The Big 12 Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll is out and it appears that Texas A&M is actually going to be good at something this year. The Sooners are picked to finish 6th which is pretty good when you consider that they finished 8th last year and still made the tournament.
A 6th place finish in 2009 would be an improvement but hopefully we'll see something even more significant than just two spots. For that to happen OU is going to need their infield to be clutch every time the Sooners step out of the dugout. The good news is that Oklahoma returns a veteran infield in 2009 and hopefully their leadership will be what allows them to make some noise in the conference.
Catcher
J.T. Wise - Started 59 games behind the plate last season and made a significant impact with his bat as well. Wise threw out only 39% of base stealers but also struck back at opponents by batting .300 in conference play with 21 RBIs.
First Base
Aaron Baker - Led the team with nine homers, 61 RBIs (ninth in Big 12) and 19 multiple-RBI games. Was the team's MVP in the Tempe Regional after batting .500 with three homers and five RBIs.
Second Base
Matt Harughty - Started last season as Oklahoma's short stop and also swapped time between second and third base. Batted .290 in conference play with 13 RBIs.
Short Stop
Bryant Hernandez - Played both short stop and second base during the `08 season in his 21 starts. Became a fulltime starter over the final 8 games of the season and produced 10 hits with 5 RBIs during that time.
Third Base
Garrett Buechele - The unknown in the infield, Buechele is a redshirt freshman who has drawn praise from coaches for improving both mentally and physically over the last year.
Wild Card
Tyson Seng - Is able to play all of the infield positions (excluding catcher which really isn't an infield position) in addition to relief pitching. Hit .320 during conference play in 2009.