CORVALLIS — Surrounded by travel ball teammates inside a jam-packed Buffalo Wild Wings, Dax Whitney fell in love with college baseball while watching Oregon State battle its way to the 2018 national title.A little over six years later, the flame-throwing freshman from Idaho is poised to become the Beavers’ next superstar pitcher and could play […]
CORVALLIS — Surrounded by travel ball teammates inside a jam-packed Buffalo Wild Wings, Dax Whitney fell in love with college baseball while watching Oregon State battle its way to the 2018 national title.A little over six years later, the flame-throwing freshman from Idaho is poised to become the Beavers’ next superstar pitcher and could play a big role in getting OSU back to Omaha.
Beavers’ third baseman Trent Caraway, a projected first-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, spent the last two summers playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League and facing off with some of the top college pitchers in the country. He said Whitney possesses one of the best fastballs he’s ever seen.
While Oregon State’s pitching rotation isn’t set in stone at this point, Whitney is a front-runner to nab a weekend starting spot. The Beavers lost two aces from last year’s team; Aiden May was selected by the Miami Marlins in the second round of last year’s draft, and Jacob Kmatz was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the fifth round.
Oregon State pitcher Dax Whitney a front-runner for weekend starting spot
“He’s got big-league stuff and throws it in the zone,” Caraway said. “He’s just good; he throws gas and he can bang a slider.”Whitney and pitching coach Rich Dorman focused on his curveball during the offseason and turned it into a pitch that moves in a vertical “12 to six” shape rather than the horizontal-moving curve that he deployed in high school. Paired with a fastball that nearly touches 100 miles per hour, the immediate returns have been promising.
“A lot of it was just me thinking about why I love playing baseball,” Whitney said of his decision to sign with OSU. “It’s being able to have a team and go dominate with your teammates. I just worried that if I were to go play pro ball (out of high school) then I was just working for myself to climb ranks. I knew that if I was gonna come to (Oregon State) I would put myself in the best position to win a national championship.”According to those who watch him work each day Whitney’s physical gifts hardly tell the story of what makes him such an effective hurler.
“If you were to watch one of his bullpens, not a lot of people could throw like that if they were crow-hopping down the mound. He’s very impressive,” Canham said in September. “His make-up — between what he can do on the field and who he is as a person — a lot of people love being around him.”
‘Someone who is gonna play baseball for a long time’
“His personality fits the role of someone who is gonna play baseball for a long time,” Oregon State junior outfielder Gavin Turley said. “There’s highs and lows in this game. I think he’s ready for it; just like, ‘Hey, baseball is what I do, it’s not who I am.’ I think he’s really bought into that. That’s what impresses me the most.”
Caraway said Whitney has typically gotten the better of him during their live matchups this winter.But in terms of sheer talent, Whitney might be the most intriguing pitcher on a staff stocked with future professionals.Nelson Keljo was electric as a reliever last year and is expected to lock down the Friday starting job this spring. Last season’s Sunday starter, sophomore righty Eric Segura, is back and will also be a difference-maker.Whitney, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, was one of the top high school pitchers in the nation last spring and was tabbed by many experts as a surefire first-round pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball amateur draft. But he turned down millions of dollars in bonus money and instead pledged the next three years of his career to coach Mitch Canham and the Beavers.
OSU pitching coach Rich Dorman helps Whitney with curveball
Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X@jarrid_denneyWhitney and the Beavers will open the 2025 season when they travel to Surprise, Arizona, to face Xavier on Feb. 15. That will kick off an 11-game stint on the road before OSU returns to Corvallis for its home opener against San Diego on March 7.When he finally got the opportunity to take an official visit to Corvallis, he said it “felt like home immediately.”Whitney grew up in Blackfoot, Idaho — a town of 13,000 — and spent his high school career mowing down small-school batters. As a senior last spring, he struck out 130 batters and allowed just two earned runs in 52 2/3 innings.
“With my arm angle and my fastball riding straight up, it plays a lot better if I throw (his curveball) more 12-to-six,” Whitney said. “So, I’ve adjusted my grip and the pressure on my fingers and have gotten a lot closer to that Y-axis, where the movement is straight down. … It started out, me and (Dorman) standing 15 feet away, just spinning it to each other for two days. I had (a live bullpen) the next day and threw it, and it was way better. It went super quick.”Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.A self-described “late-bloomer,” Whitney said he has packed on 26 pounds since he arrived on campus. Aside from a physical transformation, his first winter with the Beavers also prompted a change to his pitching arsenal.
