With the 8th pick of the 2026 MLB Draft, the Oakland Atheltics have selected Georgia Tech Outfielder Drew Burress
Burress hails from Warner Robins Georgia, where he attended Houston County Highschool. Burress achieved a number of prestigious accolades in his high school career alone. During his time at Houston County the school won two State Championships for baseball, was named the 2022 Georgia Player of the year by Prep Baseball Report, tied the prep state record for 73 RBIs in a season, and was selected
to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic. Upon graduation Burress was rated as the #1 outfield recruit in the state of Georgia and the #4 outfielder in the nation.
Things did not slow down for Drew Burress in college. As a freshman at Georgia Tech Burress continued to rack up absurd stats and earn awards. Burress hit .381/.512/.821 with 25 HRs and 67 RBIs which broke the Freshman HR record for Georgia Tech. Burress also flashed his defensive talent with 10 outfield assists on the year. After the 2024 season, Burress was named the ACC Freshman of the year, a Freshman All-American, a First team All-American, Freshman Hitter of the year, and Freshman of the year by various publications.
Burress did see a bit of a drop in offensive performance his sophomore and junior years though. During Drew Burress’s second season at Georgia Tech, he slashed .333/.469/.693 with 19 HRs and 62 RBIs. Burress had a better average during his junior year hitting .358/.473/.657 with 16 HRs and 60 RBIs. Keep in mind, his sophomore and junior years are the equivalent of a slump for Burress, and he still drove in over 122 runs over the course of those 2 years.
The immediate thing fans will notice about Burress is the numbers he puts up on offense. Burress is an offensive force, which may surprise you if you see him in person. Burress is 5-foot-9 and 185 lbs which makes him seem small for a power hitter, but don’t let that fool you. Burress has never had a OPS below 1.100 during his college career and even set a record for career HRs at Georgia Tech with 60 over 3 seasons, surpassing Jason Varitek who needed 4 years to get 58 HRs. Burress is an offensive beast.
Part of the reason Burress is able to put up such insane numbers is his ability to hit the fast ball. Burress seems to be able to hit a fast ball with ease no matter how fast it comes at the plate. Burress has a knack for waiting on the fast ball and using a powerful hip rotation to drive the ball deep. Drew Burress does have some things to improve on at the plate. Despite the big numbers Drew Burress still struggles with sharp curve balls and other off-speed pitches which drop below the strike zone. That said, Burress had 160 walks to his 122 strikeouts in college, so it wasn’t like Burress was getting fooled at the plate that often.
Burress’s fielding does not get the same acclaim as his batting, but that’s more of a testament to how good a batter he is and not an affront to his fielding. Burress typically plays center field and does a good job on getting a read on the ball. Burress is not lightning fast, but he is smart and finds a way to be in the best position to make a play. Burress also has a fantastic arm and will make runners think before they try to take an extra base if the ball is headed towards him.
Drew Burress is a supremely talented player; he has been his entire career. I have no doubt that Burress is destined to be a big time player in the pros, the only question is how long will it be before we see him take the field. The Atheltics have gotten a player who has won and every level of play in Drew Burress and I have no doubt he is going to help the A’s win plenty of games in the future.
