Chase Burns

School: Wake Forest
Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.5
BA Grade: 60/Extreme
Tools: Fastball: 70. Slider: 70. Curveball: 55. Changeup: 50. Control: 50.

Burns was already touching 100 mph as a Tennessee prep in the 2021 class. Despite that huge velocity, he made it to campus at Tennessee, where he pitched as a starter and reliever for two seasons before transferring to Wake Forest in 2024. As a full-time starter, Burns put together one of the best pitching seasons in the country, with a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts, a 48.8% strikeout rate that led Division I pitchers, a 7.7% walk rate and a nation-leading 191 strikeouts. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound righthander, Burns has perhaps the best pure stuff in the class. He averaged nearly 98 mph with his fastball and has been up to 101. He attacks hitters with a high-effort, high-energy delivery that features plenty of recoil and moving parts. His fastball is a potential 70-grade offering, as is his hellacious upper-80s slider that features hard, biting action with spin rates in the 2,800 rpm range. Burns’ slider is his go-to secondary against both lefties and righties and generated a 64% miss rate. While his fastball/slider combination is his bread and butter, he also showcased a low-80s power curveball and firm upper-80s changeup more frequently in 2024. Both pitches have a chance to be solid-average—or perhaps better in the case of the curveball—and helped create more confidence in Burns’ starter profile. While his delivery screams reliever, he has consistently thrown strikes at a solid rate for three seasons, has a real four-pitch mix and consistently holds his stuff deep into games. While Burns is more of a control-over-command pitcher, he has the top-end pure stuff to make that work and miss plenty of bats. He should be the first or second pitcher drafted.