Texas pitching coach Max Weiner has worked wonders for the 2025 Longhorns

I tend to view WHIP, or walks plus hits per innings pitched, as my preferred method for gauging pitching quality. Baseball can be both easy and difficult to quantify as some statistics carry a lot of noise and subjectivity. But WHIP slices through a lot of the noise by measuring how often batters get on base as a result of winning the individual battle versus the pitcher.

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In 2024, for pitchers who had 10.0 or more innings pitched, the following Longhorns had WHIPs of under 1.30

• Ace Whitehead, 1.24 in 67.0 innings
• Cade O’Hara, 1.12 in 19.2 innings
• Andre Duplantier II, 1.05 in 43.2 innings
• Gage Boehm, 0.99 in 53.1 innings

Whitehead has missed all of 2025 so far recovering from surgery. O’Hara is not on the 2025 team. Duplantier II is the only returner, as Boehm exhausted his eligibility.

To compare, here are the pitchers with at least 10.0 innings pitched that have WHIPs of under 1.30 through 30 games for the 2025 Longhorns, including 12 SEC contests.

• Jared Spencer, 1.22 in 45.0 innings
• Andre Duplantier II, 1.00 in 14.0 innings
• Ruger Riojas, 1.00 in 39.0 innings
• Max Grubbs, 0.99 in 28.1 innings
• Dylan Volantis, 0.81 in 28.1 innings
• Kade Bing, 0.77 in 24.2 innings
• Jason Flores, 0.70 in 18.2 innings

Some of these arms haven’t seen as much action against the top-tier SEC opponents. That doesn’t change that seven is more than four.

Also, two pitchers in the latter group, Spencer and Riojas, have earned weekend starting roles. Volantis, who took home freshman of the week honors again from the SEC, is the Longhorns’ most valuable bullpen arm.

Pitching coach Max Weiner has worked wonders with this staff, and Texas is No. 2 in the nation due in large part to his efforts with Texas hurlers.

If we expand the data to include pitchers with WHIPs of under 1.40, the only addition from 2024 would be Grubbs. He posted a 1.30 WHIP in 73.2 innings. As the list above indicates, he’s chopped that statistic down by 0.30 this season.

In 2025? The group under 1.40 includes the seven above plus weekend starter Luke Harrison, who has a WHIP of 1.33 in 35.1 innings.

Last season, just one weekend starter for the Longhorns was under 1.30.

This year? All three weekend starters are under that threshold, plus several high-leverage arms consistently called upon by Jim Schlossnagle to earn key outs.

And it’s for a team competing in the SEC, which boasts competition a step above the Big 12.

Weiner was one of several assistant coaches who followed Schlossnagle from Texas A&M to Texas. Just a quick comparison here…

• Texas’ opposing batting average? .209.
• Texas A&M’s? .246.

Hitting has been A&M’s major worry, but the pitching hasn’t helped much either. And Texas has shown no sign of slowing down with strength on the mound, as seen over the weekend when the Longhorns limited a potent Georgia offense.

dominated the zone (and the dawgs) 🎯#HookEm pic.twitter.com/eoTPgp3BIl

— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) April 7, 2025

Want to look past WHIP?

Here are a few pitching stats where Texas is top 10 nationally.

• ERA – No. 2 – 3.04
• H/9 inn. – No. 2 – 6.76

And, of course, the staff-wide WHIP ranks strongly, too.

• WHIP – No. 5 – 1.16

Texas is also top 50 out of 307 Division I baseball programs in shutouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and walks allowed per nine innings. And that’s against offenses that are among the best in the nation.

Schlossnagle was an important addition to the Texas baseball program, but Weiner’s work with the pitching staff has helped turn Texas into a complete team and a contender in the SEC during its first year in the league.

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Weiner’s social media handle is @TheArmFarm. I think it’s safe to say this year’s crop of hurlers is one of the best Texas has put on the field in several seasons thanks to his efforts.