AARON BAKER
9/10/87; '09 11th; Univ. of Oklahoma
L/R; 6-2, 220
| Level |
BA |
OBP |
SA |
AB |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
| 2007 NCAA |
.323 |
.382 |
.463 |
229 |
16 |
2 |
4 |
18 |
31 |
3 |
2 |
| 2008
NCAA |
.315 |
.408 |
.509 |
222 |
12 |
2 |
9 |
24 |
39 |
3 |
5 |
| 2009 NCAA |
.284 |
.417 |
.564 |
225 |
16 |
1 |
15 |
40 |
50 |
6 |
3 |
| 2009
A- |
.247 |
.341 |
.414 |
227 |
15 |
7 |
3 |
32 |
54 |
2 |
0 |
Baker’s hitting over his three collegiate seasons went
though an interesting progression, with the power, walks and strikeouts
increasing and the average decreasing. He did some catching at Oklahoma
and did reasonably well at it, but the Pirates announced him as a firstbaseman
when they selected him. Baseball America ranked Baker as the 19th best
prospect in Oklahoma in a banner year for the state. Baker
signed quickly and alternated with Justin Byler between first and
DH for State College. He struggled through July but posted an OPS of .842
in August. He's obviously very patient and his K total, although high,
wasn't alarming. Hopefully some of the doubles and
triples—surprisingly, he tied for the league lead in the latter—will
eventually turn into HRs. LHPs were a problem, holding him to an
OPS of .553, as opposed to .838 against RHPs. Another big platoon split was home/road: like all of the Spikes' LH hitting regulars, Baker had a huge split, with a .900 OPS at home and .598 on the road. The State College ballpark isn't a hitter's park overall, but it appears to favor LH hitters greatly over RH hitters. This could show up as a factor starting next year, which Baker figures to open at West Virginia.
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