Last season, the Washington Huskies had their most successful baseball team in a decade, making it to an NCAA regional for the first time since 2004. Eight key contributors were selected in the MLB Draft, which put the Huskies behind the eight ball to start the season.

Plenty of questions remain, too. Can UW (12-5) find consistent power in the middle of the order? Will Troy Rallings and Josh Fredendall be as successful in the rotation as they were at the back end of the bullpen? Speaking of the bullpen, can Lindsay Meggs find a handful of guys he trusts to come in late in games and shut the door?

What’s frightening for the Huskies is that a team that started the season with three stars is already down to two. Junior catcher Austin Rei is out for 8-10 weeks after surgery on his left thumb and may end up missing the rest of the season. He’s been replaced by freshman Joey Morgan, but Morgan still needs to develop consistency offensively and defensively.

Without Rei, this team will go as far as Braden Bishop and the starters can take it. Bishop, a junior center fielder, has one of the best gloves in the Pac-12, and could be the fastest player in the conference. Rallings and Fredendall will hold down rotation spots on either side of senior Tyler Davis, who burst onto the scene with a 1.60 ERA and 11-2 record last year. If Bishop hits like he has been early in the year (.405 average, two homers, 10 RBIs) and the staff can consistently go deep into games, the Huskies have the pieces for a return trip to the postseason.