What's next for the Longhorns at first base?
The Texas infield will look a bit different than expected in 2024. Duke transfer Luke Storm, a mid-term enrollee who was in line to start at first base, stepped away from the game on January 30.
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Longhorns head coach David Pierce made an appearance on 1300 The Zone in Austin on Thursday and explained what happened with the former Blue Devil.
“We really felt comfortable with Luke Storm coming in,” Pierce said. “It was very unusual because you don’t have midterm transfers in baseball that are eligible unless they graduate, and Luke graduated in December. We fast-forwarded him on some things. It just didn’t work. For personal reasons, he just felt like he wasn’t ready to put his heart and soul back into the game. You have to respect that. It hurts. You know what could have been. But at the same time I like our team, I like our balance, and things we can do there.”
When speaking to the media on January 26 during the first day of full team activities ahead of the 2024 season, Pierce said Storm had work to do defensively but looked forward to having his hitting ability in the lineup. But now that Storm is no longer an option, Pierce may have to make changes at multiple positions in order to solidify first base.
The leading option is likely Jared Thomas, last year’s first baseman. During his first season at the Disch, Thomas hit .312 with four homers, 29 RBI, and 69 hits in 64 games. He committed only three errors over the course of the season.
With the expected addition of Storm, Thomas had been preparing for a sophomore season in center field to replace Eric Kennedy. Now that there’s a need at first base, Thomas could trade his outfielder’s glove for a first baseman’s mitt.
“He was never completely removed from the first base position because he was so talented defensively,” Pierce said Thursday. “So many times it coordinates with how other players develop.”
Besides Thomas, there aren’t a plethora of first basemen on the roster save for super utilityman Cam Constantine. One of the catchers could trade one specialty glove for another, but Thomas is unlikely to be supplanted by either Constantine or a converted catcher.
So if Thomas moves back to the infield, what then happens in center field? Pierce mentioned four options.
“I think we have some really good depth in the outfield adding two freshmen in Tommy Farmer and Will Gasparino,” Pierce said. “Then we have two older players, a kid by the name of Seth Werchan who’s a local kid, went to (Bowie) High School, but he’s a four-year graduate from the University of Penn. Now he’s got an opportunity to be a part of this team. And another kid, Casey Cummings, is a JC kid.”
During the first day of full-team activities on January 26, Gasparino was taking reps in right field. A 6-foot-6 true freshman from Los Angeles (Calif.) Harvard-Westlake who is likely to be a mainstay in the lineup, Gasparino was MLB.com’s No. 75 overall prospect for the 2023 draft but went unselected and made his way to the 40 Acres. Farmer, a walk-on from Santa Monica (Calif.) Oaks Christian, drew rave reviews in the fall.
Two true freshmen in the outfield is a risk, but veteran left fielder Porter Brown and a number of experienced middle infielders could help the first-year Longhorns accommodate to the Disch.
Plus, Pierce could platoon a veteran with a freshman. Werchan a fifth-year senior, started 46 games in center for the Quakers in 2023. He posted career bests in average (.250), hits (40), stolen bases (9), and on-base percentage for a Penn team that won the Ivy League outright.
Cummings, a transfer from Chabot College in California who started his career at San Diego, hit .387 with 17 homers and 24 stolen bases during his one year at the JUCO level. He also posted an .820 slugging percentage.
“There’s some really good depth there that gives us some combinations where JT can go to first or he can play some in the outfield,” Pierce said.
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With Storm’s departure, the more likely of the two outcomes appears to be the former. Thomas’ versatility will pay of for Texas in helping solidify first, and depth could alleviate the unknowns at center and right.
