The event will take place June 17-21 in Phoenix
A trio of pitchers from NC State’s 2025 baseball team, as well as the top two prospects in the Wolfpack’s incoming 2026 freshman class, will take part in the 2025 MLB Draft Combine this week and weekend in Phoenix. Obviously, this puts those players firmly in the conversation of being drafted this year, thus putting into question the potential of them being a member of the Pack9 in 2026.
From NC State, the pitchers are SO RHP Heath Andrews, JR LHP Dominic Fritton, and JR RHP Shane Van Dam. Andrews (4-3, 6.02 ERA, 64.1 IP, 7.5 BB%, 18.0 K%) is draft eligible due to his age (he’ll be 21 by the start of the draft), but is also the most likely to return as he’ll be entering his third year of collegiate play, thus retaining that negotiating power with clubs in the 2026 Draft. He also has a lot to gain by returning and putting together a productive 2026 campaign.
Fritton (5-6, 4.47 ERA, 86.2 IP, 10.0 BB%, 27.5 K%) should be drafted, although it’ll be interesting to see how teams value him. He’ll likely move from a starter at the collegiate level to a reliever at the pro level. Control has always been the concern for him, although he turned in an excellent 2025 season after a downer of a 2024 campaign that sunk the draft stock that was so high after his Freshman All-American debut 2023 season.
Van Dam (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 8.0 IP, 11.8 BB%, 11.8 K%) returned late in the 2025 season, making a quick comeback from Tommy John Surgery which ended his 2024 season prematurely. He is likely to be the highest drafted player from the 2025 Pack9 as the combination of his size (6’6, 198 lbs), existing stuff (mid-90’s fastball plus a tight breaking ball), and projectability (potential to be a starter) is very enticing.
The two members of the Wolfpack’s incoming freshman class at the event are RHP C.J. Gray (A.L. Brown HS, Kannapolis, NC) and INF Aidan West (Long Reach HS, Ellicott City, MD). Gray is a 6’1, 193 lbs power righty who was a two-sport star the prep level (he was a QB on the football team), but will focus on baseball moving forward as that is where his best opportunities lie. He’s been clocked as high as 97 mph this spring and can maintain mid-90’s velocity across multiple innings. His fastball is his calling card and the lack of true secondary offering right now might be NC State’s best chance of him going undrafted, choosing to head to Raleigh to work on developing that.
West is a bigger build prep SS with a 6’2, 210 pound frame that delivers some power from his lefty bat. He has the arm strength and athleticism to stay on the left side of the infield at the collegiate level, although he may profile more as a 2B at the professional level. He has a nice line-drive approach with his swing and would be an immediate impact bat for the Wolfpack in 2026 if he makes it to Raleigh.