Report: Holliday Set to Hire Former MLB Pitcher Blake Hawksworth as Pitching Coach

STILLWATER – Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball is breaking stories again and it appears he has nailed the pitching coach hire at Oklahoma State. This Twitter/X message appeared this afternoon reporting the Oregon pitching coach Blake Hawksworth, a former major league pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers and with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a teammate with Holliday’s younger brother, Matt Holliday. 

University of Oregon Athletics

Blake Hawksworth

Hawksworth has been at Oregon for the past two seasons.  This season his staff had an ERA of 4.10 and struck out 502 hitters with just 231 walks. They allowed 398 hits with 136 extra base hits and only 44 home runs. Opponents hit just .219 on Oregon all season.

Ace Grayson Grinsell was named first-team All-Big Ten Conference and named Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week twice, the first on April 21 after a stellar outing vs. No. 10 UCLA and the second on May 18 following a complete-game shutout of Iowa after allowing just two hits in 7.0 innings with eight strike outs.

After a midseason slump, his bullpen helped carry the Ducks to a national seed and regional host. The Ducks finished 42-16 in 2025 and 40-20 in Hawksworth’s first season in Eugene.

Prior to that he was director of baseball operations at UC Irvine in 2023. He was the pitching coach for two seasons at JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., where he helped lead the Lions to a pair of appearances in the postseason title game, including the school’s first CIF championship in school history. in 2020 he worked as pitching coach at Grand Canyon University. He worked for the Scott Boras Corporation as an MLB certified player agent for two stints and in between he was pitching coach at Cal-State Fullerton in 2017.

US PRESSWIRE

Hawksworth with the Cardinals in 2010.

A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Hawksworth had a 13-year career in professional baseball and spent the two years in the MLB. As a right-handed pitcher, Hawksworth was drafted in the 28th round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent his first seven professional seasons rising through the organization as a minor leaguer, earning the billing as the organization’s No. 1 prospect in 2004.

In his eighth season in the organization, Hawksworth made his big-league debut on June 6, 2009. He made 30 appearances spanning 40 innings during his rookie season, going 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA. He made a one-inning relief appearance in the 2009 NLDS. Hawksworth spent the 2010 season with the Cardinals going 4-8 with a 4.98 ERA over 40 games and 90.1 innings.

US PRESSWIRE

Hawksworth with the Dodgers in 2011

After an offseason trade following the 2010 season, Hawksworth spent his final pro season as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made a career-high 29 appearances including 12 starts, posting a 2-5 record with a 4.08 ERA. After dealing with injuries, Hawksworth officially retired from baseball in 2014.

In between his draft selection in 2001 and pro debut in 2002, Hawksworth played one season at Bellevue (Wash.) Community College as a draft-and follow selection. He left no doubt to his professional abilities by going 8-0 with a 0.18 ERA while earning recognition as both the Bellevue College Most Valuable Player and the NWAAC’s Most Valuable Player.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Rob Walton

The opening at Oklahoma State was a result of the retirement at the end of this season by pitching coach Rob Walton, who joined the program at the same time that Holliday became head coach. Walton, a pitcher at Oklahoma State for Gary Ward during the decade of dominance and for Holliday’s dad, then OSU pitching coach Tom Holliday. Walton has had been the head coach at Oral Roberts and was their winningest coach when he left 13-years ago to coach pitchers at Oklahoma State.

Walton led the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament in each of his nine years at the helm of the program and was a five-time selection as Summit League Coach of the Year. During his time at ORU, he coached 16 All-Americans, 14 conference players of the year and 12 conference pitchers of the year. He coached ORU to the first NCAA Super Regional in program history in 2006.

With OSU, Walton coached 43 All-Big 12 pitchers, eight All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honorees and 41 MLB Draft picks, including two first rounders. Under his guidance, the 2022 OSU pitching staff shattered the school record for strikeouts in a season. He was voted as the 2016 ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year.

Hawksworth promises to bring a fresh approach to the bullpen and the teaching of Cowboy pitchers. Time will tell how that works out, but Hawksworth sure has a resume’.