When Keegan O’Hearn committed to the Michigan baseball team in 2023, he was among the top ten Class of 2027 commits. At the time, O’Hearn primarily played in the outfield but had displayed immense athletic versatility during his high school career. But his first college season was cut short due to a season-ending injury.
In the 2025 season, the now-healthy sophomore has floated through the Wolverines’ staff. From providing relief on the mound to pinch hitting, O’Hearn has exemplified the qualities that Michigan coach Tracy Smith values on his team.
“As we’ve said all season, we’re going to let guys spread around a little bit,” Smith said Feb. 17. “We let guys earn opportunities and earn positions.”
While O’Hearn may have committed to the Wolverines as an outfielder, he has long intended to be a stabilizing presence on the mound. O’Hearn holds an assertive fastball that at its peak reaches 97 mph. On a team where the most-experienced starters are better known for their offspeed pitches, this commanding fastball would be a powerful tool for Smith to have in his arsenal. And while O’Hearn has shown flashes of this talent, his ability to control his pitches remains in flux and leaves him out of the consistent bullpen rotation.
O’Hearn has pitched a mere 2.2 innings for Michigan, with his first outing occurring in the Wolverines’ blowout loss to UCLA. Entering in the third inning and letting up two earned runs, O’Hearn was just one piece of the puzzle in Michiagn’s team-wide loss. O’Hearn inherited the third inning from junior right-hander Brandon Mann, who had entered the third inning after sophomore right-hander Wyatt Novara loaded the bases.
While O’Hearn escaped his outing against the Bruins, giving up just two hits on two runs, his lack of control was evident. Facing 10 batters, O’Hearn had one wild pitch, balked once, gave up three free bases and one extra-base hit. While he may have secured the most strikeouts of any of the Wolverines’ pitchers in the competition, his lack of consistency proved to be his Achilles heel.
“We would love to use O’Hearn more,” Smith said March 28 after O’Hearn’s brief appearance in Michigan’s Game 1 loss to Penn State. “But as you can see, the command piece is tough. He is tough to hit, but in this game you can’t defend a walk. And Keegan while he does throw hard, the command is the issue. So we’re still trying to develop that and pick a spot where we can use him.”
But O’Hearn hasn’t let his floundering on the mound define him. Instead, O’Hearn has become a semi-consistent pinch-hitter for the Wolverines and received his first collegiate start Sunday against Michigan State as a designated hitter. Michigan has cycled through a few faces at the DH spot including redshirt freshman catcher Noah Miller and senior right-hander Will Rogers, but the Wolverines have yet to identify a consistent starter at the spot. So when O’Hearn got his chance at the job Sunday, he certainly took advantage of it.
In his three at-bats against the Spartans, O’Hearn reached base in each appearance securing two hits and one free base. Slotting in at the eighth spot, O’Hearn rounded out a bottom third of the lineup that was exceptionally successful for Michigan against Michigan State. O’Hearn ended Sunday’s appearance with one RBI and one double, proving that he holds power not only in his pitch but also in his swing.
“(We’re) making sure we’re getting good, aggressive at-bats at the DH spot,” Michigan assistant coach Jake Valentine said Sunday. “Keegan has been taking really good, process-oriented BP for the last two weeks and he’s been having a really good show of it. So it was time that he earned it, and obviously he went out there and did a great job. So I’m really excited for him to see some success with the work that he’s put in.”
It would be easy to discount the impact of Keegan O’Hearn. The sophomore has made a meager eight appearances for the Wolverines and has had up-and-down outings both on the mound and behind the plate. But the surface-level stats don’t show the resilience of O’Hearn. While it’s unlikely that O’Hearn will become a starter for Michigan in 2025, it’s clear that his influence will continue to be integral for the Wolverines.
