Reds trade for Brock Burke looks smarter the more you study his strengths

The Cincinnati Reds capitalized on the trade market and moved Gavin Lux; a player who no longer fit their needs. In a complex, three-team trade, the Reds landed an intriguing arm for the bullpen in the form of lefty Brock Burke.

The 29-year-old southpaw scratches an itch for Cincinnati. Strengthening the bullpen was a necessity, and getting a second lefty to pair with free agent signee Caleb Ferguson was important. This move officially puts the struggling Sam Moll on notice, but even more so, it is important for a different reason.

Burke is a picture-perfect fit for Great American Ball Park, and if he can pair what worked for him in 2024 with his 2025 performance, he could elevate his game even higher.

Trading Gavin Lux for Brock Burke gave the Reds got a perfect fit for Great American Ball Park

As fans know all too well, Great American Ball Park is one of the most homer-friendly parks in the league. So while ground balls are important for every hurler, that goes doubly so for those who play half their games in Cincinnati's unfriendly confines.

Burke excels at keeping the ball on the ground. Per Baseball Savant, his 53.3% ground ball rate last season was a 90th percentile mark. In 2024, he was also solid, recording ground balls at a 46.3% clip.

The overall package in 2025 was solid. Burke made 69 appearances, tossing 61⅔ innings, and recorded a 3.36 ERA. He also excelled at limiting walks, keeping them at a 7% rate (68th percentile), and keeping the ball off the barrel, posting an 7.1% barrel percentage (69th percentile).

The former Los Angeles Angel isn't your typical soft-tossing lefty specialist either, with an average fastball velocity of 95.7 miles per hour, he can reach back for some gas if needed.

Simply looking at Burke's stats over his career doesn't tell the whole story. The lefty was DFA'd by the Texas Rangers after an abysmal run in 2024 and plucked off waivers by the Angels later that year. The change of scenery helped. Burke posted a putrid 9.22 ERA in 2024 with Texas, but threw more innings in Anaheim (20⅓ versus 13⅔) and recorded a 3.54 ERA down the stretch.

Burke originally came up as a starter with the Rangers in 2019, and missed the entire 2020 campaign recovering from shoulder surgery. He spent 2021 toiling in the minors — still working as a starter — before resurfacing with Texas as a multi-inning reliever, throwing 82⅓ innings over 52 appearances to the tune of a 1.97 ERA, in 2022.

The following year, Burke struggled to repeat that dominance but was still decent, pitching to a 4.37 ERA. In 2024, his struggles came over a small sample, and he missed roughly two months with a broken hand. What he showed was some elite strikeout ability, posting a 26.6% K-rate (30.5% once picked up by the Angels).

That strikeout stuff wasn't present last season. Burke managed just 7.59 K/9 and a 20.2% K-rate. He's shown that he can rack up the Ks in the past, however, thanks to his solid secondaries, a deadly slider and solid changeup, which pair well with his high-velocity heater.

If he can bring the strikeouts back while keeping the ground ball rate intact, as he did during his brief stint with the Angels in 2024, he could ascend from a nice second lefty to have in your pen to a true weapon.