A few starts ago, Cincinnati Reds newbie ace Chase Burns so impressed teammates with another dominating win that the usual superlatives about his power and poise weren’t enough.
“He’s just fearless out there,” outfielder JJ Bleday said.
Then we found out just how fearless in last week’s start against the Phillies, when a 109-mph line drive off the bat of Bryce Harper just missed hitting the Reds pitcher in the — uh, in the place where, it turns out, he doesn’t wear a cup.
“I asked him, ‘Please tell me you have a cup on,’ “ manager Terry Francona said. “He said, no. I was like, ‘Chase, I don’t even watch a game on TV without wearing a cup.’ “
If the All-Star-caliber pitching wasn’t enough to keep Burns atop the Enquirer’s All-Star Candidate Power Rankings this week, then the fearlessness has to be, right?
No matter how nuts.
Check out who moved up to 3 and 4 in this week’s power rankings:
1. RHP Chase Burns (last week: 1)
The closest thing to a savior for the beat-to-hell pitching staff, Burns not only is making a case for an All-Star bid in his first full season in the majors, but is among the league’s top two or three pitchers in the early NL Cy Young conversation.
The Reds have never had a Cy Young winner in a full season (Trevor Bauer won it during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).
Burns (6-1, 1.83 ERA) ranked third in the league in bWAR (2.9), second in ERA, fourth in WHIP (0.949), and he’s allowed one or fewer runs in has last four straight starts – including a nine-strikeout, no-walk, six-inning start to beat the scorching-hot Phillies last week
2. SS Elly De La Cruz (2)
The X-Men-worthy spectacles haven’t seemed as frequent as in some recent years – Saturday’s rangy start of a highlight-reel double play and the bat flip on his home run in the win over the Cardinals notwithstanding.
But the two-time All-Star has never looked this productively consistent on both sides of the ball – and both sides of the plate – in his career as he marches toward a third All-Star selection in as many full seasons in the big leagues.
He’s in the top 8 in the league in runs (37), RBIs (35), home runs (12), extra-base hits (25), total bases (110) and hasn’t missed a game since 2024 on the way to hitting .288 with a .529 slugging percentage and .884 OPS.
3. 1B/3B/2B Sal Stewart (4)
The rookie showed significant signs of offensive life after talking a week or so ago about his post-April slump, vowing to return to form.
Since then, he’s homered twice, had a four-hit game (among three multi-hit games), a three-walk game and raised his OPS almost 60 points to .840 (entering Sunday).
He’s tied for the team lead with 12 home runs and leads the team with 10 steals (in 11 tries) — both totals tied for seventh in the National League. He’s also in the top 10 in walks and RBIs.
4. 1B/LF/2B/RF Spencer Steer (5)
Steer moves up a spot on this weeks list after continuing an All-Star-level stride since April 17 that has earned him cleanup responsibilities in the lineup.
In his last 32 games through Saturday’s doubleheader split against the Cardinals, he’s .316 with a .395 on-base percentage and .878 OPS, pushing his season average to .271 with seven homers and .786 OPS.
All while playing maybe the most important, if sometimes overlooked, role of manning five different positions as necessary to facilitate the manager’s efforts to play hot hands and squeeze daily matchup advantages out of an underperforming lineup.
5. OF JJ Bleday (3)
Despite cooling off past week or so, Bleday remains one of the Reds’ best hitters since his April 26 season debut.
He took a .953 OPS into Sunday’s series finale against the Cardinals with about a month left to make his case for a first career selection.
The former No. 4 overall draft pick hit .271 with six home runs, 20 runs batted in, 15 walks, a .376 on-base percentage and .576 slugging percentage in those first 24 games with the Reds since opening the season at Triple-A.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Check out the ‘fearless’ top of Reds All-Star Candidate Power Rankings
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
