Days 2 & 3 of the 2024 MLB Draft happened Monday and Tuesday and they were BIG days for players from the Sooner State.
A total of 24 players with ties to Oklahoma were taken on Monday and Tuesday giving the Sooner State a total of 28 with the 4 taken previously on Sunday night.
What is even more surprising is two highly ranked Oklahoma high school players, Garrett Shull and Carson Wiggins, were not selected as they thought they would be.
Day 2
Brian Holiday (Oklahoma State), 3rd Round
Holiday got the day started for the boys from the Sooner State as he went early in the 3rd round to the St Louis Cardinals.
Holiday was kind of a surprise pick this high even though he was one of the top 2-3 pitchers in the Big 12. His rankings put him in the 6th-9th rounds. However, as we will see with some of the other picks, all it take is one team to like you and you can make a lot more money. The Cardinals obviously like something about Holiday and thought he wouldn’t be there later in the draft.
John Spikerman (Oklahoma), 3rd Round
Spikerman was the first Sooner taken in this year’s draft as he went to the Philadelphia Phillies.
What is interesting about this pick, is the Phillies listed Spikerman as a shortstop. Spikerman was a SS in high school, but he was an outfielder in his 3 seasons at OU. Maybe the Phillies like his athleticism and see him as more of a middle infielder and like his offensive profile there better than in center field.
Zach Ehrhard (Oklahoma State), 4th Round
Ehrhard was the 3rd Poke taken in the draft and the 2nd one on day 2 as he was picked by the Boston Red Sox.
The projections for Ehrhard were all over the place, but the 4th round is about the average of those projections.
Ehrhard is listed as an outfielder, but the question is where the Red Sox see him. He has played some center field and right field in Stillwater and his bat is good enough that he can also be used as a DH.
Braden Davis (Oklahoma), 5th Round
Davis was the Sooners 2nd pick of the draft and the day as he was taken in the 5th round by the St Louis Cardinals.
Davis had a breakout year for the Sooners as he transferred from Sam Houston St. He pitched double the amount of innings in 2024 compared to 2023 and was an All Big 12 1st Team Selection.
There were questions about Davis and where he’d be taken in the draft. Those questions were more about if he’d come back to pitch in Norman and how that would affect his draft position. It seems like the Cardinals are confident Davis will sign and start his professional career in the Redbirds organization.
Caden Favors (Carl Albert HS/Seminole State), 6th Round
Favors was the 1st OK Preps product taken on Day 2 after 4 were taken on Day 1 as he was selected in the 6th round by the Cleveland Guardians. He was also the 1st Oklahoma JUCO product taken in the ’24 Draft.
Favors was quietly one pitchers in the country this past season. He was Wichita State’s ace and earned AAC All Conference 1st Team honors. He pitched the 7th most innings in the country and had an ERA of 3.21 over 106 IP.
The only rankings that Favors was in was Perfect Game at 375 so him goingin the 6th round was earlier than expected.
Janzen Keisel (Oklahoma State), 6th Round
One of the more intriguing prospects from the Sooner State, Janzen Keisel was drafted in the 6th round by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Keisel saw limited action for the Pokes in 2024 as he pitched only 1 time after April. However, he still had one of the top fastballs in the draft and that made attractive to teams.
He was drafted a little higher than his 248th ranking by MLB.
Caden Powell (Clinton HS/Seminole State), 6th Round
Powell was a surprise pick in the 6th round by the Houston Astros as he wasn’t listed in any projections or mock drafts.
To say Powell had an impressive season in Seminole is an understatement. He was the NJCAA National Player of the Year. He was 2nd in the nation in batting average at .502 and led the nation with 32 HRs and 104 RBI.
The Oklahoma State commit has a decision to make, but he’d be hard pressed to pass up this opportunity.
Robert Cranz (Oklahoma State), 7th Round
Cranz is another one that wasn’t on any of the projections nor any mock drafts as he was drafted by the Washington Nationals.
Cranz was strictly a reliever in Stillwater this past season after two seasons at Wichita State. In 30 appearances, Cranz pitched 49.2 innings and had an ERA of 1.63 and a WHIP of 0.77. He also had 59 Ks vs 12 BB.
Ryan Lambert (Oklahoma), 8th Round
Keeping up the trend of surprise picks, Lambert went in the 8th round to the New York Mets.
Lambert was a reliever for the Sooners in 2024 and was the best performer out of the pen in Norman. In 23 appearances, Lambert had a 2.57 ERA and a WHIP of 1.24.
Lamber was a transfer from Missouri State so his performance at a higher level like OU surely didn’t hurt his status with pro scouts.
Sam Garcia (Oklahoma State), 8th Round
Garcia was the #2 pitcher for the Cowboys in 2024 and he was the 2nd starting pitcher from the Cowboys selected when the Milwaukee Brewers in the 8th round.
In 16 appearances (all starts) in 2024, Garcia threw 89 innings with an ERA of 3.64. Garcia had a WHIP of 1.08 with 115 K and 19 BB.
Jakob Hall (Oral Roberts), 8th Round
After seeing 4 Golden Eagles taken in the 2023 draft, Hall is the first of two Golden Eagles taken as he was selected by the Minnesota Twins.
Hall was ORU’s workhorse and ace in 2024 (and 2023). He had a record of 10-3 in 16 starts. Hall threw 107 innings with an ERA of 4.12 and a WHIP of 1.13. He had 110 Ks and 21 BB.
Nick Ackenhausen (Owasso HS/Eastern OK State), 10th Round
Ackenhausen was the 5th straight pitcher taken from the Sooner State as he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 10th round.
Ackenhausen may not have had the best results in 2024, but his still had electric stuff. He appeared in 20 games (5 starts) and had 59 Ks in 43 IP.
He is perhaps best known for his performance in his 1st career start in the 2023 CWS as he pitched 6 scoreless innings against #1 Tennessee allowing the Tigers to win that game and they’d go on to win the national title.
Bryce Madron (Blanchard HS/Oklahoma ), 10th Round
Madron breaks the pitchers streak as he was chosen by the St Louis Cardinals in the 10th round.
The Blanchard Lions alum played the last 2 seasons in Norman after his first 2 college seasons were at Cowley County CC. The 2022 NJCAA National Player of the Year was a fixture in the middle of the lineup for the Sooners as he was an on base machine.
The plus outfielder would perhaps have been a higher pick if he was bigger. It’s no matter though and Madron has the opportunity to prove it on the field.
Brendan Girton (Shattuck HS/Oklahoma), 10th Round
Girton was another surprise pick here as he went to the New York Mets.
The Shattuck HS alum and Texas Tech transfer struck out 47 batters in 35.2 innings in his one season in Norman. Girton also started 6 games for the Sooners.
Michael Snyder (Univ of Oklahoma), 10th Round
Snyder is the last of 3 straight Sooners selected and the last from the Sooner State that was selected on Day 2 as he went to the Miami Marlins.
The Washington Huskie transfer was a huge addition to the Sooners in 2024. He was an All-Big 12 1st Team selection. He batted .354 with 11 HR and 59 RBI. Snyder led the Sooners with a SLG% of .638.
Watching the Sooners this year, it was obvious they were a much better team with him in the lineup and a better defense when he was at 3B.
Day 3
Titan Hayes (Enid High School), 11th Round
The former Plainsman led off day 3 for the Sooner State as he was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 11th round.
The RS Junior pitched one season at Austin Peay where he was a reliever. In 15 appearances, Hayes threw 20.2 innings with 20 Ks and 9 BB. He had an ERA of 3.48 and a WHIP of 1.65.
In the 2023, Hayes pitched in the MLB Draft League striking out 8 batters in 9 innings. This summer he has been pitching in the Cape Cod League striking out 12 in 6.2 IP and hasn’t allowed a run.
Tommy Molsky (Oklahoma State), 12th Round
Molsky was the next Cowboy taken and the first on day 3 as he was taken by the Kansas City Royals in the 12th round.
Molsky was a solid pitcher where he came out of the bullpen until his last 2 appearances. The Penn State transfer had 66 Ks in 41 IP.
Molsky’s best outing perhaps came in the Big 12 Championship game as he started and threw 4.1 innings allowing only 2 runs to the Sooners. He struck out 8 batters in that outing as well.
Matthew Watson (Eastern OK State College), 13th Round
Watson was the 2nd of 3 Mountaineers taken in the draft as the San Diego Padres in the 13th round.
Watson spent this past season at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and earned an All-Southland Conference 2nd Team. In 13 appearances (11 starts), Watson had an ERA of 3.74 with 74 Ks vs 29 BB in 65 IP.
Watson announced on his X (formerly Twitter) on July 9 that he was transferring to Kentucky.
Brooks Fowler (Jenks HS/Oral Roberts), 15th Round
Fowler is the 2nd and last Golden Eagle selected in 2024 as the Texas Rangers picked him at the end of the 15th round.
Fowler made 16 starts (17 appearances total) for ORU in 2024. He had 83 Ks in 79.2 innings pitched.
In 2023, Fowler went 9-2 in 17 starts with a 3.26 ERA.
Jackson Nicklaus (Univ of Oklahoma) 17th Round
Nicklaus was the first Sooner taken on day 3 as the Los Angeles Dodgers called his name in the 17th round.
The 3 year starter in Norman was a mainstay at 2B for the Sooners (although the Dodgers announced him as a SS).
Nicklaus batted .303 with 10 HR and 37 RBI in 2024 and was an All Big 12 Tournament selection.
He played in 178 games over his 3 years in Norman starting all but 8 of those games. Along with John Spikerman and Kendall Pettis he was part of the freshman class that was a catalyst for the Sooners’ run to the CWS finals in 2022.
Ryan Ure (Oklahoma State), 19th Round
Ure was the last Cowboys selected on day 3 and the entire draft as he went to the San Francisco Giants in the 19th round.
Ure will be an interesting watch going forward. He missed the entire 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery and appeared in only 9 games in 2024 going only 3.2 innings pitched.
Ure was drafted in the 16th round in 2021 before he chose to go to OSU. So the pro scouts already knew about him and they must still see something to draft him now.
Twine Palmer (Kiowa HS/Connors State), 19th Round
Palmer is another surprise pick even though he went in the 19th round to the Houston Astros.
We aren’t saying Palmer shouldn’t have been drafted. It is he wasn’t listed anywhere on any rankings.
Palmer had an outstanding freshman season this year as he was a NJCAA Honorable Mention. He had 15 starts and threw 94 innings with a 2.87 ERA. Palmer threw 110 Ks against only 29 BB. His WHIP was 1.13.
Carter Frederick (Oklahoma), 20th Round
Rounding out the Sooners draftees for 2024 was Carter Frederick as he went to the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round.
Frederick saw his first season at OU cut short due to injury. Frederick played in only 13 games before getting injured. In those 13 games, Frederick was batting .343 with 2 HR and 9 RBI. His OPS was .943.
Dawson Price (Eastern OK State College), 20th Round
Rounding out the draft for the Sooner State was Dawson Price of EOSC as the Detroit Tigers selected him in the 20th round.
Price was a two way player for the Mountaineers in 2024. As an outfielder, he batted .286 with a HR and 19 RBI.
However, the Tigers drafted Price as a pitcher. In 3 appearances (2 starts), Price threw 10.2 innings with only 2 earned runs given up and 7 Ks.
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