The state of Oregon baseball is unlike any the program has ever seen. While Oregon is known for its overall athletic reputation, baseball has often been a sport that’s been overshadowed or forgotten entirely. From 1982 to 2008, the school didn’t even field a Division 1 baseball team. Their first year back in 2009, they went 4-23.
The Ducks are flipping that narrative around right in front of everyone’s eyes.
Players like Kenyon Yovan, Gabe Matthews and Robert Ahlstrom helped rebuild this program from the ground up. On top of that, Oregon found its new long-term head coach Mark Wasikowski in 2020. Now, Oregon isn’t just a school with great football and basketball programs. It’s a school with an elite baseball program.
Losing players like Yovan, Matthews, Ahlstrom and Aaron Zavala was a tough pill to swallow. But with the team entering the national conversation, it’s beginning to attract more of the nation’s top talent. The Emerald previously profiled transfer student Adam Maier, one of the top draft prospects out of Canada who has the potential to be a dominant force in the pitching rotation. Beyond Maier, the Ducks boast one of their strongest recruiting classes in years.
Among the 18 additions to the roster are four freshmen who were ranked by Perfect Game as the best at their position in their home state. This includes freshman transfer Logan Paustian, who was the highest ranked catcher in the state of Oregon. He spent last year at Arizona State, but has yet to play a collegiate game.
Joining him in the catcher competition is freshman Anson Aroz: the second-highest ranked backstop from California. Both will certainly be challenging defensive-minded sophomore Jack Scanlon for the starting catcher job.
Aroz is described by Perfect Game as “very athletic behind the plate defensively” while alluding that he has the skills to play middle infield. A transition there could certainly be possible if Paustian or Scanlon takes complete control of the starting catching duties. Aroz is also a switch-hitter with a choppier swing from the left side but quick hands all around, according to Perfect Game.
Leading the competition to replace the hole left by Matthews is Jacob Walsh. A freshman standing at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, the Las Vegas native is the highest ranked first baseman recruit from Nevada. He’s also the No. 3 first baseman in the country.
A tall, muscular first baseman with a powerful left-handed swing, it’s hard not to see a junior Matthews in him.
“Works to contact with rotational lower half actions,” Perfect Game said of Walsh after the 2018 National Academic Showcase. “Simple path to baseball with a naturally leverage barrel plane. Flashed fluidity in swing and primarily looked to create lift to the middle of the field between the gaps.”
Jacob Walsh – 1B/LHP – Las Vegas, NV – 2021
Sophomore Josh Kasevich will certainly be retaining the starting shortstop job after hitting .324 with an .841 OPS last year, but the Ducks boast a significantly stronger crop of infield talent behind him.
The first name that sticks out is Garrett Cutting, the No. 1 ranked shortstop out of Nevada and No. 9 prospect in the state overall. Perfect Game said he has a second base profile going forward. Their report from the 2020 Perfect Game National Showcase describes how he “glides into contact with some looseness and fluidity to his timing and swing, well balanced, has quickness in his hands, will keep improving offensively with additional strength and bat speed.”
Garrett Cutting – SS, Arbor View HS (NV) – 6/19-21/20
Joining Cutting in the infield competition is a batch of players led by Aidan Van Rensum and Brennan Milone. Van Rensum, a freshman, was ranked as the No. 5 third baseman in the state of Washington. He also has experience around the infield, behind the plate and on the mound.
Milone is a sophomore transfer from South Carolina who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 28th round of the 2019 draft. Perfect Game slots him as the No. 8 prospect from Georgia and No. 74 in the nation. He owns a batting average of just .209 over two college seasons, but with an impressive .378 OBP. He’s walked 33 times compared to only 27 hits.
In 2021, the pitching rotation was anchored by Ahlstrom, Cullen Kafka and Brett Walker. With all three of those players moving on, the Ducks are bringing in some premier talent to potentially fill those spots.
The first is Maier, the transfer from Canada whose name is already being brought up in MLB draft discussions. His wipeout slider caught scouts’ attention in the Cape Cod League last summer, and he was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 2 transfer in the country.
Fighting for a spot in the rotation should be freshman Jacob Hughes, the No. 1 right-handed pitcher and No. 3 overall prospect out of Idaho. Tommy Brandenburg is another highly touted freshman right-handed pitcher, ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the state of Washington.
Jacob Hughes (2020-8-10) at the Area Code Games (Emerson, GA)
With a year of experience under their belt, sophomores Isaac Ayon and Rio Britton should get a chance to step up as well. Wasikowski was particularly high on both pitchers last year, but they stayed in primarily relief roles. With some newly opened spots, there should be competition. Transfers Dylan Sabia, Matt Dallas and Stone Churby as well as freshman Cho Tofte could be in the mix as well.
“I would love to be that guy,” Maier said in November of potentially being the Ducks’ new ace. “So do a number of other pitchers on the team. It’s kind of a unique scenario; we’re all competing for that job, ultimately.”
One area the Ducks are light on is outfielders, but they still have returning players Tanner Smith and Anthony Hall, both of whom should be mainstays in the everyday lineup. Smith was overshadowed by players like Zavala, Yovan and Matthews last year, quietly putting up a dominant .324/.417/.533 batting line.
Players like Bryce Boettcher and Colby Shade could see some time in that third outfield position. With plenty of versatility on the roster, there’s bound to be some mixing and matching to fill all the spots.
The Ducks are continuing to build their program into a consistent winner. Many of last year’s key contributors moved on, but there’s a wave of talent sweeping in to replace them. The future is only growing brighter for Oregon baseball.
