Florida State baseball will kick off its 2026 season on Friday night when it hosts a familiar opening day opponent, James Madison. There has been significant excitement around the program in each of the last two seasons, as Link Jarrett has returned Florida State to among the nation's elite programs.
He’s done it by using the transfer portal to his advantage, acquiring talent from the JUCO ranks, and sprinkling in some high school player development. One of the biggest questions going into any season is who the weekend starting pitchers be?
A few question marks surround FSU baseball, but it should be another team that competes deep into the postseason
Link Jarrett announced those in his Thursday press conference and offered no surprises: Wes Mendes, Trey Beard, and Bryson Moore (in that order). Ironically, all three are players from the transfer portal. Mendes was the No. 3 guy last year. He has the most experience and the highest ceiling of the three. Beard transferred from FAU, where he was dominant against slightly lesser competition, and Moore has battled injuries, but has very good stuff when healthy.
These three starters should give FSU chances to win most series on the schedule, provided they stay healthy, and the offense shows up. FSU has some big bats returning, but also used the transfer portal to replace some of the production they lost from last year’s team, just as they did the year before.
I’m confident this FSU team will be good, but I’m not sure how good. I’m sure Link Jarrett will use the early part of the season to mix and match the lineups to find the right blend on offense and defense. They should handle business against James Madison, but will face some better competition than usual when they travel to Texas for the Amegy Energy College Baseball Series. They’ll play Michigan, Auburn, and Nebraska in a three-day stretch next weekend.