Virginia Tech Hokies Baseball Players Dafted: Hackenberg, Hurley, and Worley are Leaving for the Minors

The Major League Draft is always a bittersweet process for Hokies fans. The good players tend to go out early and leave the program before their eligibility is over. This week three tech players headed for the exits with the promises of professional glory burning in their hearts.

Drue Hackenberg – 59th Pick Overall – Atlanta Braves

Drue Hackenberg is heading for the Atlanta Braves organization. He was drafted in the 2nd round and will head to either one of the Braves A ball teams or maybe even AA. He’s got some development to do and had some struggles in the 2023 season. We wish him well and hope to see him on the bump in a major league uniform in the future.

Hackenberg leaves with two years of eligibility left. He had a 15-10 record and a 4.45 ERA with 186 strikeouts on the bump for his two seasons at Tech.

Jack Hurley – 80th Pick Overall – Arizona Diamondbacks

This one wasn’t much of a surprise, but this team will really miss the final year of Hurley’s eligibility. He was a team leader, and even had a major presence during the games while he rode the bench with a finger injury. Jack leaves the program as a utility outfielder (mostly right field this season) with one year of eligibility left. Hurley had a batting average of .321 with 188 hits; including 48 doubles, 3 triples, and 37 home runs. He managed 129 runs batted in for his three seasons.

Christian Worley – 275th Overall – St. Louis Cardinals

Reliver Christian Worley departs Blacksburg as a middle right-handed reliever. He was credited with 3 wins and no losses. Over the last three seasons his ERA for a reliever (which is often higher than a starter) was a very respectable 4.42. He pitched a total of 36 and 2/3rds innings and fanned 57.

Worley also leaves with a year of eligibility remaining and will undoubtedly be working his way through the Cardinal’s farm system.

We wish all of our Hokies the best, but we sure wish that they’d hung around until their eligibility was exhausted. It was a pleasure watching them play, here at the park.

GO HOKIES!!!