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Could Garrett Williams be Oklahoma State’s New Ace?

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With the season less than three weeks away, the Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team is faced with the tall task of replacing the entire weekend rotation from last year’s team.

The biggest void in the rotation will be replacing staff ace Michael Freeman who was drafted in the 7th round by the Houston Astros. Freeman was an All-American performer in 2015, going 10-3 with a 1.31 ERA in 109 innings. Replacing him will be incredibly difficult, but pitching coach Rob Walton has another ace up his sleeve.

Junior LHP Garrett Williams has potential to be Walton’s next success story. Walton made an arm slot change on Williams similar to the one Freeman made before his breakout 2015 campaign.   

Williams was a highly-touted recruit out of Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, LA, and was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 33rd round of 2013 MLB draft after his senior year.

As a freshman in 2014, Williams pitched in 18 games (7 starts) with a 5.40 ERA, but had issues with his command, walking 6.7 hitters per nine innings. Williams did flash his potential striking out 50 hitters in 41 innings while showing a hard breaking curveball.

Williams’s struggles with command got worse in his sophomore season. The left-hander walked 19 hitters in only 18 innings and was called on to make two starts.  

In the summer of 2015, Williams played in the prestigious Cape Cod League for the Chatham Anglers and turned heads with his ability to get hitters to swing over his pitches. Williams had 33 punch-outs in 22 2/3 innings for the summer.

Things really started to click for Williams during the fall when Walton tweaked his arm slot slightly. Williams was the story of the fall, with 32 strikeouts in 15 innings, but the eye-popper is he only issued 2 walks.

“The very first bullpen it clicked. It clicked in five pitches,” Walton told Aaron Fitt of D1baseball.comBefore changing the arm slot Williams sat from 90-93 mph with his fastball, but is now ticking up around the 94-97 mph range.

Fitt then went on to liken Williams to former Illinois LHP Tyler Jay who was selected sixth overall in last year’s draft. Jay worked as the closer for the Fighting Illini last season, but made appearances of up to six innings while starting some important games as well.

Williams may not be the Friday starter when OSU opens its season in the road against UT-Arlington, but if the adjustments sticks Williams will be on the mound for game one when the Cowboys are hosting a super regional for the second time in three years.

Walton also told Fitt, “I don’t think there is anyone in the country who has better raw stuff than him.”

When an elite pitching coach like Walton makes a statement like that it should be taken at face value. Walton has a knack for coaching up talented left-handers, Freeman and Los Angeles Angels LHP Andrew Heaney are two recent success stories.

With his 6-3 frame and pitch repertoire, Williams has potential to be the first Cowboys to go in the first round of the draft since Heaney was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2012.

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