On Saturday afternoon, I watched the Greenville Regional elimination game between East Carolina and Wake Forest, which featured two top pitching prospects in the draft class: Wake’s Chase Burns and ECU’s Trey Yesavage. The game was reminiscent of last year’s College World Series semifinal between Wake and LSU, which was one of the best baseball games of the year.
Burns struggled with command, walking four batters in five innings and giving up a three-run home run to Dixon Williams. While Burns did strike out seven batters, it was his lowest total of the season. ECU coach Cliff Godwin used seven pitchers in total to secure the win after a back-and-forth ninth inning.
Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill mentioned that Burns had a tendency to give up extra base hits this season, raising questions about his effectiveness in the majors. Burns’ numbers compared to other top college pitchers in recent drafts shows his high strikeout rate but also a high rate of extra-base hits allowed.
Comparing Burns to pitchers like Leiter, Rocker, and Skenes shows that he has similar strikeout numbers but a higher rate of extra base hits and home runs allowed. Yesavage, on the other hand, had strong numbers despite facing tough competition in the American Athletic Conference.
Overall, the game showcased the potential of these young pitchers and raised questions about their future success in professional baseball.
