Ready or Not: The Questions That Will Shape Baylor Baseball’s 2026 Campaign

As Baylor baseball’s Opening Day matchup against New Mexico State (Feb. 13) approaches, it’s time to start breaking down the roster, plus the biggest storylines and questions heading into the 2026 season. Today, we’ll assess the top questions pertaining to this year’s squad.

Will The Underclassmen Be Ready?

This is undoubtedly my biggest question, and it’ll likely determine the season’s outcome: are the unproven underclassmen ready to be thrust into everyday roles?

Following the end of last year, the Bears lost four senior starters to graduation — catcher Cortlan Castle, shortstop Tyriq Kemp, right fielder Enzo Apodaca and designated hitter Hunter Simmons — and one senior starter to the transfer portal — left fielder Wesley Jordan. Those five players roughly accounted for 55% of Baylor’s offense.

While the coaching staff aggressively pursued replacements in the portal, they were able to land only two sure-fire starters in sophomore third baseman Cade Dodson and All-WAC redshirt senior first baseman Tyce Armstrong, both from UTA, thus leaving the remaining spots to be filled by returning players, a not-too-common practice in modern collegiate athletics.

The only problem is that some of the returning players have very limited experience. Does that automatically mean this lineup is going to be bad? Not necessarily, but it leaves a lot of questions that we won’t get answers to until the season starts.

As a caveat, the Bears entered last spring with one of the better lineups in the league on paper but finished toward the bottom of the conference in Big 12 play due to regression from expected team leaders, poor situational hitting and a ton of strikeouts, among other things. Point being — it’s hard to forecast what will happen.

Instead of having a senior-heavy lineup again, head coach Mitch Thompson’s squad will be led by redshirt junior shortstop Travis Sanders, sophomore second baseman Pearson Riebock and the UTA transfers — Dodson and Armstrong. 

While Riebock and Dodson are both technically true sophomores, they’ve combined to start 99 games, and both hit over .305 last season, so I’ll brush over those two for now because they’re more proven, and you can count on those two being staples toward the top of the batting order.

With that being said, it’s going to be a youth movement across the rest of the diamond, starting with the corner outfielders — redshirt freshman Hunter Snow (6-foot-3, 201 pounds) and true freshman Brady Janusek (6-foot-4, 204 pounds) — both of whom the coaching staff is extremely high on. 

Snow was one of the prizes of the 2024 recruiting class and is already considered one of the most complete hitters on the roster. Meanwhile, Janusek was a late addition to the 2025 recruiting class after originally being committed to Oklahoma; he was Quinn Murphy’s top wide receiver at Liberty Christian High School and was named the TAPPS Male Athlete of the Year after earning All-State honors in both football and baseball. He hit 17 home runs with the Warriors and has a chance to lead Baylor in long balls this spring.

At designated hitter, redshirt sophomores Brayden Buchahan and John Youens will split time, depending on the pitching matchup. Although the duo has struggled in limited playing time so far in their careers, a combined 10-of-63 (.159) at the plate across 16 starts, the coaching staff believes both sluggers took big steps forward this offseason and are ready to contribute.

Two other names who could make an impact are Cy-Fair product and true freshman Bo Caraway (5-foot-10, 150 pounds), who has game-changing speed and could be used as the fourth outfielder, and redshirt freshman Brytton Clements (6-foot-2, 179 pounds), who could be used as Baylor’s fifth infielder.

No matter which way you slice it, this team will be getting significant contributions from underclassmen. Thompson believes this is the best freshman class he’s had since returning to the helm of the Baylor baseball program, but whether the true freshmen, along with the other unproven underclassmen, are ready for the test remains to be determined.

Will a Friday Starter Emerge?

Across Thompson’s three seasons as Baylor’s head coach, he’s yet to have a true ace that can compete head-to-head with some of the top pitchers in the conference on Friday nights.

Baylor has fielded a 7-21 record in Big 12 series openers over the last three years. When the Bears lose on Friday nights, they automatically put themselves at a disadvantage, as they have gone on to lose the series 17 out of 21 times. When Baylor wins the series opener, it’s gone on to win the series four out of seven times. 

Friday nights matter, and they are one of the leading reasons a team is playing in the NCAA Tournament or not, especially in conference play. The Bears could be entering another spring at a disadvantage on Friday nights, unless someone emerges.

For the record, even though the pitching staff had a great season under first-year pitching coach Sean Snedeker in 2025, it didn’t help matters for the weekend rotation when seniors Cole Stasio and Bryson Bales became virtually unplayable against Big 12 teams, and freshman phenom Carson Bailey was kicked off the team.

With that being said, after an All-Big 12 season in 2024 where left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder boasted a 3.23 ERA and was one of the best relievers in the conference, he struggled to adjust to the role as Baylor’s Friday night starter in 2025 and ended the year toward the backend of the rotation. Calder made 15 starts, going 3-6 with a 5.18 ERA and a 64-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Once healed from an injury that forced him to miss half of the season, left-handed pitcher Mason Green took over on Friday nights and had some great moments, but was also a bit iffy with command, finishing the spring with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 18.1 innings pitched. If the junior southpaw can stay healthy and find some consistency, he has the talent to be Baylor’s best pitcher.

Calder and Green will be in the fold for the weekend rotation, along with returning redshirt junior Lucas Davenport and senior Wisconsin-Whitewater transfer Cade Hansen. Davenport was one of Baylor’s go-to arms out of the bullpen last season and featured a 4.25 ERA and a 1.39 ERA in 42.1 innings of work, while Hansen started 14 games last year for the National Champion Warhawks and boasted a 12-1 record, a 2.68 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and a .233 batting average against.

This appears to be a decent group, on paper, and is more than they’ve had in recent years, but if the Bears want to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019, they desperately need someone to clearly emerge as the guy who can take the ball on Friday nights and consistently shove six solid innings of work.

How Will a Tough Non-Con Slate Impact this Team?

This spring is easily the toughest non-conference slate the Bears have had in the Thompson Era, as Baylor is set to face four preseason-ranked teams across the first month of the season.

Starting with the 2026 Round Rock Classic (Feb. 20-22), the Bears will face off against No. 15 Oregon State, Purdue and No. 23 Southern Miss, followed by the 2026 Bruce Bolt College Classic (Feb. 27-March 1) versus No. 16 Ole Miss, No. 8 Texas and UTSA, which is unranked but made the NCAA Super Regionals in 2025.

The Bears also got an unfortunate draw and will play the Beavers and Rebels on back-to-back Fridays, facing two of the best pitchers in college baseball: Dax Whitney and Hunter Elliott.

Suffice to say, it’s going to be a brutal two-week stretch, sandwiched between sweepable series against New Mexico State and Air Force. The good news is Baylor isn’t going to be crushed metrics-wise by losing to really good teams, and these two showcases provide a key opportunity for resume-boosting wins. The problem, however, is whether an inexperienced lineup will be completely overwhelmed, thus demoralizing the team before Big 12 play even begins.

It’s no secret that Thompson needs to win this year. He has a 75-89 overall record across three seasons in Waco, and a no-show in those opportunities against Omaha-caliber teams could stir even more restlessness and debate over whether this program is headed in the right direction or not.

On the bright side, if the Bears prove up to the challenge and are a young, scrappy team, the Big 12 slate will be tough, but it’s favorable, as Baylor hosts what are probably the two best teams in the conference: No. 9 TCU and No. 21 West Virginia. And, if the Bears have something to play for heading into May, the final month sets up really well with series at home against Texas Tech and UCF and a road series against a very beatable Utah team.