Inside Texas’ 2023 Longhorn Baseball Preview
David Pierce is no stranger to change during his time as head coach of Texas. His 2016 hiring in and of itself was a massive change. The Longhorns had only made two head coaching hires in the previous 50 years, and both of the late icons chosen, Cliff Gustafson and Augie Garrido, are regarded as two of the best to ever man the top step of the dugout.
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In the six seasons since, plenty of adjustments or alterations have taken place under his watch, and those changes aren’t just limited to the UFCU Disch-Falk Field playing surface or dimensions. He deployed a different style than his predecessor. He brought in Troy Tulowitzki following what can be described as a rough season. He made use of the transfer portal and junior college ranks to bring quality players to Texas, players who helped the Longhorns achieve what’s considered the norm around Austin: two conference championships and three Omaha trips in his five full seasons at the helm.
The lead-up to the 2023 season included more change than any other point in time in Pierce’s tenure. The program’s first Golden Spikes winner, Ivan Melendez, was drafted. The professional ranks called the Longhorns’ starting third baseman, shortstop, catcher, Friday night starter, Saturday starter-turned-spot-reliever, and center fielder. Even Austin Todd, who had been a part of Pierce’s debut season in 2017, is no longer wearing No. 44 for the Longhorns.
The changes weren’t limited to the roster. Tulowitzki and Sean Allen are no longer part of his staff, and Phillip Miller took on another role within the program.
All in all, there are a lot of new faces at the Disch on the 2023 Longhorns.
That leaves plenty of room for the biggest question about this season’s team.
What exactly are they capable of this year?
“We’ve had so much success the last few years with a really committed team and talented team,” Pierce said Wednesday. “They kind of wrote their script, so it’s this group’s opportunity to write their own story and we’re excited for them. They put in the work, so looking forward to the competition.”
Not everyone was lost from the 2022 College World Series team. Mitchell Daly, the regular second baseman, is now the likely shortstop. His backup last year, Jack O’Dowd, slides into second base.
The outfield returns Eric Kennedy and Dylan Campbell, two top-of-the-lineup dynamos who will be tasked with a lot both offensively and defensively.
The rotation returns Lucas Gordon, who rose from Tanner Witt’s stand-in to Saturday starter, in the Friday night role.
That group has assumed plenty of leadership roles in the fall and in the lead up to Friday’s season opener. Pierce described Gordon along with Zane Morehouse as leaders on the pitching staff, with Campbell the leader among position players.
Outside of that core? A collection of freshmen and transfers will have to assume roles other contributors filled last year.
“I think we’re just going to have to have a lot of young guys step up,” Kennedy said Wednesday.
The newness has given Pierce and new assistants Steve Rodriguez, Woody Williams, and Caleb Longley an opportunity to really and truly coach the 19 newcomers to the program. That doesn’t just apply to fundamentals like fielding grounders, throwing to cutoff guys, stealing bases (more on that later), and working on repeatable deliveries.
Oftentimes, it has to do with the day-to-day mentality required to play baseball at the highest level. That may seem like obvious step No. 1 for any Division I athlete, but for players who were often the best player on any field they stepped on, or were at a place without Texas’ expectations, they may not have had to do the daily work necessary to uphold the pride and winning tradition of the University of Texas.
That all starts on Friday with the season opener versus three SEC teams in Arkansas, Missouri, and Vanderbilt.
“I think the goal for us is to see how we handle that, how we compete, and what our mentality is,” Pierce said. “We know we’re not going to be perfect, but if we can have the right mindset and compete, I think that’s what we’re looking for more than anything.”
With a team entering the season unranked, and justifiably so due to the turnover, there are a lot more questions than answers about this Longhorn team. How will freshmen corner infielders fare? Will Texas’ work in the transfer portal this season bring the same level of impact offered by recent success stories like Mike Antico or Skyler Messinger?
For so many burnt orange newcomers, especially when starting their Texas careers against stout competition in a big league ballpark, it may come with a bit of apprehension.
“There will be some knees knocking in the box,” Pierce joked.
Still, the players on Pierce’s team were brought aboard to replace members of Omaha teams for a reason. It’ll be a season of change, Pierce admitted, but change just might be what he wants to see from his program over the course of the season.
“My goal is to be good early and to be great late,” he said.
Longhorns in the lineup
Of the seven players who had double-digit home run seasons as part of the Longhorns’ 128 dinger total, only one returns in right fielder Dylan Campbell.
He will be a key part of the lineup, somewhere at the top of the order, on a team where roles may change during the first few weeks of the season.
He’ll be joined by his fellow outfielders, left fielder and TCU transfer Porter Brown and center fielder Eric Kennedy, at the top of a lineup that features speed, speed, and more speed.
“I think DC right now is our best overall hitter,” Pierce said. “He’s got the simplest approach, so he sees the ball longer than most people and it allows him to make better decisions.
“EK is always an action guy who can create in different ways, and sometimes he’s kind of an ugly at-bat, but he’s at first base two times a game or more. You have to understand his history.
“Porter Brown is a guy who when he gets in a streak and he sees the ball well, he’s as good as anybody in the country.”
Campbell hit .267 with 10 homers and 29 RBI, and successfully stole 14 bases in 17 attempts last season. Kennedy, who played in 45 games last year due to a lingering hamstring issue, hit an even .300 with seven home runs and 29 RBI. He was 10-for-11 in stolen bases, a number that would have been higher if he wasn’t injured. Brown, who spent the last four years at TCU, hit .276 with five homers and 23 RBI. His standout season was the 2021 campaign, where in 40 games he hit .342 with 30 RBI and finished the year as the Big 12 Tournament MVP
“I could see us having a completely different offense and a completely different identity this year, so I’m kind of interested to see how it’s going to shake out when we start on Friday,” Campbell said.
Pierce said he likes to have his best hitters at the top of the order. The three mentioned above not only could fill those spots, but they might be his best baserunners, too.
While there are talented players on the team with enough power to leave Disch-Falk Field, that may not be the identity of the offense this year. Pierce referenced multiple times on Wednesday ”the short game,” his own term for something most often attributed to small-ball.
Now, that’s not to say Texas will revert to full-fledged Augie Ball or Gus Ball, but a minor harkening back to those styles would serve as fitting tributes from this year’s team to the late No. 18 in addition to the memorials on the center field logo and the team-issued hat. It would also just make sense with the players on the team.
The Longhorns didn’t press the issue on the base paths last year when players like Melendez, Messinger, Murphy Stehly, or even Silas Ardoin were at the plate. Why create the chance for a solo shot when a two-run homer is on the table?
That may change this year, and it could start with the top of the order. That is likely to be manned by Kennedy.
“I think especially as a speed guy, finding any way to get on base and then potentially get a stolen bag is incredibly important,” Kennedy said. “We always talk about you’re going to want to have the prettiest swing, but in reality it’s never going to happen. I’ve accepted that fact. Just whatever I can do to help the team get on base, hopefully steal a bag or two, then get some guys some RBIs, whatever it takes.”
If Porter is in left, Kennedy is in center, and Campbell is in right, with Ace Whitehead and Max Beyleu as potential backups, who likely takes other spots on the diamond?
On Wednesday, Pierce mentioned his corner infield spots would likely be manned by true freshmen. Jalin Flores was penciled in at third while Jared Thomas received the apparent nod at first.
At shortstop, Mitchel Daly moves to the left side of the middle infield, replacing Trey Faltine. In Daly’s stead will likely be Jack O’Dowd, a transfer from Vanderbilt who played in 21 games last year.
“Even though I wasn’t on the field every day helping the team, it was a year that I really got a chance to develop,” O’Dowd said Wednesday. “I worked really hard the whole season. I had a ton of help from the guys on the team that were playing every day. They helped me a ton (to) learn about the game, develop as a player, and really put myself in a position to come in this year and help the team a lot.”
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Catcher remains a bit of a battle between freshman Rylan Galvan and USC transfer Garret Guillemette. Kimble Schuessler, who was Ardoin’s backup last year, is out for the season. Designated hitter was not a subject Pierce touched on, but one of the two catching options, Beyleu, Whitehead, Cade O’Hara, Peyton Powell, or Jayden Duplantier are all options for that spot.
No matter what the lineup looks like exactly, there will be growing pains. That doesn’t just apply to time spent in the box, but also in the field.
“There are some young kids who could step in there,” Pierce said. “You take a guy like Jared Thomas, Rylan Galvan, Jaden Duplantier, Cade O’Hara, these are up-and-coming players that are going to put pressure on some older kids to get into the lineup.”
Defense has been a calling card for the Longhorns in recent seasons. Though an imperfect statistical measure, fielding percentage can relay some information as to how good a defense is over the course of the year. Texas had a .985 mark in 2022, .980 in 2021, and .971 in a brief 2020.
Keeping that standard up will be important if run production will be more than a one swing-of-the-bat process. However, it remains something to be seen in extensive competitive settings for many starters, and that is not limited to the two freshmen corner infielders.
Texas pitching
Replacing Pete Hansen on Friday nights is the responsibility of Lucas Gordon, who rose to the role of No. 2 starter last season.
“He’s a strike thrower, and he’s going to give you a chance to eat up some innings,” Pierce said. “He’s got the most experience, and I think he’s just primed and ready to take that spot.“
Gordon was 7-2 last season with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 85.2 innings. He slid into the starting rotation early in the year when Tanner Witt was scratched from his start versus UCLA in Houston, and stayed there the remainder of the season.
Gordon recently added a slider to his repertoire and will look to carry on a strong tradition of Texas’ Friday night starters.
Many healthy programs have to replace at least one weekend arm every year. Some have to replace two, and Texas is in that category this season.
Stepping into the Saturday role, at least for now, is right hander Zane Morehouse. A redshirt junior, Morehouse had a 6.00 ERA and a 3-1 record in 20 appearances last year, with a .264 opposing batting average.
However, Morehouse made progress throughout the course of the fall and spring to where he made Pierce’s decision to tab Gordon as the Friday night guy no easy task.
“I had to really think hard about who’s going to go Friday and who’s going to go Saturday because Zane has matured so much, his stuff has been good, and his consistency has been really good,” Pierce said.
And Sunday? For now, that goes to Travis Sthele. He was 3-1 last year in 21 appearances with a 6.03 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Those aren’t great numbers either, but Pierce noted improvement from No. 39 over the course of the past year not just in his slider and his fastball, but in how he carries himself.
“He’s so much more comfortable on the mound than I think looking back at a year ago where he was competing for us, but he just didn’t feel comfortable yet,” Pierce said. “You started to see that in not only his demeanor on the mound, but he feels very healthy right now. He’s earned it. He’s eaten some innings up and gotten a lot of hitters out.”
The remaining knowns for roles such as Tuesday starter, late-inning stopper, and other middle relief opportunities are few. Luke Harrison is out for the season due to Tommy John surgery after leading the club in appearances in 2022. Gone is workhorse Tristan Stevens, who, if given the opportunity, would have pitched until his arm fell off.
Tanner Witt, one of two preseason All-Big 12 selections along with Gordon, won’t be able to pitch competitively until mid-April according to Pierce. He’s progressing through Tommy John rehab.
That leaves a lot of questions regarding players running in from the right field bullpen, whether they were on the roster last year or not.
Chase Lummus, Sam Walbridge, Cameron O’Banan, Andre Duplantier, and Lebarron Johnson Jr. return from last year’s staff. Transfers DJ Burke, Charlie Hurley, David Shaw, Chris Stuart, Cody Howard, and Heston Tole join the program, as do freshmen Kobe Minchey, Max Grubbs (who Pierce described as dinged up on Wednesday), and Pierce George.
Few from that group have been comfort-inspiring on a consistent basis at Texas. Finding reliable options will be one of the biggest questions Pierce and Williams will need to answer this season. Though Texas made it to Omaha last year, relief pitching was a weakness on a team that held back the most explosive offenses in school history.
This year, the explosive offense likely won’t be back. The Longhorns need someone to step up from that group in order to feel better about late-game leads.
The 2023 Texas baseball schedule
While there are some notable challenges, like the early-season SEC tests in Arlington versus Arkansas, Missouri, and Vanderbilt, Tuesday one-offs with LSU, Texas A&M, and a double-midweek set with Texas State, the early portion of the schedule includes plenty of games with opponents that a young, jelling Texas team should be able to handle.
Weekend non-conference slates before Big 12 play opens include a home series with Indiana, a road trip to Cal State-Fullerton (who is not the same quality of team they were just over five years ago), an early March series with Manhattan, and one final tune-up series with New Orleans. Non-conference games of lesser difficulty include Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Mercer, North Dakota State, UIW, Air Force, Abilene Christian, Texas Southern, and UT-Arlington.
Texas won’t be setting any strength of schedule records, but it will offer a team that will want to build itself up the opportunity to do so during non-conference play.
Related links
Full 2023 Texas baseball schedule
