2022 Oklahoma Sooners Baseball Season Thread - The New Rope
The 2021 season left Oklahoma baseball fans continuing to ask the same question. What could have been? It would seem that Oklahoma cannot let go of the 2020 season and that attitude seems to have trickled into 21. While last years club fell short of the Sooner standard, the offseason would appear to be where Skip & Co came out as winners. Recruiting and development are where championships are won and the Sooners have done well at both this offseason. Coach Johnson has played the Transfer Portal as well as anyone, bringing in quality assets from a variety of talent pools. Perfect Game has ranked this group as the No 8 class in the country based on high school, JuCo and 4 years transfers. With the additions of Chazz Martinez, David Sandlin, Griffin Miller and Sebastian Orduno, this club has hit reload instead of rebuild. Jake Bennett could be this years Cade Cavalli and another year with Braden Carmichael on the mound can only be a net positive. When you add in the return of Cade Horton and a fully healthy Tanner Tredaway, the ceiling for this club could be pretty high. Bringing up the youngsters and keeping guys healthy are going to be key in making a run at the post season.
The outfield should be the usual suspects with one new major addition. Kendal Pettis should be your everyday left fielder along with the aforementioned Tanner Tredaway. Sebastian Orduno, a JuCo transfer out of California who has a big bat and an even bigger motor will round out what might be one of the most talented defensive groups we have had in the since Kyler Murray and Steele Walker. You should also see a decent dose of Diego Muniz, John Spikerman (once 100%) and possibly even Chazz Martinez if he is not in the DH spot or Pitching.
While some may see it as a problem this roster really could fit in the Skip Johnson mold. As much as I hate to say it, we should see platooning again. With the amount of talent available there really is no other option. The Sooners major log jam is in the infield. Having guys like Squires and Horton fighting for a spot at 3B and Brown/Daniel/Nichlaus/Clark fighting it out at 2B this is actually a good thing. Iron sharpens iron, the options we have at those spots are high quality, and in this particular instance, platooning early in the season may not be the worst idea. This will be a situation where whoever has the hot bat gets the nod. Don’t be surprised to see some real tinkering as the season goes on.
This year we will get to see just what Peyton Graham can do as a full time Shortstop. Spending his entire Sooner career at 3B. He has been tabbed as a pre season all American, one of the top third basemen(that is correct) and top draft prospects in the 2022 cycle. He was also selected as the No 7 SS in all of college baseball by D1. PG should be a top of the lineup hitter. I could see him batting lead off or even in the 3 or 4 hole if his bat shows the kind of power we all know he has. The move to SS was inevitable and while there was never a problem at that position under Z, it will be nice to have a defender and power hitter as the Sooner stop gap.
First Base is a spot where big shoes need to be filled with big feet. The Sooners have 3 legitimate options for the corner sport. Max McGwire, son of MLB superstar Mark will more than likely take the spot as a true freshmen. After seeing him play in the fall we should be in good hands. While he does not have the muscular build like his father, he does have plenty of room to grow and develop in the next 3-4 years. He already swings a heavy bat, but repeatable power and how often he gets on base remains to be seen. Another option at First is Blake Robertson. The kid fits the mold of your prototypical First basemen, he hits with power and has a nice glove, another instance of who has the hot bat gets the spot. That being said, I feel like this is Max’s spot to lose. During the intrasquad games, we got to see Squires work out and he looked great, made an excellent play with his glove on a hot grounder. Having squires in the order is a necessity. He is a + fielder and + hitter you have to find a way to get him in the game.
Catcher is a spot where we should see continued success. Justin Mitchell has transferred to K-State, this move should signal that Jimmy Crooks will be the man going into the spring. Jimmy has been listed as the No 8 catcher in America this season. Crooks hit just shy of .300 last season to go with 10 home-runs and 39 runs batted in and should be poised for another great season. With this being a draft year for Crooks this is a recipe that can only boost this ball club. Having a quality back up in Hudson Polk gives this club depth and will help spell Jimmy Rakes when he is need of a rest. Polk homered in his first start last season and looks like he could be the future behind the plate after this spring.
Oklahoma took a very big but inevitable hit when Jason Ruffcorn was drafted. Getting us there will be Jarret Godman as the closer, Big Ben Abrams, Javier Ramos, Carter Campbell, Carson Atwood as well as some very nice pickups on the recruiting trail. Aaron Calhoun who may find himself as a starter in the coming years should be handed a nice amount of innings as a true freshmen. Griffin Miller is another name to remember as he was in competition with Godman for the closer spot and still may end up there by seasons end. Twin brothers Luke & Zach Carrell are another nice snag by OU along with Luc Flada, Keegan Allen, Creed Watkins and Nicholas Andrews. Overall this groups of slabsters should be a nice crutch for Skip to lean on after the frontline has given way to the bullpen. You may see Carmichael be the first option if he does not nail down a starting gig.
Starting Pitching is where we may see some big improvement right off the bat. I like Carmichael as a weekend starter, but it would appear he may have been pushed to mid week. While I think he has earned a weekend role, I believe the kid will do whatever he is asked. I think we are going to see Jake Bennett on Friday, David Sandlin on Saturdays and Chazz Martinez working the Sunday matchups. All three of these guys were just listed in the Top 100 of the Top 150 Starting Pitcher for 2020 by D1 Baseball. I could see Chazz starting off as the mid week guy with Carmichael taking Sundays. We have quite a few options and when Horton comes online in March, the Sooner staff gets even deeper.
This is a pretty pivotal year for this club. I know obviously we need to keep everyone healthy. Having key players like Tred, Squires and Horton available all year will raise the potential of this team tremendously. I honestly feel like this group has a different attitude and you can see they have built some tight bonds during the summer and fall. I think we sniff have a super regional in this group, just gotta put it all together.
Boomer Sooner and have a great season!
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