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The next step in the careers of rookie Chase Burns and four-year veteran Andrew Abbott is finishing the season strong. Because of the differences in their experience level, they’re in different places in that regard. Burns is already well past his career-high for innings in a season at any level. The Reds are keeping an eye on him, but at this point there has been no public conversation about shutting him down. While a recent start, a five-inning performance against the St. Louis Cardinals, was more of a grind, the start before that showed how he’s impressively keeping the pedal to the metal during the dog days of the season. A pitcher throwing seven shutout innings, which Burns did last week against the Miami Marlins, at this point of the season says a lot about him. “It’s just fun to watch him, talk to him and see how his mentality changes,” starting pitcher Brady Singer said. “He’s mature. He gets his work done every day. It’s really, really fun to watch the way he competes on the mound.” Burns said that he’s trying to get back to his roots of trusting his stuff, letting his velocity and spin play and having confidence that he can beat great hitters with strikes. What he’s doing is obviously working. “You know how real his stuff is,” starting pitcher Nick Lodolo said. “The impressive part is him still putting it together. Stuff and pitching are two different things. He’s doing both. He’s taking the ball every five days and bringing it.” Abbott had a very poor April, but he has been himself since then. He mixes pitches, provides consistency and beats hitters in a variety of ways. All year, he has spoken about the importance of finishing the season on a good note. In 2025, he posted a 4.45 ERA in August and a 3.95 ERA in September. In 2024, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in August. In 2023, his performance fell off a cliff in the final two months of the year. He’s confident that this year will be different. “The main thing you learn over the years is how your body feels,” Abbott said. “When you need a day, you need to take a day. That type of stuff. When you’re young, you don’t really want to do it. When you need a day to decompress, learning that part of yourself during these months is crucial.” While the Reds’ playoff hopes are slim, it’ll be critical to have the pitching to get through the season in good shape. The Reds don’t have much depth in Triple-A, which showed up last week when they called up journeyman Kent Emanuel to make a spot start in a doubleheader. One bright spot with their depth is the fact that Brandon Williamson is on a rehab assignment and is making progress toward a return. But with Hunter Greene (out through 2027), Jose Franco and Julian Aguiar on the injured list, the Reds don’t have as much pitching available as they did during the middle of the summer. That puts additional emphasis on the way that their current starters finish the season. “This is when you really need to turn it on as a starting pitcher,” Abbott said. “You really want to finish strong. You want to start strong and finish strong in a perfect world. That’s the message for all of us.”