With MLB stuff, Dax Whitney may be Beavers’ ‘best ever’

Dax Whitney is one of the nation’s premier pitchers as a sophomore this season (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

CORVALLIS — You don’t hear a name like it — Dax Whitney — very often. Nor do you often see a talent like him in college baseball.

Oregon State baseball has showcased an array of premier starting pitchers through its modern era, beginning with pint-sized left-hander Cecil Ira in the early 1960s.

There have been headliners such as Ken Forsch and Dallas Buck and Jonah Nickerson and Luke Heimlich and Kevin Abel and Cooper Hjerpe. There have been accomplished arms the likes of Ken Noble and Mike Gorman and Scott Anderson and Mike Thurman and Andrew Checketts and Mike Stutes and Matt Boyd and Andrew Moore and Jace Fry and Ben Wetzler, with apologies to those I have left out.

When it is all said and written, however, the ace of all aces in program history might be Whitney.

The sophomore right-hander will take to the mound Friday night as Oregon State (30-9) ranked fifth or sixth in the various national polls, plays host to Hawaii (20-16) at Goss Stadium. In 10 starts this season, Whitney is 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA and an opponents batting average of .183. He ranks second in the nation’s Division I ranks in strikeouts with 97 in 56 1/3 innings, behind only Southern Cal’s Mason Edwards, who has 107 punch-outs in his 60 1/3 innings and 10 starts.

Whitney’s fastball has eclipsed 100 mph on the radar gun this spring. The Blackfoot, Idaho, native tied a school record by fanning 17 batters 3-1 win over Baylor on Feb. 20. His four-pitch arsenal includes a fastball that can blow away hitters and a hard slider, a curveball and a changeup that can befuddle the man at the plate.

“It is a really uncomfortable, terrible at-bat for anybody who goes up there against him,” says Jim Coffman, a scout for the Athletics. “And I am not talking just about college hitters. That kid would have success right now in Major League Baseball.”

A’s scout Jim Coffman compares Whitney to past MLB greats such as Tim Lincecum and Trevor Bauer

“I don’t disagree,” says Mitch Canham, Whitney’s coach at Oregon State.

In other words, there are experts who believe Whitney, who turned 20 in January, is talented enough to pitch right now in the big leagues. He won’t get there for awhile. In baseball, players can sign pro out of high school, but if they attend a four-year college, they must stay for three seasons or wait until turning 21 before entering an MLB draft.

Whitney was ranked No. 2 on D1 Baseball’s preseason top 200 starting pitchers list, behind only Coastal Carolina junior Cameron Flukey, a projected top-five draft pick who has been injured most of this season. Whitney is projected as Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect for the class of 2027 and is on the publication’s midseason 15-player watch lists for Pitcher and Player of the Year. He is also on USA Baseball’s midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s outstanding player.

And Whitney is only beginning, Canham says.

“Everyone is amazed at what he is doing right now,” the seventh-year OSU head coach says. “I think that there is still a ton left in the tank as far as his growth as a pitcher.”

If Whitney is true to his word, he will be making that growth while in a Beaver uniform for another season. When we sat down for a 15-minute interview on Tuesday, I asked if he would return to Oregon State for his junior season in 2027.

“Absolutely,” he said quickly. “Yeah, without a doubt.”

That’s good news in Beaver Nation, I told Dax, for there is concern that he might get stolen away by another school in the transfer portal.

“Can’t get stolen if you never enter the transfer portal,” he said. “Not gonna happen.”

I have interviewed Dax only twice, but have been impressed with the way he presents himself. He is polite — answering many questions with “yes sir” — bright, well-spoken and easy-going, self-confident but with a sense of humility.

“He is extremely humble,” Canham says. “I have never heard Dax boast about anything he has accomplished. He is an old soul in some ways. He does what he is supposed to do, what he expects himself to do, and never seeks affirmation for it. He is selfless, wanting to do his best at everything for those around him.”

Whitney grew up in Blackfoot, a town of about 13,000 located in southeastern Idaho, 30 minutes south of Idaho Falls. Had Dax been a member of my fraternity, he would have been nicknamed “Spud.” Blackfoot is known as the “Potato Capital of the World.” Former NFL tight end Josh Hill came from there. So did Larry Scott, 1966 Mr. Olympia and bodybuilding’s first superstar.

Dax is the middle of three children to Christian and Celeste Whitney, in between older sister Baylee and younger brother Deacon. They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Dax says his religion is important to him.

“I haven’t been (to church) too much here, but I do when I go back home,” he says.

Christian Whitney manages clinics for a hospital in Blackfoot. Celeste works for the Idaho National Laboratory, booking travel for employees of the Department of Homeland Security.

Dax was a two-year starting basketball player for Blackfoot High on teams that participated in the Idaho 4A (second-highest of five classifications) state tournament, finishing third and fourth his junior and senior seasons.

“I was OK,” he says. “I would call myself a defensive and passing specialist.”

Baseball was his specialty. A two-time Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year, Whitney was the Broncos’ star pitcher and shortstop, hitting .483 with four home runs as a senior. Does he miss stepping to the plate?

“I miss hitting a ton, every day,” he says with a smile.

Whitney was almost untouchable on the mound, going 10-0 with an 0.27 ERA, striking out 130 in 52 2/3 innings. Amazingly, Blackfoot didn’t win the state baseball title, losing in the semifinals with Dax playing shortstop and another player pitching. “We were going to win the (semis) and I was going to pitch the championship game,” he says.

Whitney was on the national radar, both for college programs and the professional ranks. Coffman saw him pitch while in high school.

“Usually, the slider is an easy pitch,” says Coffman, a former Portland State pitcher who climbed as high as Triple-A in the minor leagues. “If you have a slider, you don’t even need to practice it. That pitch is always going to be there. In a game in Boise, (Whitney) came out and he wasn’t hitting his slider. So he went straight to his curveball, and it was a complete game-changer. Nobody had a chance after that. He threw it for strikes; threw it for swings-and-miss.”

Oregon State pitching coach Rich Dorman began recruiting Whitney during his sophomore year in 2022.

“I watched him on video and saw a lot of great outings,” Dorman says. “He was a baby when I first saw him, throwing 88 (with the fastball). I started digging up information on him more and more. Then I started the recruiting process, and fortunately for us, it came to fruition.”

Also fortunate for the Beavers was the fact that Whitney was aware of them. In 2018, he was 12, he was at a travel ball tournament in Wendover, Nev. After a game, the team stopped at a Buffalo Wild Wings to eat. On the TV was the College World Series finale, with Oregon State beating Arkansas 5-0 for the title.

“Up to that point, I didn’t follow college baseball,” Whitney says. “That was my first glimpse of what it was. It was ‘Wow, they just won it. I like that team.’ ”

During the recruiting process, he found himself impressed with the OSU program, and the people running it.

“I really liked the coaching staff, the way they go about things, the family initiative we have here in the (Corvallis) community,” Whitney says.

So he signed with the Beavers, who also faced competition from MLB teams that would have made him a first- or second-round draft pick.     

“I have always really wanted to go to college and to play college baseball, especially at a premium program like this one,” Dax says. He told that to several pro scouts, with whom he set a price for turning pro — a $4 million signing bonus.

Whitney asked for a $4 million signing bonus from pro teams, which chose not to draft him out of high school (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

“I asked for more than I thought I was going to get, because I really wanted to come to college,” he says. “If I got what I was asking for, it was a big plus. If not, I was in a super great spot.”

No MLB team met the ask, and Whitney was bound for Beaverville. Did Dorman know what he had?

“I did, because he is such a good athlete and competitor and comes from a great family,” he says. “His parents are awesome. It was just different talking to the kid. You can always tell in phone calls how they handle themselves and what is important to them.

“With Dax, I asked myself, is he a leader in their dugout? Yes. Is he a leader on the field? Yes. Is he a winning player? Yes. Is winning important to him? Absolutely. I knew the kid had goals and that he is smart and mature for his age. He was different from the first phone call.”

Whitney checked all the boxes. The Beavers had their Friday night starter.

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Long and lanky at 6-5, Whitney weighed 185 pounds as a senior at Blackfoot High. By the time his freshman season at OSU rolled around, he was about 205. He came into this season in the 215-220 range. Dorman gave Whitney and Saturday starter Ethan Kleinschmit the fall off from throwing, which paid off in both rest of the arm and fitness.

“Those few months were strictly focused on building our bodies,” Dax says. “It will continue to be a work in progress for me the next couple of years, putting on good weight and getting stronger.”

As a freshman in 2025, Whitney was 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 17 starts. He was a consensus Freshman All-American and named third-team All-American by D1Baseball.

Dax pitched Oregon State to a 7-2 victory over TCU in the Regional and threw 4 2/3 innings of four-hit, one-run ball with 10 strikeouts in a 10-inning 5-4 win over Florida State in the Super Regional opener. He was excellent in the College World Series opener against Louisville, pitching 5 1/3 innings while allowing five hits, no earned runs and nine strikeouts in a 4-3 triumph.

For the season, Whitney amassed 120 strikeouts — eighth for a single season in OSU history — with only 61 hits in 76 2/3 innings, registering a .216 opponents batting average. But he issued 37 walks with 10 hit batsmen.

“Very solid season for my first year,” he says. “I had good stuff, but I walked too many people. I wasn’t in the zone enough. I had good success, but I could have had a lot more.”

Whitney and Kleinschmit both made the USA Baseball national team after attending a tryout camp in North Carolina last summer. They then traveled for a five-game series in Japan. Dax started Game 4, giving up five hits and a run with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

“It was awesome,” Whitney says. “The games didn’t go our way (Japan won all five games), but the experience itself was really cool. Man, those Japanese hitters, they get two strikes, they don’t want to get out. They were really good.”

This season, Whitney has allowed only 37 hits and cut his walks down to 11 in 56 1/3 innings. His opponents batting average is .183.

“Dax has a bit — a lot — of everything,” Canham says. “From the physical element, he brings ‘stuff’ with an elite-level fastball, an upper 80s slider, a curveball that comes from the sky, starts at the eyeballs and breaks down to the ankles, and a changeup that has plus movement. We see a lot of in-zone stuff, and out-of-zone chase (by the batter) as well.

“The other part is his work ethic. Since he has been here, we have seen constant growth. Anything he does, he does it with his whole heart in a way that everyone around him respects and loves him for it.”

Dax was rolling along virtually untouched through his first eight starts. Then in a lightning-delayed game against Cal Poly on April 10, he gave up two solo homers in the first inning of a two-inning stint. The last time out last Friday against Cal State Fullerton, Dax yielded two early runs but came back strong in a seven-inning appearance, giving up six hits and two runs with no walks and seven strikeouts. He was outdueled by southpaw Mikiah Negrete, who allowed three hits and a run in a complete-game effort in the Titans’ 2-1 victory.

“The last couple of weeks have been a little bump in the road,” Whitney says. “My body is getting a little worn out. I am trying to work through that. Other than that, it has been really good.”

Dorman agrees with Whitney’s self-assessment.

“He has been great at handling the … I don’t know if ‘hype’ is the right word,” Dorman says. “But being the guy, being the Friday night starter for Oregon State, he is handling that extremely well. He has been consistent. It is rare that we lose on a Friday with him on the mound. He has been really good.”

In the offseason, Whitney changed the grip on his slider.

“Last year, it was more of a sweeper, and it didn’t have as much success,” he says. “I am reverting back to the sweeper, but it is a lot harder this year. Being able to throw it harder means I can use it on any count.”

“We have worked really hard on getting the slider to be more ‘bullet,’ a little more gyro-y, a bullet spin, throwing it harder this year,” Dorman says. “At times it is truly that bullet, in the high 80s or low 90s. He spins it so well, and every once in awhile it sweeps like crazy and the hitter is going like, ‘What in the heck was that?’   

“We also worked on a couple of mechanical things directionally focused with his front leg. The other piece is making sure he is blocking well in the front leg and continuing to develop the change. It came a long way from the start to the end of last year, and he kept the development going through Team USA. He also has the curveball in the back pocket. There are some times when he is like, ‘I have no feel for it right now, let’s not go there.’ And then all of a sudden in the sixth inning, we are going curveball, and he rips it and it’s strike three. He has a big arsenal, and it challenges the hitters in multiple areas of the zone, north and south and also east and west with his slider and change.”

Coffman has scouted Whitney twice in person this season.

“He has size, arm strength and hand quickness,” he says. “He has a sharp arm stroke that gives a different look. He gets it easy out of the glove, almost like what a catcher does. His body clears, and he stays on the ball a long time, so he gets really good extension on his pitches. There is a ton of deception, too. Everything is elite, but in this day and age you see a lot of guys with real velocity that don’t miss a lot of bats. He misses bats.

“His vertical extension is off the charts, which means the ball looks like it is rising as it is coming in to the batter. He stays on the ball really well. His hand speed with his breaking ball is elite. Everything comes out of the same window with his delivery.”

Game by game, Dorman has mental and physical checkpoints for each pitcher.

“Looking at the mentality piece, it is about confidence, body language, competitiveness and conviction,” he says. “From a pitching perspective, it is strikes, repeatability in your delivery, how you handle adversity and how you respond to those events. Dax handles all those off the charts.”

When Paul Skenes hit the transfer portal after his sophomore year at Air Force in 2022, Oregon State got a visit from the star pitcher before he chose Louisiana State. Skenes, taken by Pittsburgh with the first pick in the 2023 draft, was National League Rookie of the Year in 2024 and NL Cy Young Award winner in 2025.

“Skenes and Dax are pretty comparable in their stuff,” Coffman says. “But Paul pretty much had only two pitches in his arsenal in college. Dax has four.”

“We thought we had as good a shot as anybody (at Skenes), but then, we always do,” Canham says. “I can see the comparisons. Dax is unlike anyone I have ever met. But when we met up with Paul, he was also extremely respectful and humble. Both have elite-level stuff, too, though different stuff to an extent.

“When we talked to Skenes’ former coach, the way he talked about him, you could tell the amount of respect and admiration he had for that young man. He talked about him as if he was one of his own kids, which is always a good sign. That’s the way we feel about Dax.”

Whitney has similar feelings about his OSU coaches.

“I couldn’t ask for a better pitching coach than Rich,” he says. “He has helped me with my pitching in a lot of ways. The relationship we have off the field is able to help me on the field. He is such a good man himself. His morals are straight. The way he treats everything is as if you are one of his kids … he cares about every one of us (on the pitching staff) more than people would assume.

“Same thing (with Canham). ‘Skip’ treats us like his own kids. He is a great role model. Everybody feels very comfortable with him as a coach and a human being.”

Canham loves that Whitney acts like just one of the guys.

“When he is not pitching, Dax is up on the rail (in front of the dugout), going wild for his teammates, cheering them on, bringing the noise for the guys,” Canham says. “Dax has a very funny, playful side to him.”

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Canham and Dorman both coached for years in the Mariners’ organization — they spent a half-season working together at Single-A Clinton, Iowa, in 2016 — and coached eventual major leaguers such as Taijuan Walker, Pablo Lopez, Freddy Peralta and James Paxton. At Oregon State, they have worked with such as Hjerpe, Abel, Aiden May and Jacob Kmatz. How does Whitney rank in comparison?

“He has a lot of similarities with all those good ones,” Dorman says. “Aptitude, competitiveness and just the stuff that comes out of his hand. The guys you mention are all team-oriented guys. People tend to gravitate toward those type of people who have great energy. Dax is one of those type of kids. He can pick things up and apply it. It doesn’t take him long to figure something out. Seems like he is good at everything he does. Give him a golf club and he will figure it out. A pool stick, he will figure out how to do that. That’s who he is.”

Canham demurs at comparisons.

“It’s like asking a dad to choose a favorite child,” he says. “Each guy is so different. The one thing those guys all have in common is, they want to win first. Dax is that way, too.”

Indeed, Whitney is into “team.” He has his expectations for this year’s Beavers.

“We have everything it takes to make a run at a national championship,” he says. “I don’t see any scenario where this team doesn’t go to Omaha at the end of the year. We have to take care of business the rest of the (regular) season and get there first, but I don’t see a scenario where we are not there.”

Dorman knows Whitney is anything but a finished product.

“He is 20 years old,” the Beaver pitching coach says. “He is still learning a lot, learning about himself. Last year, he had some moments where he wasn’t as good. He’s still learning about times when you feel a little bit off, and how do you process that? He is learning to compete when he doesn’t have the best fastball or doesn’t feel 100 percent. He is still navigating how to go out and compete. I liked how he competed in that last start. He did a good job of coming back and getting into the seventh inning.”

Coffman is among those who sees something special in Whitney.

“He is in that Tim Lincecum, Trevor Bauer world,” Coffman says. “He is going to go extremely high in the draft next year, and if he stays healthy, it is going to be an incredible career. You are seeing what may be the best pitcher they have had out of Oregon State, which is saying a lot.”

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