FishDuck Foaming Over Upside of 2026 Diamond Ducks

While the Ducks lost some great players to graduation and the MLB Draft, they return the nucleus of a great team, and loaded up on a ton of very talented portal transfers and freshmen that will bring great excitement to PK Park once again for the 2026 season. In short, while Oregon lost some big home-run hitters in Jacob Walsh and Mason Neville–I see more power coming to the plate this year–perhaps the most ever for Our Beloved Ducks.

The Diamond Ducks begin their season this Friday at home against George Mason University in the first of three games at 3:05 PM PST, and on B1G+. What I believe you will witness is a bigger team, more team speed in the base-running, and depth at pitching like we have never seen at Oregon before. As we know, the bugaboo that stopped Oregon’s progress in recent seasons were the arms wearing out, or simply not enough of them when needed at crucial moments. Let’s take a quick look at the team, some newbies, and my predictions for starting lineups.

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Dominic Hellman blasted three Grand-Slams last season, including against the Beavers. (Courtesy of Oregon Athletics)

The infield is going to be strong, with veterans such as Preseason All-American Maddox Molony at shortstop, (Hitting .309 and Springfield HS) and Ryan Cooney (Hitting .335 and Jesuit HS) at second base. These two have a tremendous chemistry for double-plays, and I anticipate some even faster bam-bam plays from these in-state Oregon players. I expect that senior Drew Smith (.323) will start at third base, as he has played it superbly in the past, as well as right field for us last year. Dominic Hellman is the expected starter at first base, (.326 & 13 HRs) and is one of the big-boys at 6’6″ and 250 pounds. (He actually played shortstop in high school with that size!)

Burke-Lee Mabeus (.245) will take over behind the plate at catcher with a host of new players that will break in as alternates for the many games of the long season. One primary candidate to back him up, and who I believe will start at right field is highly regarded freshman Brayden Jaska the overall National No. 2 freshman to decline a large MLB contract to sign with the Ducks. This is another big-boy at 6’6″ and hit .433 as a high school senior. Quite a bit has been written about his skills, and it is hard to imagine him not being on field in one position or the other.

At center field is a speedster transfer in Elijah Cook from Azusa Pacific, where he hit .345 with 15 home runs and won the coveted Rawlings Gold Glove for his exploits in the field. Can he jump high enough and stop some home runs as Bryce Boettcher did? It will be great fun to watch for, as well as his extraordinary coverage in fielding. At left field I anticipate the transfer from Vanguard, Josh Schleichardt, who just ate up the West Coast Summer League for the Portland Pickles. He blasted 18 homers, and the MVP of the league for both the first half, and the second half of the season.

Here is a look at the record-setting HR for @picklesbaseball @JoshSchleiky pic.twitter.com/I3iKw0mO8T

— West Coast League (@WCLBaseball) July 26, 2025

Check out one of his massive dingers above, and picture that happening at PK Park…often!

On the Mound…

Can they throw “mud-on-the-wall” in baseball…when we have artificial turf as we do in Eugene? Well Coach Mark Wasikowski is doing precisely that by building a stable of 23 pitchers for the 2026 season! We have returning throwers, freshman pitchers, and a number of portal transfers. I don’t think Oregon has a big NIL budget, thus he recruits among many smaller colleges and gives a bunch of them a chance to pitch at this level. New pitching coach from San Diego, Matt Florer, will determine soon who has the right stuff as he has a track record of developing seven All-American pitchers.

It is wonderful to see Sherwood senior Ian Umlandt return (5-2 & .255 ERA) as a mid-week starter, and reliable weekend reliever. Other relievers include LHP Toby Twist, Ryan Featherston, and Mike Meckna (3-0 & 2.61 ERA) from last year’s squad who look for major upside moves in their pitching. Oregon has a couple of regarded freshman pitchers joining the team in Cooper Markham, who throws in the upper 90s, and Shane Johnson, one of the best players in the state of Washington.

We will have some intriguing transfers to watch for on the hill, as senior lefty Miles Gosztola (6.05 ERA) from Gonzaga also challenges as a starter, and senior Devin Bell, another big-boy at 6’5″ from Western Oregon. He was considered the No. 68 of the top-100 transfers by D-1 Baseball with a 2.39 ERA and All-American honors. He can be a closer as he had nine saves when called upon, and is another Oregon-boy coming from La Grande.

Cal Scolari was a star in the West Coast Conference for San Diego. (Courtesy of San Diego Athletics)

We have more pitchers than time to cover, but I do want to mention two highly sought-after JC transfers in Cooper Strawn from Weatherford College who throws in the mid-90s, and Luke Morgan from Lassen CC (10-0 & 2.44 ERA) as well. After missing the last two seasons with injuries–Leo Uelmen returns after a successful freshman campaign to back up the Duck starters.

While I expect a number of surprises in starting pitchers this season, it is evident to me that one starter, (probably on Friday) will be San Diego transfer Cal “The Bird” Scolari (4.22 ERA) who at 6’4″ throws in the mid-90s, but has four pitches mastered. He was the WCC Pitcher of the Year, and threw 77 strikeouts in 70 innings for the Toreros. A very crucial piece for the Ducks…

I’m betting on Collin Clarke (5-2 & 4.59 ERA) to be another starter. He started the season last year on fire as a Big-10 Pitcher of the Week, went into a tough stretch, and then recovered to help Our Beloved Ducks at crunch time as we were striving for the conference championship. He is battle-hardened, and I am looking for more of his nasty curveball this weekend.

Can Will Sanford return as starter? (Photo Courtesy of Oregon Athletics)

I am hoping that all the talk about Will Sanford recovering from a tough time in the latter half of last season will be evident as a third starter–as many claim. (5.92 ERA) The word was that he was very consistent in the fall, and stunning at times with his 95 mph fastball. So much of the entertainment of college sports is watching players realize “I can play at this level” and coming back from injuries or performance set-backs. Sanford could be a great story for the Ducks after a nationally heralded high school career.

Do look out for posts about the Oregon Baseball games in the only free, civilized Oregon Sports Message Board out there, the Our Beloved Ducks forum because….

“Oh, how we love to ponder about Our Diamond Ducks!“

Charles Fischer   (Mr. FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo Courtesy of Oregon Athletics

Charles Fischer, Mr. FishDuck

Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.

He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!

He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…