Luken Baker Decides To Focus On Hitting This Season

Texas Christian star Luken Baker, who earned All-America honors last season as a two-way player, has chosen not to pitch this season and will focus exclusively on hitting for the first time in his career.

TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said the decision to focus on hitting this year was Baker’s.

“He feels like that’s the best route for his future,” Schlossnagle said. “We’re confident in our pitching staff that we can absorb that.”

Schlossnagle said Baker has not ruled out returning to pitching, but that will not happen this season.

Baker has long shown prowess as both a pitcher and hitter, and he ranked No. 58 on the 2015 BA 500. Leading up to the draft, there was no consensus as to whether his future was brighter as a pitcher or hitter, with some evaluators preferring him as a power hitter and others as a power pitcher. He ultimately sent teams an email two weeks before the draft telling them he intended to uphold his commitment to TCU and not sign out of high school. The Astros ultimately drafted the Houston native in the 37th round, but he never wavered on his plan to play for the Horned Frogs.

Baker starred for the Horned Frogs as a freshman, helping them to their third straight appearance in the College World Series. He hit .379/.483/.577 with 11 home runs and went 3-1, 1.70 in 10 starts on the mound.

Baker’s year on the mound was cut short by injury. He strained a muscle in his right arm in a late-April start at Oklahoma State. The injury kept him from pitching the rest of the season, though he was able to continue to DH and hit in the middle of TCU’s order.

While Baker was TCU’s Friday night starter at the time of his injury, the Horned Frogs have plenty of depth on the mound this season. Righthanders Brian Howard and Mitchell Traver return for their senior seasons, as does redshirt sophomore righthander Jared Janczak, who moved into the rotation late in the season. TCU also brought in a pitching-heavy recruiting class, led by lefthander Nick Lodolo, the 41st overall pick in last June’s draft.