The transfer portal is closed and the MLB Draft is over, so the Oklahoma Sooners' 2027 roster that will be tasked with defending their national title is mostly settled.
The Sooners were just gifted a pair of starters in outfielders Jason Walk and Dasan Harris when the two weren't selected in the MLB Draft over the weekend. They now join returning starter Kyle Branch with a load of portal additions and backups looking to step up to make up the Sooners' 2027 lineup.
Read more: MLB Draft proves Oklahoma’s CWS national title run wasn’t just luck
Here's the best guess in July what lineup Skip Johnson could put out there in 2027.
Sooners projected starting lineup for next season
Catcher is where the Sooners had the biggest voids to fill with both Deiten Lachance and Brendan Brock heading to MLB. Sebastian Pisacreta seems like a lock to fill that hole now as a veteran and one of the top catchers in the transfer portal out of Pitt, where he spent three seasons. He hit 271 with an OPS of .940 , 14 home runs and 51 RBI in 2026.
Postseason hero Dayton Tockey is gone, but even with Tockey controlling first base most of the season, Connor Larkin still made seven starts and 20 appearances there as a freshman. Although limited opportunity with 29 at-bats, Larkin was impressive with a .310 average. He also quietly logged a hit in all but two of his starts.
Kyle Branch has been a staple at second base the past two seasons for the Sooners and nothing should change during his junior campaign. He already has 111 career starts under his belt and will be a veteran leader of the 2027 group.
Jaxon Willits will be the toughest player to replace at shortstop. Johnson took a shotgun approach in the transfer portal by getting Sawyer Farr from Texas A&M and Carson Brumbaugh from Arkansas. It was smart getting a pair of players with SEC experience considering how intelligent Willits was out there.
Brumbaugh was a highly coveted recruit out of Edmond Santa Fe High School (OK) but struggled as a freshman at Arkansas. He's also a two-way player so Johnson could elect to use him on the mound.
Farr seems like the best bet at shortstop, at least early on. He appeared in 19 games and made 11 starts as a sophomore this past season, but had 31 starts as a freshman the year before. He can be inconsistent at the plate with a career .200 average but has a stellar glove. That SEC experience is also invaluable.
Between Farr and Brumbaugh, especially if the young talent taps his potential, the Sooners should be fine at shortstop.
Before he was a staple in the outfield for the Sooners and All-SEC defensive player out there, Jason Walk was one of the top shortstop prospects in the state of Georgia in the 2023 class. With so much talent in the outfield and the Sooners having more needs in the infield, 2027 could be when Walk returns to where it all started for his final season of college baseball after just going undrafted in the MLB Draft.
Third base, especially after three years away from shortstop, seems like the best fit for Walk as he also maintains his role as the Sooners' leadoff hitter. Walk moving to the infield just seems like the best move to get the most talent in the lineup.
Jay Abernathy could end up being the Sooners' greatest portal win after transferring from Tennessee, where he started 39 games between outfield and second base last season as a sophomore. He hit .236 but is extremely speedy and led the Volunteers with nine stolen bases. Now in Johnson's aggressive system, that number will increase in 2027.
Also don't be surprised if it's Abernathy instead of Walk going from the outfield to third base.
A former walk-on, Dasan Harris played all across the outfield last season while making 37 starts and leading the Sooners with a .361 average. He went undrafted like Walk, so gifted the Sooners two of three starting outfielders from the Sooners' national title run, during which Harris earned CWS All-Tournament Team honors.
A former junior college coach, Johnson built his national championship roster from the JUCO ranks. Kameron Yearsley will be the next one to take that route to Norman.
Yearsley just committed out of John A. Logan College, where he hit .464 with 37 home runs, 91 runs and 99 RBI in 58 games. His numbers won't be as inflated at the Division-I level, but it's clear Yearsley can slug and needs a spot in the lineup.
Any of the previously mentioned players could find themselves in this DH spot, but outfielder Vaughn Coleman seems to be next in line for a starting role after transferring from Cal State Northridge, where he posted a .297 average with 10 home runs, 37 RBI, 38 runs and seven stolen bases as a sophomore.
This could also be where Carson Brumbaugh finds his swing again.
Predicting OU's starting weekend rotation
Friday - Cord Rager
Saturday - Xander Mercurius
Sunday - Nick Wesloski
There's no need to overthink this. The phenomenal freshmen trio that won the Sooners a national title is back and just stick with the same way Johnson used used them throughout the MCWS.
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