By Johnny Falduto
Clemson baseball received its third commitment from the transfer portal late on Tuesday night in former University of Michigan slugger Jimmy Obertop.
A career .266 hitter, the 6-foot 2, 230lb. St. Louis native led the Wolverines with 11 HR and was second on the team with 34 RBI in 2021, earning him All-Big Ten Third Team honors at the first base position.
In 2022, he totaled 15 HR and 54 RBIs for the Wolverines, and an offensive tear in the postseason earned him Big Ten All-Tournament Team and All-NCAA Louisville Regional Team, both from the catcher position.
Obertop, a then-junior, originally entered his name for both MLB Draft consideration and into the transfer portal last June following the departure of now-Clemson head coach Erik Bakich before withdrawing from both and returning to Michigan for his senior season.
The versatile slugger joins former Wofford RHP Matthew Marchal and former Georgetown INF Andrew Ciufo as the third off-season addition for Erik Bakich and staff just weeks removed from their season-ending loss to Charlotte in the Clemson Regional.
The addition of Obertop comes just days after last week’s shocking departure of First-Team All-ACC and All-American Billy Amick, who became the fourth Tiger on the 2023 roster (OF Gavin Abrams, C Hogan Garner, RHP Jay Dill) to enter the transfer portal following the season.
Then-Michigan head coach Erik Bakich had this to say about how Obertop had developed into a leader during Michigan’s 2022 Big Ten Championship and NCAA Regional run: “He’s the general out there. He’s taken a much more vocal role with the pitching staff, that’s his biggest evolution…he went from a kid who’s just out there playing to now a kid who’s taking on that leadership role.”
