Wake Forest Professional Athletes

When the Cincinnati Reds hosted the St. Louis Cardinals for a five-game series this week, they turned to two Wake Forest alumni to anchor their rotation — and the Demon Deacon reunion on the mound told two very different stories.

Chase Burns Sets the Tone

Chase Burns delivered the headliner performance Wednesday night, going 5 innings against the Cardinals while punching out 8 batters and allowing just 2 earned runs. The outing was vintage Burns: overpowering stuff, commanding presence, and a performance worthy of his All-Star billing. His ERA now sits at a crisp 2.51, one of the more quietly elite marks in the National League this season. The Cardinals had Matthew Liberatore dealing well through five innings, but Burns kept Cincinnati in it long enough for the Reds to capitalize on late St. Louis blunders and walk away with a win.

At 2.51, Burns isn't just Wake Forest's best current MLB arm — he's one of the better starters in the game right now, full stop.

Lowder Battles Through a Rough One

Rhett Lowder opened the series Monday in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader, and it was a grind. The young right-hander went 6.2 innings, struck out 5, but surrendered 4 earned runs — a line that nudged his ERA to 5.17 on the season. Lowder's length was a net positive for a Reds bullpen that needed an escape valve across a punishing doubleheader schedule, even if the results didn't dazzle.

For a pitcher still finding his footing at the MLB level, logging 6.2 innings in a high-leverage spot against a divisional opponent is meaningful development time. The stuff is there — the command and consistency are the ongoing project.

The Bigger Picture

Having two Wake Forest-developed arms start in the same series for the same MLB club is a notable footnote for a program that doesn't always get the national pitching-factory recognition it deserves. Burns and Lowder represent different phases of the same pipeline: one arrived polished and is now thriving at the top of a rotation, the other is working through the growing pains that define the leap from prospect to reliable starter.

The Reds are clearly invested in both. Whether Lowder can close the ERA gap and earn the kind of trust Burns has built will be one of Cincinnati's more interesting internal storylines down the stretch.

Elsewhere in the Wake Forest alumni universe, Seaver King continued to generate buzz with the Washington Nationals organization, drawing calls for a big-league promotion based on his Triple-A production — though he remained in the minors as of this writing.

For now, the headline belongs to Burns and Lowder — two Demon Deacons, one series, and a reminder of what Winston-Salem keeps sending to the show.

When the Cincinnati Reds take the mound these days, there's a good chance a Wake Forest alum is holding the ball.

Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder — both products of Winston-Salem — are pitching at the back-to-back level that every fan base dreams about, and this week offered a fresh showcase of what the Demon Deacon pipeline has delivered to the Queen City.

Burns: The Ace Making His Case

Chase Burns is doing everything right. His ERA sat at a gleaming 2.35 heading into Sunday, August 2, against Pittsburgh — and he backed up that number with one of his best outings of the season. Burns went six innings, struck out nine Pirates, and allowed just one earned run as Cincinnati chased a series win. It was the kind of performance that silences any lingering debate about whether he belongs at the top of a major-league rotation.

He returned to the mound Saturday, August 8, against Washington. That start was rougher — 5.1 innings, six strikeouts, five earned runs — but even after absorbing the damage, Burns's ERA settled at 2.61 for the season. That's a top-tier number by any measure, and the Nationals start changes nothing about how impressive his 2025 campaign has been through the first week of August.

Lowder: Winning Ball Games

If Burns is the headliner, Rhett Lowder is making sure the rotation doesn't miss a beat. On Wednesday, August 5, "The Hair" took the mound against Oakland and delivered six innings of three-strikeout ball, allowing two earned runs in a 3-2 Cincinnati win. The result: his fourth victory of the season.

Lowder's ERA sits at 5.26, a number that doesn't quite match Burns's sparkle, but context matters — he's been making starts, competing, and banking wins for a Reds club with playoff aspirations. Four wins is four wins, and Cincinnati took that Athletics series.

The Bigger Picture

Two alumni from the same program starting in the same rotation at the same time is genuinely rare in professional baseball. Wake Forest's pitching development has been a quiet story for years, but Burns and Lowder are forcing it into the open. Between them, they logged 17.1 innings in this single week's span, picking up a win and keeping the Reds competitive in both series.

For Demon Deacons fans tracking the big leagues, the answer to "what should I watch this weekend?" has been remarkably simple all summer: find a Reds game and watch Wake Forest work.