Tommy “Tanks” White cashed in on his NIL earning potential by taking his charisma and 27 home runs to LSU. Max Wagner has also moved on, taking the 27 dingers he hit last season to the Baltimore Orioles organization as the team’s 2nd-round draft pick.

That’s a lot of long balls to replace.

But even without its 2 most visible sluggers, there should still be plenty of firepower left to go around in the ACC in 2023. So as the season gets set to begin, let’s take a round trip around the league to project the home run leader for each team.

Let the big flies begin as the march to Omaha and the College World Series begins Friday.

Boston College

Cameron Leary batted only .237 last season and struck out 70 times in 198 official at-bats. But when he made contact, the ball usually went a long way. The sophomore outfielder left the yard a team-leading 16 times, with multiple-homer games against Austin Peay and Miami. With a little more plate discipline and some talented new bats surrounding him in the lineup, there’s a good chance his production will increase this year.

Clemson

Before Wagner was transformed from a seldom-used freshman into a school-record tying sophomore sensation, Caden Grice was the top power hitting threat in the Tigers’ lineup. He led the team with 15 homers while earning Freshman All-American honors in 2021. He followed by hitting 12 dingers last year. With Wagner gone, the 6-6, 250-pound first baseman is poised to regain the role as Clemson’s primary deep threat.

Duke

Devin Obee gave a glimpse of his power last year by hitting 6 in just 103 at-bats in 37 games. That’s the most bombs by a Blue Devil true freshman since Joey Loperfido in 2018. He had a 3-game homer streak against Miami, Longwood and Wake Forest in early April. Obee got a potential breakout sophomore season off to a promising start in October by hitting a 428-foot shot to help Duke to a fall exhibition win against rival North Carolina. 

Florida State

It’s a tossup between sophomore outfielders James Tibbs and Jaime Ferrer. Both displayed their power potential as freshmen and project to put up bigger numbers in 2023. But for the sake of this prediction, the nod goes with Tibbs. The 6-foot, 201-pound Atlanta native hit a homer on the 1st pitch he saw as a Seminole on opening day against James Madison. He ended the season with 10 homers, the most by an FSU rookie since Drew Mendoza also hit 10 in 2017. Ferrer wasn’t far behind with 9.

Georgia Tech

Junior outfielder Stephen Reid has increased his home run total in each of his 3 seasons with the Yellow Jackets – from 5 in only 44 at-bats during the COVID-interrupted 2020 campaign, to 9 in 2021 and 16 last year. He has emerged as the heir apparent to last year’s long ball leaders Kevin Parada, Tim Borden and Andrew Jenkins, all of whom signed pro contracts after being drafted.

Louisville

After losing most of his team’s power production from last season to the draft, coach Dan McConnell looked to the JUCO ranks to rearm his lineup with the addition of Ryan McCoy. The 6-4, 220-pound first baseman slugged 17 homers while hitting .435 last season as a sophomore at Wabash Valley College. He is projected to fit into the middle of the Cardinals’ lineup from opening day.

Miami

Yohandy Morales is listed at No. 15 by MLB.com on its list of the top 100 prospects eligible for this year’s draft. The junior third baseman, whose father played for the Cuban National Team, had 11 homers as a freshman before leading the Hurricanes with 18 last season. After a productive summer as a member of Team USA, he can further solidify his status as a 1st-round pick with a big 2023 performance.

North Carolina

How high are the expectations on Vance Honeycutt? He’s not only the ACC’s preseason Player of the Year, he’s ranked by Perfect Game USA as the No. 1 overall prospect once he becomes draft eligible in 2024. There’s a good reason for the hype. The sophomore outfielder set a school record  by hitting 25 dingers last season. He is the 1st hitter in UNC history to reach the 20-homer mark in his rookie season. He finished with a flourish by going deep 4 times in the ACC Tournament, including twice in the Tar Heels’ championship game victory against rival NC State.

NC State

No one can possibly match what Tommy Tanks brought to the Wolfpack last season. Everything in the ballpark screeched to a halt when the hulking freshman came to the plate in anticipation of him hitting yet another moon shot. So it would be unfair to compare junior outfielder Carter Trice to him. The fact is, however, that the Old Dominion transfer is being counted on to help fill the power void left by White’s transfer. He hit 31 homers in his 2 seasons with the Monarchs, including 17 in 2021, including a 3-homer game against Florida International. 

Notre Dame

The Irish got to Omaha last season with an offense that found other ways to score without the long ball. Even though their 79 home runs were a school record, they ranked only 10th in the ACC. But that was with Link Jarrett as their coach. Jarrett is at Florida State now. How things change under new coach Shawn Stiffler is yet to be seen. Still, there aren’t a lot of big boppers on the roster. Graduate student Brooks Coetzee is the top threat after hitting a career-high 12 homers in 2022.

Pittsburgh

The Panthers have an almost entirely new roster after bringing in 13 players from the transfer portal. Among them is Noah Martinez, a 6-5, 242-pound senior infielder who led Central Connecticut State with 15 long balls in 2022 while driving in 62 runs and earning 1st-team All-Northeast Conference honors. 

Virginia

Jake Gelof flew under the radar a bit last season amid all the hoopla over White and Wagner. But he produced some big-time power numbers by pounding out 21 homers with an OPS of 1.241. According to MLB.com, which lists him as its No. 38 prospect heading into the season, he’s still just learning to harness his raw power. That bodes well for both the coming college season and the upcoming draft, in which hopes to do as well as his brother Zack – a 2nd-round pick of the Oakland Athletics.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies had 7 players reach double figures in homers last season, 4 of whom were taken in the 1st 5 rounds of the MLB Draft. Of the 2 who remain, junior outfielder Jack Hurley is the most likely to lead the way this season. He’s ranked 1 spot higher than Gelof at No. 27 in MLB.com’s preseason rankings after hitting 14 homers with a 1.116 OPS while helping the Hokies to a Super Regional.

Wake Forest

Third baseman Brock Wilken set a freshman school record with 17 homers as a freshman. He followed by launching 23 as a sophomore in 2022. With 40 career dingers, he’s just 18 from Jamie D’Antona’s Deacons record of 58. Barring injury, it’s almost a sure bet he’ll surpass that mark – possibly by a wide margin – before moving on to the draft.