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Hookem2147

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Rickylovesweed
Rickylovesweed

No surprise but it's official.   

Caver60
Caver60

Super excited for this season. April 16 circled on the calendar. My son is a true freshman OF at UTRGV. Right now it's looking like he won't redshirt. He's the fourth or fifth OF on the squad. 

Rickylovesweed
Rickylovesweed

Jesus we're loaded.    If we add one more good arm from the portal, I think we have a legitimate argument to be ranked #1 in the preseason polls. 

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petscii

petscii 1189

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Preseason clickbait is the best clickbait.  I remember where I was when we got our first D1baseball #1 ranking.  I said ohhhhh yeah this is the moment we've been waiting for...

/sarcasm

There are 5 championships to be won this season,  d1baseball aint one.

 

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Fletch

Fletch 5800

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6 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

They are placing a lot of blind faith in that A&M pitching staff and the new pitching coach. The majority of their big portal transfers were on the position player side. They are a top 15-20 team but I don't know about #8.

When you consider the known pieces we have, we should be in the top 15 easily, maybe pushing the top 10 if Mercer was healthy and available (just got sad all over again).

Plus Kendall is kind of an aggy homer. Kind of. 
 

Man I’m pumped for the season to start. I think Flores is gonna take a sophomore year Campbell like leap at the plate. Same with Thomas, dude needs to be a leader this year. Curious to see how Galvan looks after an offseason. Also pumped to see how Hurley looks with the tweak to his delivery. 
 

All in all, my expectations are to win the conference and host all the way to Omaha. If we get freshman year Witt, we’re going to do some serious damage

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BillyGoatHill

BillyGoatHill 4312

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On 1/14/2024 at 9:07 PM, Biff Tannen said:

Got mine. Picking seats Friday. 

Same here, though I'm happy where I am now and  I will also be in the air during my alotted time slot on Friday. I know that things move a bit during the process but there are slim pickings with available seats.

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hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13047

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16 hours ago, Fletch said:

Plus Kendall is kind of an aggy homer. Kind of. 
 

Man I’m pumped for the season to start. I think Flores is gonna take a sophomore year Campbell like leap at the plate. Same with Thomas, dude needs to be a leader this year. Curious to see how Galvan looks after an offseason. Also pumped to see how Hurley looks with the tweak to his delivery. 
 

All in all, my expectations are to win the conference and host all the way to Omaha. If we get freshman year Witt, we’re going to do some serious damage

You and I are usually different ends of the spectrum sunshine wise but I agree with you. JT looks like he will be an absolute star. The lineup is loaded with quality bats, although maybe a little light on the long ball.

Hurley and Witt are the big pieces that could take us from really good to elite. Hurley has shown he can be a really effective and if we can get him consistent and able to get 5-6 innings in a start that’s huge. If Witt is back then all the sudden this is the best starting group in college baseball. 

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hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13047

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42 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

I have a feeling Gasparino is going to be special. I don't think we've had one like him in a long time.

I hope so. I had heard he still seemed to need some work at the plate to be ready for this level. His swing seems a little long but that might just be cuz he’s so tall and skinny.

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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 21341

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6 minutes ago, hobbes2702 said:

I hope so. I had heard he still seemed to need some work at the plate to be ready for this level. His swing seems a little long but that might just be cuz he’s so tall and skinny.

Yeah, he has a lot of levers in his swing that they will need to iron out. I do like that he has plus speed (especially for a bigger guy) and speed doesn't slump.

The good news is he shouldn't feel the weight of the world on his shoulders like Flores and Thomas did last year stepping into starting roles in a largely new lineup.

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YGIFS

YGIFS 19452

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I think the best option for John Oates (of Hall & Oates fame) is the Saturday game with Washington.  It's at 2:30p.  We have a Surly tailgate, possibly in conjunction with Occupy LF.  And Oates throws out the first pitch.  I believe he's speaking on Thursday or Friday, so he may not stick around for Saturday.  But the Friday night game, I suspect he couldn't make because I'm sure he'd be attending some music business private event and such.  

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Fletch

Fletch 5800

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3 hours ago, hobbes2702 said:

You and I are usually different ends of the spectrum sunshine wise but I agree with you. JT looks like he will be an absolute star. The lineup is loaded with quality bats, although maybe a little light on the long ball.

Hurley and Witt are the big pieces that could take us from really good to elite. Hurley has shown he can be a really effective and if we can get him consistent and able to get 5-6 innings in a start that’s huge. If Witt is back then all the sudden this is the best starting group in college baseball. 

 

2 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

I have a feeling Gasparino is going to be special. I don't think we've had one like him in a long time.

Yeah I think Gasparino, Flores, Thomas and Powell are gonna give us 10-15 homers each this year. I could see O’Dowd taking another step in the power department too. Should be an awesome year

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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 21341

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I count 42 guys and the roster limit is 40. I assume Mercer counts as some type of medical redshirt and I'm not sure who the other might be. 

I had heard a while back that Oliver Santos wasn't going to be with the team in the spring so surprised to see him on there. Maybe something changed.

We did have to make some tough decisions on a handful of freshmen that we probably keep in prior years (Lane Allen, MJ Sweeney, Ean Czech, Matt Zatopek and Hayden Morris).

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petscii

petscii 1189

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I'm torn,  I like that we are good enough to not carry a lot of dead weight on the roster.  Having said that Gus would have had Brooks Kieschnick Jr on the fucking squaaaaad....

 

 

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MuellerHorn

MuellerHorn 4256

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On 1/16/2024 at 4:21 PM, Fletch said:

If we get freshman year Witt, we’re going to do some serious damage

I know I’m supposed to follow your optimism around here: and believe me, I love it. But, nothing I’ve seen or heard leads me to believe Witt has “it” back. I’m starting to really wonder whether it’ll happen at Texas. 

Anyone more in the know got anything?

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NorthLoop

NorthLoop 14215

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11 minutes ago, MuellerHorn said:

I know I’m supposed to follow your optimism around here: and believe me, I love it. But, nothing I’ve seen or heard leads me to believe Witt has “it” back. I’m starting to really wonder whether it’ll happen at Texas. 

Anyone more in the know got anything?

Haven't read any reports on him. But my optimism is that his struggles this past season were just from him coming back too early too fast. I'm hoping now that he has a full offseason under his belt to get all of his shit back together, that we'll see more of his old self this season. 

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Fletch

Fletch 5800

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2 hours ago, MuellerHorn said:

I know I’m supposed to follow your optimism around here: and believe me, I love it. But, nothing I’ve seen or heard leads me to believe Witt has “it” back. I’m starting to really wonder whether it’ll happen at Texas. 

Anyone more in the know got anything?


Yeah I’m honestly not expecting too much from him this year. If he can go 6-7 innings most game and have an ERA in the high 3’s, I’ll take that. But I’d prefer his future Cy Young winner version from his freshman year

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hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13047

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It’s all about the velocity. His hook was still plenty good but he can’t be staying at 89 with his fastball. That said, with the amount of time it’s been it wouldn’t be unreasonable for this season to be when it comes back for him.

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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 21341

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His velo was all over the place this summer. Was anywhere from 88-90 to 90-93 depending on the start.

We just need him to be a pretty reliable #2. 10 conference series. We should win 80% of Friday games with LBJ on the mound. You win 60-70% of Saturday games with Witt and then split Sunday games when things can get wild and that leaves you right around that 19-11 mark which should be right up there competing for a conference title. 

The extra two conference series should help RPI's league-wide. Might be a year where Big 12 gets multiple hosts.

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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 21341

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Breakdown/projected starters for Texas from D1baseball

Spoiler

Texas’ Projected Lineup

POS Name Class B-T AVG/OBP/SLG PA 2B HR RBI BB-K SB
C Kimble Schuessler RS JR R-R              
1B Luke Storm RS JR (Stats at Duke) S-R .258/.354/.492 275 14 13 51 23-68 8
2B Jack O’Dowd SR L-R .284/.353/.441 254 13 6 37 23-43 1
3B Peyton Powell RS SR L-R .339/.431/.548 269 16 10 46 37-42 2
SS Jalin Flores SO R-R .175/.293/.311 123 2 4 23 15-37 0
LF Porter Brown RS SR L-L .322/.424/.542 284 14 12 59 40-55 11
CF Jared Thomas SO L-L .321/.398/.484 250 15 4 29 27-38 10
RF WIll Gasparino FR R-R              
DH Nik Sanders FR R-R              
Pos Name Class Throws W-L ERA SV APP GS IP K-BB
SP1 LeBarron Johnson RS JR RHP 8-4 2.91 1 20 13 86.2 98-38
SP2 Tanner Witt RS JR RHP 2-1 10.97 0 6 6 10.2 8-8
SP3 Charlie Hurley SR RHP 5-0 4.42 3 22 5 55 45-27
SP4 Cody Howard RS SO RHP 1-0 4.00 0 8 0 9 12-7
Closer David Shaw JR LHP 2-2 3.09 1 26 0 32 30-14

Grading The Longhorns

Just as scouts grade prospects using the 20-80 scouting scale, we use a 20-80 scale to evaluate teams in our top 25. A score of 50 in each category is average, relative to a typical NCAA tournament team; 55 is slightly above-average; 60 is above-average (plus); 70 is well above-average (plus-plus); 80 is top of the scale, historically strong. Accordingly, 45 is fringe-average or slightly below-average; 40 is below-average; 30 is well below-average; and 20 is the extreme in that direction.

Hitting: 55

Power: 55

Speed: 55

Defense: 60

Starting Pitching: 65

Bullpen: 50

Experience/Intangibles: 55

Team Breakdown

Strengths: Assuming that Tanner Witt comes back strong this spring, the Longhorns would then have what I’d consider an elite weekend rotation. That would include Witt, Lebarron Johnson and Charlie Hurley, who is coming off a solid 2023 campaign. I also feel like the Longhorns have a very strong and productive nucleus from an offensive standpoint. Peyton Powell, Jared Thomas and Porter Brown are proven, accomplished hitters, Jalin Flores is expected to take a big step forward and Luke Storm provides a powerful and experienced presence in the middle of the offensive lineup. Throw in athleticism like Tommy Farmer, and it’s easy to love the potential of this lineup. 

Question Marks: We covered some of this in the outlook section, but the Longhorns do have some questions that need to be answered this spring. We mentioned Witt and the bullpen, but I also have a close eye on the catcher position. The Longhorns were not particularly impressive back there during my fall look, and it’s imperative that Ryland Galvan or Kimble Schuessler really step up at that position. The other option for head coach David Pierce is to move Peyton Powell behind the plate, but he would prefer to keep him at the hot corner. 

Star Power: We mentioned two of Texas’ better hitters below, and I’m of the belief that Jared Thomas will have a monster season at the plate as well. But the star power award on this team clearly goes to righthanded pitcher Lebarron Johnson. Johnson rose to the occasion down the stretch last season and was one of the better starting pitchers in college baseball in the NCAA tournament. Johnson finished last season with a 2.91 ERA in 86.2 innings of work to go with 98 strikeouts and 38 walks. This past fall, Johnson was consistently sitting 94-96 mph with his fastball to go with a quality changeup and nasty slider. He’s expected to have an elite season for the ‘Horns. 

Glue Guy: Give me Peyton Powell and Porter Brown. Experience is such an important luxury in college baseball, and both sluggers have not only a ton of experience, but also a history of big-time production. Powell took a massive step forward last season by hitting .339 with 16 doubles, 10 homers and 46 RBIs, along with a .979 OPS. Meanwhile, Brown had a big year for the Longhorns as well, hitting .322 with 14 doubles, 12 homers and 59 RBIs. The two combined have eight years of playing experience entering the season. That matters. 

TannerWittTexas.jpg Tanner Witt, Texas (Eddie Kelly)

Picks To Click: Look for Jalin Flores to take a sizable step forward this season. Flores, if you remember, arrived in Austin last fall with high expectations. However, he had a difficult time finding his groove, hitting .175 with just two homers and four RBIs. Flores had a great fall for the Longhorns and showed improvement in all facets of his game as he moves to shortstop. Flores is supremely talented, and I think the nation will see what the hype was all about this spring. 

Top Newcomer: Duke transfer Luke Storm will certainly have a powerful presence in the middle of the lineup, while Will Gasparino has huge upside and power potential as well. However, the top newcomers in my book is center fielder Tommy Farmer. Farmer has been a pleasant surprise since he arrived in Austin. He has a very athletic frame, excellent speed, great instincts in the outfield and a solid offensive approach that consistently includes contact. Farmer has a chance to an immediate high-impact player.

Outlook: There’s no doubt in my mind the Longhorns will be very solid from an offensive standpoint this spring. The questions for me are two-fold: 1) How will Tanner Witt bounce back after a rough summer and limited fall, and 2) How will be the bullpen hold up? Witt has unbridled potential as a front-line ace — when he’s healthy. So, after resting his arm for much of the fall, the Longhorns hope the talented righty will return to his old ways. As for the bullpen, the Longhorns don’t have a proven, bonafide stud out there, but there are plenty of guys who could emerge into high-quality options. The complexion of this team dramatically changes — in a good way — if the two questions above are answered in satisfactory fashion. 

 

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petscii

petscii 1189

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3 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

This seems like the best place to put this. I get that Mahomes was involved, but seems like an odd place for this to be... and I live in the KC area. Omaha seems like the most natural place. 

https://www.kcur.org/sports/2024-01-24/college-baseball-hall-of-fame-prairiefire-overland-park-kansas-patrick-mahomes

It's only a 3 hour drive from Omaha*.  I could see it as an off day visit for fans or those coming up from Austin.

I'm just glad the original Lubbock idea was hosed because fuck Lubbock.

*I also dream about college baseball getting too big to end in Omaha.  
 

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Fletch

Fletch 5800

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Fuck yeah. @Hookem2147 do you see him maybe being the Tuesday guy to start the year or do you think he’d be better off in a middle relief/set up man role? I’m guessing our weekend rotation is going to be LBJ-Witt-Hurley. Would love to have a leftie starter come postseason but he may be too valuable in the backend of the bullpen 

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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 21341

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6 minutes ago, Fletch said:

Fuck yeah. @Hookem2147 do you see him maybe being the Tuesday guy to start the year or do you think he’d be better off in a middle relief/set up man role? I’m guessing our weekend rotation is going to be LBJ-Witt-Hurley. Would love to have a leftie starter come postseason but he may be too valuable in the backend of the bullpen 

If he is just now starting to throw to hitters, my guess is Harrison won't be throwing in games until late February or early March. Maybe they ease him in with a few 1 or 2 inning starts in a midweek game but I feel like his best place will be in the bullpen.

I was thinking about this earlier but I would maybe start Witt on Sundays to begin the season just in case he has a blowup outing or two early. That way you protect the bullpen more as opposed to if he was starting a Saturday and couldn't make it out of the second inning. Then you are really stressing a bullpen over the course of potentially two days instead of one. There still seems to be a pretty big unknown factor with Witt considering he didn't pitch in live settings in the fall.

Edited by Hookem2147
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Hookem2147

Hookem2147 21341

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26 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I’m sadly hearing the opposite of this. FB still hovering around 90

Yep. 90-91 on most days.

Supposedly his breaking stuff has looked good. He probably won’t be overpowering some guys like his freshman year. Will have to pitch with a plan which he is capable of.

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.45s

.45s 28

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Good news about Luke Harrison.  I always thought he had a big upside and it would be good to get him back even better than before.  Not so good news about Witt's speed on his fastball.  I watched some of the Cape Cod League games online and for the most part he did not look any different than when he came back last season.  He needs a bit more speed and to fully regain his control.

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torre

torre 1286

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First official day of practice was Friday.   Pierce quote below.

May want to check TexasBaseball on X (Twitter) for possible info/photos.

 

Witt was among the topics of conversation during UT's first media availability of the season Friday. Pierce said that Witt was looking "outstanding."

"The rough summer was probably a good sign for him and us because it allowed him to take a deep breath," Pierce said. "He and I had a lot of conversations of I'm not pushing you to pitch in the fall until you're ready and so he didn't pitch because he needs to get his body right, moving down the hill right, his arm path. Even a guy like Tanner that you look at, he's struggled with some confidence as well so just building that confidence. He's in a really good spot right now. Still a little below a tick of his (velocity), but I like where he is."

https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/college/longhorns/baseball/2024/01/27/news-and-notes-as-texas-longhorns-prepare-for-2024-baseball-season/72379652007/

 

 

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Hookem2147

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On 1/18/2024 at 4:31 PM, Hookem2147 said:

I count 42 guys and the roster limit is 40. I assume Mercer counts as some type of medical redshirt and I'm not sure who the other might be. 

I had heard a while back that Oliver Santos wasn't going to be with the team in the spring so surprised to see him on there. Maybe something changed.

We did have to make some tough decisions on a handful of freshmen that we probably keep in prior years (Lane Allen, MJ Sweeney, Ean Czech, Matt Zatopek and Hayden Morris).

So apparently Santos is out for the season with an injury. He is on the roster though.

So Storm is the only portal guy we will get contributions from this year if you don't include the two JUCO pitchers. Brutal luck with Mercer, Rigney and Santos.

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.45s

.45s 28

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14 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

So apparently Santos is out for the season with an injury. He is on the roster though.

So Storm is the only portal guy we will get contributions from this year if you don't include the two JUCO pitchers. Brutal luck with Mercer, Rigney and Santos.

 

What happened to Rigney?  I don't think I saw any news on him.

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.45s

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23 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Hurt in the fall and medically retired.

Thanks.  That is tough luck for Rigney.  I remember looking him up when he committed.  As I recall, he was hurt in high school and at Baylor.  

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torre

torre 1286

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Texas Baseball is set to host its Annual Fan Appreciation Day and Alumni Game on Saturday, February 3 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Admission to the annual Alumni Game is free and parking in East Campus Garage will be complimentary courtesy of Texas Athletics.

The home plate gate will open at 10:30 a.m. for fans participating in the team autograph session, which will be held inside the J. Dan Brown Player Development Center from 10:30-11:30 a.m.  Season posters and pennants will be provided for autographs courtesy of UFCU. 

Fans will also be permitted to play catch in the outfield until 11:15 a.m.

Following autographs, fans can enjoy batting practice by the current team as well as the alumni roster and other former lettermen. 

Bevo XV will be available for photo ops from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the grassy area along the third base line towards left field. 

First pitch of the Alumni Game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.  This will be the first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the 2024 Longhorns prior to the season opener on February 16.  The alumni roster will be announced at a later date. 

Limited concessions will be available, and all concession transactions will be cashless.

The Longhorns Official Team Shop located behind Home Plate will be open and replica jerseys will be available for purchase.

GAMEDAY TIMELINE (subject to change)
10:30 a.m. – Home Plate Gates Open
10:30-11:30 a.m. – Texas Team Autographs
10:30-11:15 a.m. – Play catch in the outfield
11:30-Noon – Lettermen batting practice

12:30 p.m. – Texas Batting Practice
1:25 p.m. – Pro Alumni Batting Practice
1:30-2:30 p.m. – Photo ops with Bevo XV
2:30 p.m. – First Pitch

Single-Game Tickets On Sale February 12
Season Tickets for the 2024 season are sold out!  A limited amount of single-game tickets will be available for purchase for select games beginning Monday, February 12 at 10 a.m. Central.  Tickets can be purchased online at TexasSports.com/tickets. 

https://texassports.com/news/2024/1/29/baseball-alumni-game-and-fan-appreciation-day-set-for-february-3.aspx

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hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13047

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On 1/28/2024 at 10:42 AM, torre said:

First official day of practice was Friday.   Pierce quote below.

May want to check TexasBaseball on X (Twitter) for possible info/photos.

 

Witt was among the topics of conversation during UT's first media availability of the season Friday. Pierce said that Witt was looking "outstanding."

"The rough summer was probably a good sign for him and us because it allowed him to take a deep breath," Pierce said. "He and I had a lot of conversations of I'm not pushing you to pitch in the fall until you're ready and so he didn't pitch because he needs to get his body right, moving down the hill right, his arm path. Even a guy like Tanner that you look at, he's struggled with some confidence as well so just building that confidence. He's in a really good spot right now. Still a little below a tick of his (velocity), but I like where he is."

https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/college/longhorns/baseball/2024/01/27/news-and-notes-as-texas-longhorns-prepare-for-2024-baseball-season/72379652007/

 

 

This worries me a lot. If Witt can’t be a legit Saturday starter then we could have some trouble.

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