Oregon State Catcher Jacob Galloway Named to Midseason Watchlist for Buster Posey Award

Oregon State senior Jacob Galloway is in the running for the Buster Posey Award, given to the nation's best collegiate catcher. Learn more in this piece.

Oregon State catcher Jacob Galloway hits as the Oregon Ducks host the Oregon State Beavers on March 3, 2026, at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gerald Dempsey Posey III, better known by his childhood nickname "Buster", is one of baseball's all-time greatest catchers.

This morning, an Oregon State Beaver inched closer to earning an award named in Posey's honor. Oregon State senior Jacob Galloway was one of fifty players named to the Buster Posey Award midseason watchlist. The award is given annually to the top collegiate catcher in America.

Galloway's baseball story begins in Southern California, where the Camarillo native excelled at an early age. As a four year letter-winner at prestigious prep school Harvard-Westlake (Los Angeles, CA), he batted .330, earned an invite to play travel baseball with Team USA's Select Team in 2021, and was named a 2022 Preseason All-American by Perfect Game.

From there, he signed with the USC Trojans. His 2023 freshman year featured 24 games played, with a .365 batting average, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, and 11 runs batted in. The following season featured 57 starts, and Galloway made the most of them: he hit .304 with 22 doubles, another triple, 7 home runs, and 51 runs batted in. Still, the 5'9" sophomore saw room for improvement, and left USC for a new challenge. He got it in College Station, starting 14 games last season for Texas A&M, before transferring to Oregon State ahead of the 2026 season.

Galloway has excelled at the backstop this season. Through 25 starts, he is batting .299 with 8 doubles, 8 RBI, and 11 walks. For added measure, the senior has been hit by a pitch ten times, just four shy of tying the school record for HBPs in one season. Defensively, he has an impressive .994 fielding percentage, with just two errors across 337 chances.

If Galloway receives this honor at season's end, he would become only the second Oregon State player to ever do so. Back in 2019, the Buster Posey Award was given to Adley Rutschman.