Of all the Oregon baseball players who left after last season, none was more talked about than star first baseman Ryon Healy. A third-round draft pick in last year’s MLB draft, Healy was the most feared hitter in Oregon’s lineup. Alongside Healy was Brett Thomas, who was drafted in the 21st round by the Mariners, and J.J. Altobelli, an 18th round draft pick by the Cardinals. Those three were Oregon’s key losses offensively.

Healy, in his final season, hit .333 with 11 home runs, 56 RBIs and 20 doubles in all but five of Oregon’s 2013 games. Thomas was also reliable at bat, hitting .317 with 15 doubles and 28 RBIs. Finally Altobelli, who was a defensive star at shortstop, hit .276 with 24 RBIs and played in every single game last season.

This year the Ducks don’t have Healy or a player like him in the lineup. But this year, Oregon has tough outs up and down the order. More than last year, the Ducks have the ability to count on hitters lower in the lineup.

One of the reasons the Ducks’ lineup is so strong throughout is because of the constant development of players. As a freshman last year, Mitchell Tolman compiled 165 at bats hitting .315 with 37 RBIs. This year A.J. Balta, Austin Grebeck and Mark Karaviotis have made their names known as freshmen.

Balta has stood out the most of the freshmen since becoming a regular starter after Scott Heineman injured left shoulder on a swing against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 23 and re-injured it on March 14 against USC, forcing him to undergo season-ending surgery. Balta, while hitting just .250 on the season, has two home runs, including a grand slam and 16 RBIs — third highest of the team.

With Tolman hitting similarly to his freshman campaign (a team-high 26 RBIs on the season) and Oregon now with a healthy Kyle Garlick and an improved Tyler Baumgartner, the Ducks have a tenacious middle of the lineup. This is without Heineman, who hit .278 with 14 doubles, four home runs and 38 RBIs a year ago as a sophomore. Between Baumgartner, Tolman, Garlick and Balta — Oregon’s 3-6 hitters — the Ducks have manufactured 56.6 percent of Oregon’s RBIs (77) on the season.

The remaining two spots in the lineup have been open to competition. But that isn’t to say there is a lack of production. In left field, Nick Catalano (.263 batting average) and J.B. Bryant (.289 batting average, 10 RBIs) have been in the race to attain the position. At catcher, Shaun Chase is hitting 116 points higher (.323) and Josh Graham is hitting 91 points higher (.238) than a season ago. Freshman Jack Kruger has the most at-bats from the catchers, likely due to his defensive abilities, with 34 but is hitting just .206.

The balance and growth of each class has made this Oregon lineup as strong, if not stronger, as last year’s. With Pac-12 play starting to pick up, the Ducks will have to battle in order to keep up the production they have managed so far.

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @abant3