Arizona pitcher, Tucson-area product Owen Kramkowski eyes next dream: MLB Draft

He dreamt of playing at the University of Arizona. He dreamt of playing in the College World Series. He dreamt of being part of Team USA.

Check. Check. Check.

Now another dream is within Kramkowski’s grasp: The UA right-hander is expected to be selected in this weekend’s MLB Draft.

Rounds 1-4 are Saturday. Rounds 5-20 are Sunday. Kramkowski’s projected range is Rounds 3-8. The Walden Grove High School grad doesn’t care where he goes or when.

“All I'm doing is waiting for a phone call,” Kramkowski said. “Wherever I end up, I’ll be happy. I just want to go play pro ball.”

Kramkowski might be the only Wildcat picked in this year’s draft after a down year for the program. Nine players were chosen a year ago after Arizona advanced to the CWS.

That season marked Kramkowski’s breakout. After barely pitching as a freshman while recovering from an arm injury suffered in high school, Kramkowski became the Wildcats’ No. 1 starter. He finished 9-6 with 90 strikeouts in 92 innings.

After receiving an invitation to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp last summer, Kramkowski eyed an even bigger season in 2026. It didn’t work out that way.

Kramkowski had some brilliant performances, including a six-inning gem against Fresno State in which he struck out a career-high 12 batters. But Kramkowski never found a consistent groove. Although his strikeout-to-walk ratio remained excellent (75-15), Kramkowski finished 1-8 with a 6.13 ERA.

“He never felt like he got on track the way he wanted to this year,” his father, Paul, said.

Coinciding with an 11th-hour change in pitching coaches, Kramkowski’s mechanics got out of whack, and his velocity dropped slightly. To get right before draft, Kramkowski traveled to Rhode Island to work with pitching coach Mason Feole. The two had worked together in the summer of 2024, when Kramkowski pitched for the Ocean State Waves of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Kramkowski discovered that he was striding out too far and not staying on his back leg long enough. He needed to be more “up and down.”

“My front side was just opening up,” Kramkowski said. “The up and down was the biggest thing. I was getting so far out in front. All my weight was on my front foot. So holding the weight back ... and not trying to jump out towards the plate.”

Kramkowski was able to throw in the low 90s off flat ground. It felt “much more effortless,” he said.

Kramkowski and other Wildcats were able to make those adjustments in Arizona’s pitching lab during the season in 2024 and '25 under Kevin Vance and John DeRouin. DeRouin succeeded Vance as pitching coach in June 2025 but left in December for an MLB job. Assistant pitching coach Owen Cuffe took an MLB position about six weeks later.

That left newly arrived Sean Kenny without a full-time assistant. Less time was spent in the lab.

“They didn’t have that same flow this year,” Paul Kramkowski said. “There’s nobody to blame. It (was) just a different process.”

Weight and see

Owen Kramkowski faulted himself for another issue: His struggles to keep on weight.

Genetics might be the biggest factor; Paul said he and his wife, Karoline, were similarly stringy when they were Owen’s age.

But Owen said he could have done a better job of consistently eating enough calories while at Arizona. He was listed at 6-3, 173 pounds this past season but said his weight dropped into the 160s. It’s a point of emphasis as he prepares to turn pro.

“I’ve struggled a little bit with it,” Kramkowski said. “Just staying consistent with that is what helps me the most. You gotta stay on top of it.

“I definitely could have been better about it. I didn’t have as much time. I wasn’t cooking as much. (But) it’s my fault at the end of the day.”

As a full-time baseball player, Kramkowski will have more time to focus on and prioritize his eating habits. He’s always been self-motivated, his father said. Paul recalled a conversation with Owen after his freshman year at Walden Grove, when the idea of becoming a pro ballplayer went from dream to something that could potentially happen.

“This can’t be my dream; this has to be your dream,” Paul recalled saying. “I can’t be the one to tell you that you have to lift or work out.

"After that discussion, I never had to tell him again. I never really had to push him. ... But there was a point (when Owen realized that) if you want this to be your future, you have to do more.

“He’s never been resistant to the things that will make him better. He’s one of those (where) you tell him once and he does it.”

UA coach Chip Hale has seen Kramkowski at his best, showcasing an upper-90s fastball and a swing-and-miss slider. It’s just a matter of him putting it all together on a consistent basis.

“He has it in him,” Hale said. “There's a lot of upside there. As scouts have to do, you have to dream a little bit.”

Kramkowski is no stranger to making dreams come true.

Inside pitch

– A handful of would-be Wildcats could get drafted this weekend. They include transfer pitchers Garrett Ahern and Collin Cobb and high school position players Ayden Deome and Francisco Rivero (Canyon del Oro High School). Hale said that if Arizona loses any pitchers, it might have to “re-restock” the staff via the transfer portal.

– Outfielder Easton Breyfogle, who missed most of the 2026 season because of a shoulder injury, has worked out for his hometown Minnesota Twins. Breyfogle has at least one more year of college eligibility.

– Hale said that assistant coaches Trip Couch and Jack Meggs have spent most of their time on the road scouting and recruiting college players who are playing summer ball. That’s a departure from the pre-portal era.

– Hale on Meggs, Arizona’s recently hired hitting coach: “I just felt like it was time to switch (up) the way we approached offense here. We have a big ballpark. The wind blows in here most of the time. We have a ton of grass that we could hit the ball onto. I felt like we were getting to the point where we were trying so hard to hit the ball over the fence, and it wasn't happening.

“Jack is the perfect guy for it. ... That is probably the biggest move that we've made so far. We're hoping that we can spice up our offense, be a little more (multi-)dimensional.”

– Hale on former UA second baseman Garen Caulfield, who was promoted from graduate assistant to director of player development and recruiting: “He knows what I want, especially on the infield side. He knows the type of players that can play here. He's played on this field, he's played in this stadium, he's played in this league (the Big 12).

"When you coach kids, especially at this level, you would love to have a full staff in 10 years of all ex-U of A guys. They know what it's all about.”