Boom or Bust? Identifying the Biggest Wildcards on Baylor Baseball’s 2026 Roster
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 wildcards on this year’s squad.
Lucas Davenport: Redshirt Junior Right-Handed Pitcher
Redshirt junior Lucas Davenport has reportedly been one of Baylor’s best performers across the offseason and in the weeks leading up to Opening Day and is currently battling for a spot in the weekend rotation.
Last spring, Davenport was one of the Bears’ best arms out of the bullpen; he finished the season with a 4.25 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and a 34-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 42.1 innings pitched, the most for a Baylor reliever.
Following a successful sophomore campaign, Davenport has worked on his mechanics this offseason, and his fastball velocity has ticked up a bit, closer to 95-to-96, a few miles per hour faster than last year.
Davenport has plenty of experience as a starting pitcher, if that is ultimately where he ends up this spring. Before arriving in Waco, Davenport was the ace on Blinn College’s National Championship squad in 2024, starting 16 games with a 10-2 win-loss record and a 3.75 ERA.
Ty Johnson: Fifth-Year Senior Center Fielder
One of the biggest wildcards Baylor has on its roster heading into the spring is fifth-year senior outfielder Ty Johnson.
After two stellar seasons across town at McLennan Community College, Johnson followed head coach Mitch Thompson to Baylor and was one of the faces of the rebuild in 2024.
In his first year donning the Green and Gold, Johnson showed elite defensive play in center field while boasting a .313 batting average. He scored 46 runs, stole a team-high 10 bases and racked up 17 multi-hit games, the second-most on the team.
With big expectations going into 2025, Johnson didn’t take an expected leap forward and instead slid backward, finishing the year with a .261 batting average and .330 slugging percentage. He still managed a strong .398 on-base percentage, but struck out on nearly 25% of his at-bats.
This year, Johnson probably won’t have as long a leash if he struggles again at the plate, but the Bears really need him to regain his 2024 form. If the Flower Mound native can rebound, that will be a huge boost for Baylor’s lineup, which is expected to have a handful of inexperienced underclassmen hitting toward the bottom of it.
Trio of Left-Handed Pitchers: Senior Ethan Calder, Junior Mason Green and Senior Stefan Stahl
With this particular trio of lefties — Ethan Calder, Mason Green and Stefan Stahl — there’s a lot of intrigue on my end to see how things shake out, because if this group is all healthy and performing well, the ceiling of the pitching staff is raised significantly.
Starting with Calder, he was an All-Big 12 reliever in 2024, but didn’t have the same success last year when he was moved to the front of the weekend rotation, finishing the spring with a 5.18 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and .264 batting average against across a team-high 73 innings.
Heading into his senior campaign, it raises the question: Does Calder get another crack at being the Friday starter? Do they move him to maybe a Sunday role, or would he go back to where he’s arguably most comfortable: the bullpen?
Maybe the answer to where Calder will fit into the picture this spring comes down to Green, who had some high highs and low lows last year.
After missing the first half of the year with a shoulder injury, Green returned and tallied a 4.91 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 18.1 innings pitched, with all seven of his appearances being starts. If he’s fully healthy, the Cypress native is probably the most talented pitcher on the roster and could emerge as the Friday ace.
The final wildcard from this left-handed trio is Stahl, who, by all accounts, put together a great showing throughout the fall. This is encouraging, obviously, but similar things were said last year, and Stahl didn’t have as good a season as anyone envisioned, as he fielded a 6.75 ERA and 1.55 WHIP while tossing 18.2 innings.
If Stahl can put it all together for the Bears, that gives pitching coach Sean Snedeker another weapon to add to his arsenal, and he’ll probably become Baylor’s go-to lefty out of the backend of the bullpen.
