The Tennessee baseball program has suffered a big loss, as star pitcher Chase Burns has decided to enter the transfer portal.
Burns was lights out in the postseason, allowing only a single earned run and striking out 22 batters in just 16.1 innings.
He seemed to find his best role as a receiver out of the bullpen after beginning the season as a starter.
Once Tenneseee coach Tony Vitello moved him to the bullpen, Burns flourished.
Vitello talked about what Burns’ loss may mean for the team in a radio interview on Tuesday.
“In the course of this year he became the No. 1 popular pitcher, maybe in the country, but definitely in his class,” Vitello said on SportsTalk 99.1.
“He’s probably ranked No. 1 as a pitcher in his class at this point but it’s a different day and age so he’ll take those efforts on somewhere else and we wish him the best.”
Burns, a Tennessee native, is expected to be one of the top pitchers taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, which means his decision on where to transfer to could be one of the biggest decisions of the college baseball offseason.
Burns and Vitello helped Tennessee make the College World Series for the second time in three years this season, where they were eliminated by eventual national champions LSU.