OTF Premium What will Texas to do to make up for the absence of Adrian Rodriguez?

[Jeff Howe]

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 for Texas (23-4, 7-2 SEC) is two-fold: What do the Longhorns do at shortstop and what corresponding moves would be made in the infield?

The most likely option is to move Temo Becerra from third base to shortstop. Josh Livingston would be the most likely plug-and-play option to fill the void at the hot corner, but the staff could choose to lean on Borba's experience at third base.

Borba has become a reliable defensive first baseman, perhaps too reliable to move him back across the diamond. Regardless, Borba and Livingston were in the mix at first base leading up to the season, with Livingston, Becerra and Callum Early competing for the starting nod at third base.

Schlossnagle has said that Maddox Monsour has the tools to play shortstop. Would Texas roll the dice with a freshman?

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. Schlossnagle has also been high on Presley Courville, who made his return from injury in Friday's 4-3, 10-inning win over No. 8 Oklahoma.

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 if he were to miss the next three weekends), 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.

After sweeping the Sooners in a three-game series to keep pace with No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 5 Georgia atop the SEC standings, the Longhorns return to action at UFCU Disch-Falk Field against Texas State on Tuesday. Texas will then travel to South Carolina for a three-game series against the Gamecocks beginning Thursday.

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[Jeff Howe]

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.

[Jeff Howe]

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.

[UT_Ro]

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

[UTexas]

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

[OTFBrandon]

5 minutes ago, UTexas said:

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

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

[Jeff Howe]

10 minutes ago, UTexas said:

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

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.

[harveycmd]

Becerra to short, Borba to third, platoon first.

[GoHorns1]

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

[GoHorns1]

2 minutes ago, harveycmd said:

Becerra to short, Borba to third, platoon first.

Too many position changes.

[harveycmd]

Experience at each position matters.

 

[SuperDave0805]

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

[Jeff Howe]

40 minutes ago, GoHorns1 said:

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

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.

[Jeff Howe]

43 minutes ago, harveycmd said:

Becerra to short, Borba to third, platoon first.

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.

[GoHorns1]

1 minute ago, Jeff Howe said:

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.

and results for Mateer were terrible.

[Paul L]

3 minutes ago, GoHorns1 said:

and results for Mateer were terrible.

That was because of Mateer’s lack of talent.  

[Califashorn75]

Every at bat for Rodriguez was painful to watch. He needs to heal. 

[Hornio]

Do we really not have a better option for the outfield than Jaydon Duplantier?  We need a stronger bat out of that position IMO

[JMarquette]

1 hour ago, Jeff Howe said:

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.

Hmmm, so it’s sabotage?

[Jeff Howe]

17 minutes ago, Hornio said:

Do we really not have a better option for the outfield than Jaydon Duplantier?  We need a stronger bat out of that position IMO

They've decided Gumbo is the better option than Larson. Monsour would be the only other option, but Gumbo's defense shouldn't be overlooked. He's better defensive option than Larson or Monsour.

[Jeff Howe]

If it ends up being Borba at third and someone else at first, then that would say a lot about the perceived defensive downgrade from Becerra to the next man up.

It sounds like Becerra to shortstop is pretty much a lock at this point.

[Burnt Orange Horn]

1 hour ago, GoHorns1 said:

and results for Mateer were terrible.

Perhaps it was because of Midtier's insistence of playing too early?  Or Midtier is just not a very good QB even when healthy??      🤔

🤘🏻🤘🏼🤘🤘🏽🤘🏾🤘🏿

[Burnt Orange Horn]

33 minutes ago, Hornio said:

Do we really not have a better option for the outfield than Jaydon Duplantier?  We need a stronger bat out of that position IMO

Gumbo has developed a good eye at the plate and has improved his contact by seeing more pitchers in Conference competition.  He is very fast too.

🤘🏽🤘🏾🤘🏿

Edited 1 hour ago by Burnt Orange Horn

[GoHorns1]

15 minutes ago, Burnt Orange Horn said:

Perhaps it was because of Midtier's insistence of playing too early?  Or Midtier is just not a very good QB even when healthy??      🤔

🤘🏻🤘🏼🤘🤘🏽🤘🏾🤘🏿

The A-Rod surgery should been in the summer not the fall to allow more time to heal.

Edited 1 hour ago by GoHorns1

[McCoy2Shipley]

37 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

If it ends up being Borba at third and someone else at first, then that would say a lot about the perceived defensive downgrade from Becerra to the next man up.

It sounds like Becerra to shortstop is pretty much a lock at this point.

So did A-Rod not get surgery till the fall instead after the end of last year?