Everything From Georgia Tech Star Drew Burress Ahead Of Series Vs Bowling Green

The highly anticipated season for Georgia Tech baseball begins on Friday with a series against Bowling Green. Ahead of that series, Yellow Jackets star outfielder Drew Burress spoke to the media and here is everything that he had to say.

On what he sees from the starting rotation…

“I think between McKee and Patel, I mean, it's just guys that have been there for us. We know exactly what we're going to get out of them. Obviously, Patel doing what he did last year. I mean, he brought up an interesting stat to me the other day, actually. He's pitched in college baseball, whatever it is, four going on five years now, and he's only had above a 3/5 one time. And I mean, he can really pitch. I mean, I think there are a lot of different roles that he's been used in, but I mean, I think starting is not necessarily new, but it is a good option for him and is a super safe option because we know exactly what we can get out of him. I think obviously Tate's ready to take that next step.

I think you go back and look at it. A lot of teams that have won national championships, I mean, it's really hard to do that without a legitimate dominant Friday night guy. And I think that I really believe Tate can do that, and he 100% has all the necessary resources to do so. And it's just a matter of um, kind of sequencing everything up and getting out there and dominating guys. I think I mean obviously Underwood is um he's a guy that I mean I talked a lot about coming um into the fall and he had a really tough decision to make kind of like I did coming out of high school whether he wanted to take some money in the draft or or go ahead and come to college and he really was confident in wanting to come to college and and wanted to get better. I think it's just one of those things. I mean, he's been absolutely dominant the last two or three weeks, since we've come back this spring in scrimmages. I think he really did earn the role, and I'm really excited to watch him throw over the course of the season, but specifically on Sunday.”

On the lessons he learned playing for Team USA….

“That was such an awesome trip. I mean me and Vine got to go out there and be roommates, and it's such a different brand of baseball. I feel like I mean it's the same game, but they play it so differently. I mean, I think it's funny. I mean, everybody talks about my size and whatnot, but I was probably I would have been the biggest position player on their team. Every single one of them could run, every single one of them could throw, every single one of them could hit the ball out of the yard when they wanted to. And I mean, I think there's something to be said when those guys play the game so hard. They know how to play the game so well. I think I learned a lot from that. I mean, they play the game so fluidly. I mean, you look at them, they're all, I mean, 150, 160 pounds, but they can just run into the ball, and it's cool to watch. We teach a certain brand here at Georgia Tech. I feel like we probably have the most different types of players out of, like, maybe any college in the country. I mean, we have a little bit of everything here, but out there, it's all kind of like they kind of line you up, and they play very similar styles to each other, but it's impressive to watch, honestly.”

On what it means to be named a captain….

“Coach Ramsey, kind of, I actually found out the same time as the rest of the team. He announced it at our banquet the other night, and I mean obviously I know that he was kind of the first one to do that at Florida State, and I know that was a big honor for him, and it's obviously a big honor for me. To think about how far this program has come since I've been here, it is cool to watch. I mean, obviously, my freshman year we went 15-15, and it was pretty much me, Curse and Von occasionally, and a bunch of fifth-year seniors and then last year, we obviously won the ACC with I mean 20 wins in the ACC, and to think this year, I mean we are so much better than we were last year. It's just so exciting to see. I mean, I really think it obviously takes a lot for me to get the guys to perform well enough to have the guys respond to me, but I mean, I feel like it's such an honor to be able to say that I'll be the captain for the team this year. And I mean, I think it's one of those things like Coach Ramsey mentioned earlier, I mean, when I'm 40 or 50 years old, I'll be able to look back and say that I was a captain for an Omaha national championship team.”

On what he has seen form Coach Ramsey and the transition…

“To be honest with you, I think it's been a really smooth transition. I mean, I think there are a lot of similarities, obviously. I mean, we pretty much kept the whole coaching staff except for Coach Hall retiring. I think that was a big part of the decision in the first place. I mean, Coach Ramsey is, he's kind of always been, he was one of the biggest reasons I kind of came here in the first place. I think he's kind of always been somebody that I believed in, and he's kind of always believed in me. I think he has done a great job of letting each individual coach, like, kind of coach their own respective part of the game. I think he's just such a motivational like guy to be at the top of the clubhouse. It's been really smooth, and I think we're all really glad that he got the job and that he's going to be the one captaining the ship this year.”

On the additions of Ryan Zuckerman and Jarren Advincula….

“Those two guys are unreal. I mean, just to think about how good our offense was last year and pretty much bringing everybody back besides Lois and then adding those two dudes who are not just good players, but two of the best players in the country right in there around him. I mean, I think obviously everybody knows how good Jarren is. I mean, we were uh scrimmaging on Friday and he had like I don't know what it was. It might have been six, it might have been 12 hits. I mean, it seemed like it just every and I was hitting behind him and I was like I I'd get up there on deck and and every first pitch it was a hit and I'd be like, "Well, I mean, I didn't even get time to warm up half the time because he was just getting on base so fast." I mean, he's just such a hard worker.

I think he's one of those things that's he's going to be a lot of fun. He's going to take this team um he's just another piece that can really help take this team to the next level that we haven't quite been able to achieve in the last little while. Zuck was a guy I guess that I guess you can say he came in with a few more question marks. Obviously, he had struggling out a lot in the past and I think he's a guy that's like he is the perfect James Ramsey school of hitting candidate. He has gotten so much better all the way around whether I mean he's striking out so much less. He's hitting the ball harder. He's hitting the ball in the air more often. He's hitting the ball the pull side and the opposite field. I mean I think he's one of those guys. I mean, you just look at him standing at third base, you're like, "Holy cow, that dude's a big leaguer." And I think he's one of the guys that I mean, are going to be one of the most surprising guys out of the team. And there's so many so much star power on this team, I feel like. He's one of them that I mean, honestly, I don't feel like gets talked about enough. I'm just so excited to see what he can do in a full season in this Georgia Tech offense when. And it's kind of the same thing with me and him and Hernie, and I mean all these guys. It's one of those things. It's going to be so hard to say, "Okay, I'm going to pitch to this guy.

I mean, you really can't um it's going to be tough to pitch around a lot of us, and I think that's going to be valuable, really valuable in terms of numbers-wise and and being able to score a lot of runs for every single one of us.”

On seeing more stealing bases in 2026……

“Yeah, I mean for sure. I think that's one thing since coach Schulman came here last year that we really focused on. I think if they're there, we're going to take them. I mean, I think it's one of those things. I mean, obviously there's times when if we're running the ball out of the yard at a at a crazy high clip, there's times when it's uh you kind of have to weigh your options, but I think um that's one thing about our kind of base running system that we have now is like if if the bases are there, we are going to take them whether the guy's likely to hit a ball out of the yard on the next pitch or not. I think that's one thing that I mean, professionally wise has really helped every single one of us on this team, is kind of learning the art of the base stealing and and and just base running in general since coach Schulman has got here. So I'll give a big shout-out to him for that. But I mean, I really think um, there is a world where I mean, there's quite a few of us that have 15 or 20 stolen bases along with 15 or 20 home runs or 15 or 20 doubles.I mean, it really is such a dynamic offense and I really believe over the course of the season, I mean, almost every guy that we have can really do all of it.”