Jim Schlossnagle had three fantastic freshmen in 2025 to build around for 2026

The 2025 campaign was one for the memory books. Texas was a dominant force in the SEC in year one of conference play in its new league. The crazy part is this 2025 team may have been the least talented team Jim Schlossnagle will field in quite a while. That is largely due to the trio of standout freshman that Texas has recruited, and an expectation that the amazing 2025/2026 classes Schlossnagle, Nolan Cain, Max Weiner, and Troy Tulowitzki have assembled will produce similar results.

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The interesting part about the three freshmen who will be sophomores in 2026 is that they all were brought to Texas in different ways, but Schlossnagle’s presence at Texas is the common denominator with them all being Longhorns. Let’s look at the three players that will be critical toward Texas’ future successes

#55 Jonah Williams – OF

The guy that is the inspiration for this article. There’s a good chance he never choses Texas if he doesn’t have the ability to play for both Schlossnagle AND Steve Sarkisian. Texas football did its part in the recruiting process, as did Texas baseball with help from Schlossnagle.

To put it in simple terms, Williams is not fair to battle. It is clear that he has insane levels of talent on the diamond. He has a 100% contact rate when swinging at the following pitches in the zone: four-seam fastball, slider, and changeup/splitter. Oh and it’s nearly 100% for curveballs swung at in the zone too.

That’s great right? Well, he is still chasing pitches that fall out of the zone, but that is to be expected from a first-semester college outfielder playing in the most dominant conference in college baseball. If he can cut down on the chasing pitches, Williams is a guy that pitchers will be forced to strikes against because walking him presents another set of problems. Williams is a walking line drive machine with the potential for power and he may be the most talented Longhorn to wear the burnt orange at Disch-Falk Field in some time.

#24 Adrian Rodriguez

Formerly committed to Texas A&M, Rodriguez followed Schlossnagle from Texas A&M and the rest is history. In a new world where the idea of ‘you commit to schools, not coaches’ is reversed, Rodriguez will likely wear the burnt orange until his named is called in the draft.

When he swings at a pitch in the zone, there is a extremely high likelihood that he is making contact. He is making contact 86% of the time or better on fastball variants. Insane.

When you pair that with a low chase percentage across the board, you get a very dangerous freshman and it leaves one wondering how good his freshman campaign would have been if he wasn’t injured. If he can build on these numbers or even just plateau, he will be in store for a fantastic sophomore season.

#99 Dylan Volantis

Last but CERTAINLY not least. Schlossnagle was able to convince the talented lefty to flip his commitment from USC to Texas, a challenge in its own right. The second challenge was the MLB draft. The Athletics picked Volantis in the 19th round of the 2024 draft, but he elected to make his way to Texas much to the chagrin of plenty of college hitters who wondered how the talented lefty made it to a college roster.

When people think of the boogeyman, they likely think of some dude in a ski mask or a monster. Batters think of Dylan Volantis. His stats are literally as good as they can get when it comes to making batters chase and the percentage of swing and misses he forces. He is in the 99th and 100th percentiles for those stats. Judging by the deep red in the chart below, you can figure the other 99-100 percentiles out too.

This dude is simply not real. Swinging at his curveball and expecting a hit is no different than flipping a quarter and hoping for a heads up landing. The numbers for his sinker are at a level that some pitchers aspire to reach for a single pitch and that is statistically his “worst” offering. It isn’t fair that college baseball players are stuck with him for two more years.

(Percentiles are minimum 50 IP)

The future looks extremely bright for Texas and Cain and company are working their magic recruiting the best possible team for 2026. Judging from the talent Schlossnagle had at Texas A&M, there is no reason to expect anything less at Texas.

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A huge thanks to Jackson (@jacksonab_ on X) for the advanced data to help give a better understanding of just how great these freshmen performed. Check out his great work as well!