Ankeny Centennial baseball's Joey Oakie preparing for possible first-round MLB Draft pick

Ankeny Centennial High School senior Joey Oakie got a first-hand look at what his future could look like last fall.

Oakie, a hard-throwing pitcher for the Jaguars baseball team, was sitting at the dinner table with his dad Blaine, mom Angie and a scout from a Major League Baseball team. Trying to impress Oakie, the scout pulled out a recent World Series ring that spun around in its box for onlookers to pore over.

“He let us touch it,” Blaine said.

The ring represents the biggest achievement in baseball. It’s something that Oakie, 17, has dreamed about doing ever since he was a little kid. So he grabbed the shiny piece of jewelry, tossed it on his finger and posed for a picture with it.

“It was pretty dang cool,” he said with a smile.

That’s been among the highlights of the off-season for Oakie, who has been courted by MLB teams looking into possibly selecting him in July. Oakie could be a first-round pick, and he may have a difficult decision to make. Does he go to Iowa to play with the Hawkeyes? Or does he sign with an MLB team and begin a career as a professional player?

“I think he’s going to have a lot of interest,” said one National League scout.

College coaches, MLB scouts and agents come after Joey Oakie

Oakie began popping up on people’s radars in February of his freshman year at Ankeny Centennial. That’s when Oakie showed up to a Perfect Game USA showcase in Cedar Rapids and touched 87 mph with his fastball. He and his family had pulled into a Chick-fil-A when his phone started going off with notifications from travel-team coaches wanting him to play for them. Some college coaches, including Iowa associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Marty Sutherland, started following him on social media.

The attention only intensified from there. Shortly after the showcase, the Hawkeyes offered Oakie a scholarship. More offers came. But the young hurler, a die-hard Hawkeye fan, committed to play for Iowa before even throwing a pitch in high school.

Many MLB teams got a good look at Oakie later that year when his team played crosstown rival Ankeny. A herd of scouts showed up early to watch Ankeny star Brody Brecht, a hard-throwing right-hander, throw in the first game. When he didn’t take the hill, they waited around and watched another pitcher pump fastballs past hitters. That was Oakie. They were dazzled by him.

More: Ankeny Centennial's Joey Oakie may be the hardest-throwing pitcher in Iowa

Oakie’s fastball reached 90 during his freshman year and got better as he trained with Nick Belzer, a pitching instructor at Game Ready Training. During Oakie’s sophomore season, he struck out 63 hitters in just 43.2 innings. Later, in September 2022, Oakie attended a Prep Baseball Report event in Indianapolis and made an impression. Advisors started getting in touch to try to represent him. More scouts reached out, too. They saw a potential star in the making. One college coach made a bold prediction after the performance.

“(He) said that, ‘If he gets any better, somebody’s going to pay him $3 million to pitch for them,’” Blaine Oakie said.

Oakie suited up for the 2023 18-and-under national squad for Team USA. The roster featured the best young baseball players in the nation. Oakie shined, tossing two scoreless innings in two relief appearances.

Not long after, his phone started buzzing again. MLB teams wanted to meet with him. Oakie rapidly climbed mock-draft boards and was being talked about as a potential first-round pick. MLB officials came to the family home to chat with him or met with him over Zoom.

As a possible early-round pick, Oakie would command a high dollar figure as a signing bonus. Teams wanted to know everything they could about who he was, what made him tick and what his plans were for the future.

“They kind of just want to get to know me to make sure I’m not a crazy person,” he said with a smile.

The meetings sometimes lasted for more than an hour and included talks about his mentality, pitch grips and training styles along with conversations about his personality on and off the field. Oakie said he has spoken with representatives from all 30 MLB teams. One call had as many as six team officials on it. Most of them came late last year before he began basketball practice for Ankeny Centennial.

"It's pretty cool," Oakie said.

Even more excitement is likely on the way.

What's next for Joey Oakie? A big decision

It's a sunny afternoon in Norwalk in the middle of April when Oakie takes the hill. The flamethrower, who is pitching for a Prep Baseball Report team, is one of the headliners of the day. He's squaring off against Dowling Catholic star Trever Baumler, a Texas Christian commit and possible draft pick as well. The outing has drawn a large gathering of scouts, around 20, who huddle up behind home plate and hold up radar guns as Oakie fires his first pitch.

This will likely be the norm for him moving forward.

Oakie's fastball recently touched 98 mph. He also has an excellent slider. The two pitches make him an intriguing option for the MLB Draft, which takes place July 14-16 in Texas. His arsenal of pitches isn't the only selling point. Oakie checks in at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. There's more aging, more growing and possibly even more velocity to tap into. Blaine Oakie said his son has never done any velocity training. Because of all those factors, Joey believes his fastball could reach triple digits.

That potential could turn him into a high pick during the draft. Oakie is listed as the 34th-best prospect in the 2024 draft class by MLB.com. He'll soon have the stage all to himself with Iowa being the only state that plays high school baseball in the summer. That means he won't be competing for attention for scouts who will have even more time to watch him.

"When he gets into the high school season and is throwing, six, seven innings, there will be lots of people that run through and see him," the National League scout said.

Oakie's talent and potential aren't the only factors determining when he'll be drafted. Teams are also interested in signability, or how many dollars it will take for a high school player to forego college and go pro. Oakie's father said they have a number in mind for how much it would take to steer Oakie way from playing at Iowa (They wouldn't disclose what that number is). The family has enlisted the help of former big-league pitcher Braden Looper as an advisor to help them navigate through the process.

Teams usually will talk with players before selecting them, especially early-round picks, to potentially work out a deal ahead of time or at least learn if they can sign the player to avoid wasting a draft pick. So there's plenty of time for Oakie and his family to think about things. But they said that's not at the forefront of their thoughts right now.

"It's still pretty far away," Oakie said.

The attention will ramp up when high school games start the week of May 13. Oakie has been invited to the MLB Draft Combine, an event that features some of the top talent in the nation working out for teams. He said he hasn't decided if he'll attend. The focus is on high school, the upcoming season and helping his team win games.

While no decision has been made, Oakie is assuming he'll go to college ... at least for now. The impending decision is hard to avoid. One player Oakie planned to room with at Iowa has already said he plans to live with someone else in case the high school star ends up going pro. Blaine Oakie said they've been cautious about buying things for his dorm room.

Oakie said he's stayed in touch with Brecht, who pitches for the Hawkeyes and is a potential first-round draft pick himself. Brecht went through the same scenario in high school, opting to go to Iowa to play football and baseball. He has offered to give Oakie advice anytime.

Even though the situation would be stressful for many, Oakie and his parents said they're enjoying the process. Instead of hiding from it, they've embraced it, even following projections and predictions for Oakie.

"It's fun getting to hear my name in different conversations," Oakie said. "It's pretty fun. But at the end of the day, it's not even close to finished. I've got to work."

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ankeny Centennial baseball star Joey Oakie prepares for a big summer