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Wake Forest 2023 baseball season thread (Deacs end historic season with extra inning loss to LSU: Final record 54-12 and top 4 finish nationally)

But yeah, I think much like Windy was saying, if it’s not football or basketball they can fuck around with other types of aid to make up some of the difference.
 
He gave an update on the chat thread.
 
WindyCityDeac said:
If the family isn’t doing very well, Wake is finding a way to cover everything if the kid’s good
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Interesting. I honestly thought that was not allowed. I mean it would be a special kid who was a D1 athlete AND had the academics to compete with Wake students for academic scholarships.
 
Turd Ferguson said:
Interesting. I honestly thought that was not allowed. I mean it would be a special kid who was a D1 athlete AND had the academics to compete with Wake students for academic scholarships.
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NCAA changed the rule a couple years ago allowing schools to stack athletic and academic awards. And most schools, I assume Wake, lower the standard of what qualifies for the academic award for athletes.
 
MLB Pipeline just updated their list of the top 150 prospects for the 2023 MLB draft. That is essentially the first 5 rounds of the 2023 MLB draft.

Deacs are well represented. In the most recent release, just before the season, Lowder was rated as a middle of the first round pick; Wilken was a late 1st round pick, and Teddy McGraw was a second pick. It appears WF baseball has caught the attention of MLB scouts as the most recent list has:

#9 Rhett Lowder

Snippet:
Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 55 | Overall: 55

After cracking Wake Forest's weekend rotation as a freshman but posting a 6.12 ERA, Lowder took a huge step forward last spring. He nearly halved his ERA to 3.08, ranked second in NCAA Division I with 11 victories, became the first Demon Deacon ever named Atlantic Coast Conference pitcher of the year and pitched for the U.S. Collegiate National Team. He will be Wake Forest's third pitcher taken in the first round in the last four Drafts, and he's a better prospect than predecessors Jared Shuster (2020) and Ryan Cusick (2021).

#32 Brock Wilken

Snippet:

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 65 | Field: 45 | Overall: 50

Wilken burst onto the college baseball scene in 2021, setting a Wake Forest freshman record with 17 homers during the spring and winning Cape Cod League MVP honors during the summer. He encored by slamming 23 homers as a sophomore, burnishing his reputation for having as much raw power as anyone in his class. He fits the classic third-base profile with his pop and arm strength, giving him the chance to become the Demon Deacons' first first-round position player since Will Craig in 2016.

#80 Teddy McGraw

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

After recovering from 2019 Tommy John surgery that cost him his high school senior year, McGraw projected as perhaps the best Saturday starter in the 2023 Draft, but his elbow gave out again right before this season started. He was sitting at 95-98 mph with a wipeout slider in intrasquad action when he went down and required a second elbow reconstruction with an internal brace. He may have more upside than fellow Wake Forest right-hander Rhett Lowder, a lock first-rounder, but McGraw can't match his consistency or health.

#116 Sean Sullivan (who is unfortunately a draft eligible sophomore)

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45

Following the trail blazed by 2020 Braves first-rounder Jared Shuster, Sullivan has gone from Tabor Academy (Marion, Mass.) to Wake Forest, though he did spend his first college season at Northwestern. He might have been no more than a midweek starter for the Demon Deacons had Teddy McGraw not been lost to elbow surgery, yet he has ranked among the NCAA Division I leaders in K/BB ratio and whiff rate despite relying almost solely on a fastball that parks around 90 mph. In a Draft beret of left-handed starters in the college ranks, he could go as high as the second round.

#131 Seth Keener

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45

After posting a 6.31 ERA in his first two seasons at Wake Forest, Keener broke out with an all-star summer in the Cape Cod League. He has continued to excel this spring, challenging for the NCAA Division I ERA lead by permitting just three earned runs in his first 38 2/3 innings. Though he has been more of a slider-happy reliever on a loaded Demon Deacons staff, he's equipped to succeed as a starter in pro ball.
 
TheIshThatSaved WakeForest said:
I was a little sad recently to find out that Tommy Hawke is a draft eligible sophomore
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Do the draft eligible guys with remaining college eligibility have to opt into the professional baseball draft? Or do teams draft and hope to sign the guys who could remain in college?
 
Draft eligible players have the option to remain in college. They then would go back into the draft pool for the next year's draft. That said, generally the older you get, the less leverage you have when negotiating with an MLB team. Not sure how NIL money will now play into that equation.
 
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