Chase Burns and Jack Leiter: Emerging Aces? – March 31, 2026
Chase Burns (SP-CIN) was electric as he earned a win against the Pirates on Monday, firing 5 innings of shutout ball in which he scattered 1 hit and 3 walks while recording 7 punchouts on 78 pitches (46 strikes). Although the hard-throwing righty recorded a 4.57 ERA and 3.3 BB/9, in his first taste of MLB action a year ago, his 13.9 K/9 and 2.68 in those 43.1 IP were encouraging. After all, Burns missed lots of bats (16% swinging-strike rate) as the opposition’s overall (70%) and in-zone (82%) contact rates were both well below average. Before getting the call to the Show, he registered a 1.77 ERA, 12.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, and 1.97 xFIP in 66 IP as he climbed the ladder from High-A to Triple-A, with most of those innings (42) coming in Double-A. For what it’s worth, his spring training was a mixed bag as Burns registered a 4.76 ERA, 11.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, and 4.17 xFIP over 17 IP. He’s slated for a road start against the Rangers this coming weekend.
Jack Leiter (SP-TEX) was sharp against the Orioles on Monday as he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk while recording 8 punchouts. He fired 60 of his 92 pitches for strikes while yielding one big fly in the outing. The 25 year-old is coming off a strong spring training in which he logged a 3.38 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, and 4.53 xFIP over 16 IP. That represents continued growth of the second half of last season, which is obscured by his 3.86 ERA, 8.8 K/9, 4 BB/9, and 4.53 xFIP over 151.2 total IP on the year. After the All-Star break, Leiter registered a 3.28 ERA, 10 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, and 4.17 xFIP across 71.1 innings of work. During that span, he simply missed more bats while issuing fewer free passes and less loud contact (his Statcast metrics were better across the board). Up next is a turn at home against the Reds this weekend.
Edward Cabrera (SP-CHC) earned a W in his Cubs debut with 6 scoreless IP against the Angels in which he allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk while recording 5 punchouts on 80 pitches (49 strikes). The 27 year-old is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he showed some real progress, logging a 3.53 ERA, 9.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and 3.62 xFIP across a career-high 137.2 IP. His BB/9 was easily a career low (4.50 career – yikes!) while his xFIP was also a career best. Meanwhile, Cabrera maintained a quality swinging-strike rate (12.5%) and yielded below-average overall (72%) and in-zone (85.5%) contact rates. He did surrender a good bit of loud contact (46.5% hard-hit, 8.5% barrel and an average exit velocity of 90.5 mph), but there were a good few (46.5%) groundballs in there to help limit the damage. Encouragingly, he was better during the second half of the 2025 season than the first, as he registered a 3.42 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and 3.38 xFIP across 55.1 IP after the All-Star break as opposed to a 3.61 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, and 3.78 xFIP over 82.1 IP before the break. He lines up for a start in Cleveland this weekend.
Kyle Harrison (SP-MIL) impressed in a no-decision against the Rays as he allowed 1 run on 1 hit (a solo HR) and a walk while racking up 8 punchouts on 87 pitches (64 strikes). Has lost a bit of luster following a promising debut in 2024 when he recorded a 4.15 ERA, 9.1 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and 5.01 xFIP across 34.2 IP in his age-21 campaign. Now with his third big-league franchise, Harrison again has an opportunity to establish himself as a fantasy contributor. To do so, the lefty will need to accomplish some combination of honing his control (3.1 BB/9 in 194.2 career IP), missing a few more bats (10% career swinging-strike rate), and limiting the loud contact (Statcast shows a 43% hard-hit rate, 9.5% barrel rate, and average exit velocity of 90.5 mph). Scouting reports indicate that he has upside in the command department to go with three potential plus offerings, so there is yet hope that he can blossom. Although his ERA came in at an ugly 5.79 in 14 IP this spring, that came with an encouraging 12.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and 4.48 xFIP. Harrison is slated to start in Kansas City this coming weekend.
Kris Bubic (SP-KC) earned the W against Twins on Monday afternoon as he allowed 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks while fanning 4 over 6 IP. He tossed 48 of his 75 offerings for strikes. The southpaw is coming off a solid 2025 campaign in which he returned to a starting role after appearing exclusively out of the bullpen in 2024. Across 116.1 IP a year ago, Bubic recorded a 2.55 ERA, 9 K/9, and 3 BB/9, with a 3.63 xFIP pointing to a 77.5% strand rate and 5.5% HR/FB suppressing his ERA. Bubic missed some bats (13.5% swinging-strike rate) while the opposition recorded subpar overall (72.5%) and in-zone (81.5%) contact rates while registering roughly average rates of loud contact, with Statcast showing a 39.5% hard-hit rate, 6.5% barrel rate, and an average exit velo of 87.5 mph. For what it’s worth, Bubic posted a 0.75 ERA, 10.5 K/9, and 4.5 BB/9 in 12 IP during spring training. He lines up to face the Brewers at him this coming weekend.
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