Oklahoma received good news with the addition of left-handed pitcher Jace Miner via the transfer portal — he announced on his Twitter Monday. Miner announced his decision eight days after the Sooners were eliminated from postseason play in the Charlottesville Regional.
Miner (2-0) heads to Norman after two seasons 2.5 hours up the road at Wichita State. The southpaw was a workhorse out of the bullpen for the Shockers — posting a 2.05 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched in 24 relief appearances. Opposing hitters managed a .148 average and only compiled 22 hits against Miner in 2023.
Skip Johnson has to replace two weekend starters in Braden Carmichael and Braxton Douthit — both of whom exhausted their eligibility after the 2023 campaign with James Hitt being the lone returner next season. Miner provides a viable option for Johnson as the southpaw made seven starts in his inaugural season at Wichita State.
Oklahoma is somewhat familiar with Miner as the southpaw tossed 5.2 innings of scoreless relief across three separate appearances against the Sooners in 2023. Miner earned a 10-out save in his first appearance against the Sooners in a 6-2 victory in favor of the Shockers.
With the addition of Miner to the rotation, Johnson could utilize the lefty in multiple ways. Miner could potentially join Hitt to give Johnson two quality lefties in the weekend rotation or stay in a bullpen role and compliment Will Carsten, Aaron Weber, Carson Atwood, and Carter Campbell — a fellow bullpen workhorse in his own right with 59.1 innings pitched in the 2023 campaign for the Sooners.
Johnson has conveyed his affinity for the transfer portal having gone to it for several key pitchers. The Oklahoma skipper landed Douthit and Hitt out of the transfer portal with Douthit coming from Lamar and Hitt from Texas Tech. Kale Davis also joined the Sooners last offseason out of Oklahoma State.
After an impressive campaign at Wichita State in 2023, Miner will look to play a key role in the weekend rotation or the bullpen for the Sooners next season. The southpaw will head to Norman with two years of eligibility remaining.
