Teel will do it all
Starter. Middle relief. Closer. Oklahoma State pitcher Carson Teel will do anything asked of him to help the Cowboys win. “Heck, if I penciled him in the lineup tomorrow to play center field, he’d go out and compete,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “He’s just that kind of kid.”
STILLWATER — Josh Holliday often wonders what his Oklahoma State baseball players talk about when they’re together away from the field. He hopes the younger ones are taking the time to ask Carson Teel about his path to the present.
“That’d be a great conversation for any player to have with him,” Holliday said.
Holliday is about to begin his sixth run through the Big 12 as the Cowboys’ coach, with OSU opening conference play Friday at Texas. It will be his fourth with Teel, the Cowboys’ boisterous left-hander.
A redshirt junior, Teel has pitched to a 1.05 ERA in nine outings, serving as a closer, swingman and, most recently, a starter for the Cowboys. Teel, a Stillwater High product, arrived on OSU’s campus as a walk-on. Undersized, he redshirted that first year, questioning whether he deserved a spot on OSU’s bench in the first place.
Now, he is among the Cowboys’ most vital assets with his success despite variation.
“I’ve been at the very bottom of the totem pole and worked my way up,” Teel said. “It wasn’t easy. There were some times where I didn’t know if that was really what I wanted to do, but I did it and I’m here.
“I think that’s a huge help for me and a huge help for kids in the future.”
Teel’s do-it-all mentality comes at a vital time for OSU. Projected weekend starters Jensen Elliott and Parker Scott are recovering from Tommy John surgery, while freshman Mitchell Stone made only two starts before suffering a broken foot.
“He’s a heck of a competitor, and he’s a big-league person,” Holliday said of Teel. “He has great versatility, great confidence. He’s just a total-package kid.
“Heck, if I penciled him in the lineup tomorrow to play center field, he’d go out and compete. He’s just that kind of kid.”
On Saturday, making his first start of the campaign, Teel fired off seven scoreless innings against Missouri State. He’s unsure of his role against the Longhorns, but he also doesn’t care.
“It’s always fun to be a part of something like this,” Teel said. “You never really know what you can do going into a weekend or a week, for that matter. It’s been fun to just be out there competing with these guys, whatever the role may be.”
The Boston Red Sox took Teel in the 27th round of last year’s MLB Draft. He said the decision to return for another ride with the Cowboys was an easy one.
Holliday certainly doesn’t mind.
“He just wants to compete, and then when you say play ball, he plays ball,” Holliday said. “That’s a compliment to his competitive nature and just the growth that he’s undergone inside the program over the last four years. He’s a real special kid.”