Predicting the 2025 Oregon State baseball lineup: Part 2

We're back for part two of predicting the 2025 Oregon State baseball lineup!

If you haven't seen part one, click here. That piece digs into where the biggest changes will be seen, the starting rotation and the infield.

This installment will cover what a starting outfield could look like as well as how the bullpen might shakeout. Let's go ahead and jump right in.

Bullpen

Following the publication of the first piece, the two biggest names brought up in comments and tweets were a pair of pitching signees: Ethan Kleinschmidt and Dax Whitney. Your comments have been heard and we'll talk about them first.

Both are monsters in their own rights. Kleinschmidt was a pitcher of the year at the Pacific Northwest junior college level. Whitney was Baseball America's No. 45 overall prospect in the draft class who made his intentions of going to school clear after not being selected in the first round of the draft.

Let's get something clear about both — they will likely both start games for the Oregon State Beavers in 2025. It just seems more likely that those starts will come on weekday games rather than in the weekend rotation. It isn't for lack of talent, but development at the Division I level with Kleinschmidt coming by way of the junior college scene and Whitney coming from the Idaho prep scene.

Tanner Douglas, a left-handed incoming transfer from the University of Portland, will find himself in some sort of high-leverage role as an arm out of the pen. He was Portland's closer in 2024 and racked up 10 total saves with a 3.32 ERA and a 24.2% strikeout rate. The rising junior could either take over where now-Angels prospect Bridger Holmes left off as the closer or be the set up man for the 2025 season.

Whichever of those two roles isn't filled by Douglas will likely fall onto the plate of Joey Mundt. Mundt would be entering his seventh season of collegiate baseball, but according to folks within Oregon State's program, he does have a final year of eligibility for the Beavers. Seniority and performance — a 2.67 ERA in 30.1 innings — makes it seem likely he'd be trusted as the closer.

Between the first inning and the ninth, plenty of innings will need to be eaten by this roster. Notable returners to pitch in middle relief roles will be AJ Hutcheson, Matthew Morrell, Drew Talavs, and Kellan Oakes, as well as transfer additions in Jack Hostetler and Max Fraser.

The group of incoming freshmen arms is four-deep beyond Whitney, with three of them being right-handers named Zach. Zach Kmatz, the younger brother of Jacob Kmatz, will join the squad for 2025 along with Swanson of Washington and Edwards of Utah as well as a fourth righty from Bend, Oregon named Finn Edwards.

Outfield

If there is a position group on this roster that has the most clear outlook, it's the outfield.

From left to right, the everyday starters will be Dallas Macias, Canon Reeder and Gavin Turley. All three are rising juniors who saw considerable playing time in 2024, with Turley and Macias spending their summer playing in the highly touted Cape Cod Baseball League.

Turley has been one of the stars of the show for the past two years, with things only getting better in 2024 after a hot-and-cold 2023 freshman campaign. He slashed .277/.412/.589 with 19 home runs as a sophomore in 2024 and is entering the season as Baseball America's No. 16 player in the 2025 draft class.

Macias burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2024 in place of an injured Brady Kasper and forced head coach Mitch Canham's hand to keep him in the lineup even after Kasper returned. He slashed .315/.389/.512 with 24 extra base hits in 213 at-bats and has carried his solid batting average to the CCBL, hitting .265 this summer. Macias was technically listed as a utility player in 2024 with the versatility to contribute at second base, but has only made four appearances at the position in two years and his days there are likely done.

Reeder, like Macias, was pressed into service after Micah McDowell went down with injury and shined defensively in center. He doesn't have the thump that Macias and Turley have, but his .273/.380/.379 slash line is nothing to sneeze at.

The next two up in the outfield are likely to be Levi Jones and Easton Talt, as both saw playing time in the outfield in 2024 on a limited basis.

Jones was learning the position for the first time after being an infielder for his prep career but showed flashes with clutch pinch hitting moments and finishing the year slashing .222/.222/.333. He could see reps at third base, but if there's a path to getting him on the field it's likely as a DH or playing in place of one of Turley or Macias to let them DH.

Talt is an interesting case of not just how he fits into this equation, but what he is as a baseball player.

He's listed as an outfielder and catcher, with his primary asset being afterburner speed. He's never caught a game for Oregon State, but still carries around his catchers gear and a role behind the dish might be a way for him to get on the field in an otherwise thin catchers group. However, it feels more likely that might be a closed chapter and he'll be a full-time outfielder and give Oregon State a left-handed DH option as well as the ability to steal bags.

Playing for the Bend Elks in the West Coast League for the 2024 season, Talt has slashed .227/.458/.288. While the average and slug are meager, he's had the ability to turn walks and singles into scoring opportunities like no-ones business. He's walked 28 times with 15 total hits and swiped 16 bags while being thrown out just four times. Seeing him improve his hit tool further for 2025 would be a big plus, but for now he's been able to turn a walk into a double with his legs alone.