A pitcher for years with his eyes set on being a starter, former Kansas closer Hunter Cranton found himself in the complete opposite role for one simple reason.
“I was like pretty much every other pitcher; I grew up wanting to be a starter,” Cranton told R1S1 Sports via telephone after a dominant outing in Game 1 of the Big 12 tournament in May. “But, man, I just wasn’t very good at it.”
Cranton even started his Kansas career as a Sunday starter, but quickly moved to the back end of the pitching staff when he and the KU coaches realized one thing — He operates best on emotion, and feeding off of that for an inning or two serves closers way better than it does starters.
“Being a closer really gives me an opportunity to kind of come in and just let it all out,” Cranton said. “You don’t have to say anything for five or six innings and it’s just more exciting. I get an adrenaline boost and I’ve always been an adrenaline pitcher, coming in for an inning or two and seeing what I can do.”
That realization might’ve been the best thing to ever happen to Cranton because it led to him being drafted in the third round of this year’s MLB Draft on Monday.
Cranton was selected by Seattle with the No. 91 overall pick. That ties him with former KU pitcher Jimmy Walker for the second-highest draft pick in Kansas baseball history.
It remains to be seen what his Major League Baseball future holds. But the ESPN+ broadcasters who called the Big 12 tournament were already talking about Cranton and his stuff fitting the MLB profile.
“In the moment, when you’re throwing on a stage like that, you never really think about anything like that,” Cranton said. “I’m glad the stuff was there, obviously, and that’s cool to hear and very kind of them to say that about me.”
A little later in the day Monday, KU infielder Kodey Shojinaga, the 2023 Big 12 freshman of the year, was selected in the sixth round, at No. 192 overall, by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Despite playing just two seasons at Kansas, Shojinaga, 21, was draft-eligible because of his age. He became the fifth-highest position player ever drafted out of Kansas.
Former KU great Curtis Shaw is officially listed as the highest picked Jayhawk. Shaw, a left-handed pitcher, was taken No. 42 overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 MLB draft.
Current KU coach Dan Fitzgerald, who coached both Cranton and Shojinaga for two years, said he was thrilled for both players because both landed in great spots and were ready to go to work.
Shojinaga signed with KU out of high school and then went on to become the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2023. Cranton came to Kansas after two seasons at Saddleback College and the 2022 season at San Diego State.
“I'm really proud of Hunter and Kodey,” Fitzgerald said in a KU press release announcing the draft picks. “Both guys are incredible workers, self-starting and ultra-competitive. Their impact on KU baseball will be felt for a long time.”
On Tuesday, right-handed pitchers Ethan Lanthier (12th round, NY Mets) and Tegan Cain (13th round, Philadelphia), catcher Ben Hartl (14th round, Texas), and left-handed pitcher Evan Shaw (16th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) were all selected on the third and final day of the MLB Draft.
The four Jayhawks drafted on Day 3 brought the total to six Kansas players selected, the most from KU in the top 20 rounds of an MLB Draft in program history. It also marked the most KU baseball draft picks since 2014 and was only one shy of the school record of seven, set in 2010. The Jayhawks
had the second most players drafted by a current Big 12 school, trailing only Oklahoma State, which had eight.
“I’m really proud of this draft class,” Fitzgerald said in a release. “We’ve come a long way in two years and have our work cut out for us in replacing these guys. My staff did a fantastic job in finding these guys, recruiting them, and developing them at a high level. The bar has certainly been raised.”
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