Former Tennessee Vols RHP Chase Burns made his debut for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday against Illinois and he was dazzling.
Burns, who left Knoxville for Winston-Salem after the 2023 season, struck out 10 batters while allowing just three hits and walking one across six shutout innings in his first start for Wake Forest.
The former Vol became a national sensation last summer thanks to his work out of the bullpen in post-season play.
Burns was moved to the bullpen last season after struggling early in the season as a starter for the Vols (6.10 ERA as a starter before the move to the bullpen).
There was some hope in Knoxville that Burns would stick around for another season, but he chose to hit the transfer portal and landed with Wake Forest, the preseason No. 1 team in the nation entering the 2024 season.
Burns is already viewed as a potential top 10 selection in this summer’s MLB draft, despite his struggles as a starter last season.
Speaking of those struggles, Wake Forest’s social media team had a little fun during/after Burns’ first start, seemingly throwing a couple of jabs at Tennessee.