Several Players From Oklahoma Selected In 2023 MLB Draft

A total of 17 players with ties to the Sooner State heard their name called.

The 2023 edition of the MLB Draft was conducted Monday through Wednesday with 20 rounds plus of players hearing their names called over the 3 days. A total of 614 players were selected with 17 players with Oklahoma ties among those drafted.

Here is a look at some facts about those 17 players.

Breakdown of Draftees

11 players from the 3 NCAA D1 schools were drafted (OSU 6, ORU 4, OU 1)
2 current JUCO players drafted (Brady Cerkownyk, Connors State; Colby Langford, Murray State College)
3 OK JUCO alums were drafted (Jonah Cox and McCroskey both from Eastern Oklahoma State College, ORU; Brock Rodden, Seminole State College)
1 current high schooler drafted (Kollin Ritchie, Atoka High School)
5 Oklahoma high school alums were drafted (Brock Rodden, Oktaha HS (SSC, Wichita State) Isaac Stebens, Stillwater HS (OSU); Colby Langford, Blanchard HS (MSC); Jace Bohrofen, Westmoore HS (Arkansas); Jaxon Wiggins, Roland High School (Arkansas)
8 pitchers and 8 position players were selected (Nolan McLean of OSU was selected as a 2 way player)

Draftee Capsules

Jaxon Wiggins, RHP, Roland High School (Arkansas), 2nd Round Comp Pick, Chicago Cubs

Jaxon has been on MLB teams radars since his days at Roland HS. His career at the University of Arkansas has been up and down, but was looking promising in the Fall of 2022. Early in 2023, Wiggins had to have Tommy John surgery keeping him out all of 2023. He was listed as the 103rd prospect so getting him as a 2nd round compensation pick is a value/high upside move by the Cubs.

His scouting grades (based on a 20-80 scale):

FB: 65; CB: 50; SL 55; CU 55; Control 40; Overall: 45

Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP, Oklahoma State, 3rd Round, Toronto Blue Jays

Juaron transferred to OSU from Long Beach State. While he has really good stuff, the results this past season were mixed. Case in point: his ERA was 5.09 but his K/BB ratio was 124/48. He was one of the more athletic pitchers in this year’s class and with that and his stuff being good, the Blue Jays (as with all teams) figure they can develop him into a Major League pitcher. Watts-Brown was listed as the 67th top prospect.

Scouting grades:

FB: 50; CB: 55; SL: 60; CU: 50; Control: 45; Overall: 50

Nolan McLean, TWP, Oklahoma State, 3rd Round, New York Mets

McLean is one of the more intriguing guys in this class. He has shown he can hit, but teams seem to like him more as a pitcher probably on the back end of the bullpen. He was drafted in the 3rd round last year, but the Orioles balked at signing him after a post-draft MRI. He was listed as the 97th top prospect.

Scouting grades:

FB: 65; CB: 55; SL: 55; Control: 45; Overall: 45

Hit: 40; Power: 60; Run: 30; Arm: 70; Field: 45; Overall: 45

Roc Riggio, 2B, Oklahoma State, 3rd Round, New York Yankees

Something just fits about Riggio going to the Yankees right?

Teams really liked Riggio coming out of high school, but Roc decided to go to OSU instead. He is being compared to Dustin Pedroia which is a good compliment. Teams thinks he lacks quickness and arm strength which means he’ll be slotted at 2B most likely. Riggio was the 130th prospect.

Scouting grades:

Hit: 55; Power: 50; Run: 40; Arm: 45; Field: 45; Overall: 45

Marcus Brown, SS, Oklahoma State, 5th Round, Washington Nationals

Brown manned the shortstop position for the Cowboys the last 2 years and did it well. This year he developed more power as his HRs, RBIs, and SLG all went up. However, his AVG and OBP dipped a little in the process. Brown was not projected

Brown wasn’t in any of the top prospect lists so there aren’t scouting grades I could find. However, seeing him in person, Brown has some great feet and hands at SS. If he can develop at the plate, he could be on a Major League roster some day.

Brock Rodden, SS, Oktaha High School, Seminole State (Wichita St), 5th Round Seattle Mariners

Rodden was “Mr Everything” for the Shockers the last 2 seasons. He was named the AAC Conference Player of the Year this season. He slashed .371/.474/.701 in 2023 with 17 HRs and 64 RBIs. In his 2 years at WSU, Rodden slashed .355/.457/.677 with 34 HRs and 112 RBIs in 111 games. I’m sure the question is the level of competition in the AAC. Regardless, a middle infielder with that much pop is hard to come by and I think the Mariners got a steal here.

Jace Bohrofen, OF, Westmoore High School (Arkansas), 6th Round, Toronto Blue Jays

Coming out of Westmoore High School in 2020, Bohrofen was the #3 prospect in the state behind Cade Horton (#2) and Dax Fulton #(1). (Horton is now pitching for the Cubs at High-A South Bend and Fulton is pitching for the Marlins at AA Pensacola.)

He struggled in his one year at OU before transferring to Arkansas where he had a great year this year after an up and down 2022. Bohrofen slashed .318/.436/.612 with 16 HRs and 52 RBIs. He was #66 on the 2023 prospect list. That and looking at his scouting grades, the Blue Jays got a steal in the 6th round.

Scouting grades:

Hit: 50; Power: 55; Run: 45; Arm: 50; Field: 50; Overall:50

Jonah Cox, OF, Oral Roberts (EOSC), 6th Round, Oakland A’s

Cox burst on to the scene this year leading the nation with 114 hits and having one of the all time greatest hitting streaks at 47 games. The Summit League POY slashed .412/.470/.646 with 11 HRs and 68 RBIs. Cox has great speed as he stole 28 bases this year. In his 3 years in college, Cox stole a total of 120 bases.

Cox played in CF this year which was his first year in the outfield. Once he gets that down, he can be seen as a good center fielder with his speed in the field and his contact at the plate. Cox was the #161 rated prospect.

Scouting grades:

Hit: 55; Power: 40; Run: 65; Arm: 40; Field: 50; Overall: 40

Cade Denton, RHP, Oral Roberts, 6th Round, Colorado Rockies

I know there are people who have forgotten more about baseball than I’ll ever know, but how did Denton drop this far? He posted and ERA of 1.83 in 2023 after a 0.41 effort in 2022. Denton led the nation in saves at 15 and became a lock down closer as the Golden Eagles made a run to Omaha.

The Summit League Pitcher of the Year pounded the strike zone as his high control numbers show. Denton had 86 Ks against 15 BBs in 64 innings pitched. He was the #184 prospect.

Scouting grades:

FB: 55; SL: 55; CU: 40: Control: 55; Overall: 40

Jacob Widener, LHP, Oral Roberts, 9th Round, Kansas City Royals

I’m going to be honest about Widener. I don’t know too much about him beyond this season. What I do know is he’s big (6’7”, 235 lbs) and is left handed. MLB teams love that.

Widener was one of the Golden Eagles main set up guys out of the bullpen. He had an ERA of 2.90 in 49.2 IP and had 80 Ks.

The Royals obviously see something in all of that that tells them they can develop him. Probably into a lefty arm out of the bullpen.

Brian Hendry, RHP, Oklahoma State, 10th Round, New York Yankees

The St Johns transfer pitched one season for OSU bouncing from a starting role to a bullpen role. Also, the results don’t really show why he was selected, but before an injury that kept Hendry out of action in 2022, he did have a fastball in the low 90s and maxing out at 96. Can’t have enough hard throwers in today’s baseball, right?

Dakota Harris, SS, Oklahoma, 11th Round, St Louis Cardinals

The lone Sooners draftee in 2023, Harris will have an interesting decision to make. To put is plainly, Harris was the best player for the Sooners this season. He slashed .328/.403/.516 with 7 HRs and 48 RBIs. Harris always seemed to come up with the clutch hit when the Sooners needed it. He missed 14 games dues to injury in 2023 and it was obvious how much OU missed him when he wasn’t on the field.

Brady Cerkownyk, C, Connors State College, 15th Round, Detroit Tigers

From Toronto, Canada to Warner, OK. Cerkownyk burst on the scene in 2023 as the best overall hitter in all of JUCO baseball. He led the nation in RBIs (107), total bases (199), and SLG % (.985). His 27 HRs were 2nd in the nation as was hit batting avg (.470). Cerkownyk’s OBP of .555 was 8th in the country.

Cerkownyk was also the only JUCO player nationally that was on the midseason watchlist for the Golden Spikes Award.

It’ll be interesting to see if being drafted in the 15th round is enough for Cerkownyk to sign with the Tigers or will he stay and try to improve his draft standing for next year.

Isaac Stebens, RHP, Stillwater HS, Oklahoma State, 16th Round, Boston Red Sox

The Stillwater Pioneer and OSU Cowboy was a consistent performer out of the bullpen. In 2023, he had a 2.24 ERA in 64.1 IP (28 appearances). Stebens had 85 Ks on the season against 24 walks.

Stebens gave up only 5 runs in his last 14 appearances (28.1 innings pitched).

It’ll be interesting to see what Stebens will do with a year of eligibility left. Will he come back to school to try and improve his draft standing?

Colby Langford, LHP, Blanchard HS, Murray State College, 17th Round, Houston Astros

Blanchard Lions alum, Langford started 16 games for the Aggies this year and led the nation in Ks with 128 in 80 innings pitched. He had a solid ERA of 3.71 in a tough Region 2. Langford was a 2nd team All American.

The LHP sits in the low 90s and touches the mid 90s on occasion.

Langford already has “Astros” on his twitter profile, so it looks like he intends to give pro ball a go.

Kollin Ritchie, SS, Atoka High School, 19th Round, Baltimore Orioles

I don’t know much about Ritchie except that he is an impressive looking dude. The big question is how will his skills hold up? Playing at Atoka, the Wampus Cats (had to get that in there) did not play much competition. Ritchie rarely saw a pitcher near the same caliber he is as a hitter. Ritchie also didn’t play much in travel ball or showcases either. MLB scouts did see enough in him to rank him at #214 in the prospect rankings. It’ll be interesting to see if he goes pro or goes to OSU where he is committed.

Scouting grades:

Hit: 50; Power: 50; Run: 45; Arm: 50; Field: 50; Overall: 40

Mac McCroskey, SS, Oral Roberts, 20th Round, Los Angeles Angels

The 2023 Summit League DPOY is a slick as they come at shortstop. What McCroskey did at the plate in his 2 years at ORU is what sealed the deal in him getting drafted. In 2023, McCroskey slashed .314/.392/.520 and increased his HR total from 5 to 14 and RBIs from 40 to 54.

Being a 20th rounder means McCroskey is a long shot, but teams are always looking for defense up the middle and if he can hit, McCroskey will stick around for a while.