Oregon State infielder Trent Caraway (44) and starting pitcher Aiden May (24) do a handshake before an NCAA regional baseball game against Tulane on May 31, 2024, in Corvallis.

CORVALLIS — The positive vibes came in waves during the offseason, one after the other, for Oregon State, which opens the season on Friday at the College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona.

Flamethrower Dax Whitney delayed his major league dreams. Golden Spikes candidate Aiva Arquette joined the Beavers via the transfer portal. The backbone of the club’s future remained committed to the program, despite the death of the Pac-12, helping OSU avoid the chaos that crushed other teams on campus.

And then, quietly, hours before the first practice of the season late last month, another positive emerged when sophomore Trent Caraway stood on the Goss Stadium turf and declared — for the first time since March 16, 2024 — that he was 100% healthy.

“I finally got back to, like, fully normal this fall,” Caraway said. “So it’s been good.”

As good as Oregon State was last season, when it won 45 games and played in the Lexington Super Regional, one can only wonder how much better it would have been with a healthy Caraway hitting in the middle of the order.

The high-octane, fun-to-watch third baseman was sidelined more than two months of his freshman season after shattering a finger during a sixth-inning at-bat at Utah on March 16. On the first pitch of the fateful plate appearance, Caraway squared to bunt and was plunked on the hand. The result: a mangled finger, surgery and a what-could-have-been debut season.

Caraway had pins inserted on each side of his finger to help the gnarly injury heal properly, then spent weeks off the diamond recuperating and rehabilitating. He finally returned May 31 in the regionals — and went 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored in a win over Tulane — but was never quite the same. Caraway had trouble gripping a baseball, which led to three errors in his final four games, and he went hitless in his final three outings of the season.

It was a discouraging finish to a promising season that opened with plenty of fireworks. Caraway doubled in his first college at-bat, belted a homer and a double in each of his first two games, and started his OSU career with a nine-game hitting streak. Heading into that game against Utah, Caraway was hitting .405 with two home runs, five doubles, nine RBIs and 14 runs scored, while logging hits in 12 of 13 games. He looked like a freshman All-American.

And now that talent is back in the lineup.

“I would probably put him up against anybody on the club as far as bat-to-ball ability,” OSU hitting coach Ryan Gipson said. “He gets the barrel to the baseball on different pitches in different locations as well as anybody. His overall hitting tools are extremely high. That’s why (MLB) scouts love him. And he plays with a genuine passion and energy for the game that is infectious. I love it. I love watching him get fired up. I love watching him play the game.”

How much do scouts love Caraway? He’s considered a first-round prospect in this year’s draft, according to MLB.com, and D1Baseball ranked him the fourth-best third baseman in college baseball this season.

Caraway boosted his already-high stock last summer at the Cape Cod Baseball League, hitting .276 with four homers, five doubles and 21 RBIs in 98 at-bats for the Falmouth Commodores. He struggled in the field, committing nine errors — in large part because he still struggled to grip baseballs — but he impressed at the plate in the wood bat league.

“I thought he had a great summer,” OSU assistant coach Joey Wong said.

And, while it might seem like most of his freshman season went to waste, Caraway says all was not lost. When he was trapped in the dugout, Caraway shifted his focus to off-the-field habits and player evaluation.

He charted the at-bats of Travis Bazzana and Mason Guerra, a pair of teammates he labeled “relatable hitters,” studying their approach, preparation and pitch selection. The latter, Caraway said, was “something I’ve always needed to work on.” All the while, he dived into nutrition and self-improvement, changing his diet and sleeping habits.

“I wouldn’t be in the position I am now (without) it,” Caraway said of his injury. “Mentally, physically, I learned a lot from (watching). It’s also given me an edge, too, a chip on my shoulder. I want to get out there this year with this group of guys and just play and have fun and win.”

Perhaps the only thing you won’t see from the 6-foot-2 sophomore this year:

A bunt.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling, “I haven’t been bunting in practice or anything. So I probably won’t be.”