The college baseball wheel never stops spinning. Despite the Ducks’ season coming to an abrupt end, they’ve been hard at work on the recruiting trail. While they have the typical batch of high school commits poised to join the team, they’ve also added two Southeastern Conference transfer outfielders this offseason: Owen Diodati and Isaiah Thomas.
Diodati comes from the University of Alabama with two remaining years of eligibility. Over two seasons (plus the COVID-shortened 2020), he owns a .247/.351/.470 batting line with 25 home runs. His strikeout rate is below average, but he brings a solid amount of power and on-base ability to the Ducks. He’s gotten off to a strong start this summer with the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
“My time at the University of Alabama has been unforgettable,” Diodati wrote in a tweet on June 25. “With that being said, I am beyond excited for the next chapter. Proud to announce my commitment to play baseball & further my education at the University of Oregon! Go ducks!”
It didn’t take long for Oregon to add another outfielder, one who fits a similar mold as Diodati. Vanderbilt outfielder Thomas transferred to Oregon, the Daily Emerald reported on July 4.
Thomas sat out the 2022 season for mental health reasons after publicly criticizing the Vanderbilt baseball program in an Instagram post last year.
“I’m happy to announce I will be stepping away from my last year in the program,” Thomas wrote in the post. “After years of relationships, they choose their beliefs over the well-being of mental health and took advantage of that sensitive aspect in my life. That is all there is to share publicly at the moment. My teammates, this is not about you; it’s for me.”
On July 4 Thomas joined the Springfield Drifters, a summer ball team located just east of the Willamette River. The team features Oregon commits such as Dominic Hellman and McCabe Moyer, as well as current Duck pitcher Jace Stoffal.
He made his Drifters debut on July 9, going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. This summer will be an opportunity for him to get back in a rhythm in time for the 2023 season.
Despite being unsatisfied with how he was treated, Thomas was largely successful with Vanderbilt. He hit for a 1.089 OPS in 21 games his freshman year, then an .846 OPS in the COVID-shortened season. He put together his best campaign in 2021, hitting .305/.361/.583 with 13 home runs in 59 games.
Thomas owns a miniscule walk rate of 3.7% over his college career. Strangely, he’s been hit 15 times — two more times than he’s walked. But he also has a .303 batting average and a .585 slugging percentage, giving him a star-caliber .942 OPS. In Thomas, the Ducks are getting a right-handed outfielder who can hit for average along with serious power.
Diodati and Thomas will presumably fill the void left by Anthony Hall and Tanner Smith. Hall has a chance to be drafted in the top five rounds of the MLB draft, while Smith is also likely to move on. Both of them still have college eligibility remaining.
The Ducks were tremendously successful in the transfer portal last year, and they’ll look to repeat that success with Diodati and Thomas. They added two transfer bats last offseason as well, bringing in Drew Cowley and Brennan Milone. The pair turned out to be two of Oregon’s top hitters in 2022, helping lead the best offense in school history.
Last season’s Ducks also added transfer pitcher Adam Maier, a top prospect who ended up missing most of the year due to injury. Maier is expected to be healthy by 2023, but the team could still use some more arms to shore up their relatively weak pitching depth.
With the additions of Diodati and Thomas, the Ducks hope to be on their way to repeating last season’s offensive success.
