Tennessee native Chase Burns will get the start for the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Aug. 2, when the MLB Speedway Classic travels to Bristol Motor Speedway.
It’s a historic day for the state of Tennessee and MLB, as it’s the first-ever game being held in the state. It’s only fitting that Burns, who played for the Vols and hails from Hendersonville, Tennessee, is facing off against Atlanta Braves pitching Spencer Strider, who went to Christian Academy of Knoxville.
REQUIRED READING: Chase Burns, former Tennessee pitcher, to start for Cincinnati Reds in MLB Speedway Classic
Burns, of course, didn’t end his college career at Tennessee, despite seeing plenty of success for the Vols. The powerful right-hander transferred to Wake Forest for his final season of college before he was selected No. 2 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft.
The No. 2-ranked prospect in MLB has a 6.26 ERA this season, although he has 45 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings, including 10 strikeouts in each of his last three starts.
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Here’s why Burns left his home state and transferred from Tennessee to Wake Forest for the 2024 season.
Why did Chase Burns transfer from Tennessee?
Burns was electric as a freshman in 2022, and entered the 2023 season as one of Tennessee’s weekend starters with plenty of hype heading into the year.
However, Burns’ start to the 2023 season was a bit rocky, and he was ultimately moved to the bullpen by coach Tony Vitello. The move worked, as Burns was dominant down the stretch for the Vols as a reliever, helping lead Tennessee to the College World Series. He finished the 2023 season with a solid 4.25 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 72 total innings.
But Burns felt he had plateaued at Tennessee, which wasn’t a surprise to Vitello. In fact, the Vols baseball coach in 2023 said, “We’ve kind of known that he would be gone for a while,” with Burns indicated to him that he was planning to transfer during the middle of the 2023 season.
“This season went in a lot of different ways,” Vitello said in an appearance on WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville, “and as coaches, we’ve got to do what we think is best for the whole group and find a way to try to win games. In the end, I think that worked out fairly well. But for his case, he’s going to take his efforts somewhere else.”
The transfer ultimately worked for Burns, as he turned in a 2.88 ERA with a whopping 191 strikeouts across 100 innings for the Demon Deacons in 2024. Tennessee still managed to win the national championship in 2024 without Burns, although he certainly would’ve been a welcomed piece to that dominant roster.
