Former Vol flamethrower Chase Burns commits to Wake Forest

Former Tennessee pitcher Chase Burns announced his commitment to Wake Forest Wednesday night on Instagram after entering the NCAA transfer portal on June 27. Burns will likely play one season for the Demon Deacons before entering the 2024 MLB Draft next summer.

Wake Forest spent the second half of the season ranked as the nation’s No. 1 team by most publications. The program bid farewell to pitchers Rhett Lowder, Seth Keener and Sean Sullivan after the season. Landing Burns is a big get for the team looking to make a repeat trip to Omaha, like Tennessee.

Burns will be considered one of the top 2024 draft prospects entering next season.  

TRANSFER NEWS: Former Tennessee RHP Chase Burns announces on instagram that he has committed to @WakeBaseball. Burns was the No. 2 prospect in the 2024 #MLBDraft class coming into the 2023 campaign. Massive get for Corey Muscara and the #Deacs. https://t.co/eTepH8FGTd

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) July 13, 2023

The right-handed pitcher, who routinely hit triple digits on the radar gun this spring and summer, finished the 2023 season with a 5-3 record and a 4.25 ERA. Starting the year off as the Saturday night guy in the three-man weekend rotation, Burns was moved to the bullpen midway through the Southeastern Conference and blossomed in the role. The righty concluded the season with 18 appearances, eight starts and 72.0 innings pitched with 114 strikeouts to just 22 walks.

As a reliever, arguably Burns’ best outing of the year came at the Clemson Regional against the Tigers on June 3 where he pitched 6.1 innings in the 14-inning thriller. The right-handed flame thrower allowed only one run off six hits, striking out eight and walking four over a season-high 99 pitches.

Burns went on to pitch even better in Super Regionals against Southern Miss and in the College World Series against Stanford – all three appearances coming in elimination games. The righty combined for 9.2 innings of two-hit baseball with no runs and 14 strikeouts compared to just one walk over the span.

Against the Cardinal, Burns became the first reliever since 1997 to toss 6+ innings of scoreless baseball in a College World Series game. His nine strikeouts against Stanford tied Todd Helton for most punchouts by a Tennessee pitcher in a College World Series game.

Burns was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week on April 24 for his two dominant relief appearances over top-five Vanderbilt after retiring 11-of-12 batters faced over two scoreless innings, picking up the victory in the critical Friday night contest that altered the turnaround for the Vols.

The starter at the time was tabbed the College Baseball News National Player of the Week following his February 25 win over Dayton where the sophomore tossed 6.1 innings of two-hit and one-run baseball with 12 strikeouts and three walks on 83 pitches. He was also tabbed to the 2023 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.

Burns entered 2023 coming off a spectacular true freshman campaign where he picked up First-Team All-American honors from D1 Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game. He was named the Freshman of the Year by D1 Baseball and recognized as a Second Team All-SEC recipient.

The transfer portal window opened on May 30 and remains open for 45 days until July 13. So far, the Vols have lost 12 players to the transfer portal as infielder Austen Jaslove joined a group on Wednesday consisting of pitchers Chase Burns, Jake Fitzgibbons, Hollis Fanning, Jacob Bimbi, Shawn Scott, Turner Swistak, outfielder Alex Stanwich, infielders Logan Chambers and Tanner Zellem and catchers Ryan Miller and Payton Ebbing.

Last offseason, Tennessee was active in the transfer portal by adding key components to the roster who would go on to compete in the College World Series. Those players included shortstop Maui Ahuna, third baseman Zane Denton, outfielder Griffin Merritt and pitcher Andrew Lindsey.

Tennessee has added six players from the transfer portal thus far with AJ Causey, Nate Snead, Ryan Galanie (who will sign with the White Sox), Billy Amick, Dalton Bargo and Cannon Peebles.