Texas Baseball 2025 - Show Me A Schloss

[cafe society 2860]

3 hours ago, Cajun said:

Silas, in his final year, was as good as I've ever seen behind the plate in a Texas uniform (over 40 years of watching).

 

He was outstanding, but the best defensive catcher I've seen on the 40 was Kevin Shannon.  He couldn't hit a basketball with a canoe paddle, but his defense and throwing was unmatched, IMO.  He actually squatted on the ground while catching but was quicker than a mongoose back there with a missile launcher of an arm.  His defense was such that he was selected for the USA national team and the Yankees drafted him knowing he couldn't hit.

[Beau Vine 54203]

1 hour ago, Cajun said:

He also just did a lot of great, clutch shit that isn't reflected in any numbers.  The guy was smart, blocked balls in the dirt like a mofo, and seemed to come through in tight situations time and time again.

Would you say he was like or unlike a coach on the field?

[.45s 28]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

When is Tulo allowed to coach him in off-season?

Good question.  That statement said Gasparino was coming back to Austin to work on his hitting but did not elaborate.  I don't know the rules about coaches interacting with players in the off-season when it comes to actual coaching.  I would think he needs to tighten up and shorten that swing a bit.  We had way too many guys this year with high numbers of strikeouts and Gasparino led the pack.  Tulo needs to work with them on anticipating certain pitches, seeing the ball spin better to identify pitches, and doing a better job of protecting the plate with 2 strikes by swinging at close ones but not chasing balls way out of the strike zone.  Many of them tend to chase pitches starting outside that wind up being curve balls so far outside that they are basically unhittable anyway.  I know that big leaguers can have the same problem, but it seemed really prevalent among UT batters this year.

[Cajun 11705]

2 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Would you say he was like or unlike a coach on the field?

Corch.

[Cajun 11705]

3 hours ago, cafe society said:

He was outstanding, but the best defensive catcher I've seen on the 40 was Kevin Shannon.  He couldn't hit a basketball with a canoe paddle, but his defense and throwing was unmatched, IMO.  He actually squatted on the ground while catching but was quicker than a mongoose back there with a missile launcher of an arm.  His defense was such that he was selected for the USA national team and the Yankees drafted him knowing he couldn't hit.

I do not remember him, but that's natural at my age.

[Cajun 11705]

3 hours ago, Levi said:

The clutch double play in the ‘21 CWS elimination game against Tennessee comes to mind. If he doesn’t pick that ball out of the dirt from Cam, it becomes a tie ball game with no outs and bases loaded for Tennessee. 

Fantastic example.  Little reflection in the stat book.

Edited July 7 by Cajun

[cafe society 2860]

6 minutes ago, Cajun said:

I do not remember him, but that's natural at my age.

Well, I imagine we were in school before you arrived.  I think he graduated in '80, I was '82.

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

4 hours ago, cafe society said:

He was outstanding, but the best defensive catcher I've seen on the 40 was Kevin Shannon.  He couldn't hit a basketball with a canoe paddle, but his defense and throwing was unmatched, IMO.  He actually squatted on the ground while catching but was quicker than a mongoose back there with a missile launcher of an arm.  His defense was such that he was selected for the USA national team and the Yankees drafted him knowing he couldn't hit.

Spot on.

Kevin is always the one that comes to my mind first when comparing Texas defensive catchers. His arm strength and accuracy was unmatched. 

Edited July 7 by BillyGoatHill

[SamMan 1362]

On 7/5/2024 at 7:24 PM, freyguy said:

Who signed a pro contract at 16....

Whoever that other kid is, ain't Pudge

Oh, I know. My family had season tix for most of his Rangers career. It was a joke. I wasn’t seriously comparing some kid I didn’t know existed to the GOAT. I should’ve left the anecdote I removed from that post—I grew up in Dallas and had the privilege of meeting several prominent athletes as a kid (I have a Pudge csb from around his MVP season, but it is long). Pudge and Emmitt are the two most surprisingly short athletes I’ve met. That said, both of those guys were built like a fucking tank. 

6 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Blake Munroe

Moderators

 1.9k

Moderators

Posted 2 hours ago

A few quick hitters to start your day. 

Not sure if I’ve said it already, but I appreciate these contributions here and on the recruiting board. Much obliged.

[TrashMaster G 17539]

For Longhorn catchers, give me Taylor Teagarden. Great bat and great arm.

[Balcones 317]

 

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

9 minutes ago, Balcones said:

 

[TrashMaster G 17539]

Is that three flips we have from aggy now? What are the chances of them making it to campus?

[Beau Vine 54203]

The Rodriguez news is very surprising, as I just recently read on the Gig'Em Gazette that Schlossnagle's recent actions would destroy his recruiting for years to come. 

And now he's flipping former aggy commits?  Shirley there is some mistake!

[Levi 2585]

Aggie lands Long Beach pitcher Myles Patton. 

[Hookem2147 21188]

Myles Patton to A&M. That is a bad beat as was leaning Texas for a long time.

I’m assuming the money truck got backed up when A&M found out Texas was involved.

[Levi 2585]

1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

Myles Patton to A&M. That is a bad beat as was leaning Texas for a long time.

I’m assuming the money truck got backed up when A&M found out Texas was involved.

I was hoping he would go our way. They must be over spending out the ass for everyone. 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Tennessee baseball fan havin' a little fun...

 

[Js1 85260]

Boo

And Tenn fans are as desperate for approval as aggy; they’re not going to fuck you, Vols

[TrashMaster G 17539]

4 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Tennessee baseball fan havin' a little fun...

Stuff like that is funny when there is some truth behind it. Nothing has happened for that to make any sense.

[LTtxfan 49141]

3 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Stuff like that is funny when there is some truth behind it. Nothing has happened for that to make any sense.

Makes some sense...

Tenn making fun of Horns aggy baseball spat, and Vols claiming Texas wants no part of Tenn baseball now... 

[TrashMaster G 17539]

4 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Makes some sense...

Tenn making fun of Horns aggy baseball spat, and Vols claiming Texas wants no part of Tenn baseball now... 

Again, nothing has happened for it to make sense.

[Hookem2147 21188]

Damn apparently Patton got the same price tag as Zach Root. Around 400k.

[LTtxfan 49141]

9 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Again, nothing has happened for it to make sense.

Texas eliminated vols in Omaha June 22, 2021

 

 

Edited July 8 by LTtxfan

[UnhappilyMarried 815]

Did Schloss really hate atm so much he didn’t even negotiate competitive NIL commitments from us?

[chase25 2048]

24 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Did Schloss really hate atm so much he didn’t even negotiate competitive NIL commitments from us?

There is a difference between competitive NIL and throwing $400k at a starter from Long Beach State. Myles is good, he isn’t $400k good, assuming that is what he got paid.

A&M is hyper focused on throwing the kitchen sink at next year and I don’t blame them, might not come that close again. On the flip side Schloss is pillaging their 2024 and 2025 class and Earley probably doesn’t even realize it because he is shitting himself worrying about how not to fuck next year up.

EDIT: Obviously the market is only going to get more expensive but none of these guys are worth that, not even Root, Fisher, etc... Teams throwing bags hoping to find the next Skenes when there isn’t one out there

Edited July 8 by chase25

[UnhappilyMarried 815]

10 minutes ago, chase25 said:

There is a difference between competitive NIL and throwing $400k at a starter from Long Beach State. Myles is good, he isn’t $400k good, assuming that is what he got paid.

A&M is hyper focused on throwing the kitchen sink at next year and I don’t blame them, might not come that close again. On the flip side Schloss is pillaging their 2024 and 2025 class and Earley probably doesn’t even realize it because he is shitting himself worrying about how not to fuck next year up.

EDIT: Obviously the market is only going to get more expensive but none of these guys are worth that, not even Root, Fisher, etc... Teams throwing bags hoping to find the next Skenes when there isn’t one out there

Friday guys cost what the market dictates and we haven’t been competitive when it comes to landing one. They don’t have to be Skenes to be better than Grubbs. 

[HTXfan 25]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Damn apparently Patton got the same price tag as Zach Root. Around 400k.

And is not nearly as good

[ClubWhatever 12120]

1 hour ago, chase25 said:

Obviously the market is only going to get more expensive

I question that.  Eventually the money has to dry up, doesn't it, because there is no tangible return.  The true NIL value is so much less than the pay for play value.

[chase25 2048]

59 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Friday guys cost what the market dictates and we haven’t been competitive when it comes to landing one. They don’t have to be Skenes to be better than Grubbs. 

Is he? Root was pitching in the AAC (12th best conference in the RPI), Patton pitched in the Big West (13th best). You don’t just light $400K on fire because that is the best available although I agree the market ultimately is what it is.

Decision would be even easier if I knew what was going on behind the scenes. Total hypothetical but if you are giving me $400k to spend on Patton/Root or bringing back a Flores/Thomas, I’m choosing Jared or Jalin.

[Levi 2585]

1 hour ago, chase25 said:

There is a difference between competitive NIL and throwing $400k at a starter from Long Beach State. Myles is good, he isn’t $400k good, assuming that is what he got paid.

A&M is hyper focused on throwing the kitchen sink at next year and I don’t blame them, might not come that close again. On the flip side Schloss is pillaging their 2024 and 2025 class and Earley probably doesn’t even realize it because he is shitting himself worrying about how not to fuck next year up.

EDIT: Obviously the market is only going to get more expensive but none of these guys are worth that, not even Root, Fisher, etc... Teams throwing bags hoping to find the next Skenes when there isn’t one out there

The empty feeling that an aggie donor would have after they over spent on these portal players and not winning something substantial is exactly what Earley is thinking right now. He’s going to have a better lineup top to bottom and then they also reinforced their pitching. The majority of those guys are not coming back either. The “he’s a risky hire because of no experience” will be almost impossible to avoid and idiotic comparisons they are making with him to Vitello will disappear. No first year coach has been handed the situation he’s found himself in. 

[chase25 2048]

3 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

I question that.  Eventually the money has to dry up, doesn't it, because there is no tangible return.  The true NIL value is so much less than the pay for play value.

It will reach a point where it eventually levels off but in the near future I see it growing especially with how competitive the SEC is going to be going forward. If X team deems that the best pitcher in the portal is worth 600K then that is what it is. Will be interesting to see where the market does ultimately start to settle. 

I think you’ll see more and more of what A&M is doing this year which is spend out the ass when you have a team that you believe can win it all and then not spend in years where you feel like you aren’t quite there.

[Cairn Horn88 8259]

2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Makes some sense...

Tenn making fun of Horns aggy baseball spat, and Vols claiming Texas wants no part of Tenn baseball now... 

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

8 hours ago, chase25 said:

It will reach a point where it eventually levels off but in the near future I see it growing especially with how competitive the SEC is going to be going forward. If X team deems that the best pitcher in the portal is worth 600K then that is what it is. Will be interesting to see where the market does ultimately start to settle. 

I think you’ll see more and more of what A&M is doing this year which is spend out the ass when you have a team that you believe can win it all and then not spend in years where you feel like you aren’t quite there.

Haven't we been saying this in recruiting/portal for going since the changes for NIL? 

[DFW Horn 6123]

2 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Haven't we been saying this in recruiting/portal for going since the changes for NIL? 

Yeah, logically it makes sense to invest more if your team is national championship caliber. ROI

aggy is mortgaging the future to win now. I can't blame them for that, but it didn't work for Jimbo's football team. Schloss knows next year is a rebuilding season with potential upside if the team gels.

[The_Great_Hornsby 3236]

31 minutes ago, DFW Horn said:

Yeah, logically it makes sense to invest more if your team is national championship caliber. ROI

aggy is mortgaging the future to win now. I can't blame them for that, but it didn't work for Jimbo's football team. Schloss knows next year is a rebuilding season with potential upside if the team gels.

Aggy is very very unlikely to win it all next year. Could it happen, sure. Will it happen, probably not. Hell, LSU nearly went down to Wake in the year they won it. Spending big NIL bucks might get you a spot at the dance but you need so much stuff to break your way to actually win it all. Then from 2026 onward the aggies will crash and burn. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the aggies crash and burn this coming season.  

[DFW Horn 6123]

9 minutes ago, The_Great_Hornsby said:

Aggy is very very unlikely to win it all next year. Could it happen, sure. Will it happen, probably not. Hell, LSU nearly went down to Wake in the year they won it. Spending big NIL bucks might get you a spot at the dance but you need so much stuff to break your way to actually win it all. Then from 2026 onward the aggies will crash and burn. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the aggies crash and burn this coming season.  

Well, based on our championship percentage in Omaha - 6 out of 38 trips (16%) - you're correct in betting against aggy winning it all. Too many things have to go right, which makes USC's 5 in a row even more impressive.

[Pato del Muerto 52484]

13 minutes ago, DFW Horn said:

Well, based on our championship percentage in Omaha - 6 out of 38 trips (16%) - you're correct in betting against aggy winning it all. Too many things have to go right, which makes USC's 5 in a row even more impressive.

I think those usc teams were like ou softball now- they’re so good that it takes several things to go wrong for them to not win. 

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

20 minutes ago, DFW Horn said:

Well, based on our championship percentage in Omaha - 6 out of 38 trips (16%) - you're correct in betting against aggy winning it all. Too many things have to go right, which makes USC's 5 in a row even more impressive.

To be fair we also played for a championship/runner ups 6 more times. So 12/38 trips....

[DFW Horn 6123]

1 minute ago, BurntOrange&White said:

To be fair we also played for a championship/runner ups 6 more times. So 12/38 trips....

Now you're doing aggy math to make our performance look better. Well done! 😝

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Just now, DFW Horn said:

Now you're doing aggy math to make our performance look better. Well done! 😝

It's just wild that a 3rd of our appearances at the CWS result in playing for a title.

 

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Blake Munroe

Moderators

 1.9k

Moderators

Posted 2 hours ago

 

 

Flip. Flip. Flip. + Portal SZN = Good stuff for Texas Baseball fans.

A lot of action popped off this weekend for Jim Schlossnagle and his staff, as expected.

That was fun, wasn't it?

The Recap / Notes From The Weekend:

- Texas hosted double digit recruits over the weekend, including a mixture of both portal prospects and high school recruits. It sounds like the majority of these were done on Saturday.

- On Saturday the Longhorns pulled in two commitments, one from the portal and one from the high school ranks. Arizona State’s Ethan Mendoza was a missing piece to the puzzle for Texas and he will be looked at to shore up that middle infield at second base. The defense got even better when LHP Bryce Navarre, one of the state's best, flipped from Texas A&M.

- Sunday was more of the same when OTF broke the news that Flower Mound's Adrian Rodriguez also flipped from Texas A&M to the Longhorns after taking in Austin Saturday through Sunday. Rodriguez is one of the best prospects in the state, regardless of position. While he's an elite shortstop, don't be surprised if he ends up at the hot corner. I'm told that he's an A+ player at either position. Rodriguez is also a switch hitter and ended his high school career with a .430 average at the plate. 

- If there was one negative from yesterday, it was the fact that Long Beach State pitcher Myles Patton committed to the Aggies late last night. Honestly, I was shocked, as I heard Texas was making waves in that recruitment. I was told from a couple of sources recently that it was basically a done deal. Kudos to Texas A&M for pulling that one off. That's a heck of a get.

What Now?

- Expect the Horns to really focus heavily on pitching prospects in the portal.  They're looking at a variety of kids from the JUCO level all the way up to Power Four Conference pitchers, including from the SEC.

- The fireworks will continue for Texas this week. They aren't done yet. 

- High school players committed to other schools still aren't safe, as Texas isn't done here either.

- Once summer ball concludes for a lot of these high school commits, they'll work on visiting campus to meet the new staff face to face.  I've spoken with a handful of them over the last few days and can say there's definitely excitement building. "Amazing" is a word that has been thrown around a lot.

[LCHorn 2612]

Can any of you that follow this better speculate on how exposed we might be on the prospect side to the draft?  I’m presuming the Westlake shortstop is gone and that Rodriguez is potentially his replacement, or is that overly presumptuous?

[.45s 28]

I looked up the Rodriguez commit and he looks really good.  Interestingly, he is ambidextrous and even has a glove that can be used either way.  He is a switch hitter and good from both sides.  He has played some first base and plays that left handed.  Sounds like a really good pick up by Schloss.

[texifornia 56851]

Props to @Ricky's one-hitter for finding this

 

[Levi 2585]

This would be big

 

[OB3 3608]

Just now, Levi said:

This would be big

 

 

[Levi 2585]

1 minute ago, OB3 said:

 

Add a little more to it 

 

[Cairn Horn88 8259]

16 hours ago, Js1 said:

Boo

And Tenn fans are as desperate for approval as aggy; they’re not going to fuck you, Vols

We don’t need another little brother!