Before conference play started up, North Carolina and East Carolina participated in their home/neutral/away series. Friday night’s series opener featured a duel between future first-rounder Trey Yesavage and freshman Folger Boaz, with several intriguing draft prospects in both lineups. Yesavage and Vance Honeycutt — the two most notable names in the game — each delivered in big moments.
OF Vance Honeycutt, North Carolina
It was a quiet day at the plate for Honeycutt… until it wasn’t. The Carolina center fielder crushed the go-ahead (and eventual game-winning) homer to lead off the bottom of the eighth.
Honeycutt exploded onto the scene with a 25-25 freshman campaign in 2022, but faltered a bit as a sophomore. The early returns on his (presumably) final collegiate season look more like freshman Honeycutt. On Friday against ECU, he showed off his tools in impressive fashion, even if it wasn’t his most complete game.
He’s a prototypical center fielder who may as well have been built in a lab, boasting college baseball’s best power/speed combination over the last three seasons. He makes very loud contact with plus in-game power as a result of lots of raw strength and excellent bat speed and is a dangerous weapon on the basepaths. He’s also an effortless mover in the outfield, getting great reads and gliding to the ball with efficient routes. While the arm isn’t anything to write home about, it’s more than serviceable for the position.
The concern, of course, comes in the form of his hit tool. Interestingly, he very rarely chases thanks to excellent plate vision and discipline, but there is plenty of swing-and-miss to his game. He cut his strikeout rate significantly from 2022 to 2023, but he’ll need to continue that trend. Honeycutt will be a polarizing draft prospect, but a strong junior season could catapult him back into the 1.1 conversation.
OF Anthony Donofrio, North Carolina
Donofrio isn’t quite as big of a name as Parks Harber, but as far as Carolina transfer bats go, he may be the more impactful of the two. The former Quinnipiac Bobcat has an ideal corner outfield frame, with a strong build that translates to solid power to the pull side. He comes with some chase out of the zone, and he particularly struggled with the dangerous changeup of future first-rounder Trey Yesavage on Friday. When he did make contact with the pitch, it was weakly hit the other way.
In this limited sample, he looked like a quality right fielder, tracking the ball well into the gap and down the line. He moves very well both in the outfield and on the bases, with both above-average raw speed and excellent instincts. Donofrio has the chance to build up some draft stock with a strong showing in his first season in the ACC.
LHP Folger Boaz, North Carolina (2025)
Boaz, a true freshman who was thrust into the Friday night role following the preseason injury of Jake Knapp, faced his first real test against ECU in just his second career start. He responded to the moment with 4.2 strong innings, allowing just one run (scored after he exited) with one strikeout.
Boaz sat 92-93 MPH with the fastball, which he relied on very heavily. His slider showed good two-plane break, and he appeared to trust it against both lefties and righties. He also flashed a promising changeup with good fading action against lefties. The southpaw showed solid command and control, but unsurprisingly for a freshman, both are a work in progress. Boaz will be eligible for the draft as a sophomore in 2025 and will have a ton of opportunities to prove himself over the next two seasons.
RHP Trey Yesavage, East Carolina
Despite not factoring into the decision, Yesavage was decisively fantastic Friday night against the Tar Heels.
The ECU ace has an extra large build and a very strong frame, with shorter arm action out of a three-quarters slot and a downhill delivery. His fastball sat 95-96 MPH in the early innings, reaching as high as 97 MPH on a punchout of Parks Harber, but fell to 92-94 MPH in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. It flashed as an out pitch early on but was still effective in the lower range, although he relied more on his electric secondaries deeper into his start. He utilized a disappearing changeup to left-handed hitters and a wipeout slider to righties, generating tons of whiffs with both offerings. On the night, he tallied 23 total swings and misses. He also featured an occasional upper-70s curveball that generated some weak contact.
Yesavage has the profile of a future No. 2 starter and should be solidly in the first-round mix right now. He may be hard-pressed to rival the raw stuff of the top righties in the class – Chase Burns and Brody Brecht – but he isn’t all that far behind overall.
OF Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, East Carolina
Jenkins-Cowart was easily ECU’s most productive and most impressive hitter on Friday against the Tar Heels. The left-handed-hitting outfielder collected two hits on the night, and that doesn’t include the time he took 92 MPH the other way in his first plate appearance against lefty Folger Boaz.
He boasts immense raw power, and with an extremely large and projectable frame, that should turn into game power going forward. For now, he makes plenty of quality contact out of a wide stance and an operation that isn’t necessarily fluid but is definitely simple. There’s some swing-and-miss, but he does draw walks, as well. He has the arm to stick in a corner outfield spot, but his lack of speed could push him towards first base down the line.
Jenkins-Cowart looks like a solid Day 2 draft pick at this point, regardless of his future defensive home.