the 2013 MLB Draft starts on Thurs (and ends on Sat), so we'll know where everybody get drafted soon. looking at Baseball America's Top 500 for the Draft, here are the only players in the Super Regionals that made their Top 500 note that when it comes to the best upperclassmen pitchers in the Super Regionals, they have: --two Oklahoma starting pitchers are in the Top 60 (#1, #60) --two Louisville starting pitchers are in the top 200, and all three Louisville starters are in the top 250 (#92, #152, #227) --two UCLA starting pitchers are in the top 200 (#145, #179) --two Oregon State starting pitchers are in the top 250 (#178, 243) --two UNC starting pitchers are in the top 350 (#61, 332) --two Rice starting pitchers are in the top 400 (#122, #377) RHPs #1 RHP Jonathan Gray, Oklahoma (16 starts) #37 RHP Ryan Eades, LSU (16 starts) #92 RHP Dace Kime, Louisville (8 starts) #122 RHP Austin Kubitza, Rice (16 starts) #145 RHP Nick Vander Tuig, UCLA (16 starts) #152 RHP Jeff Thompson, Louisville (15 starts) #178 RHP Matt Boyd, Oregon State (16 starts) #179 RHP Adam Plutko, UCLA (16 starts) #220 RHP Aaron Slegers, Indiana (16 starts) #243 RHP Ben Wetzler, Oregon State (14 starts) #227 RHP Chad Green, Louisville (16 starts) #275 RHP Dan Child, Oregon State (9 starts -- midweek starter) #377 RHP John Simms, Rice (14 starts) #381 RHP Zack Weiss, UCLA (no starts) #411 RHP Evan Mitchell, Miss State (no starts) #424 RHP Nick Rumbelow, LSU (1 start) #425 RHP Ryan Deeter, UCLA (no starts) #470 RHP Kendall Graveman, Miss State (16 starts) LHPs #51 LHP Kevin Ziomek, Vanderbilt (16 starts) #60 LHP Dillon Orton, Oklahoma (13 starts) #61 LHP Kent Emanuel, North Carolina (15 starts) #103 LHP Kyle Crockett, Virginia (no starts -- 12 saves) #332 LHP Hobbs Johnson, North Carolina (15 starts) #356 LHP Billy Waltrip, Oklahoma (3 starts) Position Players #7 3B Colin Moran, North Carolina (batting .348) #11 OF Hunter Renfroe, Miss State (batting .352) #52 OF Michael Lorenzen, Cal State Fullerton (batting .335) #68 OF Jared King, Kansas State (batting .327) #75 2B Jacoby Jones, LSU (batting .283) #120 1B Matt Oberste, Oklahoma (batting .376) #129 3B Ty Young, Louisville (batting .349) #144 SS Adam Frazier, Miss State (batting .344) #156 OF Adam Engel, Louisville (batting .236) #231 1B Mason Katz, LSU (batting .378) #235 OF Connor Harrell, Vanderbilt (batting .313) #251 OF Mike Yastrzemski, Vanderbilt (batting .322) #269 2B Tony Kemp, Vanderbilt (batting .398) #278 3B Dustin DeMuth, Indiana (batting .396) #347 C Chad Wallach, Cal State Fullerton (batting .303) #373 OF Michael Ratteree, Rice (batting .270) #392 C Stephen McGee, Florida State (batting .292) #394 C Jake Rodriguez, Oregon State (batting .268) #398 C Spencer Navin, Vanderbilt (batting .309) #425 1B Conrad Gregor, Vanderbilt (batting .314) #448 SS Pat Valaika, UCLA (batting .260) #460 SS Tyler Smith, Oregon State (batting .301) #464 OF Coco Johnson, Louisville (batting .332) #474 C Ty Ross, LSU (batting .211) #484 OF Brenton Allen, UCLA (batting .255) if you take out the players that aren't on our side of the bracket, then it looks like this: --two Oklahoma starting pitchers are in the Top 60 (#1, #60) --two UCLA starting pitchers are in the top 200 (#145, #179) --two UNC starting pitchers are in the top 350 (#61, 332) --two Rice starting pitchers are in the top 400 (#122, #377) RHPs #1 RHP Jonathan Gray, Oklahoma (16 starts) #37 RHP Ryan Eades, LSU (16 starts) #122 RHP Austin Kubitza, Rice (16 starts) #145 RHP Nick Vander Tuig, UCLA (16 starts) #179 RHP Adam Plutko, UCLA (16 starts) #377 RHP John Simms, Rice (14 starts) #381 RHP Zack Weiss, UCLA (no starts) #424 RHP Nick Rumbelow, LSU (1 start) #425 RHP Ryan Deeter, UCLA (no starts) LHPs #60 LHP Dillon Orton, Oklahoma (13 starts) #61 LHP Kent Emanuel, North Carolina (15 starts) #332 LHP Hobbs Johnson, North Carolina (15 starts) #356 LHP Billy Waltrip, Oklahoma (3 starts) Position Players #7 3B Colin Moran, North Carolina (batting .348) #52 OF Michael Lorenzen, Cal State Fullerton (batting .335) #75 2B Jacoby Jones, LSU (batting .283) #120 1B Matt Oberste, Oklahoma (batting .376) #231 1B Mason Katz, LSU (batting .378) #347 C Chad Wallach, Cal State Fullerton (batting .303) #373 OF Michael Ratteree, Rice (batting .270) #448 SS Pat Valaika, UCLA (batting .260) #474 C Ty Ross, LSU (batting .211) #484 OF Brenton Allen, UCLA (batting .255)
hopefully, Oklahoma's starting 1-2 punch on the mound goes from looking like this... to looking like this by the end of Saturday night....
Perfect Game's Kendall Rogers on Gray-Overton: Kendall Rogers @KendallRogersPG 2 Jun #OU is going to be a very very tough team to beat for #LSU or #ULL with Jonathan Gray/Dillon Overton as that one-two punch. #Sooners Kendall Rogers @KendallRogersPG 27 May Va Tech or Oklahoma vs. #LSU would be absolutely fantastic. Both of those teams present some intriguing/stiff challenges. Kendall Rogers @KendallRogersPG 28 Nov #Oklahoma. Love Overton/Gray combo on mound Kendall Rogers @KendallRogersPG 21 Nov #OU has a very nice one-two punch in Overton/Gray on mound. #Sooners and this is from the piece he published on OU's Gray-Overton combo on February 28, 2013 for Perfect Game: Pitching prowess: Oklahoma's two-headed monster It didn't take long for Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway to realize he had a pair of special arms in left-hander Dillon Overton and right-hander Jonathan Gray. But if he had any reservations at all, that question was answered better than ever earlier this spring when at least 16 professional scouts showed up at an Oklahoma intra-squad scrimmage to see Overton and Gray each only throw one inning. As if Golloway needed even more validation, he also could look at the Sooners' preseason ranking. ... Gray and Overton certainly weren't all of that equation, but they were and still are a big part of it. "Both Overton and Gray are sure-fire first rounders right now, and we're ecstatic to have them" Golloway said. "They're pretty special, but obviously different, pitchers for us." It's rather interesting to compare and contrast the repertoires of Overton and Gray, who are completely different types of pitchers. (OVERTON) Overton is...not a physical specimen at just 6-foot-2, 160 pounds. But despite his skinny frame, the left-hander has a very loose arm with some surprising durability. ...He was solid as a freshman before taking an even bigger step forward as a sophomore...He tallied a 3.15 ERA in 122 2/3 innings of work, while also striking out 126, walking 24, and limiting opponents to a .265 batting average. The lefty is off to another great start this season. ... "It's just typical Dillon Overton right now. He has just continued where he left off last season, and he was pretty special last year," Golloway said. "I didn't know at the end of last year if there was really anything I thought he needed to get much better at. As long as he stays healthy, I think he's going to be able to get almost anyone out at the next level." Golloway strongly believes Overton could gain even more arm strength at the next level, but he's already got an impressive arsenal of pitches with good velocity. Overton consistently sits 88-92 with his fastball, and has also touched 95 a few times this season. He also flashes a 79-80 changeup with other sharp breaking stuff. "He's more 12-to-6 with his breaking stuff. His changeup is outstanding, too, and the big thing about Dillon is that he just hits his spots. That draws a lot of scouts in," Golloway said. "He just peppers the strike zone....He's pretty special on the mental side of things, too. He knows baseball..." (GRAY) Though equally successful, Gray is on the other end of the spectrum from Overton from a physical standpoint. Gray's physical makeup has drawn some comparisons to Rogers Clemens, as he's listed at 6-foot-4, 239 pounds. Gray's evolution as a pitcher has been interesting to follow. There were plenty of times last season when the Eastern Oklahoma College transfer would cruise three or four innings, only to run into some trouble and eventually get knocked out of the game. However, the talented righty got that issue under control by the end of the season, twirling a gem against South Carolina in the Columbia Super Regional to make his case for superiority this spring. "I thought he really took a big step forward in that regard at the end of last season...When Jon first got here, he just went out there and tried to overpower everyone with his fastball. Now, he has a good feel for the game and stays calm. I just always tell him the old baseball motto that it's just a game." An undisputed aspect of Jonathan Gray is his pure stuff. Gray consistently sits 95-97 with his fastball, and already has touched a few 98s, along with a couple of 100s this season. Gray also possesses a power knockout slider that typically sits anywhere from 81-86, while he's almost unhittable when the changeup is working. "He has a big league out pitch with that slider. When he mixes in that changeup for strikes, it's just not even fair," Golloway said. "It's not like you can really sit there and make quick adjustments when a guy with that kind of arm is throwing his pitches for strikes. What ends up happening is hitters just go up there guessing." Moving forward, the Sooners still haven't decided on a No. 3 starting pitcher, but have plenty of solid options in hard-throwing Billy Waltrip, imposing redshirt freshman Adam Choplick and true freshman right-handed pitcher Corey Copping. ...
hopefully the pressure and distractions at the Box prevent them from hitting their pitches as well as they normally do
>>"He has a big league out pitch with that slider. When he mixes in that changeup for strikes, it's just not even fair," Golloway said. What about when he uses Adderall? Is that fair?
here's what George Watson, the Texas Tech beat writer and sports editor for the Lubbock, TX newspaper wrote about Gray-Overton on April 24, 2013, just before OU came to town to play Texas Tech in a weekend series... Gray, Overton give Sooners distinct advantage each weekend It’s real easy for the Oklahoma baseball team to have complete confidence in winning every Big 12 series in which it plays. That’s what having two potential first-round draft picks on the mound will do for you. While the 11th-ranked Sooners possess the conference’s second-rated offense, there’s no doubt the key to their success has been juniors Jonathan Gray, a right-hander who starts on Fridays, and left-hander Dillon Overton, OU’s Saturday starter. Combined they are 15-3 ... “It does take the pressure of the hitters from the get-go,” said ninth-year head coach Sunny Golloway. “...it can be 0-0 in the fifth inning and you’re not worried. That’s the confidence they give you.” Gray, who has repeatedly touched 100 mph on radar guns, is projected to be as high as a top-five overall selection...Overton, who had a similar year to Gray last year, is close behind ... Coupled with the emergence of freshman left-hander Jacob Evans (5-1, 1.34, seven saves), the Sooners, projected as the preseason conference favorite, have been consistently dominant from start to finish aside from their first Big 12 series loss two weeks ago at Baylor. ... Of course, it also helps to have a solid offense led by one guy making a run at the Big 12 triple crown. Junior first baseman Matt Oberste currently leads the Big 12 in batting average (.421), home runs (10), RBIs (46), hits (67), doubles (16), total bases (121) and slugging percentage (.761). He also set a school record with a 30-game hit streak earlier this year. ... Oberste’s not alone. The Sooners have several veterans in their lineup, led by captains Jack Mayfield at shortstop and Max White in right field. White is hitting .327 with five home runs and 25 RBIs ...
Exactly, where's the love for our players? Nola is pretty decent in his own right. His ERA slightly higher than Gray's, but both are still under 2 despite Nola pitching more innings in an arguably tougher conference. I'd say we probably also have a better lineup 1-9 then they do. And, I give the bullpen nod to us as well. Nothing is a given and either team can win, but I'll take my chances with this team over any other left in the field.
Thank you. OU is a very average 15-12 when playing on the road this year. They dropped 2 of 3 at Baylor, and 2 of 3 at West Virginia, two teams that didn't even make the tournament. They also lost road series at Oklahoma State and Kansas State, and a non-conference game at....get this....Dallas Baptist! That would be like LSU losing at Loyola. Bottom line, a very good team that deserves respect. But very, very beatable, especially at The Box.
