College baseball insider makes bold comparisons between Wake Forest’s Chase Burns and two MLB stars
The pitching arsenal of Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns has drawn comparisons with Major League Baseball stars Dylan Cease and Corbin Burnes.
Baseball expert Carlos Callazo of Baseball America elaborated on Burns' fastball on X. He describes Burns' heater, sitting in the upper 90-mile-per-hour range, as something that has a great riding life and cutting action similar to Cease.
Cease recorded 200+ strikeouts with the Chicago White Sox between 2021 and 2023. Now with the San Diego Padres, he's on pace for his fourth-straight 200-strikeout season, with 138 Ks in 19 starts.
Callazo also explained that Burns' slider, which he describes as a 70-grade pitch, is a combination of power and high spin, drawing comparison with Burnes, a top-of-the-rotation star for the Baltimore Orioles.
Furthermore, Burns' and Burnes' slider traits are pretty similar. Both have a velocity of 86-88 mph with some drop and high spin rates averaging above 2,800 revolutions per minute. Their sliders have horizontal breaks of roughly eight inches.
Burnes is coming off three straight seasons of 200+ strikeouts from 2021-2023 while with the Milwaukee Brewers. This season, he signed with the American League East leaders Baltimore Orioles and is 9-4 with an ERA of 2.43.
Burnes is still a bit off the 200+ strikeout pace this year but has proven to be the ace of the Orioles' staff with a high strikeout/walk rate of 4.4. He's doing it in a tough division that has the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in the mix.
Meanwhile, college baseball insider and ESPN writer Jesse Rogers reported that scouts and evaluators are high on the hard-throwing right-hander, expected to be picked high in the coming MLB Draft.
Rogers pointed out that evaluators are united in describing the six-foot-three hurler as a hard-throwing ace with the potential to become a major league starting pitcher once called up from the minors.
Scouts are amazed by Burns' high-octane fastball/slider combination and compared his body build to Cincinnati Reds' hurler Hunter Greene and pitch arsenal to Los Angeles Dogers' Bobby Miller and Cease. Burns has also drawn comparisons with Tyler Glasnow and Walker Buehler.
Chase Burns a legit first-round prospect in 2024 MLB Draft
Chase Burns has impressed the college baseball scene with his electric stuff. The ACC Player of the Year led the nation in strikeouts at 169, the fifth all-time in ACC single-season history.
Three days before the annual event, the MLB Pipeline released its latest mock draft and placed the Wake Forest star as the No. 3 pick of the Colorado Rockies, ahead of teammate Nick Kurtz (4th) and two-way star Jac Caglianone of Florida (5th). He's also ahead of left-handed rookie prospect Hagen Smith, who was ranked sixth in the mock draft.
Burns finished the season with an 8-1 record in 13 starts. He had an ERA of 2.72 in 82.2 innings played.
Will Chase Burns get picked in the top 3 of the 2024 MLB Draft. Let's know your views in the comments section: