skip navigation

Wolkow Ready For Whatever Comes Next

By Lincoln Smith, Correspondent, 03/23/22, 9:00PM CDT

Share

6'7 prospect from Downers Grove, IL just reclassified himself into the 2023 high school graduating class

Downers Grove North's George Wolkow has a plan. It’s well thought out, because well, he’s a thoughtful guy.

Doing just about all he could and proving all he could prove within the 2024 class, Wolkow has made the decision to reclassify into the 2023 class, putting himself 12 months closer to either the 2023 MLB Draft or freshman orientation at South Carolina, where he’s committed to play for Mark Kingston and the Gamecocks.

“I just felt like I was ready, physically and mentally, for the next level,” Wolkow said. “I obviously don’t know what that next level is yet, but I’m ready to take the step and get to that next level.”

The third base/outfield prospect was a top-10 player in the 2024 class and remains a top-50 prospect in the 2023 class, according to Perfect Game.

With the reclass, Wolkow is jumping head-first into the dizzying travel ball circuit prospects goes on the summer before they become draft-eligible. There are the Area Code Games, MLB’s PDP League, Perfect Game’s National Showcase and subsequent All-American Classic in San Diego.

He has his eyes set on the 18u National team for USA Baseball this summer, too. He was on the 15u National team last summer, so he’s used to wearing the stars and stripes. He doesn’t want to stop now.

“He’s really ready to accept the challenges of what this brings. I feel good about that part of it, for sure.”

“My biggest goal for the summer is to make the 18u National team for USA Baseball,” Wolkow said. “I’d be the first person to go straight from the 15u National team to the 18u National team. So that’s a big goal of mine.”

He basically looks like Captain America, standing at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds. And it certainly sounds like an elite prospect when he steps to the plate. He proved as much in Jupiter last fall at Perfect Game’s WWBA World Championship, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team thanks to his .500 average (6-for-12) and 1.372 OPS.

Now he gets to prove himself all over again against a new crop of prospects, most a year older than him.

He can’t wait.

“I’m just excited about the next 15 months to see how good I’m going to have to be and how hard I’m going to have to work to compete with the best of the best in that 2023 group,” Wolkow said. “With 15 months coming up before the draft, I want to give myself the best opportunity for that, and if not that, I’m excited to get on campus a year earlier and go play some SEC baseball.”

Rob Rooney, President of Longshots Baseball, where Wolkow plays his travel ball, knows Wolkow as well as anybody.

He’s seen Wolkow’s batting practice, his fluidity in the field, his upper-80s arm on the mound. That’s all great, he said, and it’s at the level it needs to be at to make the jump Wolkow is making.

What he said makes Wolkow special and uniquely qualified for reclassifying, though, is the off-the-field stuff. The big left-handed swinger has 80-grade stuff in that department.

“He really tries. He’s an A-plus character kind of kid,” Rooney said. “He really tries to do the right thing. Everyone sees him as significantly-sized, really strong, fast. He’s an uber athlete. But what they don’t see is that he has an unbelievable passion and commitment to development, and he does it in the backdrop. He’s not out there on Instagram or Twitter showing off all the work he’s doing. He’s working in the weight room by himself. He’s there early and late."

“He’s really ready to accept the challenges of what this brings. I feel good about that part of it, for sure.”

When Wolkow went to Rooney to bounce the idea off him, his advice wasn’t necessarily to reclass or not. It was just to put deep thought into it before Wolkow made a decision. Knowing him as well as he does, he knew Wolkow had already been doing that.

That’s what Wolkow said he hopes people know about the decision. He didn’t do this with his eyes on a signing bonus or anything like that. His thought process went well beyond that – years beyond – because he wants to set himself up for success in his future, wherever that takes him.

Like he said, he doesn’t even know what this summer will bring, let alone the summer after that. He just wants the next best challenge, and the 2023 class provides it.

“In my eyes, it’s not a short-term play,” Wolkow said. “It’s not just for the draft, or to get to school a year earlier. It’s more long-term. If I end up going to school, I’ll be 20 years old coming out of South Carolina. Draft-eligible at 20, which is huge. I would get to arbitration at 26 instead of 27, so a year earlier there. And in the long run, I think it will be better for my development as my career progresses.”


CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Sponsored by Great Lakes Bat Company

Great Lakes Bat Company

Visit Website