Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - MELTDOWN: Kansas Baseball Falls in Super Regional to Oklahoma Sooners + Jayhawks 2027 Roster

Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, that was not a fun weekend for KU baseball as Oklahoma moving on to the College World Series so close for KU to making it to Omaha. Instead, a disappointing weekend, but what of a hell of a season for KU? And what could next year's roster potentially look like for the Jayhawks and Dan Fitzgerald? You are locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:00:38 And we are going to be breaking down what could potentially the roster look like next year for KU baseball. We'll also get into just in general an ode to a great season. What a hell of a season it was for KU baseball. But we got to start right here. Got to eat the vegetables before the meat, so to speak, because yeah, KU got gobsmacked by the Sooners this weekend in Lawrence at Hoagland Ballpark. And, you know, it was one of those things, too, where you're going through like rain delays on Sunday night. You're going through the, you know, it got delayed a little bit on Saturday, but certainly I was one of the fans who was standing out in the rain waiting to get in the backyard for an hour and a half and you're getting drenched, but it's kind of a fun

Starting point is 00:01:17 memory. And then what happens after once the game started was not a fun memory. Just everything seemed to go wrong this weekend. I guess it would be kind of the way of putting it, right? The first game, it's, it's, I don't know, I guess I don't even know that I want to go into each game that deep, to be completely honest, because it's like you, you saw what happen. Like, KU just got like outplayed like thoroughly, right? And I think the frustrating thing with that is that KU outplayed Arkansas last week and won both games against them. And Oklahoma was a worst team in the same conference as Arkansas. Arkansas won the series over Oklahoma. And it wasn't just that like, okay, Oklahoma like beat you in a couple of close games. Like Oklahoma just was better than you

Starting point is 00:02:00 in every facet, right? And that is the difficulty. of baseball that you can have one bad week, you know, we were seeing KU have a bad week before. They lost four games, one of the weeks. You're going to have a lot of ups and you're going to have a lot of good weeks, which KU did this season. They had a bad week and Oklahoma is a hot team, the combination of the two and maybe KU feeling like, you know, a little, I don't know, maybe the moment was a little bit too big at certain standpoints.

Starting point is 00:02:25 But kind of the same, like starting pitching, which on paper coming to the weekend was supposed to be an advantage for KU, right? KU had the veteran starting pitcher. They have the starting pitchers with maybe a little bit better stats. But the OU freshman had electric stuff and they were able to come in and KU wasn't able to get the bats going. And then Dom Vagley and Mason Cook struggled immensely. I don't know. It was so bad that I'm wondering like halfway through some of the games.

Starting point is 00:02:53 Like does OU have something scouting-wise that they're picking up from KU that they're doing in terms of like stealing signs or like that. a pitcher is, you know, indicating what they're going to throw by doing something like, has Oklahoma figured something out, you know, like that's how, that's how rough it kind of was. The defense was a huge problem for gay. And that was something we talked about as a key coming into the week for Kansas that, you know, the defense was going to be huge. We saw the difference in, I mean, it was a key play in the comeback against Arkansas for Kansas to come from behind there, a bad defensive play by Arkansas. And instead this week, it was Kansas making the defensive errors, whether it's the error by your best player in Tyson LeBlanc that prevents a double play that would have got you out of the inning.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Instead, you end up giving up a four-run inning. You look at some other defensive plays that you didn't make, whether it was that game or whether it was, I don't know, just unable to, like, field a bun to make it out. Like, it just wasn't making, like, sharp plays. They weren't making smart plays. They weren't. It just felt like a shell of themselves. It felt like it wasn't what we saw all season long from KU. And I think that makes it more frustrating that this,

Starting point is 00:04:01 was not what you saw all season from KU, and this was also kind of not really what you saw all season from Oklahoma. Like, sure, maybe you saw it last week in the regional, and they clearly are hot, and they clearly have figured something out. And, like, maybe they can carry that to win in a title or something like that. And I'm sure the team playing light right now for Oklahoma, very different than the one that was playing, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:19 maybe a couple of months ago. But I think that leads to the frustration here. The fact that it was never really a game, that you never really got everybody a chance to get fully into it. Sure, there were some moments where you tie it one-to-one in game two, or we have a big strikeout to, you know, leave some runners on in the first game that you played against them where the crowd can get into it a little bit. But it was never like an overwhelming momentum thing. It almost was like I kind of thought it was akin to like the 2018 final four against Villanova where just from really the word go, like once you started the game, it was apparent that this thing's over. And that certainly stunk that KU got on this big stage and wasn't able to get through. And, you know, we're still looking for our first elite eight team at K. Kansas since the 22 national title team. So that certainly is unfortunate year.

Starting point is 00:05:05 And, you know, again, was the moment too bright for KU? Like, I don't know. I think sometimes that can get overblown because it's like, well, did it just happen to be that they played a team who had a good week and Kansas had a bad week? Could it just be that? But entirely good. But when it happens on this moment, you start to wonder, like, it's one thing for Kansas is, oh, the bats went cool.

Starting point is 00:05:27 Or they were hitting a lot of like atom balls where they were hitting, you know, line drives. they're going right to the defender, which, you know, sometimes that happened. Like there was a play early in the second game with Mungarieta where he kind of spikes one into a left-fielders glove. You know, if that's happening or like you're just getting like no bounces or they're getting a bunch of like infield single. Like, sure, sure. That can be something where maybe you don't look to that. It's the idea that going back to that Kansas looked different from how we saw them all season,

Starting point is 00:05:55 where you would start to like pull threads on that and be like, well, what would cause? that and would the bigger moment potentially cause that? It's entirely possible. I mean, this is the first time Kansas has been in this situation. Like even in 1993, when they made the College World Series, there wasn't a super regional. It was a different format. There were regionals of six teams each. So still the double elimination, kind of a different format, like I said. But yeah, this was just kind of a different moment than they were used to. And for Oklahoma program, who's kind of been there before, like there were moments where KU just felt like a deer in headlights and that kind of ends up being the difference. So a very disappointing weekend,

Starting point is 00:06:32 both in terms of, I mean, it's always disappointing when you lose, but specifically how it went down with KU just not really competing to the same level of Oklahoma. Like that certainly sucks, but it still was a hell of a year. And, you know, when the dust settles here and you have a little bit more time to process, like, we are going to look back and be like, man, what an awesome season. What's such a fun season. And how cool is it what Dan Fitzgerald has done with this baseball program. So let's break down some of the best moments or, I don't know, some of the great accomplishments that this team had before we take a look at potentially who could be back for next year's roster. This is locked on Jayhawks. These episodes brought to you by Wayfair patio

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Starting point is 00:08:24 and get your outdoor space ready for cribs or for way less. That is Wayfair.com, W-A-I-F-A-I-R.com, Wayfair, every style, every home. Thanks you for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget, you get the everyday air club to get the ad-free version of the show at Lockedonjahawks.com. Okay, so obviously, yeah, crappy finish here to the season for KU, but let's think about all the amazing things that this team did on the season before we take a look at next year's roster.

Starting point is 00:08:55 They went 7 and O combined against the local schools, Missouri, Kansas State, Nebraska. They won two midweek games against Missouri and Nebraska. They swept Kansas State, and the K-State sweep was on the road on top of that. Like, that is a really cool thing to do, right? It was the first Big 12 regular season championship ever for this KU baseball program. And it was the first of any kind winning any conference the KU's been in since 1949. And they did it with the most conference wins. they've ever had in a season.

Starting point is 00:09:27 This was the first Big 12th tournament championship they've had in 20 years and only the second time that they've ever won that. Dan Fitzgerald became the first back-to-back Big 12 coach of the year since Augie Garrido did it at Texas in 2010 and 2011. So, you know, history in the conference there. This was also KU's first back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances since 1993 and 1994. And now it sets up an opportunity where for KU, if they can make it back to the NCAA tournament next season, they have a chance to be the first team in program history to make the NCAA tournament for three consecutive seasons.

Starting point is 00:10:06 So that'll be one of the big goals for next year's team, right? But this was also KU's first regional championship since the 1993 season when, again, they wound up making the College World Series out of that, right? And it doesn't hurt that in the process of winning that regional, let's not forget. You still got the Oklahoma monkey on your back now from a baseball perspective. But from a KU athletics perspective, KU's at an Arkansas-sized monkey on their back recently. And, you know, it at least helps get that off your back in the process here, right? Like beating them twice en route to winning your first regional since 1993.

Starting point is 00:10:42 And then I think beyond all of that, beyond all the, I guess, the tangible things this team accomplished in the awards that they won individually or as a team. She's a super entertaining team, super beloved set of players, super beloved team. Everybody you talked to had great things to say about them as people and as guys and their stories. And so that just adds to, I think, the intrigue and the fandom. And it doesn't hurt that, like, from a plain style perspective, like what's fun for fans a lot of times, home runs and when your pitchers get strikeouts. Well, this was the very best team in KU history in terms of total strikeouts from a pitching staff. and total home runs hit from the batting perspective.

Starting point is 00:11:27 So like they checked all the boxes. They won a lot of games. They achieved history. They were a likable group, a bunch of good guys, and they played an entertaining style of baseball. And I hope that we can get more of these seasons and more of these teams because this was so freaking fun.

Starting point is 00:11:42 And I think sometimes, you know, through so many years where KU wasn't as competitive in baseball, it almost became a bit of an afterthought, if we're being quite honest. and it's a good reminder that when you're good at something, it's really fun. And so I hope that this continues under Dan Fitzgerald. What could potentially that roster look like in 2027?

Starting point is 00:12:02 We'll take a look at that next. Once again, thanks for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget the everydayer club. You can get the ad-free version, locked on jhawks.com. It's taking a look, not at the entire roster because there's some players that maybe don't play a ton or as much, but just key players for KU that are gone, that could be back, that have decisions to make. obviously every player you know the the ultimate caveat that we have to do with every sport nowadays every player could transfer every player could enter the transfer portal see what they're worth or go to another school and that obviously complicates things here right but let's start here so here's the seniors that are definitely gone for k u and i guess the the caveat here would also be what's going to happen with the five and five is it going to pass in june which seems like it's trending that way obviously is part of the five and five

Starting point is 00:12:52 they've mentioned that they're not going to grandfather in players. But if somebody sues the NCAA and wins the suit, it opens up any other player who would have a fifth year to be able to come back to school. So some of these players are graduates for KU. Others are four-year seniors. So some if the five and five and you want a suit could make it work, others just going to be moving on. But regardless, Josh Dykoff,

Starting point is 00:13:15 so that'll be a big bat in the order to be missing for KU, because when you're looking at OPS for KU, Dykoff was third on the team. He also had 16 home runs, which was third on the team. So that's going to be a big miss for KU to try to replace over there. Jordan Bach, who had a big, big 12th tournament, he ended up with eight home runs, 45 driven in. He was, let's see, fifth on the team in OPS.

Starting point is 00:13:39 So that was, you know, that's going to be a big miss for KU losing him. Dario Osoria, who was really hot to finish the season for KU, the overall season numbers a little lower on the end of things in terms of OPS and everything. but again was hot at the right time of the year. Max Siles, who was, you know, one of KU's first benchbats on the season. He will graduate at the end of the year, so you're going to need more depth there. And then we'll just, I guess, split this between hitters and pitchers. So losing all that from the hitting perspective, the players that have decisions to make,

Starting point is 00:14:13 who are juniors who could come back for a senior season or could go pro early, Tyson LeBlanc is the big one, right? Breaks KU's single season home run record. leads KU and OPS. The pros for him coming back are that he would be able to, you would think, shatter the KU all-time home run record

Starting point is 00:14:31 from a career perspective. Maybe not shatter, but we'd have a chance at that. And have a chance to, you know, here's the thing. The way KU loses here where they had such a fun season and all these guys seem to really like each other,

Starting point is 00:14:45 but then you come up just short to the College World Series, a chance to do something really historic for this program. Does that motivate certain guys to make a decision to come back that were maybe on the fence? I wouldn't rule it out, right? But LeBlanc's going to have probably the biggest decision to make, just in terms of being KU's best player. Now, I will say this. As we go through some of these names, ESPN recently released, it was May 18th, so a few weeks ago, released a top 155 for the upcoming draft. And again, so that's before like the tournament started.

Starting point is 00:15:19 K, you didn't have anyone in the top 155. If you look at the athletic from a few weeks ago, they released one. Kay, you didn't have anybody. That one's only at the top 100. Now, MLB Pipeline does have one that goes to the top 200, and the Blanc was the only player in that one. That was on May 28th. He came in at 130.

Starting point is 00:15:35 So that becomes interesting because it's like, if you're going to pick 130, that puts you somewhere around like what, like the fourth fifth round. Most fourth-fifth rounders, you might get 500,000, 600,000 to come out. that's probably more money than LeBlon would get to come back to Kansas unless they can find some NIL deal, which would be awesome if you could make it happen. So I'd love to see LeBong back for another season at KU, but that'll probably be the big tough one right now.

Starting point is 00:16:02 Just based on that, I would expect him to go pro, but like I said, you never know where motivation lies. And Brady Bollinger was somebody who was like in top 100 lists for draft expectations coming into this year before the year started. It had a solid season, but not as good of a season as, a year ago. Obviously, he had to deal with some injury stuff. He's not on any of those lists now. So I wonder if he comes back for a senior year. That would be big time for KU, especially because he is in a real way, like a lot of times the heartbeat and the soul of the teams. That would be big

Starting point is 00:16:29 if they can get him back. Dom vaguely is another one where, you know, especially the way the season ended and getting lit up in that key gaming at Oklahoma or scouts are watching. You wonder if that will make it more likely comes back. He's another guy who has a chance to make some history. If he comes back, you should be able to shatter the all-time strikeout career record at KU. But pitchers to a certain standpoint can be like running backs, where it's like they want to go pro as early as possible because running backs have a limited amount of carries in the NFL. Pitchers have a limited amount of innings before they're going to need that next big injury, and they want to get that big contract.

Starting point is 00:17:03 So I would understand whatever vaguely does, but we'll see if he does decide to come back. And then Bodey Ray, you know, with relievers, maybe not as high in the draft, but he is a redshirt junior. so maybe we'll have it graduated, but that's one that will be kind of interesting. And if KU can get back for another year, that certainly be huge. Now, here's some other juniors that I haven't seen on any of the list who had good seasons, but I would think would come back, barring any transfers. Augusto Mungariata would be a huge one to have back, right?

Starting point is 00:17:31 When you have the consistency behind home plate, and he was second on KU and OPS, he was second on KU and home runs this season, like that would be huge for KU to get him back. Kate Baldridge, who was hurt, coming into this last week of the season. I think KU definitely missed him because he's a guy that, you know, you're talking to 320 average, good contact hitter. And when you're pairing, KU was so many power hitters, when you're pairing a good contact hitter to get on for those power hitters,

Starting point is 00:17:55 like that becomes really helpful for KU. Dylan Schlaugherback, kind of an end of the order guy, you know, hits for pretty good average, not necessarily the most power, but somebody that can, you know, be a good utility guy, kind of at the end of your lineup, so to speak. Mathis Nairal, he could be coming back as a starting pitcher, right? Four and three, four nine two, ERA. You're talking about somebody who had a decent strikeout number,

Starting point is 00:18:24 and he's somebody who, you know, if you come back, if Dom Fagley's gone, then you look at him. And, you know, another guy, Mason Cook, who's just a sophomore, as being the leaders of that rotation potentially. But we heard Dan Fitzgerald kind of talk before this season that he wanted like he had like five main pitchers he wanted three of them to emerge as starters and have two good ones in the bullpen right and so you wonder if they'll do that same thing right and theoretically it could be nay roll it could be mason cook who like i said sophomore should be back

Starting point is 00:18:52 for his junior year manny and west could be a part of that as well he's just the junior and had a good season for k u um and then you also have ryan ritter who yeah he definitely struggled against oklahoma but um it did some pretty good things this season and he could be interesting for that spot you know, when you're talking from recruiting standpoint, KU continues to recruit the Juko ranks well and bring on some high-level recruits. So that all becomes interesting. But you can actually bring back, it feels like to me, because, you know, from the pitching standpoint, the seniors you lose,

Starting point is 00:19:21 Toby Shite and then you lose Carr and Fink who are solid bullpen pieces. But it feels like KU, if you were to get Ray back, heck, if you were to get Ray and vaguely, it feels like KU can bring back more pitching than they can hitting. But again, if you're able to bring back from the hitting things, standpoint. These guys who can come back, Mungarieta, Baldridge, Tyson Owens, just the sophomore.

Starting point is 00:19:43 Flowers came on late in the season. If you have those guys back and you can get at least one of LeBlanc or Bollinger back from a decision and then you have some of these Juko transfers coming in, you'd still be pretty good on the offensive end, but it's going to be tough to match what this season's team did on the hitting side of things.

Starting point is 00:20:02 So some interesting players that can definitely come back, but there's going to be some big decisions in there, to stay the least for KU from the MLB draft standpoint alone. And we'll be keeping an eye on, you know, where some of those players get drafted because that could have an impact on it. You know, if you go on the seventh round, the signing bonus is a little lower. If you go on the fourth round, that signing bonus probably a little higher. So that'll be interesting to watch here coming up in the summer.

Starting point is 00:20:22 All right, that'll go for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. Don't forget check out our episode, also talking to KU Football, huge commitment weekend for Lance Leipold and Company. So check that one out as well. well. This is LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - MELTDOWN: Kansas Baseball Falls in Super Regional to Oklahoma Sooners + Jayhawks 2027 Roster

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