Drew Burress Joins An Elite List of Freshman All-Americans

Image credit: (Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech)

Baseball America has selected college All-American teams in each season since it launched in 1981, missing only 2020 because the pandemic truncated the season. In 42 seasons of All-American teams, a total of 24 freshmen have earned first-team honors. The list includes 10 position players, 12 pitchers and a pair of two-way players.

The list now also includes Georgia Tech freshman outfielder Drew Burress.

The 19-year-old Burress ranked second in the ACC to Wake Forest’s Nick Kurtz with a .512 on-base percentage. His 25 home runs trailed only Florida State’s James Tibbs III and North Carolina’s Vance Honeycutt for the conference lead.

Tibbs and Kurtz are fellow first-team All-Americans. Along with Honeycutt, they are 21-year-old juniors poised to be first-round picks this year. History suggests that Burress has a great chance to join them as a first-round pick when he is draft-eligible in 2026.

Let’s take a closer look at all the players who’ve earned BA college All-American first-team honors:

All-American Freshman Hitters

Year	Pos	Player	School	AVG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
1983	OF	Rafael Palmeiro	Mississippi State	.406	234	69	95	18	78	12
1986	3B	Robin Ventura	Oklahoma State	.469	241	107	113	21	96	9
1990	OF	Jeffrey Hammonds	Stanford	.355	301	83	107	7	44	48
1996	3B	Pat Burrell	Miami	.484	192	76	93	23	64	8
2006	3B	Pedro Alvarez	Vanderbilt	.329	240	70	79	22	64	7
2010	OF	Jeremy Baltz	St. John’s	.396	240	64	95	24	85	6
2011	3B	Colin Moran	North Carolina	.335	248	46	83	9	71	2
2013	SS	Alex Bregman	Louisiana State	.369	282	59	104	6	52	16
2016	OF	Seth Beer	Clemson	.369	203	57	75	18	70	1
2024	OF	Drew Burress	Georgia Tech	.381	218	73	83	25	67	8

Burress’ 25 home runs are the most among first-team freshman hitters. This is doubly impressive because he has one of the lowest at-bat totals in the sample. His Yellow Jackets bowed out in regionals this year.

More notable is the track record of this group. Every player but St. John’s outfielder Jeremy Baltz went on to become a first-round pick. Pat Burrell was drafted No. 1 overall in 1998. Pedro Alvarez (2008) and Alex Bregman (2015) went second overall in their drafts. Jeffery Hammonds was drafted fourth overall in 1992.

Rafael Palmeiro and Robin Ventura both had lengthy MLB careers, with multiple all-star bids, Gold Gloves and at least one top 10 MVP finish.

All-American Freshman Pitchers

Year	Pos	Player	School	W	L	ERA	IP	H	BB	SO
1981	P	Kendall Carter	Arizona State	19	1	2.86	110	114	25	40
1984	P	Greg Swindell	Texas	14	2	2.05	132	89	43	117
1988	P	Kirk Dressendorfer	Texas	15	2	2.26	136	103	36	134
1989	P	Alex Fernandez	Miami	15	2	2.01	148	98	36	177
1994	P	R.A. Dickey	Tennessee	15	2	3.00	147	129	39	87
1995	P	Kyle Peterson	Stanford	14	1	2.96	143	129	35	112
2012	SP	Carlos Rodon	N.C. State	9	0	1.57	115	71	41	135
2013	SP	Thomas Eshelman	Cal State Fullerton	12	3	1.48	116	86	3	83
2013	SP	Andrew Moore	Oregon State	14	2	1.79	131	93	28	72
2015	SP	Alex Lange	Louisiana State	12	0	1.97	114	87	46	131
2021	SP	Jack Leiter	Vanderbilt	11	4	2.13	110	48	45	179
2021	RP	Landon Sims	Mississippi State	5	0	1.44	56	29	15	100

For freshmen pitchers who made the All-American first team, the outcomes are decidedly less favorable.

Not only are injuries a more prominent factor for pitchers, but it is challenging for freshmen to ascend to prominent weekend starter roles that would win them the prestige necessary to make an overall All-American team.

Still, more than half of freshman pitchers who made the overall All-American team went on to become first-round picks. Greg Swindell (1986) and Jack Leiter (2021) were No. 2 overall picks. Carlos Rodon went third overall in 2014. Alex Fernandez went fourth overall in 1990 after transferring to Miami Dade JC.

R.A. Dickey (1996), Kyle Peterson (1997) and Alex Lange (2017) also were first-round picks, while Kirk Dresssendorfer (1990) and Landon Sims (2022) were compensatory picks after the first round.

All-American Freshman Two-Way Players

Year	Pos	Player	School	AVG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
2015	UT	Brendan McKay	Louisville	.308	211	32	65	4	34	4
2021	UT	Paul Skenes	Air Force	.410	188	49	77	11	43	0

Year	Pos	Player	School	W	L	ERA	IP	H	BB	SO
2015	UT	Brendan McKay	Louisville	9	3	1.77	97	53	34	117
2021	UT	Paul Skenes	Air Force	1	1	2.70	27	20	9	30

Paul Skenes made the All-American first team as an Air Force freshman. His listed position is utility, which is how BA rewards the top two-way player in the nation, while listing both his hitting and pitching statistics.

Skenes went on to earn first-team status in 2022 and 2023 as well, making him just the fifth player in history to make three BA All-America first teams. Robin Ventura, Brandon McKay and Greg Swindell also accomplished the feat. Catcher Jason Varitek also made three All-America first teams, but his sequence began as a sophomore and finished as a senior.

One of the amazing things about Skenes is that he was better known as a hitter when he was a college freshman. On the mound, he served as closer for Air Force in 2021 before moving to the rotation in 2022. But he did not become the future ace he is today until transferring to LSU in 2023.

The Pirates drafted Skenes first overall in 2023 and he made his big league debut less than a year later on May 11, 2024. He did not take an at-bat as a college junior and has not hit as a professional.

Brendan McKay is probably the best two-way player in college history. He was a frontline pitcher and middle-order first baseman for all three seasons at Louisville.

McKay’s power didn’t fully blossom until his junior year, but his batting potential was promising enough for the Rays to draft him fourth overall in 2017 and develop him as a two-way player.

This season, McKay is on the comeback trail from yet another arm injury, but he reached the major leagues in 2019, when he made 13 pitching appearances and two at DH, including one start. A series of injuries—including shoulder surgery and Tommy John surgery— has limited his work since then.

But one thing is clear: Both Skenes and McKay, the only two freshman two-way players to make the All-America first team, were viewed as premium draft talents as juniors.