The NC State Wolfpack baseball season was cut short like the rest of collegiate athletics after an 8-7 win over North Carolina A&T on March 11. At that point, head coach Elliott Avent’s squad was 14-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC after dropping the conference-opening series at Virginia.
Here’s an early look at the prospectus going ahead to next season now that the five-round MLB Draft has been completed, continuing with the infield.
Had COVID-19 not shut down the baseball season so early, it’s quite possible (and maybe even likely) that a few players potentially back on the infield would have instead been fairly high draft picks. First baseman Austin Murr would have likely been a one-and-done for the Wolfpack. The junior college transfer quickly picked up where Evan Edwards, the star first baseman the prior two seasons for the Pack before he became a fourth round pick of the Miami Marlins, left off.
Murr batted .306 while leading off for NC State and twelve of his 19 hits (three homers, seven doubles and two triples) went for extra bases. Murr was also five-for-five on stolen base attempts.
Murr’s return would solidify first base for the Pack. Next to him on the right side of the infield would probably either be Tyler McDonough, a rising junior, or J.T. Jarrett, a rising senior. Both hit well last year. McDonough has been a star since arriving at NC State and picked up where he left off as a freshman. He was hitting .354 with three homers and also was 7-for-7 on stolen bases.
McDonough’s bat and versatility (he can also play an effective center field) did not go unnoticed. Because he was age-eligible for the draft, MLB teams inquired about him. Had the draft been longer than five rounds, McDonough almost certainly would have been drafted high enough to warrant consider signing.
Jarrett, always known for being a good glove in the middle infield, hit .333 and his improved strength saw him hit a pair of homers at the plate.
Star freshman Jose Torres lived up to the hype, hitting .333 himself with three homers and three doubles in 60 at bats. Torres turned down the MLB despite being drafted in the 24th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.
At third, most of the season was a combination of rising junior Vojtech Mensik and rising senior Devonte Brown.
Brown was the breakout star of the spring, starting all 17 games and hitting five homers while batting .338. He split his time between right field and third base. Like McDonough and Murr, he almost surely would have been drafted in the top 10 rounds had the draft been a little longer.
Mensik started eight contests, and the Czech Republic native was hitting .265 with a pair of homers.
A wildcard in the equation is the anticipated arrival of star recruit Eddie Eisert from Fairfax Station, Va. Eisert is a switch hitter who in February was being talked about as a potential first-day draft pick, which at that point would have meant top two rounds. He hit over .400 as a sophomore and junior and has a strong enough arm to touch 90 miles per hour on the radar guns. He has also been reportedly timed at 6.65 seconds in the 60-yard dash, flashing impressive speed.
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