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College  | Story  | 4/26/2024

Team Sheet: Wake Forest

Jheremy Brown
What Happened: Wake made the trip up to Boston College and battled it out with a gritty Eagles club, taking the first game in enticing fashion as they triggered the mercy rule before taking the series on Sunday by the score of 9-3. They did lose a close contest on Saturday as BC was able to get all 5 of their runs off of the bullpen, ultimately walking it off in the bottom of the ninth. 

Strength: Big Name Performers. The likes of Chase Burns, Nick Kurtz, Seaver King and Josh Hartle all came into the season with plenty of fanfare and for the most part have lived up to the hype with Burns putting himself in the conversation for SP1 come draft time, nobody can seem to keep Kurtz in the yard (let alone get him out), King’s a Swiss Army Knife on defense who swung it well in Boston, and Hartle is coming on strong as of late and delivered 5.2 innings of shutout baseball Sunday. Don’t sleep on shortstop Marek Houston or 4-hole hitter Jack Winnay either as the pair of underclassmen made their presence felt offensively as well throughout the three game set. 
 
Weakness: Overall Depth. Last year’s team was a force to be reckoned with, and that’s not at all to discredit this Wake Forest club, but 1-9 they could make an impact with the stick while having shutdown arms coming out of the bullpen. With Michael Massey jumping into the rotation and Camden Minacci, amongst others, on to pro ball, this year’s ‘pen is still looking for its identity, though there have been plenty of bright spots while starting to trend in the right direction. 
 
Best Player on the Field: Not only was he the best player on the field, but first baseman Nick Kurtz is one of the best players in the country, without question. While Burns was dominant in his Friday outing, Kurtz continued to swing the bat at another level as he homered once on Friday and another two times on Sunday to give him 9 in the team’s last 10 games (up through the end of the Boston College series). It’s as pure of a hit tool as you’ll find and the consistency of 100+ exit velos speak to the strength he possesses, not to mention he’s a game changer over at first base defensively as well. 

Player Reports:




Chase Burns, RHP
It's not any stretch of the imagination to say Chase Burns is one of the most prolific names to enter the transfer portal, ever. And if you don't want to go THAT far, we'll say in recent memory. A byproduct of the University of Tennessee, the former PG All-American has been sensational since his arrival in Winston-Salem where has since assumed the Friday night role all the while becoming the first pitcher to eclipse the 100 strikeout mark in this 2024 season. 

Just how dominant has Burns been this year? There's been only one outing this spring (second start of the year) where he hasn't gone at least 6 innings and it also served as the only time he walked more than 3 batters in an outing. Friday in Boston was more of what we're accustomed to seeing out of the flame throwing right-hander, even if it did tie his season low in strikeouts (8), as he became the first arm in the country to eclipse the 100 strikeout mark on the year and then added another 5 for good measure. 

Checking in at No. 5 in the latest PG Top 400 Draft Board, the 6-foot-3 Burns has done an outstanding job in the physicality department during his years in college, transforming from a big body, hard thrower to an athletic mover with a full repertoire, all of which was on display Friday afternoon. The operation itself is pretty simple and the fluidity throughout allowed for a plethora of strikes, consistently remaining on time with his higher release point, something he replicated very well in tunneling each of his offerings. 

In less than ideal conditions with a constant wind and drizzle throughout, Burns didn't miss as many bats with the fastball as he typically does, just a handful in this look, but he did carry the upper-90s heater well throughout, scraping triple digits in the 5th inning which was followed by a 99 mph bolt. Given his release, the pitch is rather true in terms of shape, but the spin profile also allows it to play well up in the zone with carry which is where he was able to miss some bats. Working around a tight zone in the opening frame (lone walk was to lead off hitter and only 2 3-ball counts) Burns showed some ability to locate the pitch East-West and didn't necessarily rely on the velocity to navigate his 6.1 innings, rather mixing and playing off hitter's reactions. 

The slider is a true difference maker and you'll be hard pressed to find many around the country that grade out better and it's one that plays off the velocity of his fastball very well. Thrown upwards of 90 mph in this look with the RPM flashing north 3000, Burns frequently showed the ability to manipulate the shape of it, adding a bit more depth to the pitch in the mid-80s, but it's the upper-80s variation that made for some uncomfortable spring and bore responsibility for a majority of the 8 strikeouts. The feel for doubling or even tripling up on the offering makes him all the more effective, especially for when hitters are geared for the high octane offering and get left lunging out on their front foot. First pitch of an at-bat landed in the zone or late bite to the back foot of a left-handed hitter, Burns showed a little bit of everything in regards to feel and ability with the pitch.  

It's definitely a heavy fastball-slider diet from Burns, and rightfully so given their dominance, but that shouldn't undermine the quality of his changeup which he brought out in his second time through the order. A firm offering that bumped upwards of 90 mph (2002/2008 RPM), Burns brought it out to retire BC slugger Cam Leary via strikeout after front dooring the pitch to the left-handed bat, showing it for the first time while leaving Leary (and some onlookers) frozen. At 90 mph the pitch is fastball barrel speed for many so it's not something you'll see too often in any given start, but it has the makings of a quality third offering and provides him something to move arm side and have hitters keep in the back of their minds.

The curveball wasn't much of a factor as he didn't seem to get a consistent grip on the pitch but still showed the 79-82 mph pitch a handful of times, showing more North-South depth given his release point. 

In all the Deacon ace went 6.1 innings and allowed just the lone walk and an earned run on two hits (both on sliders that stayed up) while adding to his nation's leading strike out total The performance continued to help strengthen his case as the top arm in the 2024 MLB Draft and with a strong finish to the season, he could certainly erase any doubt. 


Michael Massey, RHP
It wasn't the cleanest of starts overall for Wake right-hander Michael Massey as he navigated 3 innings over the course of 66 pitches, punching out a pair while walking five. That said, he was able to clutch up and limit the damage to a single earned run despite having traffic on the bases like in the bottom of the first where he was able to  escape a bases loaded jam and kill the Boston College rally with a well located slider down and away. 

Massey, a physically built 6-foot-5 Georgian, is making the transition to starter after serving as a lock-down options for the Deacs last spring and while he's seen some success in his current role in 2024, there's a chance he'll revert back to the 'pen in pro ball where he 4 pitch arsenal should play up even firmer than it's already showing. With 37 strikeouts over 27 innings it's clear he has the stuff to miss bats as he showed a variety of pitches Sunday afternoon in Boston, though the consistency of his release point wasn't there.

The fastball is a "come at you" variety with a super short take back and tight release, hiding the ball well with hitters seemingly getting their first look at it when it's already out of the hand. In this look he bumped the heater up 94 mph, sitting comfortably in the low-90s (~2346-2466 RPM in the first) throughout the three frames and though it's mostly true, it played best either at the top of the zone or when going to his secondaries in a sequence before burning a bullet arm side. 

Of the secondaries it was the slider that proved to be the comfort, go-to offering though we also saw a mix of them all as the at-bats wore on, electing for the off speed to work ahead in the count. An 80-83 mph offering, the slider showed tight tight spin with short horizontal bite through the zone, though like mentioned above, it comes out of a similar tunnel as the entire arsenal which helps the pitch be that much more effective. It's the pitch he went to in the first inning to elicit a huge roll over ground ball to third base for a 5-3 double play, biting away from the right-handed hitter with almost cutter like action throughout. 

Massey's curveball is a pitch that has made the rounds on social media for the sheer depth and hammer-profile it shows to the eye and it was something we saw Sunday when he was on top of the ball, spinning big 12-6 benders in the mid-70s with tight downward bite. In the Twitter clip you'll see his best curveball of the outing and it's one he went to with confidence as utilized it to put the hitter away, finishing off the second inning. He flashed a couple of changeups in the 82-85 mph range with the first one he threw (the 85 mph offering) showing hard darting life down to his arm side and given his history of a reliever, it's likely a pitch he hasn't needed to show much prior to his transition into the rotation. 

He checks in as a top 100 prospect on the recent Draft Board Top 400 and though it wasn't his crispest of starts, there's no doubting the ability of Massey on the mound, nor what he brings. Add in some of the deception, a flash of four pitches, and the fact his already strong arsenal would play up even more in a shorter role, he'll be one to keep an eye on as the spring unfolds and a pivotal piece to a deep Wake Forest run.  


Nick Kurtz, 1B

After a slower, non-Kurtz type start to the season, I’m not sure late 1990s Pedro Martinez could get him out as of late given the stretch he’s put together to open the second half of the spring. A long and strong 6-foot-5 with a younger look in the face and still plenty of room to fill out, the Pennsylvania native is quickly approaching his 22 home run mark from a year ago as he currently sits at 17 (at the time of this writing, added another one or two this past midweek after the BC series) and has done so in ~80 less at-bats. His walk totals on the year are on pace to meet his 2023 totals (40 currently, 62 in ‘23) but the cut down in strikeouts is worth noting, even with the lower number of at-bats, as he’s only punched out 19 times compared to his 49 mark and we saw a willingness to stay in his zone at the plate, drawing a walk Sunday after battling and laying off some borderline “pitcher’s pitches”. 

His rounds of BP pregame Friday were indicative (to a degree) of things to come as his second at-bat on the game replicated some of the swings we saw earlier. Remaining compact yet powerful from his launch point and through contact, Kurtz lived the other way throughout his rounds, peppering balls on a line the other way while knocking some scorchers off the 330’ mark in left field without ever getting higher than the wall. With two strikes on him and the runner in motion, Kurtz went with an outer half sinker the other way, scoring the ball to the opposite field gap for a double which registered 109 mph off of the barrel, showing his strength plays to all fields once again. 

Jump to later in the game, as well as Sunday, and Kurtz showed off some of that next level juice as he cut a couple of balls through a wind blowing in, first shaded more to his pull side before going dead center off the batter’s eye in the finale. Each of his first two home runs (hit one Friday, two Sunday) came in left-on-left matchups as he first deposited a mid-70s breaking ball over the right-center field wall for a no-doubt shot, leaving the barrel at 114 mph as he stayed through the ball and read the spin to leave the yard. The second home run, which again came from a lefty only this time a heater, went out to a part of the park where balls simply don’t fly as he tried to put a dent in the batter’s eye, ala leaving your mark on the Green Monster at Fenway, with a majestical blast that jumped off at 109 mph and traveled an estimated 440 feet. And for good measure he again went no-doubt blast to the pull side in the 9th inning on a full count just for good measure. 

The bat, understandably so, is the calling card here for Kurtz but the impact he’s capable of making on the defensive side can’t be understated as he can truly save runs at the position, not only because of his 6-foot-5 target, but also how the hands play in the dirt and feet work around the bag. On a double play coming across the diamond on a feed from third baseman Seaver King, Kurtz made a mid-covering of the bag pivot with this footwork to grab the back corner of the bag, adjusting on the fly to secure the throw and help his pitcher escape the jam. The athleticism is certainly there to play a corner outfield spot should he need, but it’s hard to understate just how much value he can bring to an infield with his skills around the bag. 


Seaver King, 3B/Utility

I put utility next to King’s name not in the sense he doesn’t have a true position, but rather he can play a variety of them at a high level and has done so for the Deacs, starting at both spots up the middle in the dirt, third base (where I saw him in Boston) along with center field as well. A transfer from D-II Wingate who exploded this past summer on the Cape, King has handled the transition into the Deacs lineup handedly, picking up his share of extra base hits in Boston while showing off his athleticism at the hot corner. 

Currently hitting north of .300 with 11 taters on the year, King finished a double shy of the cycle in Friday’s contest as he showed a willingness to truly go line-to-line in the process. Similar to his teammate Nick Kurtz, the pregame BP was a controlled one in the sense he let his lightning fast hands do a majority of the work, flicking balls around the field. And that’s exactly what he did in his first at-bat of the series as he sent a fly ball out to the corner in right field which ricocheted off the fielder’s glove and allowed us to see the speed component of his game almost immediately. But why run when you can jog? In his next at-bat, similar to the two-strike triple, King turned around a pitch for a shot down the left field line for his 11th of the year showing natural leverage and the same electric hands we saw pre-game. 

With just 20 punchies thru 36 games, the #11 ranked player on the latest PG Top 400 Draft Board repeatedly showed a sound two-strike approach that carried into Sunday’s game where even though the end result was a hard barreled L-8, he fought with two strikes, fouling off a variety of offerings in the process.

As mentioned above, the athleticism allows King to play a variety of roles defensively, though all of my looks came at third base. Despite playing the hot corner he displayed middle infield actions and footwork with one particular play standing out on Sunday in the early going. With a BC run already plated and the bases still juiced with just one out, King fielded a chopped ground ball, gathered, stepped on third and delivered a strike on to first base to complete the double play and escape the jam. Rewind it back to Friday and he made a sliding stop at third base before again showing plenty of arm to remain on the left side at the next level. 

There’s still physical projection here with the Georgia native and he’s shown no qualms in adapting to the D1 caliber of pitching he faces day in and day out, on top of the versatility, athleticism and production, it’ll be a matter of not whether he goes in the first round, but where he ultimately slots. 

Jack Winnay, OF

It was a homecoming of sorts for the power hitting Winnay as the Newton, Mass. native went to high school just 6 miles away from Eddie Pellagrini Diamond and he had himself a nice weekend, recording at least one hit and one RBI in each of the three games. Not currently on the 2025 Draft Board, Winnay has continued to prove he’s a name you need to know and will be a vital piece of the Wake offense as you look into next spring with the departure of pieces like Kurtz and King. 

Well built with strength throughout his 6-foot-3 frame, Winnay found himself situated in the 4 hole throughout the weekend and given how short and simple his swing is, it’s no wonder he’s able to repeat consistently while filling up the stat line. Throughout his round of pregame batting practice on Friday and into his live action swings, everything that left Winnay’s barrel came off with authority, first obliterating a line drive right at the right fielder in his first at-bat before picking up a couple of well struck singles, the first of which drove in a run. It’s worth noting again just how short and direct the Wake slugger’s swing is, allowing for barrel head control through the zone while impacting the baseball to all parts of the field. Though there is some swing and miss given the number of strikeouts, he’s also currently No. 2 on the club in average while also slugging .723 on the year. 
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