Sooners Baseball Places a Nation-Best 11 Players in 2015 MLB Draft

Eleven Oklahoma Sooners were taken in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft this week, equaling the most in OU baseball history and the most from any college team this season.

The 11 draft selections matches the number of Sooners selected in the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Catcher Tyler Ogle was the first Sooner taken in the 2011 draft, and that did not occur until the 9th round, when the Los Angeles Dodgers picked the Oklahoma backstop.

Sooner prospects drew interest earlier in this year’s draft, with two OU players selected in the opening six rounds. Even then, 108 players went off the board before the Houston Astros selected catcher Anthony Hermelyn in the 4th round. Sooner closer Jacob Evans was picked 82 selections later, in the 6th round, by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hermelyn was the fourth Big 12 player selected in the 2015 draft, which was held Monday through Wednesday this week. The three Big 12 MLB draft selections before him were all pitchers and all from TCU.

A total of 43 MLB  prospects with Big 12 affiliations were selected among 1,215 players selected overall in this year’s draft. Approximately 25 percent of those selected from the Big 12 were from Oklahoma.

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Only two Sooners were taken in the first 10 rounds of this year’s draft. Five were selected between rounds 13 and 20, and four more between rounds 26 and 37. Each round consists of 30 player selections.

The 11 players from OU taken in the draft was three more than both Big 12 champion TCU and second-place Oklahoma State, both of which had eight players selected in this year’s MLB draft. A strong statement for a Sooner team that finished the season with a pedestrian 34-27 record overall and tied for third place in the Big 12 standings with a league mark of 13-11.

Breaking down the OU players selected in the draft by position, seven are pitchers, two catchers an outfielder and an infielder.

Since the first year the MLB Draft was introduced, in 1965, 245 Oklahoma Sooners have been selected by one of the major league teams.

A year ago, only four OU players were taken in the draft.

Oklahoma Sooners Selected in the 2015 MLB Draft

(Each name preceded by overall draft selection number)

Round 4

Anthony Hermelyn, Jr., C – Houston Astros

Round 6

191. Jacob Evans, Jr., LHP – St. Louis Cardinals

Round 13

401. Craig Aiken, Jr., OF – St. Louis Cardinals

Round 14

408. Adam Choplick, RJr., LHP – Texas Rangers

Round 15

463. Chris Shaw, Jr., C – Baltimore Orioles

Round 19

564. Robert Tasin, Sr., RSR., RHP – Philadelphia Phillies

Round 20

599. Thomas McIlraith, Jr., RHP – New York Mets

Round 26

769. Ralph Garza, Jr., Jr., RHP – Houston Astros

Round 31

942. Corey Copping, Jr., RHP – Los Angeles Dodgers

Round 33

979. Kolbey Carpenter, Jr., 2B – Houston Astros

Round 36

1,107. Blake Rogers, Jr., RHP – San Diego Padres