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Georgia Tech Baseball: Despite Losing Two Difference Makers, Jackets in Good Shape Post Draft

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 17: A detailed view of a group of Rawlings official Major League baseballs sitting on the field during the Detroit Tigers Spring Training workouts at the TigerTown Facility on February 17, 2020 in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 17: A detailed view of a group of Rawlings official Major League baseballs sitting on the field during the Detroit Tigers Spring Training workouts at the TigerTown Facility on February 17, 2020 in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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The Georgia Tech baseball program on Thursday night saw two of their top players most likely move onto the Major Leagues but overall, the Jackets came out of the draft in good shape for the 2021 season.

As the dust settled on Thursday night, two Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets received phone calls from Major League Teams.

Those two Yellow Jackets; junior infielder Michael Guldberg (third round – Oakland Athletics) and junior outfielder Baron Radcliffe (fifth round – Philadelphia Phillies) will both most likely be moving onto the Major Leagues. Radcliffe, has already posted on Twitter his intentions of signing,  Guldberg on the other hand, some thing may be harder to sign but I would have hard time believing that the Oakland Athletics didn’t do their due diligence before using one of their picks in this smaller draft on Guldberg.

But despite losing two of their best players in Radcliffe and Guldberg, the Yellow Jackets came out of Thursday night in good shape. Most likely returning in 2021 include players that were eligible in this year’s draft such as Colin Hall and Luke Waddell both who in a regular MLB Draft would’ve likely been drafted this season. Not to mention the return of a talented freshmen class that was putting up big numbers before this season was cut short.

While Danny Hall should already be pretty happy with all that, he has as to be ecstatic that he knows he’ll have catcher Kevin Parada and right hander Marquis Grissom Jr. at his disposal next season.

Parada was most likely a first or second round pick this year had it not been for a reported high asking price but also his commitment to Georgia Tech. Now, the Jackets will have three years to four years to work with the talented backstop who was the No.48 prospect in this year’s draft according to MLB.com. Parada will look to be the next in a long line of great Georgia Tech catchers which of course recently includes Joey Bart (second overall – 2018) and Kyle McCann (fourth round – 2019). When considering the Jackets also have Jake Holland on the roster, a very talented catcher himself, the Jackets will once again have one of the best shoddy the catcher position in the ACC, if not all of college baseball.

Grissom, on the other hand, is a pitcher that scouts are very high on and is a player who actually may be better off going to college and developing rather than developing in the minors. Scouts believe that Grissom could be a potential front line starter at the Major League level one day and is already hitting mid-90s on his fastball despite having plenty of room in his body to fill into as he stands at 6-foot-2 and 195-pounds. He’s going to be an exciting pitching prospect to watch over the next three to four years.

Overall, the 2021 season should be one of high promise for the Georgia Tech baseball team as they’ll be one of the more talented teams in the ACC.

They’re starting rotation could potentially return every player depending on if Jonathan Hughes returns for another try at a redshirt senior season. If he doesn’t, Grissom Jr will likely slide into the rotation as his replacement. Barring transfers or retirements from baseball, the entire Jackets bullpen should also return next season. The Jackets pitching staff is certainly going to be a strength heading into next season.

Their lineup should only lose three guys in Austin Wilhite (eligibility), Guldberg, and Radcliff. But as mentioned above, the talented true freshman class shouldn’t have any trouble replacing them with players like Stephen Reid, Drew Compton, and Tres Gonzalez all looking like they could be special players going forward.

All in all, the 2021 season could be a very special season for Danny Hall and his Georgia Tech Baseball program. The early expectations will certainly be high and with only losing two players on Thursday, the Jackets are in even better shape than expected.