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Three things I'm watching on Texas Baseball's opening day

by: Evan Vieth02/14/26

We’re finally back at the Disch, and while I wait for the Cabo Bob’s catering to be set up, we’ve got some time to gather a few thoughts ahead of the season opener.

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This shouldn’t be a game with many frills. UC Davis was barely under .500 last year and both its most productive pitcher and hitter are no longer on the roster. This Texas team is far too good to drop a game like this.

But that doesn’t mean we won’t gather a lot of important information from this game. This isn’t a scrimmage or an alumni game, this is real ball that impacts Texas’ record and how much playing time these players get moving forward. In some ways, this is a tryout at multiple positions.

Firstly, we’re going to see just how improved the gloves of Adrian Rodriguez and Aiden Robbins are.

Rodriguez was a third baseman and utility player last year, but he challenged himself to the staff that he would be able to take the starting shortstop spot for 2026. That’s exactly what he’s done this offseason, but he’s still got competition behind him.

Starting 3B Temo Becerra was Stanford’s shortstop and is a smooth fielder with a good frame. If Rodriguez struggles, Becerra will continue to push for that spot behind him.

I’m less concerned about Robbins, both in his ability and likelihood of needing to move out of his spot, but he’s making a big jump from the corner outfield to centerfield at a big park like Texas. He has the traits to succeed, but true freshman Anthony Pack and Jonah Williams would both love that spot as well.

I’d also monitor Pack’s defense in right and Casey Borba’s ability at first.

Secondly, how aggressive is Texas on the bases?

In the offseason, we’ve identified that this isn’t a huge power team. Outside of Carson Tinney and Borba, every Texas hitter profiles more towards contact than power.

With the staff that the Longhorns have, they shouldn’t struggle to win games, but we need to see how they get there.

Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle has hinted at the Longhorns being more aggressive on the base paths to make up for home runs. Especially in a park like the Disch, strung together innings hurt much more than one-off solo shots. Texas is a team that doesn’t plan to hit into many double plays. The focus is on line drives, but also finding extra bases.

Players like Pack, Williams and Ethan Mendoza bring better speed than they’ve had in the past. We’ll see how much they unleashed the likes of Ashton Larson, Rodriguez and Becerra last year.

Lastly, is Ruger Riojas showing ace tendencies?

We’ve been hyping him up a lot recently, and that’s been mirrored by the staff with their selection of Riojas in the Friday spot.

It’s nothing theoretical with him: he was dominant in the Friday spot in SEC play last year.

But it’s a new year, and he has never started a season as a, well, starter!

It would be great if we see him waltz through this game. Six innings, three base runners, sprinkle in about six Ks. I’ll be happy.

More than results, though, we’re looking for two things.

  1. How good is that fastball
  2. How often will he change up his arm slots

There’s been a lot of talk about how much good weight he’s added, which has led to a fastball velocity increase. Is he going to consistently hit 94? What’s the max going to be? Can this be a take-down pitch?

He also told us that he’s throwing eight pitches from two different arm slots. How much do we see him alternate? I really don’t know. I’m excited to see.

We’re all excited for today. Well, maybe not all our readers, but if you’ve gotten this far, you sure as hell are.

First pitch is at 6:30 tonight. Baseball is back.

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