 10 years, Burns would slot in right now as a No. 3 or No. 4 starter. On this team, while he feels like the favorite for the fifth starter job, he’s still in a competition. That says a lot about the talent the Reds have.
Burns is competing with Lowder, Brandon Williamson (who has turned heads early in camp) and Julian Aguiar (who allowed one run in two innings on Saturday).
When Burns’ start was over, he stuck around for two more innings to cheer for Lowder.
“That’s my boy,” Burns said. “I’m happy to see him back out there throwing good. He’s nasty, and the changeup is really good.”
The last time that Lowder was pitching in a Reds’ uniform, he was one of the best rookie starters in MLB and had a 1.17 ERA in six starts. Then, he missed the entire 2025 season due to an elbow injury and an oblique injury.
Saturday was Francona’s first time seeing Lowder pitch in a game.
“He pitches like a veteran,” Francona said. “He had good stuff. He locates. He had good movement. In an era where there’s a lot of grip and rip, he’s a pitcher.”
Lowder is typically a pretty stoic pitcher. But after striking out Ramírez with a changeup, Lowder let out a bit of a yell. His long road of rehab is complete, and he struck out four batters on Saturday while having a lot of success spotting his four-seam fastball.Lowder said about his strikeout of Ramírez, “I threw the kitchen sink at him. I backed him up with the heater up and in so I knew something moving away from him was there. I definitely had to execute some good pitches.”
Before the game, two of the Reds’ veteran pitchers were asked what advice they’d give to Burns and Lowder heading into this spring training battle.
Abbott said, “Stay true to yourself. Compete. Be a good teammate and wish everyone the best. Then, just do you. All you can do at the end of the day is go pitch. You can’t control the decisions. Don’t worry about them. Don’t give them too much though. Just go compete.”
Singer said, “Go out there and be yourself. The only thing you can do is compete and show what you can do. Just enjoy it. You’re in a spot to try to make a big league ball club. That’s a very special spot to be in. Go out there and enjoy it and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Williamson will make his 2026 spring training debut soon, and the rotation battle will continue all spring. Things can always change due to injuries — the norm in spring training around MLB is that a pitcher on the roster gets hurt or suffers a setback — but now the Reds have a really good “problem” on their hands.
“What I pay attention to is how they’re pitching,” Francona said. “We’ll figure out where it fits. If a guy gets hurt or is backed up a couple of weeks, you’ve got two (open spots). You pay attention to how they’re doing. You keep that as you’re going, and then you make your decisions.”
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