Chase Burns has a clear path to join Jacob Misiorowski in future Cy Young battles

The NL Central has become a bastion of elite pitching, with both the 2025 Cy Young winner (Paul Skenes) and the heavy favorite for the 2026 award (Jacob Misiorowski) hailing from the division. If anyone is capable of joining that duo and continuing the trend in 2027, it's Cincinnati Reds right-hander Chase Burns.

That's rather lofty praise for someone with less than 200 innings of MLB experience under their belt, but here's a fun data point to consider: Entering their respective Cy Young seasons, Skenes had thrown 133 innings in the big leagues while Misiorowski sat at just 66 frames. Youth is the name of the game now, as this next generation of hard-throwing starters continues to…