Dax Whitney to Miss 2026, Part of 2027 for Oregon State Baseball

Oregon State baseball will be without Dax Whitney for the rest of the 2026 season and at least part of 2027 after UCL surgery. The sophomore right-hander was the Beavers' top arm, and the timing strips away one of the most valuable pieces in their run as the 12th weekend of the regular season arrived.

Dax Whitney surgery

Kiley McDaniel of reported the news this week. Whitney was pulled early from his most recent start with arm tightness, then moved toward surgery that will keep him out through the rest of this year and into next season.

Whitney was Baseball America’s No. 1 overall college prospect in the 2027 class. He entered the weekend ranked 12th nationally with a 2.00 ERA and led all qualified Division I pitchers in strikeout-minus-walk rate at 34.5%.

Oregon State pitching loss

The Beavers were 34-10 and No. 15 in RPI as of the morning of April 30, with Omaha last year already on the résumé from their first season as an independent. Losing Whitney now removes a pitcher who had been central to that position.

Last season, Whitney logged a 3.40 ERA with 120 strikeouts and 37 walks over 76.2 innings. This year, his fastball sat 96-98 mph and touched 101, while his sweeper, changeup and curveball each drew whiff rates north of 50%; the fastball alone carried a 39% miss rate.

For Oregon State, the injury turns a postseason push into a rotation adjustment problem. The Beavers move forward without the arm that gave them their best strikeout-to-walk profile and one of the hardest fastballs in college baseball.