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That was because of Mateer’s lack of talent.

All in. Let's go! 🤘

and results for Mateer were terrible.

I'm not saying it won't happen, but I believe Borba's defense is too valuable at first base to move him right now. Especially because this isn't supposed to be a long-term absence for Rodriguez. Livingston competed with Becerra and Callum Early for the third base job in the fall and winter, so putting him there for the time being makes sense.

Depending on the surgeon, you might have to wait. I believe the guy who worked on A-Rod's hand is the same doctor who did John Mateer's thumb surgery.

It’s a pretty surprising statement for him to admit that he hasn’t felt like he’s had a complete roster in terms of top-level talent on both sides of the ball until this year. In the interview, he also explicitly compares this roster to the ones he had at Bama. It’s hard to argue with those assessments on paper. I think Texas has the best roster in the country going into the 2026 season. But Sark also needs to elevate his coaching to match those claims. This might be the best chance he ever gets at Texas to win it all—can’t squander this roster.

Hitting has not been great the last couple weeks and this sure doesn't help

Experience at each position matters.

Jeremiah Smith transferring

Too many position changes.

Why wasn’t the initial surgery done in the summer to allow more time for healing and recovery? Waiting until the fall was dumb.

Becerra to short, Borba to third, platoon first.

Once again, thanks to Jerry Jones for telling the world before the draft that the Cowboys were targeting Brooks, because showing your cards is the best way to get the player you want in the draft!

No, only because it didn’t heal right and was clearly bothering him. Hopefully, this gives him the time to rest and be ready to go when he comes back. That’s assuming the downtime he’ll have allows him to properly heal.

IMO him being a switch hitter never allowed his hand to heal to the best of its ability

Instead of shuffling the whole infield around, I’d look at moving Gumbo to short and leaving everyone where they’re at. I always thought he was solid defensively but the bat kinda held him back. Just spit balling here but Gumbo is already in the lineup and you have Larson on the bench opens up DH for the young catcher his name escapes me at this moment.

@Jeff Howe any concern over the fact that he's already had the issue addressed and now its back?

Even last year before he got hurt I thought his swing looked weird it hurts to watch him bat.. Hopefully that procedure cleans it up

The call here is moving Borba to third or letting Livingston play there. If it's really only a couple of weeks, my gut tells me they'd be more likely to keep Borba at first. If this were a season-ending deal with A-Rod, it might be different, IMO.

I didn't mention him in the article, but Presley Courville could also factor into the DH mix now that he's back from his injury.

@Joe Zuragotta be D. Moore finally, right?

With Adrian Rodriguez out of action while recovering from what Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com described Monday as “a minor hand procedure,” No. 2 Texas has a hole at shortstop and in the middle of the batting order. Jim Schlossnagle continued to go with Rodriguez (.271/.386/.383) in the clean-up spot despite the sophomore battling through a hand issue. Injured during the 2025 season, Rodriguez underwent surgery in the fall and while he was ready for the start of the 2026 season, the issue lingered and particularly bothered him in situations when he’d swing and miss in the box, which led to him often grimacing in pain and, at times, requiring attention from the team’s medical staff during at-bats. Rodriguez’s ability to hit from either side of the plate and the respect opponents continued to show him, even while he clearly wasn’t 100 percent, justified keeping him in the middle of the order. With Rodriguez out, Schlossnagle has the option of moving Casey Borba (.333/.438/.667) up to the No. 4 hole, where his team-leading 31 RBI and nine home runs (tied with Aiden Robbins for the team lead) would give the Longhorns a formidable option. The bigger issue is what Texas (23-4, 7-2 SEC) does at shortstop. The likely option is to move Temo Becerra from third base to shortstop, with Josh Livingston the most likely option to fill the void at the hot corner. Borba has become a reliable defensive first baseman, perhaps too reliable to move back to third base (Livingston has worked at first base, for what it’s worth). Schlossnagle has said that Maddox Monsour has the tools to play shortstop. Would Texas roll the dice with a freshman? Plus, with Jonah Williams on the shelf recovering from shoulder surgery, resulting in Jayden Duplantier becoming a full-time corner outfielder, Monsour and Ashton Larson are the primary designated hitter options. If Rodriguez is back within a month (Rogers reported that he’s expected to be out 2-3 weeks, meaning a return for the team’s road series against Vanderbilt in late April could mark Rodriguez’s return), the Longhorns have enough options at the plate and in the field to make do. Even though Rodriguez’s hand issue hampered him at the plate, he continued to play top-notch defense, which is what Texas is likely to miss most in the interim. View full news story