Insider Texas Baseball Notes Before Season Opener

Baseball season starts in three days for the Longhorns, as they play host to San Diego at Disch-Falk Field. Here are some insider notes to hold you over until then.

Team notes:

- Texas feels great about their offense.  They have about 10-12 guys they feel very comfortable with at the plate. Development has been huge during the offseason, leading up to Friday.

- Freshmen Will Gasparino and Tommy Farmer look to play a big part of this team. Nothing groundbreaking there, as we’ve discussed them in our videos, but have had a handful of people rave about them both.

- Sophomore Jalin Flores was a name that has been mentioned as a guy who’s steadily improved and has looked good. Obviously Flores came in with a lot of hype, but his freshman year didn’t go as anticipated, so that’s a good sign.

- I heard a lot of good things about OF Jared Thomas and they’re expecting yet another big year from him.

- The pitchers have made some big strides with Pierce taking the reigns. A noticeable change for sure. Was also told he loves being in this role.

- The coaching staff is expecting Lebarron Johnson Jr. to have a phenomenal season.  They truly believe he is one of the best pitchers in the country. Possibly even the best. He will be your Friday night pitcher.

- The staff also feels great about Charlie Hurley. He continues to look great and Hurley will be your Saturday starter.

- Your Sunday starter is up in the air.  Everyone has penciled in Tanner Witt, but ideally they want to bring him on slowly.  He will be more involved as this season progresses, but that could also be more of a closing role as well. It’s to be determined at this point.

- If it isn’t Witt, redshirt sophomore Cody Howard is a name to keep an eye on, along with Luke Harrison and David Shaw.  Don’t be surprised if one of those three names starts on Sundays, especially early in the season.

- Expect three freshmen pitchers to make some noise this season: Cole Selvig, Easton Tumis and Hudson Hamilton. They’ve impressed the staff early on and the trio of fresh arms are expected to turn some heads.
 

NIL Notes:

- If you’re a fan of Texas baseball, I implore you to please donate to the Texas One Fund and specify that the donation goes to baseball.  Texas is definitely doing better, NIL wise, but they are heading to the premier baseball conference. When that happens, the Horns will need to step their game up.

- SEC baseball is a completely different animal then what Texas fans are accustomed to and that goes for recruiting too.

- NIL was a big part of the reason guys like LBJ and Witt came back.  If Texas fans want to see continued success and players return, the NIL needs to really ramp up for the baseball program.