7/4/2020 football Edit

Wolfpack baseball prospectus: Outfield

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

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, concluding with the outfield.

NC State Wolfpack baseball rising senior Devnote Brown was having a big 2020 season before it was cut short. — Rising senior Devnote Brown was having a big 2020 season before it was cut short. (GoPack.com)

The versatility of NC State’s roster in 2020 afforded Avent many possibilities in the outfield, and that should again be the case going forward.

A mainstay is likely to be rising senior Jonny Butler. He was a leadoff hitter while playing left field in 2019. He moved down in the order and played some center this past year while starting all 17 games. Butler batted .290 with a homer, four doubles and two triples in 62 at bats. He also led the team with nine stolen bases.

Another pure outfielder with lots of speed is rising senior Terrell Tatum. Tatum went 7 for 24 at the plate in 12 games, including nine starts, last spring and was 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts.

A third outfield option is rising sophomore Noah Soles, who turned down the MLB after being drafted in the 19th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Soles was a hit-machine in his chances last year, going 9 for 15 with two doubles and driving in five runs.

There are three players who played often in the outfield who can also fill in at other positions. Rising senior Devonte Brown (third base) and rising junior Tyler McDonough (second base) can also fill in on the infield, while rising junior Luca Tresh can be a catcher.

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 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.

Brown was the breakout star of the spring, starting all 17 games and hitting five homers while batting .338. Like McDonough and Murr, he almost surely would have been drafted in the top 10 rounds had the draft been a little longer.

Six of Tresh’s 15 hits during his freshman season were homers and two more were doubles. His 2020 season was delayed due to injury, but he was 17 for 42 at the plate (.405 average) with three homers and three doubles while playing mainly outfield prior to the cancellation of the season.