THSB All-Decade Team: Luken Baker, RHP/1B, Oak Ridge, 2015

Luken Baker was a 1B/RHP who played for the 6A Oak Ridge War Eagles. In his senior season, Baker hit .440 with 6 Doubles, 8 Home Runs, 16 RBIs, 24 Runs, 33 Walks, a .607 OBP and a .785 Slugging Percentage. On the mound, he was 12-1 with a 1.19 ERA and 131 Strikeouts in 88 innings. He was named the 16-6A MVP. He was named the Texas Sports Writers Association 6A Co-Player of the Year. He was also named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and selected as a First Team All-American.

As a junior, Baker hit .431 with 16 Doubles, 4 Home Runs, and 30 RBIs. On the mound, he was 6-3 with a 1.73 ERA with 90 Strikeouts in 60.2 innings. He was named the 14-6A Designated Hitter MVP.

The summer of 2014 was a big summer for Baker. He won the Junior Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star festivities. One month later, he won the Under Armour All-America Games Home Run Derby.

Baker signed a National Letter of Intent with Texas Christian University. He was drafted in the 37th Round by the Houston Astros but did not sign. He would have been selected in the earlier rounds but sent a letter to all MLB teams before the draft announcing his intention to enroll at TCU.

In his freshman season at TCU, Baker hit .379 with 16 Doubles, 11 Home Runs, 62 RBIs, 59 Runs with a .577 SLG Percentage. He was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was selected a 1st Team All-Big 12 Conference DH. He was named a 1st Team Freshman All-American and a 2nd Team All-American.

As a sophomore, Baker hit .317 with 8 Doubles, 8 Home Runs and 41 RBIs. An injury cut his season short but he still was named to the All-Big 12 Conference 1st Team. In his junior season, Baker hit .319 with 9 Home Runs and 26 RBIs. Again, an injury cut his season short and he was only able to play in 31 games. In his 3 year career at TCU, Baker averaged a home run every 18 at bats.

After his junior season, Baker was drafted in the 2nd Round by the St. Louis Cardinals. He signed with the Cardinals on June 13, 2018 with a $800,000 signing bonus. He has played in both the Rookie League and A League for the Cardinals in 2018 and 2019. In those two years, Baker has a .264 average with 43 doubles, 14 home runs and 71 RBIs. He was named the Florida State League Player of the Month in August, 2019.

The complete 20 member THSB All-Decade Team can be found in the 2020 Preseason THSB Magazine.