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

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.