2025 Big 12 Season Preview • D1Baseball
Oklahoma State looks like the team to beat in the new-look Big 12, but there's a deep reservoir of regional contenders. Mike Rooney breaks them all down.
They have us being one of 7 teams to make the tournament. Tech starts scrimmaging again on saturday.
Big 12 Standings
1. OSU
2. Arizona
3. TCU
4. WVU
5. Kansas
6. Texas Tech
Strengths: You do not want to trade punches with a Texas Tech offense. That has been the case since Tim Tadlock took over the program and it remains so today. Of course, the current environment in college baseball is hyper-offensive, and that is exacerbated in Lubbock. But returners Damian Bravo and TJ Pompey highlight an athletic group that should grow into one of the league’s best run-scoring units. This lineup should have more speed than we’re used to as well. Keep an eye on newcomers Kyeler Thompson and Kendyl Johnson who both create tremendous havoc on the bases.
Question Marks: Run prevention isn’t easy in West Texas but Tadlock’s best teams have done it well. For context, the Red Raiders’ last Omaha team (2019) finished the year with a 4.01 ERA and fielded .976. The 2024 team struggled in this area, as evidenced by a 6.19 team ERA and .969 fielding percentage. The pitching staff added significant depth, and the position player group added athleticism and speed. Both of those things offer a path forward and that will be important.
Star Power: Bravo is your reigning Big 12 batting champion, having hit .378 in his sophomore season. The righthanded hitter finished ninth nationally in doubles per game (0.45) and he might have made a run at the outright title had he not missed 12 games to injury. Bravo is a twitchy middle of the field athlete with a whippy swing that generates a ton of bat speed. An encore from Bravo would be massive. Pompey (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) took some lumps as a freshman, but his overall numbers speak to his enormous talent: .905 OPS, 10 home runs, 12 steals, 49 RBIs in 54 starts. He is an outstanding athlete whose best position might ultimately be center field, but his instant offense is the carrying tool for now.
Glue Guys: Middle infielder Tracer Lopez enters 2025 with 105 career starts and that experience has great value on this very new roster. The lefthanded hitter is more steady than impactful so far but a breakout junior season would not come as a surprise. Catcher Dylan Maxcey made 48 starts over his first two seasons. He hit .349 over 84 at bats in 2024 and he is another player who looks ready to find another level in his game. Relievers Parker Hutyra (4.72 ERA) and Trendan Parish (3.33 ERA) combined to make 35 appearances a year ago. Hutyra is a 6-foot-4 sophomore righthander with a fastball that averaged 92.4 mph in 2024. Parish is a senior with 50 career appearances, including 11 starts, and 2024 was his best season to date.
Pick to Click: Mac Heuer is the prototypical righthanded starter from the state of Texas. He is big (6-foot-5, 265 pounds) and his fastball is equally large. Heuer’s heater averaged 94.9 mph this summer on Cape Cod (97th percentile) and he was thrown into the fire as a true freshman. The numbers from his 10-start rookie season aren’t glorious (4-5, 5.94 ERA) but the experience could pay enormous dividends in 2025. Transfer Robin Villaneuve (Tennessee) was a junior college All-American at Weatherford College and this return to the Lone Star State could be the perfect fit for him. The physical righthanded hitter (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) from Quebec posted a .959 OPS for the national champions in just 80 at bats. Villaneuve is an option at first base or a corner outfield spot but most importantly, the senior adds to the intimidation factor of this lineup.
Top Newcomer: Senior transfer Peyton Schulze (California) has played a lot of college baseball (650 plate appearances) and 2024 was his best season (.323 batting average with a .927 OPS, 21 doubles, 10 home runs, and 59 RBIs). The 6-foot-1, 205-pound righthanded hitting first sacker offers a fairly generic tool set but his feel for run production has an old-fashioned winning feel to it. Keep an eye on freshman arm Jackson Burns. The 6-foot-4 righthander has been up to 95 mph and his rare combination of stuff and command made him a significant draft risk. Burns should make an immediate impact.
Outlook: This has been one of the nation’s best and most consistent programs under Tadlock. However, the current version of the program does not feel the same as those clubs that went to Omaha four times from 2014 to 2019. And last season’s 10th-place finish in the conference was jarring. All that said, betting against this program has been bad policy since Tadlock took over. This roster is more speculative than proven but there is a path to a large turnaround here. The renewed athleticism of the position player group and the improved depth of the pitching staff should make an immediate impact. To borrow the gambling parlance, I’ll take the over here.
Top 2025 Draft Prospects
12. Damian Bravo
13. Mac Heuer (draft eligible sophomore)
25. Zach Crotchfelt (Auburn transfer)
34. Jacob Rogers
Top 2026 Draft Prospects
2. TJ Pompey
5. Logan Bevis (USF Transfer)
21. Kyeler Thompson (JUCO transfer)
29. Logan Hughes (Stetson transfer)
Impact Freshman
6. Jace Souza
11. Kendyl Johnson
9. Jackson Burns
