As summer baseball continues all across the country, Creighton’s 2016-17 recruiting class continues to take shape. Because of graduation, attrition and a couple players, Nicky Lopez and Danny Woodrow, leaving early to play pro ball, the Jays have a lot of holes to fill.

The staff has been working overtime to fill the roster and at present has an incredible 20 players committed to come to Creighton next year. One of these players is Chris Burica. (pronounced bur-E-sa) Bluejaybanter.com caught up with the 6-foot-6 left-handed pitcher from Orange County, California to find out more about him and his reasons for coming to Creighton.

BJB: How did your high school season go last year?

Chris: It went better than I could have hoped. Everything started to click. My stat line was really good and our team made it to the quarterfinals.

BJB: Has baseball always been your favorite sport?

Chris: Growing up I played a whole bunch of sports. I enjoyed other sports, especially basketball, but baseball has always been my passion.

BJB: Tell us a little about your pitching style.

Chris: I have an upper 80’s fastball but I don’t really over power guys. I’m normally a two seam guy. I consider myself a crafty left-hander. I have always had to work on my other pitches so one of my best pitches is my slider.

BJB: You got drafted recently. Tell us your thought process in coming to Creighton and turning down the pro offer.

Chris: I got drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 40th round. As a kid your dream is always to be a professional baseball player but at the same time I want to further my education and see where that takes me.

BJB: Can you tell us about your recruiting process?

Chris: I was a late bloomer with my recruiting stuff so I was really looking for a home and what would work for me.

BJB: What impressed you about Creighton?

Chris: The coaches really blew me away. I was also really impressed with the players I talked to and the experience they had here at Creighton. I really enjoyed listening to them and how much fun they had on and off the field.

BJB: During your recruiting trip here what did you do?

Chris: One thing we did was go to a Creighton basketball game. It was great because I’m not really a football fan and I have always been a basketball fan. This was the first college basketball game I had been to and the atmosphere was really cool. As a basketball guy I thought “This is perfect that the number one sport here is basketball.”

BJB: What did you think of TD Ameritrade Park?

Chris: There is not one player in the country who can say they have a better park than this. This park is perfect for me. It’s the ultimate pitchers park.

Chris will be arriving here in Omaha in mid-August. With the large number of new comers on the team next year there is plenty of opportunity to earn playing time. Look for Chris Burica to be a player who will try to earn some innings on the pitching staff next year.