2026 Oregon Baseball: So Many Pleasant Surprises!

With the first weekends of baseball completed with Our Beloved Ducks at 8-0…I thought I’d offer some thoughts about this year’s team and more pleasant surprises than I ever would have anticipated. Sure, these first opponents are nothing like what Oregon has ahead on the schedule (like right away next week), but we know so little about the team. Thus the Oregon coaches need some assessment time. It makes sense to open with challenging but under-talented opponents, as those games help refine the Duck newcomers and veterans to merge into something special.

While it is an aspect of life we wish we never had to address, learning about how a  Mount Pleasant Personal Injury Lawyer could help me was comforting. It was when I took a pause from that research that I pondered how I have never witnessed so many surprises with Oregon baseball, both on the mound and in the field, as I have this year. And they are all nice surprises…so let’s take a look.

Pitching Has Taken a Step UP

As every fan will know, the weakness at Oregon in recent years–what has kept us from the College World Series–is enough stout arms to fill in at key moments. We have not had enough talented pitchers, but this year looks to alter that trend. Coach Mark Wasikowski (Waz) went out and threw mud against the wall by bringing in a ton of pitchers from smaller colleges to see who has the stuff for top-25 college baseball. Lassen C.C., Weatherford College, George Fox, and Western Oregon University are just a few examples of locations that delivered a staff comprising 23 pitchers at this time!

That is not a keyboarding error; the Ducks have a staff of twenty-three pitchers! And thus far, we love what we are seeing. New pitching coach Matt Flores has created seven All-Americans at prior schools, and he has made a massive impact on this staff already. The improvement, the development of returning pitchers has been no less than astounding. Will Sanford, (Top Photo above) went into a funk last year, but now he has pitched 12 innings of scoreless baseball showing fans the “stuff” we’d heard about when he was recruited two years ago. I was surprised to hear him listed as a Friday night starter, and stunned at his skills.

Collin Clarke is another example of a pitcher who had some rough moments last year. I kind of expected that he would be pushed to reliever status by the new transfers and freshmen, but nope, he has an ERA of only 1.50 and has unique style with his changeups. When they announced Ryan Featherston as a starter last week–you could have knocked me over with a Duck feather, as he had an ERA of 7.08 last year, but he has had six scoreless innings thus far in 2026 and the talent he has demonstrated promises more. Those three starters have taken massive upward steps that will change the direction of Oregon baseball.

Last year and prior years, we often lost games we should not have to opponents like the first two this year. But the Duck starting pitching has been so strong that these teams never had a chance to get going early in games. Toby Twist has been hampered by injuries in the last two years, but he has improved to being a starter this week and only given up two runs in six innings. I thought he was lost for good at the end of last year, but what a pleasant surprise!

We have more quality relievers than I could have imagined, and it will be fun to watch the freshmen and transfers continue to gain confidence. Tanner Bradley passed a ton of other pitchers with a wicked sideways curve that has extreme movement in the air. He has been fascinating to watch the two times he was utilized in later innings. Devin Bell is a transfer who closed out a game this weekend, and looked impressive last weekend as well. The coaches are also high on Gonzaga transfer Miles Gosztola for relieving, as well as Ryder Edwards from George Fox.

We don’t have time to discuss all the others, but I have not yet watched a pitcher that I immediately disliked due to his inconsistency, as I have in the past. Between the recruiting of Waz, and the development by Coach Matt Flores, the trajectory of Oregon baseball is much different this year. If someone is having an off day, no need to hope he pulls out of it with so many gifted pitchers in the bullpen. We have not seen this kind of pitching stable since the glory days of George Horton, and while it is early, the talent, numbers and upside is evident.

FishDuck Floored by Fielders

I knew we would return a very experienced and savvy infield between Drew Smith (3rd), Maddox Molony (Shortstop), and Ryan Cooney at second base. Thus far they have been so sharp, and make double plays look routine. They are exceptional, but that was not a surprise. At first base I assumed we would see Dominic Hellman, and while he is the Designated Hitter, he is not starting. Instead a transfer from Northern Kentucky, Gabe Miranda, brings a big bat, good skills at first base and an uncanny ability to be a magnet for hit-by-pitches. He has been plinked six times in two weekends already!

What has occurred in the outfield is the biggest surprise of all. I was not sold on the upside of Jax Gimenez and Jack Brooks, so I believed that a couple of transfers would pass them. These portal transfers are speedy fielders and have a great track record of batting. But I was unaware of all the progress and improvement that Brooks and Gimenez have made, and now I can see why they are starting. The fielding has been excellent, and while Brooks has improved to .273, Gimenez has gone from .231 last year to a current .440 batting average. Both are incredibly fast on the bases, and are really showing on the field why they deserve to start and flourish.

When they announced that true freshman Angel Laya was starting at right field…I was stunned. Yes, he was a highly heralded freshman who turned down a nice MLB contract, but again I thought the outfield portal transfers would start and Laya would be broken in slowly. Nope! Again the coaches were rewarded, as Laya was named the Big 10 Freshman of the Week for last weekend. And he is currently hitting .444 as well? His swing looks sweet, and the coaches confidence in him has been confirmed in just two weeks.

Brayden Jaksa had even more publicity coming to the Ducks as a freshman, and the big 6’6″ 230-pound hitter has filled in at first base and alternates at catcher! Like Laya, he has homered already as a Duck, and is hitting at a .412 clip. These two freshmen are not performing at “freshman” level; they are contributing from the very beginning as if they were veterans.

Boy, what a couple of great freshmen who surprised us all!

Waz was Right

In preseason interviews, Coach Waz explained that he felt he had more team speed this year, and that base-running would be a strength. We have witnessed that with stolen bases, and runs scored from the extra speed from so many of the new starters. Waz also stated that he wanted to be aggressive and challenge other teams to play their best to beat us. He felt that this aggressive play has created more opponent errors already, and I agree. Speed kills.

I am impressed with the discipline at the plate and in the field for creating split-second plays. This takes tireless practice, and a will to be perfect, and we have witnessed a ton of it in just eight games. Whether it is being down as a batter in an 0-2 count and squeezing a walk, or completing a bam-bam double play…the drilling and discipline is evident. It is surprising to see it when you have so many new starters; they have been coached superbly.

Both the players and the coaches have shown they can be versatile. There are times in a pitching duel that you need to manufacture runs, and Oregon has shown they can play small-ball extremely well. We have noted excellent bunts to move runners, and sacrifice flies to score runs. All those years that Coach Waz served as an assistant to George Horton shows at key times.

My Only Concern?

I am pleased with the batting. We have fewer “stars” than last year; the production is more evenly distributed this year. We have NINE Ducks who have hit homers, and we have more dingers at this point in the season than we did last year. Yet I am still a little concerned that the batting averages of a number of players could/should be higher, especially with two weaker opponents to start the season.

I acknowledge that there will always be someone in a battling slump over the course of the season, and we have a few now. And due to their inexperience with at-bats at this level–we may see some disappointing games until the upside of all these players is reached. Yet is seems that much of that is overcome by other strengths of the team, such as getting more runs from the speed on the bases.

But then…isn’t that part of the great entertainment? To see if that potential can be reached, and rewarded with a trip to Omaha in 2026? Do let me know your thoughts 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 Beloved Ducks!“

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