Five things to watch in Texas baseball's Alumni Game

Texas baseball season is officially here… sort of.

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As is tradition with the Longhorns ball club, Texas will host north of 30 alumni from the team’s historic past, ranging anywhere from CWS winners to recent familiar faces like Lucas Gordon and Dylan Campbell. The alumni game is set to start at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be the first look at the Jim Schlossnagle era of Texas baseball. It will be streamed for free on Longhorn Network.

Though you can never take too much away from an exhibition, there are still a few key aspects of this year’s ball club that IT looking out for in Saturday’s game.

getting the band back together 🤘

free admission + parking for y’all on Saturday#HookEm pic.twitter.com/QeRFpiktnV

— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) January 29, 2025

1. Who does Max Weiner trust?

Two very important things happened this offseason for Texas. First, Schlossnagle replaced David Pierce, a upgrade after a disappointing season. Second, Schlossnagle was able to bring pitching coach Max Weiner with him.

While the Aggies may have retained assistant coach Michael Earley, Texas got the real steal of the coaching staff in Weiner. ‘The Arm Farm’ is an analytics-based pitching developer who spent six years working for the Seattle Mariners organization as their head pitching coordinator. Seattle has had a top-three staff in baseball the last two seasons, and his development in College Station earned guys like Chris Cortez and Ryan Prager a lot of money.

Weiner has a lot of control over this pitching staff, which is almost brand new heading into this new era. We know Jared Spencer is supposed to be a mainstay in the rotation, but who else will take the mound on Saturday? Weiner is going to need to use some new faces, whether it be freshmen or players from a loaded transfer class, and Saturday will be the first time many hurlers will pitch in burnt orange.

2. Jalin Flores’ defense

Jalin Flores is one of the most important returning veterans for this 2025 season. The junior shortstop decided to return after failing to be selected in the first two rounds of the MLB Draft, a testament to his trust for Schlossnagle and need for improvement.

Flores should be solid offensively, and more time in the weight room should help his power, but the defense needs to be much more polished at arguably the most important position on the field. Flores far and away led the team in errors last year and will need to be a sure hand up the middle this season. The San Antonio product may have the highest ceiling on the team, but that needs to be realized after a disappointing draft season for the shortstop.

3. Who the hell is Adrian Rodriguez?

If you’ve kept up with anything Schlossnagle said in his first press conference, you would have heard the name Adrian Rodriguez by now. Rodriguez is a true freshman who was only the 81st-ranked player in the state in the ’24 class. Why is everyone talking about him?

Well there’s a ton to love about the Flower Mound product. Rodriguez can play all over the field but is gunning for the starting third base job after Peyton Powell left for the draft following last season. Schlossnagle, as well as Rodriguez’s teammates, have raved about his innate talent on the field, and the peripherals check out.

Rodriguez is a true switch hitter who added 20 pounds of muscle in one offseason. He batted .430 with nine home runs and 49 RBI as a high-school senior and looks like a grown adult on the diamond. Still just 18, Rodriguez may steal a starting position from the jump in Austin and will be a joy to watch face off against future and current MLB pitchers.

4. What’s going on at 1B?

Last year’s first base position was always filled with talent, mostly being occupied by 2024 second-round pick Jared Thomas. Thomas led the team in hits, average, at-bats and nearly topped Flores in XBH’s thanks to four triples, all while fielding the position effortlessly with his long frame. Thomas even chipped in with a couple of innings on the mound, too.

This year’s team, however, doesn’t really have a true replacement lined up for the corner infield spot. Kimble Scheussler, a catcher and DH on last year’s team, is the assumed starter heading into 2025. He’s worked at the position all offseason and seemed to be atop the two-deep in the team’s first practice.

But what if Scheussler is not a sure hand like Thomas was? Or if Rylan Galvan doesn’t take the defensive jump many hope for behind the dish? Texas does have some other options that will very likely get work in on Saturday.

Sophomore Casey Borba was a high-level recruit who started at first in Texas’ final game of the 2024 season and during the majority of the Kansas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma series. A good first guess is that Borba will start the year at DH as he’s more of a natural third baseman, but he will likely get reps on the other side on Saturday.

Another name is Jaquae Stewart, a 5-foot-10 227 lb tank transfer from Northwest Florida. Stewart was the FCSAA Tournament MVP for the Raiders in 2024 and slugged .743 as a true freshman starter, but he may be more of a long-term piece. The jump up to SEC play will be a steep one, and Stewart may not be defensively able enough to steal the position.

5. How good can this outfield be?

If there’s any position group on the Texas baseball team that doesn’t have a ceiling, it’s the outfield.

You first look to right field and see last year’s Big 12 Player of the Year Max Belyeu, who looks big enough to play tight end on the football team. Belyeu is the team’s best player entering the season and adds a strong floor and explosive ceiling with his 500-foot power.

But what really is interesting is what’s happening in center and left field. As pointed out by NashTalksTexas, returning sophomore Will Gasparino has really filled out. Last year he played at just 210 pounds at 6-foot-6, this year he’s 15 pounds heavier. Gasparino has every tool in his bag, and another offseason in Austin could bring him from steady starter to superstar. He had four hits and three RBI in the two Louisiana games that Texas played, but Schloss expects a ton from his center fielder.

Then in left field, fans are introduced to a new name, Easton Winfield. Winfield is another power-hitting sophomore who was a Perfect Game Freshman Second Team All-American while playing at ULM in 2024. Winfield started 53 games with 10 bombs in his freshman year and could be an extra spark that Texas lacked from the position in Porter Brown’s lackluster final season.

The sky truly is the limit with this group. Texas fans could be seeing the start of a 50+ homer trio, all with the range and athleticism to track down any ball hit deep. This could be an extremely fun group to watch in 2025, and there’s good reason to be excited for this season to get underway on February 14th.