Blue Devils Building Strength in the Circle
Duke Blue Devils Circle Talk
This offseason, Coach Marissa Young and the Duke Blue Devils went to work finding experienced arms to bring depth and production to the pitching staff. Young added four transfers to this class, including two pitchers, which shows her clear intent after losing a few arms to the portal and graduation.
One name that I wanted to spotlight today is Mallory Wheeler. She looks poised and ready to make an immediate impact in this Duke rotation. Wheeler spent last season at Louisiana, where she put together an impressive freshman campaign. She led the Ragin Cajuns in wins with 13 and struck out 81 across 136.2 innings.
I watched her throw today against Elon in a fall matchup, and she looked pretty sharp through five innings. Wheeler showed confidence and presence in the circle, and it is easy to see her stepping into a big role for Duke in 2026.
Coach Marissa Young shared her thoughts on Wheeler today, after she pitched a solid five innings in Duke’s fall finale.
“She has been so fun to work with. Mallory is a great competitor and really smart mindset as a pitcher. And so being able to just get to know her and help her sharpen her tools has been really fun, and she’s come a long way. I think she’s going to carry a lot of innings for us this season.”
One stat that stands out from her 2025 season is that she allowed only six home runs all year, according to 64 Analytics. After watching her pitch today, that makes perfect sense. She keeps the ball out of harms way, works both sides of the plate, and forces plenty of ground balls. Her 179 ground outs compared to 134 fly outs last season tell the story of a pitcher who knows how to control contact and limit damage.
I asked Coach Young if she could state one major improvement that she has seen from Wheeler since joining the Blue Devils, and it really pointed to understanding pitch usage and learning how to work through tough moments.
“I think she’s really sharpened her arsenal and understands what each pitch does and how we need to use it in game. I think our staff as a whole has really learned that even when you miss, it has an effect. So how can I win on that next pitch? She’s really come a long way in not spiraling in any way. She’s right back at it,” said Young.
That mentality will be huge for Coach Young and the Blue Devils this season. Duke is set for a challenging schedule, opening the year with high-caliber matchups at both the Clearwater Invitational and the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Blue Devils will face elite programs such as Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M, UCLA, and others, providing plenty of early tests for her pitching staff.
Cassidy Curd pitched the last five innings of today’s 10 inning contest, and Curd has really come along. She looks much better than the last time I saw her personally at App State, and shows a lot of fire. While Curd has tallied a ton of strikeouts in her career at Duke, she has at times lost command and needed to fight to get it back. That, along with adding some new pitches, looks to be much more effective as Coach Young stated.
“Yeah, she’s added some pitches to the arsenal as well. I think she’s really grown from the pitcher that everybody saw as effectively wild to truly now commanding her arsenal as well.”
I also asked Coach Young if she had any indication on whether Wheeler could be a possible combo with Cassidy Curd during the season, and she said it was too early to tell. The Blue Devils have some strong pieces stepping into the circle this year. Along with Wheeler and Curd, you also have Ava Bradshaw and Larissa Jaquez, who has put together a solid fall as well.
Bradshaw redshirted last season, while Jaquez joins Duke as a transfer after spending her first two years at Incarnate Word, striking out 280 batters over 271 innings across 56 appearances. She earned All-Southland Conference honors in 2025. Her 1.65 ERA was the lowest in the Southland Conference and ranked 12th nationally.
We will see soon enough in February how everything comes together once the games begin for real. With so many good hitters and programs out there, pitching depth is one that will tell the story for a lot of teams in 2026.
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