Scouting grades 20–80
55Hit
60Power
55Run
55Field
60Arm
Headed to Georgia Tech following the 2023 MLB draft, Burress made an immediate statement as soon as he stepped on campus as a freshman, asserting himself as one of the top names to know in the class. Burress slashed .381 with 25 home runs, while boasting high level walk and strikeout rates. While he did slightly regress statistically during his sophomore year, it's still hard to find somebody who has performed as well as Burress over a two year stretch.
Offensively, Burress shows some loud raw power, more than one might expect with his 5-foot-9 frame. For his stature, it might be the best pound-for-pound raw power in the 2026 draft class with exit velocities that have peaked north of 115 mph multiple times. Burress does a good job coiling into his back leg and rotating powerfully with his hips, generating lightning quick bat speed through the zone. It can be a noisy operation at times, a big leg kick and drift forward onto his front side, but Burress's contact rates have remained steadily at an above average rate so far throughout his collegiate carreer. Burress can really hit fastballs, consistently driving most pitches thrown to him in the upper part of the strike zone. He's only really struggled with adjusting to low pitches, mainly when he tends to sell out for the heater. It's a pull-heavy approach, but that should allow for plenty of power output should Burress continue to loft the ball. As it stands now, Burress has one of the more well-rounded offensive profiles in the class with a track-record of performing at the highest of levels across 3 separate collegiate seasons. It's hard to really nit-pick at anything other than his size.
In the field, Burress has the tools of a future center fielder, with above average speed, solid reads, and a plus arm to pair. He can really put his body on the line for a ball. With as decorated of a hitter as Burress is, this is a profile that will be hard for teams to pass on.
