OTF Premium Texas loses RHP Max Grubbs to season-ending arm surgery

[Jeff Howe]

Texas will have to go through the postseason without right-handed relief pitcher Max Grubbs, who will miss the remainder of the 2026 season after undergoing arm surgery, the school announced Saturday.

Wednesday’s availability report released by the SEC office ruled Grubbs out of action for the Longhorns’ regular-season-ending series with Missouri. Jim Schlossnagle said during his Wednesday media availability on the eve of the series opener that Grubbs has been dealing with arm soreness.

A veteran bullpen hand with 67 career appearances and starting experience under his belt (15 starts over the last three seasons, including 12 in 2024), Grubbs has a 2-0 record with a 5.52 ERA in 18 appearances (two starts) as a senior. For his career, Grubbs is 15-6 with a 4.00 ERA in 168.2 innings, with 146 career strikeouts.

Grubbs was outstanding on the mound in Schlossnagle’s first season, helping Texas capture the SEC regular-season championship with a 6-2 record, setting career highs for single-season appearances (22), ERA (2.84), saves (five) and strikeouts (61). Opponents hit just .238 against Grubbs in 2025, which was also the best single-season mark of his career.

What does this mean for the Longhorns?

A healthy Grubbs could've been Max Weiner’s Swiss Army knife in the postseason. Grubbs would’ve been capable of starting a conference tournament game if Schlossnagle and Weiner wanted to rest one of the regular weekend starters, or he could be used as a fourth starter, which would’ve been massive if Texas found itself in the loser’s bracket of the regional.

If available, Grubbs would've been the team’s best right-handed long-relief option.

How does this change things for the postseason?

The goal late in games is to get the ball to Sam Cozart (6-0, 1.59 ERA), who has been a force out of the bullpen as a freshman. The 6-foot-6-inch, 260-pound hard-throwing righty has recorded a team-high eight saves this season, while firing 66 strikeouts, posting a 0.64 WHIP and holding opponents to a .112 batting average.

Schlossnagle and Weiner trust Brett Crossland (1-2, 3.22 ERA) and Haiden Leffew (4-1, 3.60 ERA) in their respective roles. Leffew will enter the postseason as the Longhorns’ only left-handed reliever capable of throwing multiple innings in an outing; Ethan Walker's (1-0, 3.00 ERA) role is that of the team's situational lefty, likely entering the game to get the team out of a jam with traffic on the bases against a left-handed hitter.

It felt like Thomas Burns (0-0, 6.87 ERA) was turning a corner in recent weeks after a rough stretch. Unfortunately, Burns failed to record an out during a six-run seventh inning by the Tigers in Friday’s 11-6 series-clinching win, walking one and allowing a hit while getting charged with two earned runs.

Brody Walls(2-0, 5.54 ERA), who is next in line to see his workload increase in Grubbs’ absence, struck out three Missouri batters in 1.1 scoreless innings on Friday.

Schlossnagle has talked about using next week’s SEC Tournament to audition other Longhorn pitchers for postseason roles. Schlossnagle has previously mentioned veteran right-hander Cody Howard (0-0, 6.00 ERA) and southpaw Kade Bing (1-1, 6.00 ERA) as potential pitching options in Hoover, Ala., with the team’s first game coming in the conference quarterfinals next Friday.

Texas (39-12, 18-10 SEC) clinched a double bye in the SEC Tournament with its win on Friday and Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa. The Longhorns conclude the regular season against Missouri at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday (2 p.m., SEC Network+), with a series locking them into the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and likely securing a Top 8 national seed for the NCAA Tournament.

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[512Horn]

For a casual baseball fan, that gets into it when postseason rolls around, is this a small, medium, large, or massive loss to Texas’ postseason chances?

[BornOrange]

9 minutes ago, 512Horn said:

For a casual baseball fan, that gets into it when postseason rolls around, is this a small, medium, large, or massive loss to Texas’ postseason chances?

It would have been massive last year when he was probably our second best reliever and could be counted on to hold down the fort for three innings.

This year he hasn’t been the same. I was hoping he would find his groove in time for the postseason, but this surgery probably explains why he wasn’t as good as last year. 

[Sell Mortimer Sell]

I'd say this is small to medium at worst, he was not in the circle of trust for high leverage situations. He does have playoff and high leverage experience, but his effectiveness wasn't really there this year.

This arm soreness issue may explain a lot.

Edited 1 hour ago by Sell Mortimer Sell

[Burnt Orange Horn]

He was definitely suffering from this earlier in the year.

[Alex Butler]

23 minutes ago, Burnt Orange Horn said:

He was definitely suffering from this earlier in the year.

For sure, now we know why he just didn’t have it this season. He’ll get right and be back strong next year!!

[Jeff Howe]

5 minutes ago, Alex Butler said:

For sure, now we know why he just didn’t have it this season. He’ll get right and be back strong next year!!

Unless he can get a waiver that I'm not aware of, he's out of eligibility.

[Alex Butler]

2 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Unless he can get a waiver that I'm not aware of, he's out of eligibility.

Well then hopefully he’ll be able to catch on somewhere and continue as a pro!

[Jeff Howe]

I added some color on what this means for the pitching staff heading into the postseason.