Burns has been sitting in the upper-90s this fall and was sitting in the mid-90s last season with a four-seamer similar to that of Ryan Cusick's . It had slight carry from a high vertical slot. It's an above-average, maybe plus-pitch in the future. But his slider is the attraction. It's an upper-80s hammer with late lateral break, and he lands it for strikes often and gets into the low-90s with. It's the perfect pitch to throw when behind given the platoon neutral shape and command of it. He's thrown some solid changeups, a pitch that works well off of his FF because of the reverse movement profile. He's probably the best arm in the class and now that he's in Winston-Salem we're going to get a near finished product.

Seaver can hammer the ball and has pull side loft with a gorgeous swing, which should lead to 20+ home runs this spring. I'm not sure if he'll play SS long-term, the arm strength is lacking but he's an above-average runner and could handle 2B easily. Would have him as a plus-defender at 2B, the glove itself is great. Combine that with solid average power and an above-average hit, you're looking at a potential above-average regular. It'll be interesting to see how he develops at Wake, he could end up being the best non-Australian in the class. For now, he's a few spots behind.

Kurtz isn't too far off from Spencer Torkelson in terms of skills, the builds and handedness are where they differ. The approach is advanced, he rarely chases, and has hit the ball as hard as 117.3 mph in his career. He hits nearly 60% of his batted balls hard but he also hits 31% of them between 10 and 35 degrees. His barrel accuracy and feel to hit are all great. It's the complete offensive package at 1B with size and left-handed juice. He's been about as productive as any college hitter over the last two years. But since he's at 1B, there's plenty of risk here and projecting an amateur hitter's production into the pro level is far too difficult and since he doesn't have the defense to keep him afloat when he struggles there's too much risk and not enough upside to make him a top-5 talent, for now. He's an above-average, maybe plus defender at first, and the offense might just be good enough to raise his lower percentile outcome.

Houston has elite shortstop actions and is a plus athlete who figures to stick at the position for decades to come. Offensively it's an extreme hit over power (think Jacob Wilson), with his whiff rates at 14% and 7.4% in-zone. There’s not much chase to speak of here, with the approach skewing slightly towards passivity. There was no power to speak of in 2024, with a <105 mph max EV and <85 mph average EV. Additionally there was a ton of variance in his batted ball spray, which is concerning for projecting BABIP on an already limited power producer. Guys like Wilson and Isaac Paredes have found success in selling out to get to the pull-side, producing power beyond their EVs , which is the next frontier for Houston pending 35-grade or better raw power. The defense is good enough to be a carrying tool for me.

Massey transferred from Tulane before last season and proceeded to gain 4 mph on his fastball and throw it way less; the Demon Deacon way. He pounds the zone with mostly two pitches, a plus four-seamer and average slider. The heater has plus carry with a straight vertical plane at 93-96, getting all the way up to 97. His slider is a great pitch in college, but it's fairly generic in the pro environment. His feel for it is solid and it could very well be an above-average pitch in the future but at 11 mph off his heater with minimal movement it's not a special pitch. He'll likely get a shot to start this spring and he could jump into the first round with continued production and improved secondaries.

Hartle is about as optimized as it gets, which is good but also has its flaws from a draft perspective. He's not getting much better than he already is. He's usually 89-92 with late sink and low spin efficiency on a fastball with SSW traits. His upper-80s cutter is filthy, especially considering it's only 2 mph off of his sinker and yet he gets depth with lateral break, it's closer to a slider than a cutter. His feel and command of it might make it a 65-grade pitch, but how it plays off of his heater aids it even more. He has a low-80s slurve with slight sweep and some drop. His changeup is above-average, and might be his best pitch against college hitters. It has a similarly late action to his sinker, but with less fade and more tumble. He's likely only a #4 starter at best, and probably closer to a really good #5 that comes up just shy of 2-win seasons at the backend of a rotation.

The MAAC, where he played in 2024, power rates as the weakest D1 conference, making his numbers less impressive when adjusted to be competition-neutral. The launch angles in themselves were unimpressive, 6-degree average and 11 on his hard hits, but the distribution was above-average which displays barrel feel. There’s power here with more to come, which is apparent in his exit velocity profile (110.6 max EV, 90 mph average EV). His whiff numbers were stable in themselves, with 10.5% whiffs in-zone and 18.4% overall. My questions start with why exactly he’s chasing at near-30% at such a low level of competition, and move to his track record when facing LHPs and spin, the prior of which was a major red flag. I’m in on the performance this summer, though. Hitting .385 on the Cape is no easy feat, and he should be rewarded for it, but it can’t be the only factor you consider. Pending a great spring there’s first round traits in here.

Winnay was eligible as a sophomore in 2024 but elected to return to Wake Forest for his junior season. The draw here is the swing decisions and batted ball profiles, which are both above-average. He’s a 1B type with average power, which will hurt him, but I expect him to be a producer this season.

The stuff here doesn't jump off the page, but there’s the makings of starter here. He’s long, athletic, and a good mover with plus extension, and has 2 secondaries with above-average or better shapes. His best pitch is a change-up with 13” of arm-side at 85 mph that he threw in a small sample, with sweeper getting 13” of horizontal at 80 mph. The fastball averages at just 90 mph now, but plus extension allows it to play up. All the ingredients, the key is if Wake Forest can kickstart his maturation process.