With the 27th pick in the 2016 Draft, the White Sox have selected Zack Burdi from the University of Louisville. Mock drafts prior to the 2016 Draft didn’t seem to agree with when Burdi would be selected: Baseball America had him being selected 12th overall, while ESPN had him at 26th overall and MLB.com had him at 22nd.
Burdi is the second pick of the night for the ChiSox, joining fellow ACC player Zack Collins. Chicago will likely look to use Burdi as a back-end bullpen piece, and could promote him to the majors this season if in contention.
Burdi can hit 100 MPH and above on the fastball, though it sits in the high-90s, according to the Courier-Journal. Burdi has an older brother, Nick, who is in the Minnesota Twins organization and once hit 103 MPH on the fastball. The 6’3" 209 lbs righty also throws a slider and a changeup.
In 26 appearances and 28.2 innings pitched in the 2016 season, Burdi has notched 11 saves while only allowing 15 hits, eight runs—seven of which were earned, and seven walks. He struck out 46.
In other rankings, MLB.com’s Prospect Watch ranked him at 41st while Baseball America had him 30th out of their top 100 draft prospects.