Today, we will be taking a look at the rest of the Big 12 with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech all looked at. (The rest of the conference is available by clicking here)
Oklahoma
2008 Season 36-26 (Overall) 9-17 (8th Big 12)
Head Coach Sunny Golloway
Is this the year of the Sooners?? OU was a surprise selection come tournament time in 2008 as they went 9-17 in BIG 12 play. They showed that they belonged by taking out a very good Vanderbilt team in the Tempe Regional before bowing out to Arizona State. Oklahoma returns a solid group of guys that will be looking to improve on their Big 12 play and to get back to a NCAA Regional. OU returns 18 letterwinners- 6 of those Pitchers with at least 5 starts.
Top Returning Pitchers
Junior RHP Andrew Doyle was 9-4 with an ERA of 4.53 in a team leading games started with 15. Doyle worked 99 innings while opposing teams batted .279.
Junior RHP Chase Anderson saw action in 24 games started in 5 of them. He had a 5-4 record with an ERA of 5.04.
Sophomore Ryan Duke started 10 games as a freshman while going 7-5 in 71 innings pitched.
Junior Jeremy Urben started 10 games as a sophomore with a 1-4 record with an ERA of 6.89.
Top Returning Position Players
Sophomore Casey Johnson batted .346 while seeing action in 48 games including 40 starts in the outfield.
Junior Jamie Johnson saw action in all 63 games starting 55 of them in the outfield.
Junior Aaron Baker led the team with nine homers, 61 RBIs (ninth in Big 12) and 19 multiple-RBI games.
Senior Trey Sperring played in 51 of the 63 games and batted .287.
Senior J.T. Wise batted .278 as the catcher for OU.
Senior Matt Harughty batted .273 will be the everyday 2nd baseman.
Incoming players to watch for
Freshman Jordan Imhoff played at Arlington-Martin High School
Junior J.R. Robinson
Freshman Chris Ellison
Key Losses from 2008
Mike Gosse (DH/2B)
Aljay Davis (CF)
Oklahoma State
2008 Season-44-18(Over All) 18-9(2nd BIG 12)
Head Coach Frank Anderson and the Cowboys season was cut short last June when Andy Oliver was suspended. OSU season this year will be determine on the outcome of the litigation on Andy Oliver.
Top Returning Pitchers
LHP Andy Oliver- Pre-Season All American (Suspended)
LHP Tyler Lyons Pre-Season All American
Top Returning Position Players
Neil Medchill outfielder- Junior Played in 50 games batted .349 in 2008 and will be in the middle of the lineup.
Tom Belza infielder- Played in 50 games as a freshman batted .386
Key Players lost from ’08
3B/RHP Matt Hague
SS Jordy Mercer
1B Rebel Ridling
C Luis Flores
Texas
2008 Season- 39-22(Over All) 15-12(5th BIG 12)
Head Coach Augie Garrido (Suspended for first four games of 2009 season)
What will it take for Texas to get out of a Regional this year?? Pitching- This year Skip Johnson will finally have the arms in the bullpen to battle for the BIG 12 Title. Texas has not been to Omaha since the ’05 campaign and for Longhorn fans that is too long.
Top Returning Pitchers
Sophomore RHP Brandon Workman-’08 was a learning year for Workman-After coming to Texas from Bowie High School(3A) in Bowie Texas it was big a jump for Workman from coming from a 3A High school to a major Division 1 baseball program. He came into his own over the Summer at the Cape Cod League.
Sophomore RHP Chance Ruffin should be the number 1 starter heading into the 2009 season. He is a very tough, gritty and smart.
Senior LHP Austin Wood was very dependable in 2008 but needs to be more focused this season. He looked good in the fall season allowing only one hit in 9 innings of work. The big question is where does Skip Johnson use Wood? Is he the team’s saturday starter or the Closer?
Top Returning Position Players
Catcher Cameron Rupp is known as a student of the game. He still has a weakness of keeping runners close and throwing out potential base stealers.
1B Brandon Belt was a pleasant surprise last season. He could also see some time on the mound.
SS David Hernandez is a transfer from Fresno State in the summer of ’07 while earning the starting job in ’08. He will need to cut down on his team leading errors of 20 or the Longhorns could have a freshman playing SS in 2009.
2B Travis Tucker is a good defensive player with great speed. He will need to be more consistent at the plate.
Incoming players to watch for
Freshman Pitcher Taylor Jungmann is a pitcher who gets on top of the ball. He is expected to be a mid-week starter and see some action in doubleheaders as well.
Freshman SS Brandon Loy has good range in the field. He could really push David Hernandez for starting time. He very disciplined at the plate which makes him a candidate for the leadoff spot. His dad was the Catcher for the Texas 1983 Championship team.
Key Players Lost from ’08
RHP Kenn Kasparek who was drafted in the 12th round by the Seattle Mariners. He made 15 starts for the Longhorns in 2008, recording a 4-3 mark with a 3.76 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 76.2 innings.
CF Jordan Danks who was drafted by the White Sox in the 7th round. He finished third on the 2008 squad with a .321 batting average and led the team with 70 runs, 22 doubles and seven triples. For the year, he also had seven home runs and 46 RBI.
RF Kyle Russell was drafted by the Dodgers in the 3rd round. He earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention in 2008, hitting .300 with 19 home runs and 56 RBI. In Russell’s 3 year career, he broke the school’s home run record.
Texas A&M
2008 Season- 46-19(Over All) 19-8(1st BIG 12)
Coach Rob Childress returned Texas A&M back to national prominence in his two seasons with the Aggies. He led them to back to back Regional titles before bowing out both years to Rice. Last year, the Aggies set the Big 12 record with 16 consecutive league victories and are one of the favorites for another Big 12 championship in 2009.
Top Returning Pitchers;
Texas A&M returns pitchers that were accountable for all but five victories last year, and the weekend rotation returns intact for the defending Big 12 Champion Aggies. LHP Brooks Raley was the first freshman to start on Friday nights for the Aggies since Casey Fossum in 1997. He went 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA while striking out 68 in 92.2 innings. Barret Loux was the other freshman in the weekend rotation, and the hard throwing right hander was 6-2 with a 4.18 ERA with a team high 81 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. Neither player earned a decision in their starts against Rice in super regional play, but with a year of experience they have the scouts excited about their progress. Clayton Ehlert is often overlooked as the Sunday starter, but he posted the best numbers of the group, going 6-2 with a 3.41 ERA while striking out 48 in 68.2 innings, and he had a terrific fall in inter-squad scrimmage action.
The return of All-Big 12 reliever Travis Starling (8-2, 3.70 ERA, 9 saves) and Kyle Thebeau (6-5, 2.12 ERA, 3 saves) anchor the end of a bullpen that looks to be even better in 2009. Shane Minks (4-1, 3.27 ERA) has climbed the draft boards after a terrific summer and Hank Robertson (1-0, 3.75 ERA, 1 save) has recovered from an arm injury that ended his season last May.
Former Freshman All-American Scott Migl (3-3, 4.26 ERA) has started 23 of the 35 games he has pitched in during in his first two seasons, and he gives the coaches an experienced player for multiple roles on the mound.
Top Returning Position Players
Luke Anders’ hard work has transformed the former pitcher into a two-time All-Big 12 selection, and he is poised for a huge senior season. Last year he led the Aggies in homers, on-base percentage and slugging while hitting .349-16-58. Drafted by the Yankees in the 16th round, he turned down a good bonus to return to school. Senior Kyle Colligan, named an All-Big 12 outfielder after hitting .317-15-39 with 12 steals, did not hear his name called during the 2008 draft, and his return is a tremendous boost to the lineup. He looks to continue his leadoff role in 2009, setting the table for the offense. Brodie Greene (.290-4-27) moves into the infield and returns to switch hitting for the first time in three years. He is expected to bat near the top of the order and play second base. Kevin Gonzalez is a good a defensive catcher in the Big 12, and his offense improved all season long. He finished the year hitting .261-3-29. Nick Fleece’s (.231-2-10) homerun off the parking garage behind the left field fence during the Big 12 tournament showed his power, and he was the team’s leading hitter this fall. Raley (.259-0-9) played in the outfield when not pitching last year and could do the same in 2009.
Incoming players to watch for
The Aggie recruiting class was ranked as high as sixth in the nation this year, and it brought in talented pitchers and hitters to Aggieland. Nick Anders (.431-7-51 at Temple JC), Luke’s younger brother, and Adam Smith (.507-4-24 at Klein HS) have the unenviable task of replacing All-Big 12 starters at third and shortstop respectively. The younger Anders led the team in homeruns this fall and was an above average fielder at the hot corner. Smith looks like former Aggie All-American Brandon Hicks and he possesses a canon of an arm. He needs to improve his consistency in the field, but his batting is already blooming. National junior college POY Joe Patterson (.428-28-95 at Seminole JC) will catch and see plenty of time at designated hitter this season to get his left-handed power in the lineup. Dylan Petrich (.403-3-59 at Butler JC) and Brett Parsons (.416-10-51 at Navarro JC) will battle for time in the outfield.
All eyes, and radar guns, were trained on 2006 National Freshman of the Year Alex Wilson this summer at the Cape as he recovered from 2007 “Tommy John” surgery. Without throwing a single pitch last season, the Chicago Cubs drafted him in the eleventh round. The hard throwing RHP improved as the fall progressed for the Aggies, and some scouts think he can go in the first round this year. Trying to bump one of the returning starters out of a weekend job will be tough, but Wilson will still start 10-15 games this year on the weekend or during the mid-week. Chad Sherman started for two seasons at Panola JC and had a great fall, impressing Childress with control and great off-speed pitches. Two hard throwing freshmen, LHP Ross Hales and RHP Denny Clement, also showed Childress pitching poise and ability. They will see plenty of action out of the bullpen this year and have the coaches excited about their futures.
Texas Tech
2008 Season-25-30(Over All) 9-18(10th BIG 12)
With Larry Hays stepping down after 22 years as the head coach, Dan Spencer takes over the job of getting Texas Tech back to national prominence. Tech has finished near or at the bottom of the Big 12 for the last three years. Coach Spencer will have a big task in front of him of getting Tech back in competition with the rest of the Big 12 this year but with his knowledge of the game and his recruiting prowess, look for Tech in two to three years to really start making some noise.
Top Returning Pitchers
Senior RHP Miles Morgan will be returning after having surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff from 2007. He missed all of 2008 recovering from the surgery.
Sophomore LHP Robert Kilcrease pitched in 35 innings as a freshman going 2-0.
Junior RHP Nathan Karns made 12 starts pitched in 50 innings but had an ERA of 8.46.
Sophomore RHP Chad Bettis made 12 starts went 4-3 in 68 innings of work during his first campaign.
Top Returning Position Players
Senior Willie Rueda played in 53 games while batting .361 and picking up 27 stolen bases. He is expected to be at the top of the Red Raiders lineup.
Junior Joey Kenworthy played in 55 games and while batting .313.
Incoming players to watch for
Ben Flora-LHP
Scott LeJeune-IF
Key Players lost from ’08
Roger Kieshnick finished the season with a .305 average through 55 games and led the squad with 15 doubles, 17 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Zach Stewart had a 3-2 record with three saves and 4.98 ERA while logging 47 innings of work including three starts and 17 relief appearances.
James Leverton appeared as a relief pitcher in 31 games while leading the Red Raiders with a 3.86 ERA and held opponents to a .227 average against. He also struck out 27 batters while walking 12 batters.
My 2009 Predictions
1. Texas A&M
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma State
4. Baylor
5 Missouri
6. Oklahoma
7. Nebraska
8. Kansas State
9. Kansas
10 Texas Tech
I also want to take this time to thank Scott Clendin of AggieBaseball.net for helping out with the knowledge in the article.
