Oklahoma baseball: Four Sooners go in 2017 MLB Draft
By Chip Rouse
The 2017 Oklahoma baseball season officially came to an end a couple of weeks ago, but for four players on this year’s roster, it may just have marked the beginning of their career in professional baseball.
Four members of the Sooners’ 2017 roster were selected in this week’s 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.
Right-handed pitcher JB Olson was the first Sooner selected in this year’s draft, going in the 10th round to the Chicago White Sox, the 297th overall player taken in the draft.
The three other Oklahoma draft selections had to wait until the final day of the three-day, 40-round MLB draft selection process. Right-handed pitcher Devon Perez was a 21st-round selection, right-handed pitcher Vincenzo Aiello was selected in the 28th round and catcher Renae Martinez went in the 33rd round.
Olson made a team-high 31 appearances out of the bullpen in 2017. The Sooner closer compiled a 5-1 record with an ERA of 1.99 and recorded eight saves. He is the 84th OU player in program history to be taken in the first 10 rounds and the 13th Sooner all-time to be selected by the White Sox.
Perez was selected by the Los Angeles Angels with the 625th overall pick in the 21st round. A junior-college transfer from Iowa Western Community College, he was used primarily as a starter by the Sooners this season. He had a record of 6-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 14 appearances in 2017.
Aiello, who came to OU as a graduate transfer from Rider University, was selected in the 28th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins. He appeared in 24 games for the Sooners, all in relief. He posted a 5,47 ERA and had 39 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings of work.
Martinez was the final OU player selected in this year’s draft, a 33rd-round selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played one season for Oklahoma, hitting .323, with seven home runs and 37 runs batted in. Before transferring to OU, Martinez was at El Camino Community College (Compton, Calif.) and played his junior season at the University of California-Irvine.
At least one OU player has been selected in the MLB Draft every year since 1970.