David Pierce’s first offseason of official practices is now complete. Texas finished its Orange-White Fall World Series last Thursday, and the three-game series revealed some things about the 2017 team as well as the new staff. Here are our five main takeaways after watching the three-game set, and more this fall:
Morgan Cooper was one of the stars of the fall for Texas. (Texas Athletics)
TEXAS’ STARTING PITCHING COULD BE REALLY, REALLY GOOD
Led by redshirt junior righthander Morgan Cooper, the Longhorns look like they could boast one of the top starting rotations in the Big 12, and maybe the country.
Despite Kyle Johnston and Connor Mayes resting their arms this fall, the production and potential of the starting pitchers wasn’t hard to find. Cooper was dominant throughout the fall, and finished the offseason by striking out seven, walking one, and giving up two earned runs on four hits in 3.2 innings. He’s been up to as high as 97 MPH with command of the fastball, is now throwing a sharp, mid-80’s slider that flashes as plus, has regained the feel of his plus changeup, and still has the ability to use an above average curve.
If you’re saying to yourself, ‘Wow that sounds like one of the best pitchers in the country,’ you’re right. Keep in mind that this is the fall, and he still has to carry it over to the spring. But multiple MLB front office personnel people and scouts that saw Cooper this fall labeled him as a future first-round pick.
Another righthander that emerged this fall with the help of a change to his breaking ball grip is Nolan Kingham. Now, Kingham’s breaking ball is a slider, and it looked solid this fall, after last season when it bounced between curve, slider, and slurve almost on a pitch-by-pitch basis. The righthander’s changeup has always flashed as a weapon, and there is plenty of easy velocity off the mound. He’ll be in the weekend rotation mix.
During the Orange-White World Series, Kingham gave up one earned run in 4.1 innings on three hits, two walks and struck out four.
Get to know the name Blair Henley, Texas fans. The 6-3 righthander from Arlington Heights didn’t look like a freshman on the mound this fall. He showed poise, competitiveness, and above average control and command of an impressive three-pitch mix. His slider, which flashed as plus, touched 84 MPH during his Orange-White World Series outing (4.2 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 SO) and he showed a nice changeup with late, armside fading action that was thrown early and late in the count. With an easy, repeatable delivery, Henley carried 90-93 MPH into his final inning of work. Most freshmen arrive with stuff but without the command and ability to pitch. This fall, Henley looked like a rare exception to that.
Nick Kennedy was, like last season, a bit up-and-down throughout the fall, but he’s getting closer. The lefthander with great arm-action tends to want to overthrow and get batters out with velocity rather than just letting his stuff do the work. When he doesn’t overthrow, he looks like a candidate to start games. Righthander Beau Ridgeway pounded the zone with his sinker, mixed in a breaking ball, and gave up just one run on six hits and one walk over 5.0 innings with one strikeout.
THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE AT THE PLATE AND OVERALL
Just listening only to Texas baseball during a practice or scrimmage sounds different. There’s more energy, and, maybe more importantly, there’s more baseball talk coming from both players and coaches; everyone is constantly thinking about, and discussing the game in general and its intricacies.
At the plate, the Longhorns took swings more freely with more aggressiveness. That resulted in 33 runs and 49 hits over 25 innings. Granted, some of that came against a few arms unlikely to make the team or unlikely to pitch many innings this season. But top-to-bottom, the approach looked different in a positive way for Texas.
“I think we got a lot accomplished. I really like the freedom that we have swinging the bats right now,” said Pierce, after last Thursday’s game, about his feeling, overall, about what they were able to get accomplished during the fall period.
FRESHMEN CLASS SHOULD PRODUCE SOME IMMEDIATE CONTRIBUTORS
They're freshmen, and it was the fall. So it’s a little more difficult to project a significant carry over immediately when the games that count start in 2017. However, Texas’ freshmen class looks like it is going to produce some immediate contributors, including a few that could start opening night 2017.
“No, I think right now they’re not afraid to fail, and they’re making some mistakes, but they’re doing them aggressively,” responded Pierce when asked about some of his freshmen not being bothered by the lights and TV cameras that accompanied the Orange-White World Series. “Definitely some big spots from freshmen.”
Henley is mentioned above, and, arguably, only outfielder Austin Todd stood out more among the freshmen class.
As you can see, the Round Rock native swung the bat very well, and made things happen on offense. From the right side, Todd possesses very impressive speed, and he showed strong, quick hands in the box with the ability to put the barrel on the ball consistently against both fastballs and offspeed pitches. Todd played with a lot of confidence, and as his body gets stronger, his tools are only going to get better.
Texas has viewed him as a center fielder from the beginning, and although he needs to become more consistent with the glove, he flashes the ability to eventually become a solid defender at a premium position. If the season started tomorrow, he’d be a safe bet to start in center and hit leadoff.
Switch-hitting freshman Ryan Reynolds provided some fireworks with the bat when he blasted a homer, from the right side, in last Wednesday’s game. Reynolds, the son of former Texas player and MLB pitcher Shane Reynolds, displays impressive confidence and competitiveness, especially in the batter’s box. He’s one of the rare switch-hitters that has a swing that looks different and unique on each side.
Reynolds is a corner infielder or a designated hitter, and those positions are a bit jammed right now. Kacy Clemens, once he returned from injury, had an impressive fall and Bret Boswell looks to be the guy at third base after a terrific summer. Plus, Reynolds' defense was shaky, and led to a few errors this fall. However, Reynolds has turned heads so much and has hit so well that it’s going to be tough to keep him out of the lineup.
David Hamilton needs to get stronger and become more consistent defensively at shortstop. But he consistently put the ball in play hard from the left side, and is the fastest runner on the team. At some point, it might become tough to keep him from at-bats because he does look like a very fast, lefthanded bat that can put the ball in play hard consistently.
Andres Sosa doesn’t have a position right now after playing all over the infield in the fall, including at catcher, but he doesn’t get cheated in the box with impressive bat speed from the right side. He’ll likely provide depth, and could be a solid pinch-hitting option off the bench. Austin McNicholas falls into that area some as well.
DEFENSE STILL AN ISSUE UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE
Before Texas fans get alarmed at a ridiculous, almost Bad News Bears-esque 21 errors in 25 innings, keep in mind some of the context: Texas was moving around players all over the place in order to gather information, had to fill out a lineup with some players very unlikely to play innings this season, and played some players completely out of position, like Tyler Schimpf in the outfield. Of the 21 errors, only five were committed by projected starters/regulars.
“I like what our frontline pitchers are doing. I think we have to throw a lot more strikes, and play much better defense. And when you’re in a diluted lineup… when you divide up the team completely, and we’ve had moving parts the entire fall, just trying to get a good observation of every player and potentially what they can and can’t do,” said Pierce. “I thought we had a lot of information too from the simple fact of having the lights on being on TV and how we’d play under pressure. Some played really well, and some didn’t do too well.”
All that being said, Texas is going to have to get much better defensively. Boswell’s tendency to make the routine play difficult is still an issue on defense, and the depth behind the infield is all youth, which showed in a noticeably bad way at times on defense during the Orange-White World Series. Texas can’t afford for Joe Baker and Zane Gurwitz not to provide above-average defense at worst in the middle infield, and Todd’s play in center is likely to be up-and-down early on as he gets used to the park and college game.
MICHAEL CANTU IS THE ONE GUY TEXAS CAN’T LOSE TO INJURY
Sosa and McNicholas, two players recruited as infielders, spent time catching multiple innings during the Orange-White World Series in addition to Michael McCann, who stood out with the bat but struggled as a receiver. That should tell you all you need to know about how important Cantu is to Texas. Even if he hits something like .230, having Cantu behind the plate and working with the pitching staff is vital to Texas’ success next season.
There would be a massive drop-off in that area if Cantu did go down with an injury, which is why Texas and its fans were holding their breath when he left the first game of the Orange-White World Series. A throw to the plate on a runner going home pulled Cantu’s hand into the slide, and resulted in a hurt hand/wrist. However, it sounds like he’ll be fine.
“It’s not going to be long-term… he’ll be fine and should be 100-percent this spring, of course. Overall, we’re very healthy,” said Pierce last Thursday.
Also, Texas needs to cross its fingers that Baker’s arm isn’t an issue this season. At times, the infielder will grab at it or his shoulder after throws, and there’s still clearly some discomfort there. Texas is likely going to have to manage that issue all next season, and needs Hamilton or someone else to come on (Travis Jones worked at shortstop some and so did Gurwitz very briefly) so that Baker can be rested when needed.
MUST-READ BONUS NOTE
Those of you that followed our coverage of last season probably recall a story of Morgan Cooper and his friend, and fellow native of Jarrell, “Super Kooper.”
To add some background in addition to that story, Kooper Hernandez was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in his left femur on June 30th, 2015. He endured 38 weeks of intense chemotherapy, and other illnesses that accompany the disease and treatment. On September 21st of 2015, his left leg was amputated. But that hasn’t slowed Super Kooper down.
Just four days after having his leg amputated, he was out of the hospital and a part of the coin toss before his hometown’s football game. Since then, he’s also been playing baseball, and is working towards his dream to follow in his friend Morgan Cooper’s footsteps to become a Texas baseball player. Kooper was a regular fixture at Texas home games last season, and always brought a smile and energy.
Obviously, medical costs for treating Osteosarcoma and more can be expensive, and Kooper isn’t the only young person affected by this cancer.
On November 7th at The Golf Club at Star Ranch, former Texas baseball players, former UT athletes, and more will participate in a golf tournament to raise money for Kooper’s ongoing medical costs, spread awareness about other young people needing help, and help raise money for young kids in Central Texas also fighting the battle against Ostosarcoma. Among the expected former Texas athletes:
Huston Street, Jim Gideon, Jeff Ontiveros, Greg Swindell, Ben Johnson, Justin Simmons, Brooks Kieschnick, Todd Gilfillian, Kyle McCulloch, Case McCoy, J.D. Lewis, Kris Clack, Ira Clark and more.
Currently, there are two more golf spots remaining for the November 7th golf tournament that starts at 1 p.m. (shotgun start for 24 teams) with lunch prior to the start, and dinner afterwards. Also, there will be a silent auction.
For details about hole sponsorship, pricing, or more you can e-mail Beau Edge at beau@ballpeoples.com.
Interested in helping but not into golf? You can visit the Super Kooper Golf Tournament GoFundMe.com page by clicking HERE.
Morgan Cooper was one of the stars of the fall for Texas. (Texas Athletics)
TEXAS’ STARTING PITCHING COULD BE REALLY, REALLY GOOD
Led by redshirt junior righthander Morgan Cooper, the Longhorns look like they could boast one of the top starting rotations in the Big 12, and maybe the country.
Despite Kyle Johnston and Connor Mayes resting their arms this fall, the production and potential of the starting pitchers wasn’t hard to find. Cooper was dominant throughout the fall, and finished the offseason by striking out seven, walking one, and giving up two earned runs on four hits in 3.2 innings. He’s been up to as high as 97 MPH with command of the fastball, is now throwing a sharp, mid-80’s slider that flashes as plus, has regained the feel of his plus changeup, and still has the ability to use an above average curve.
If you’re saying to yourself, ‘Wow that sounds like one of the best pitchers in the country,’ you’re right. Keep in mind that this is the fall, and he still has to carry it over to the spring. But multiple MLB front office personnel people and scouts that saw Cooper this fall labeled him as a future first-round pick.
Another righthander that emerged this fall with the help of a change to his breaking ball grip is Nolan Kingham. Now, Kingham’s breaking ball is a slider, and it looked solid this fall, after last season when it bounced between curve, slider, and slurve almost on a pitch-by-pitch basis. The righthander’s changeup has always flashed as a weapon, and there is plenty of easy velocity off the mound. He’ll be in the weekend rotation mix.
During the Orange-White World Series, Kingham gave up one earned run in 4.1 innings on three hits, two walks and struck out four.
Get to know the name Blair Henley, Texas fans. The 6-3 righthander from Arlington Heights didn’t look like a freshman on the mound this fall. He showed poise, competitiveness, and above average control and command of an impressive three-pitch mix. His slider, which flashed as plus, touched 84 MPH during his Orange-White World Series outing (4.2 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 SO) and he showed a nice changeup with late, armside fading action that was thrown early and late in the count. With an easy, repeatable delivery, Henley carried 90-93 MPH into his final inning of work. Most freshmen arrive with stuff but without the command and ability to pitch. This fall, Henley looked like a rare exception to that.
Nick Kennedy was, like last season, a bit up-and-down throughout the fall, but he’s getting closer. The lefthander with great arm-action tends to want to overthrow and get batters out with velocity rather than just letting his stuff do the work. When he doesn’t overthrow, he looks like a candidate to start games. Righthander Beau Ridgeway pounded the zone with his sinker, mixed in a breaking ball, and gave up just one run on six hits and one walk over 5.0 innings with one strikeout.
THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE AT THE PLATE AND OVERALL
Just listening only to Texas baseball during a practice or scrimmage sounds different. There’s more energy, and, maybe more importantly, there’s more baseball talk coming from both players and coaches; everyone is constantly thinking about, and discussing the game in general and its intricacies.
At the plate, the Longhorns took swings more freely with more aggressiveness. That resulted in 33 runs and 49 hits over 25 innings. Granted, some of that came against a few arms unlikely to make the team or unlikely to pitch many innings this season. But top-to-bottom, the approach looked different in a positive way for Texas.
“I think we got a lot accomplished. I really like the freedom that we have swinging the bats right now,” said Pierce, after last Thursday’s game, about his feeling, overall, about what they were able to get accomplished during the fall period.
FRESHMEN CLASS SHOULD PRODUCE SOME IMMEDIATE CONTRIBUTORS
They're freshmen, and it was the fall. So it’s a little more difficult to project a significant carry over immediately when the games that count start in 2017. However, Texas’ freshmen class looks like it is going to produce some immediate contributors, including a few that could start opening night 2017.
“No, I think right now they’re not afraid to fail, and they’re making some mistakes, but they’re doing them aggressively,” responded Pierce when asked about some of his freshmen not being bothered by the lights and TV cameras that accompanied the Orange-White World Series. “Definitely some big spots from freshmen.”
Henley is mentioned above, and, arguably, only outfielder Austin Todd stood out more among the freshmen class.
As you can see, the Round Rock native swung the bat very well, and made things happen on offense. From the right side, Todd possesses very impressive speed, and he showed strong, quick hands in the box with the ability to put the barrel on the ball consistently against both fastballs and offspeed pitches. Todd played with a lot of confidence, and as his body gets stronger, his tools are only going to get better.
Texas has viewed him as a center fielder from the beginning, and although he needs to become more consistent with the glove, he flashes the ability to eventually become a solid defender at a premium position. If the season started tomorrow, he’d be a safe bet to start in center and hit leadoff.
Switch-hitting freshman Ryan Reynolds provided some fireworks with the bat when he blasted a homer, from the right side, in last Wednesday’s game. Reynolds, the son of former Texas player and MLB pitcher Shane Reynolds, displays impressive confidence and competitiveness, especially in the batter’s box. He’s one of the rare switch-hitters that has a swing that looks different and unique on each side.
Reynolds is a corner infielder or a designated hitter, and those positions are a bit jammed right now. Kacy Clemens, once he returned from injury, had an impressive fall and Bret Boswell looks to be the guy at third base after a terrific summer. Plus, Reynolds' defense was shaky, and led to a few errors this fall. However, Reynolds has turned heads so much and has hit so well that it’s going to be tough to keep him out of the lineup.
David Hamilton needs to get stronger and become more consistent defensively at shortstop. But he consistently put the ball in play hard from the left side, and is the fastest runner on the team. At some point, it might become tough to keep him from at-bats because he does look like a very fast, lefthanded bat that can put the ball in play hard consistently.
Andres Sosa doesn’t have a position right now after playing all over the infield in the fall, including at catcher, but he doesn’t get cheated in the box with impressive bat speed from the right side. He’ll likely provide depth, and could be a solid pinch-hitting option off the bench. Austin McNicholas falls into that area some as well.
DEFENSE STILL AN ISSUE UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE
Before Texas fans get alarmed at a ridiculous, almost Bad News Bears-esque 21 errors in 25 innings, keep in mind some of the context: Texas was moving around players all over the place in order to gather information, had to fill out a lineup with some players very unlikely to play innings this season, and played some players completely out of position, like Tyler Schimpf in the outfield. Of the 21 errors, only five were committed by projected starters/regulars.
“I like what our frontline pitchers are doing. I think we have to throw a lot more strikes, and play much better defense. And when you’re in a diluted lineup… when you divide up the team completely, and we’ve had moving parts the entire fall, just trying to get a good observation of every player and potentially what they can and can’t do,” said Pierce. “I thought we had a lot of information too from the simple fact of having the lights on being on TV and how we’d play under pressure. Some played really well, and some didn’t do too well.”
All that being said, Texas is going to have to get much better defensively. Boswell’s tendency to make the routine play difficult is still an issue on defense, and the depth behind the infield is all youth, which showed in a noticeably bad way at times on defense during the Orange-White World Series. Texas can’t afford for Joe Baker and Zane Gurwitz not to provide above-average defense at worst in the middle infield, and Todd’s play in center is likely to be up-and-down early on as he gets used to the park and college game.
MICHAEL CANTU IS THE ONE GUY TEXAS CAN’T LOSE TO INJURY
Sosa and McNicholas, two players recruited as infielders, spent time catching multiple innings during the Orange-White World Series in addition to Michael McCann, who stood out with the bat but struggled as a receiver. That should tell you all you need to know about how important Cantu is to Texas. Even if he hits something like .230, having Cantu behind the plate and working with the pitching staff is vital to Texas’ success next season.
There would be a massive drop-off in that area if Cantu did go down with an injury, which is why Texas and its fans were holding their breath when he left the first game of the Orange-White World Series. A throw to the plate on a runner going home pulled Cantu’s hand into the slide, and resulted in a hurt hand/wrist. However, it sounds like he’ll be fine.
“It’s not going to be long-term… he’ll be fine and should be 100-percent this spring, of course. Overall, we’re very healthy,” said Pierce last Thursday.
Also, Texas needs to cross its fingers that Baker’s arm isn’t an issue this season. At times, the infielder will grab at it or his shoulder after throws, and there’s still clearly some discomfort there. Texas is likely going to have to manage that issue all next season, and needs Hamilton or someone else to come on (Travis Jones worked at shortstop some and so did Gurwitz very briefly) so that Baker can be rested when needed.
MUST-READ BONUS NOTE
Those of you that followed our coverage of last season probably recall a story of Morgan Cooper and his friend, and fellow native of Jarrell, “Super Kooper.”
To add some background in addition to that story, Kooper Hernandez was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in his left femur on June 30th, 2015. He endured 38 weeks of intense chemotherapy, and other illnesses that accompany the disease and treatment. On September 21st of 2015, his left leg was amputated. But that hasn’t slowed Super Kooper down.
Just four days after having his leg amputated, he was out of the hospital and a part of the coin toss before his hometown’s football game. Since then, he’s also been playing baseball, and is working towards his dream to follow in his friend Morgan Cooper’s footsteps to become a Texas baseball player. Kooper was a regular fixture at Texas home games last season, and always brought a smile and energy.
Obviously, medical costs for treating Osteosarcoma and more can be expensive, and Kooper isn’t the only young person affected by this cancer.
On November 7th at The Golf Club at Star Ranch, former Texas baseball players, former UT athletes, and more will participate in a golf tournament to raise money for Kooper’s ongoing medical costs, spread awareness about other young people needing help, and help raise money for young kids in Central Texas also fighting the battle against Ostosarcoma. Among the expected former Texas athletes:
Huston Street, Jim Gideon, Jeff Ontiveros, Greg Swindell, Ben Johnson, Justin Simmons, Brooks Kieschnick, Todd Gilfillian, Kyle McCulloch, Case McCoy, J.D. Lewis, Kris Clack, Ira Clark and more.
Currently, there are two more golf spots remaining for the November 7th golf tournament that starts at 1 p.m. (shotgun start for 24 teams) with lunch prior to the start, and dinner afterwards. Also, there will be a silent auction.
For details about hole sponsorship, pricing, or more you can e-mail Beau Edge at beau@ballpeoples.com.
Interested in helping but not into golf? You can visit the Super Kooper Golf Tournament GoFundMe.com page by clicking HERE.
