Three takeaways from Oregon’s season-opening win over Oklahoma
The Oregon Ducks opened the 2024 season in winning fashion with a gritty 4-2 victory over Oklahoma at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Jeffery Heard went 2-for-4 with a double, and Dominic Hellman was 1-for-3 with an RBI to lead the way for the Ducks at the plate. RJ Gordon held the Sooners to two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings, and Grayson Grinsell and Michael Freund both delivered scoreless outings out of the bullpen.
Now that we’ve had a chance to see the revamped version of the Ducks, here are three instant takeaways from Friday’s win.
The batting order
I would be lying if I said I expected Oregon’s opening-day lineup to look anything remotely close to what it was on Friday.
Here’s the starting nine that Mark Wasikowski rolled with.
1) Drew Smith 3B
2) Jacob Walsh 1B
3) Justin Cassella LF
4) Dominic Hellman DH
5) Bennett Thompson C
6) Jeffrey Heard RF
7) Ryan Cooney 2B
8) Carter Garate SS
9) Bryce Boettcher CF
With lefty Braden Davis on the bump for Oklahoma, it’s not surprising that Wasikowski stacked the top of the Ducks’ order with right-handed bats. Walsh was the only Oregon lefty who featured in the No. 1 – No. 5 spots.
Even in that context, though, I thought the Ducks might roll with Cooney, or even Heard as their leadoff hitter.
Smith is the best pure hitter on the team, and I would be really surprised if he doesn’t spend the majority of the season hitting in either the No. 2 or No. 3 spot. Walsh, meanwhile, primarily hit out of the No. 5 or No. 6 spot for the majority of last season. He’s Oregon’s most productive returning hitter and possesses a ton of raw power, so he was always expected to move up in the lineup.
But I thought we would see him in the cleanup spot today.
It’s going to be really intriguing to see if Wasikowski deploys a similar lineup against right-handed starters.
Grayson Grinsell picking up where he left off
Grayson Grinsell was one of Oregon’s postseason heroes during last year’s run to the Super Regionals.
After operating in a bullpen role for much of the 2023 season, he was inserted into the starting rotation during the postseason because, quite frankly, he was flat-out better than the Ducks’ other starters. Grinsell helped carry Oregon through the Pac-12 Tournament and Nashville Regional with a couple of big-time performances and looked like a star in the making throughout May and June.
There was some speculation that Grinsell might begin the season as UO’s Sunday starter. On Friday, though, he was the first pitcher Blake Hawksworth called on out of the bullpen and produced a fantastic outing.
Grinsell tossed 3.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and no walks. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound sophomore doesn’t posses an overpowering arsenal; his fastball typically sits in the high 80s. But it has tremendous life on it and he mixes it very well with his changeup.
Grinsell displayed terrific command against the Sooners. He’s going to be an integral piece for a Ducks’ bullpen that has no shortage of options.
Speaking of which…
Oregon’s bullpen has a chance to be very, very good
Over the past few weeks, Wasikowski hinted that he believes the bullpen is going to be the greatest strength of this year’s Oregon team.
“That will be a strength of the ballclub,” he said on Feb. 12. “We’re going to be able to shorten some games. And so having a lead after five innings, six innings, I really like our chances with the options we have down there in the backend.”
On Friday, we got our first glimpse at the Ducks’ re-tooled ‘pen and it did not disappoint.
Grinsell and first-year righty Michael Freund looked dominant in relief of starter RJ Gordon. After Grinsell’s strong outing, Freund replaced him and slammed the door on the Sooners with 1 2/3 strong innings.
The Umpqua Community College transfer retired all five batters he faced and struck out two. He pounded his arm-side fastball to great effect and consistently sat around 93 miles per hour.
Grinsell and Freund are far from Oregon’s only bullpen options, though.
Throughout the weekend, we will likely get a look at preseason second-team All-American Austin Anderson — another Umpqua CC product — who was great in a bridge-gap role for the Ducks last season. Senior righty Logan Mercado is another strong returning option who could potentially be Oregon’s Sunday starter but has been far more effective out of the bullpen throughout his career.
Bradley Mullan and Toby Twist are both intriguing lefty options who will likely make their UO debuts this weekend.
The most impactful newcomer, though, could be Brock Moore. A 6-foot-6, 230-pound righty who sits in the upper 90s with his fastball, Moore transferred in from Menlo College and will likely be Oregon’s closer this spring.
It will interesting to see how the Ducks’ bullpen takes shape in the coming weeks as roles become defined.
But if Friday was any indicator, Oregon’s group of relievers has a chance to be tremendous.
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