Wake Forest Professional Athletes

Seaver King Puts Wake Forest on the Nationals' Future

Seaver King had something to prove in 2026, and he delivered. The Washington Nationals named the Wake Forest shortstop their Prospect of the Year after a bounce-back season that looked far more like the player Washington envisioned when it selected him in the top 10 of the draft — and far less like the player who struggled through a difficult first pro campaign.

According to Sports Illustrated, King's award carries real franchise implications, not just individual accolades. The Nationals have been in a deliberate rebuild, and King emerging as a credible top prospect reshapes the organization's timeline. A shortstop with legitimate upside at the center of the diamond is the kind of anchor a rebuilding club builds around.

Yahoo Sports framed his 2026 as "electrifying," a word that doesn't get applied casually to a prospect who has faced doubts. The top-10 draft pedigree always carried expectations, but King's first pro season raised questions about whether he could meet them. This year answered those questions — at least for now.

For Wake Forest alumni watching the MLB world, King is becoming the program's most compelling story at the professional level. He's not a finished product yet, but a Prospect of the Year honor from your own organization is as clear a signal as any that the organization believes in the trajectory.

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Around the League: Kurtz and Minacci Also in the Mix

King wasn't the only Demon Deacon drawing attention this week. Over in Oakland, first baseman Nick Kurtz was part of a broader Athletics season review that underscored just how much potential — and misfortune — surrounded that young lineup in 2026. MLB Trade Rumors noted that the A's offense slipped from 12th in scoring in 2025 to 20th in 2026, largely due to significant injuries across their up-and-coming core. Kurtz was among the young hitters reviewed, a sign that despite the team's struggles, the front office views him as part of the foundation.

Out west, Wake Forest pitcher Camden Minacci surfaced in an Angels piece identifying internal bullpen candidates capable of addressing one of Los Angeles' most pressing roster needs. Sports Illustrated listed Minacci alongside two other arms as options the Halos could turn to from within, rather than looking externally. For a pitcher working his way up the organizational ladder, that kind of public recognition from the front office's perspective is meaningful.

And in the National League West, Gavin Sheets turned in a solid week at the plate for the Padres. He went 1-for-3 Thursday against Milwaukee and followed that with a 3-for-4 performance with a walk on Sunday, finishing the week hitting .500 across those two games. Sheets has long been one of the more quietly steady Wake Forest bats to reach the majors, and he continued to deliver consistent contact.

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The breadth of Demon Deacon talent across MLB rosters is notable, but this week belongs to King. A Prospect of the Year award, in the right organization at the right moment, can define a career trajectory. For Wake Forest fans, this is the story to watch as the offseason approaches.

The Deacon Who Won't Stop Raking

Gavin Sheets is making sure Wake Forest has a postseason story worth telling.

The Padres first baseman capped the final week of the regular season by homering in San Diego's 9-4 win over Arizona on September 27, then went back to work in the NL Wild Card Series — delivering a pinch-hit, two-run moonshot in Game 2 against the Cubs that all but put the series away. The Padres swept Chicago 4-1 on October 1, with Sheets going 1-for-1 with a homer, two RBI, and a run scored — good for a perfect 1.000 average on the day. Yahoo Sports' headline put it bluntly: "Holy Sheets!"

The back-to-back October moments weren't noise. Sheets was the trigger man in both games the Padres needed most in that series. His two-run blast in the fourth inning of Game 2 pushed San Diego's lead to three and gave the bullpen enough cushion to finish the job. Cubs stars Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman combined to go 0-for-15 across the two games, but San Diego didn't need the opposition to collapse — Sheets made sure the lead was safe before it could get interesting.

The Matchup Ahead

Now the Padres have advanced to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS, and Sheets — if his public confidence is any indication — doesn't think the shift in competition changes much. Per Sports Illustrated, he believes San Diego holds a key advantage heading into that series. The specifics of that edge, whatever they are, belong to the Padres' preparation. But the body language of a player who has homered in back-to-back appearances entering a division series speaks for itself.

There's an extra layer of intrigue for Wake Forest fans here: Brewers third baseman Brock Wilken, another Demon Deacon, is on the other side of this matchup. Two alumni from the same program in Winston-Salem, now squaring off in the National League Division Series. That's not a storyline the postseason schedule conjured on purpose — but it's a rare one.

The Bigger Picture

Sheets has never been mistaken for a household name, but he's been exactly what a deep playoff team needs at the margins: a bat that punishes mistakes, especially late and in leverage spots. His pinch-hit role in Game 2 against Chicago was the definition of situational execution.

The Padres' rotation and bullpen have driven most of the narrative around this run, but Sheets is the alumni story worth watching as San Diego pushes deeper into October. With Nate Mondou also on the Padres' roster, Wake Forest has two representatives on a legitimate World Series contender — not bad for a program more commonly associated with basketball on Tobacco Road.

The NLDS is next. Sheets has been hitting. Wilken is in his way. Demon Deacons fans could do a lot worse than a must-watch series.

The Cincinnati Reds are closing out their 2026 season with a pair of Wake Forest alumni anchoring the rotation — and while the results have been mixed, Chase Burns continues to flash the stuff that made him one of the most closely watched arms in baseball.

Burns Keeps His ERA Pristine

Burns turned in two starts during the week of Sept. 13–19, and his calling card remains a stingy earned-run allowance that most major-league starters would envy. On Sunday, Sept. 13, he went three innings against Milwaukee, striking out five and allowing two earned runs in a 4-3 Reds win — a stint the Yahoo Sports coverage framed as "abbreviated" in a brutal series against the Brewers. Burns was back on the mound Friday, Sept. 18, against the Cubs in what GABP billed as its final home series of the season. He again went three innings, punched out four, and gave up two earned runs in a 6-4 Cincinnati win.

The result of those two outings: a 2.86 ERA on the season. Across the two starts, Burns combined for nine strikeouts in six innings of work — efficient if not always deep into games. The shortened outings are worth watching as a potential storyline heading into the offseason, but the bottom line is that Burns has been one of the cleaner arms in the Reds' organization when it counts.

Lowder Grinds Through a Tough Week

Rhett Lowder, the other Deacon in Cincinnati's rotation, had a harder time of it on Tuesday, Sept. 15, against the Dodgers. Lowder went five innings — the longer outing of the two Wake Forest starters this week — and struck out four, but surrendered three earned runs in a game Cincinnati dropped. His ERA sits at 5.79, a figure that reflects a rougher overall season compared to his former college teammate.

Still, Lowder eating five innings against a Los Angeles lineup that has been one of the most dangerous in the National League is context worth noting. It wasn't a performance to celebrate, but it wasn't a collapse, either.

The Bigger Picture

The presence of Burns and Lowder in the same major-league rotation is a genuine point of pride for Wake Forest's baseball program. The two right-handers were drafted in the first round in consecutive years and arrived in Cincinnati as part of the franchise's longer-term rebuild. As the 2026 season winds down, Burns in particular has positioned himself as one of the more compelling young starters in the NL — a 2.86 ERA is no accident.

No other Wake Forest alumni in MLB had notable statistical activity in the brief during this period, though the Deacons' footprint across the league — from the Reds to the Athletics, Phillies, Braves, and beyond — reflects the program's consistent ability to develop professional talent.

For Burns and Lowder, the closing weeks of September are less about playoff implications and more about building momentum for what comes next. On that front, Burns, at least, is making a strong case.