Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma Baseball: Sheldon Neuse, Alec Hansen Sooners’ Best MLB Draft Prospects

By Chip Rouse

May 1, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards (43) throws during the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
May 1, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards (43) throws during the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Oklahoma baseball season has reached its end for 2016, but for at least a couple of Sooners there should still be some excitement straight ahead when the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft takes center stage for three days beginning on Thursday.

Jun 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Chase Anderson (57) pitches during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Chase Anderson (57) pitches during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

In comparison with the 2011 and 2015 Major League Baseball Drafts, this will be a light year in terms of Oklahoma Sooners players selected in the draft. In each of those two previous years, a school-record 11 OU players were selected over the three days of the draft. In 2011, that was the most that year from any Big 12 school and the second most of any school in the country, and the 11 Sooners taken in the draft last year was the most in the nation.

Only two Oklahoma Sooners appear to be sure bets to be selected when the annual three-day auction of first-year MLB prospects gets underway on Thursday. Pitcher Alec Hansen and shortstop Sheldon Neuse are the two Sooner players with the best prospects of being selected, and most likely somewhere in the earlier rounds of the draft.

Neuse, a junior this year from Ft. Worth, Texas, was a 38th-round draft pick out of high school, the 1,150th player selected overall in the 2013 MLB Draft. He is certain to go much higher than that this time around.

Neuse led the Sooners in hitting this season with a .369 batting average and he ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in multiple offensive categories. He owned a league-best .646 slugging percentage and was fourth in the conference in on-base percentage at .465. In three seasons at Oklahoma, the All-Big 12 First Team selection averaged .369 at the plate with a .525 slugging percentage and a .390 on-base percentage.

More from OU Baseball

After a strong sophomore season at OU, right-handed starter Alec Hansen was a potential first-round selection on many mock draft boards, but as the 2016 season progressed and Hansen’s numbers and effectiveness were down from a year ago, his MLB Draft stock followed a similar pattern. The junior from Loveland, Colo., ended the 2015 season with a 5-6 record and a 3.95 ERA in 15 starts and 82 innings pitched. He also recorded 94 strikeouts that season to lead the team in that category.

This past season, however, Hansen’s ERA bloomed to 5.40 over 30 less innings and five fewer starts. His strikeouts (74) were also down from a year ago. About the only stat that wasn’t appreciably worse than the previous year was the opponents’ batting average, which went down to .228 from .244 the year before.

Oklahoma’s roster this season included 13 true freshman players, one red-shirt freshman and four sophomores. There were only four seniors on the team this year (outfielders Hunter Haley and Alex Wise and pitchers Keaton Hernandez and Shawn Hunter). It would not be all that surprising for Wise, the Sooners’ second best hitter this season with a .304 average, to get some attention in this year’s MLB Draft.

At least three freshman started 42 of the Sooners’ 58 games this season, and it was learned on Thursday that three of OU’s first-year players have been named Louisville Slugger All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball News. The three Sooner Freshman All-Americans are pitcher Jake Irvin, outfielder Steele Walker and catcher Domenic DeRenzo.

In the 51 years that Major League Baseball has held its annual player draft, a total of 254 Sooners have been selected. Ten players who wore the crimson and cream were selected in the opening round. Sixty-eight former Oklahoma players have made it all the way to the major leagues.

The most recent of the first-round selections from OU who are currently active in the major leagues are RHP Jonathan Gray (2013) with the Colorado Rockies and RHP Garrett Richards (2009) with the Los Angeles Angels.

Home/OU Baseball