1) Normally, I aim to open this column with a heavy dose of Longhorn Football. After all, it drives the bus for UT Athletics, and buys the blue drinks for Orangebloods.com. There are some points in the calendar, like right now, when 1,000 words on the football program is a bit of a struggle, especially following good columns about football from Anwar Richardson and Jason Suchomel earlier this week.
So, I’m going to tell some stories about the 2018 Texas Baseball team because it could be the hero the 40 Acres so desperately needs after becoming the first of the “big three” to claim a regular-season conference championship since 2011.
Think about that.
Anyway, why not focus on the good thing going on campus right now? I think you’ll find some of the stories and journeys fascinating. And before we get to the individual players, you’re probably wondering about the Longhorns’ postseason resume. Here it is:
RPI: 14
Non-conference RPI: 38
ISR: 16
SOS: 20
Non-conference SOS: 22
Record vs. RPI top 50: 13-11
Record vs. RPI top 51-100: 10-3
Record vs. RPI 101+: 14-4
I think Texas has already done enough to host a regional, but it can probably go ahead and lock that in by winning a game in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament. The Longhorns have a solid RPI, played a tough non-conference schedule, and won a power conference outright. Could Texas enter the national top eight mix? Yes, if it wins the Big 12 Tournament.
Now, to some stories:
2) Consider this about Kody Clemens: he hit .241/.356/.365 last season after posting similar numbers as a freshmen, A player struggling some as a freshman isn’t uncommon, but Clemens didn’t truly show his ability as a hitter until conference play during the 2017 campaign. Why? He underwent Tommy John surgery.
Sure, it’s not as big of a deal for a position player as a pitcher, but it’s still a grueling mental and physical grind to return from, and Clemens lost valuable time – including a chance to play in the Cape Cod League thanks to an inexplicable roster error/decision by the Bourne Braves - to get stronger and improve as a hitter. Plus, not being able to play defense last season affected his mental approach in the batter’s box for stretches during his sophomore season because it became tougher for him to leave a bad at-bat behind when all he was doing was thinking about hitting.
The talent has always flashed, and Clemens arrived at Texas as a Perfect Game All-American. After two full seasons, he hadn’t quite lived up to the hype while his older brother was thriving at a place that retired their father’s jersey number.
So, what did Clemens do? He matured mentally and physically, tweaked his leg-kick and stance, and became one of the best hitters in college baseball.
3) Speaking of infielders that arrived at Texas highly decorated and hyped, Andy McGuire was selected as second-team All-Big 12… as a pitcher. Think about this: McGuire wasn’t even a part of the Texas program the past two seasons, and had to play well enough in the preseason and offseason to earn a roster spot this year. Again, he came to Texas as an infielder, and basically reinvented himself as a reliever, who then became the team’s closer.
McGuire battled every baseball demon imaginable. He battled very high expectations and at a place like Texas, and falling out of favor with his head coach as a freshman; he had hip surgery in high school, which some believe bothered him into his early college career; he battled the decision of immediately transferring and leaving Texas before then deciding to return and stay at Texas and try to make the team again, and then he didn’t make the team for two seasons; and he had to prove himself to a new coaching staff that didn’t recruit him before working his way up the bullpen pecking order.
Now, McGuire is beloved by teammates, and an integral piece on a conference championship team. Oh, he’s also hit a couple homers this year too, showing that big-time pop that made him such a highly-rated recruit in high school.
4) Often, Josh Sawyer is the bridge between another pitcher and McGuire in the backend of games, and he, prior to this season, hadn’t thrown a pitch since April of 2016 when he threw .2 of an inning in a season when he was barely used because of injury.
Back in February, I wrote about Sawyer’s comeback trail, and some of what he did defies the odds.
“My junior year, I tore my bicep tendon. Kind of a freak accident in the bullpen in West Virginia. I had to have two surgeries to get that fixed. Last year in February, another freak accident. I tore my labrum in my hip. Doctors didn’t really know how it happened. So, I had surgery on that last February,” Sawyer said. “So, it’s been about two and a half years… rehab has gone great. Coaches were very supportive. They want me back, and I’m happy to be back.”
Can you blame him at all for asking, “Why me?”
“Oh, yeah. Multiple times. It’s always out there, ‘Why me?’ I prayed about it. I asked the Lord about it all the time – why did you choose me? He chose me because I have resiliency to come back through three surgeries and get back,” responded Sawyer about asking why he kept being faced with injury after injury.
Most guys would have hung up the spikes and enjoyed being a college student. Not Sawyer, who said he was born to be a Longhorn.
“Getting back was the goal from day one. I was born to play here,” said Sawyer about his mindset when his injuries first occurred. “I’ve loved this school since I was five years old. The first game I watched was the 2002 World Series. I moved down to Texas in 2001… it was the goal to play here. The injuries came along, and it was hard. But the goal was to get back because of everything they’ve given me. They spent a lot of time and money helping me out through surgery, rehab, being here in the summer and the trainer coming up early when I have practice. The goal was always to come back, and now that I’m back it’s a big sigh of relief.”
Lately, Sawyer’s velocity has been as high as 95 MPH, and his curve has been a strikeout weapon. He’s unlikely to be stretched beyond an inning because he’s not as effective when he comes out after a rest off the mound, but he’s proving to be dominant more often than not. Over his last 11.1 innings, Sawyer has a 1.59 ERA with 12 strikeouts. It isn’t just a coincidence that Sawyer has been stretched beyond an inning just once during that time whereas he had five such outings prior to April 2nd.
5) Duke Ellis began his career at Texas 1-for-14. For you non-Math majors, that’s a .071 batting average, and he also struck out five times with just one walk. Granted it was mostly against a quality Louisiana pitching staff, but Ellis looked completely overmatched by the jump in competition. His bat looked slow, had a poor path, and he lacked confidence.
Since then, he’s hitting .331, and in Big 12 play, when teams are better prepared with better scouting reports, he finished .390/.484/.481. Quietly, Ellis was also shifted out of center field early this season when it became apparent that Tate Shaw was a better player there. He didn’t fuss. He moved over, and became one of the team’s most productive hitters and a terrific representation of Texas as a whole – highly competitive, scrappy, and determined.
6) When Masen Hibbeler arrived at Texas, he made it a point to go to David Pierce’s office and figure out a way to learn every single defensive call for every position on the field. He came to Texas a middle infielder, and began the year playing second base. When Clemens struggled at third and moved back to a more natural second base, Hibbeler filled in at third, played shortstop when David Hamilton was hurt, also learned how to play first base before playing games there, and eventually found a home in left field despite never playing the outfield before.
And while his offense has been up-and-down, Hibbeler played through some bumps and bruises throughout the season, and learned multiple new positions to help his team; his versatility has been an integral part in the Longhorns’ success. He and DJ Petrinsky received just one junior college offer out of high school. Now, they’re starters for the Big 12 Champions.
7) At this point, you probably think you’re totally bought in on Pierce. Well, you’re not as loyal as Zach Zubia is. Zubia signed with Tulane, enrolled in Tulane summer classes, and then left Tulane to transfer to Texas to follow Pierce. By rule, he had to sit out a season, but he was coming off of Tommy John surgery and would have likely had to sit out the full season anyway.
Early in the season, Pierce was a bit of a skeptic about Zubia’s ability to be an everyday hitter based on his fall performances. But the big fella from Houston proved to be a gamer. While we all knew the raw power was big-time, Zubia’s maturation as a hitter and his ability to adjust from pitch-to-pitch and at-bat-to-at-bat have turned him into one of the most feared power bats in the conference.
8) Speaking of loyalty, Sean Allen, the architect of the potent Longhorn offense, was signed to go to Alabama to join that staff in a promotion from Tulane. When Pierce was named head coach at Texas, Allen figured out a way to get back on Pierce’s staff.
9) When Pierce began his tenure at Texas, he immediately reviewed the roster and began watching some available film of his players. For Parker Joe Robinson, the reviews weren’t good.
“I felt like we had to do something different. Honestly, I tried to take his scholarship away from him because I didn’t think he could pitch here,” recalled Pierce, earlier this season, about his first assessment of Robinson. “What I loved about it is he convinced me over the telephone he’s coming back here to be a part of the program and he’s going to be a contributor. So, with that being said, I started coaching him over the phone of how I think he should take a look at this. We literally had dialogue over the phone of him making an arm-slot adjustment.”
Robinson didn’t push back. While some players would handle direct, constructive feedback – putting it nicely – poorly, Robinson went to work on pitching a new way.
“Coach Pierce called me, and I was actually on the way to a summer ball game, and he was saying for you to make an impact on our team, you might have to change up an arm slot. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m okay with doing that.’ He thought maybe I wouldn’t, but it ended up all coming full circle,” said the righthander, who owns a team-best 1.46 ERA over 24.2 innings. “It took a little while to get used to it. The first day he told me to I tried to and was like, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ Over the rest of that summer, two summers ago, I got used to do it and then through all the fall workouts and all that stuff it’s come full circle.”
Indeed it has. Once Pierce realized what he had and handed off calling Robinson’s pitches to Phil Haig, Robinson emerged as one of the bullpen’s most valuable assets because of his ability to consistently throw strikes and get weak contact against lefties and righties.
“It says everything about his character and trust in himself and things you want your program to exemplify,” Pierce said about Robinson making the adjustment to remain on the team, and then becoming one of its most effective relievers. “That’s Parker Joe. A guy like he, Andy (McGuire), (Josh) Sawyer, where they stick with it.”
10) How respected is Jake McKenzie? Texas designed a plan that allowed him to play all nine positions earlier this season. A preferred walk-on that’s played all over the diamond during his time at Texas, McKenzie has solidified Texas’s lineup because of his stellar defense at first base. He’s also remained a part of the Texas program for four years while maintaining a 3.95 GPA in Petroleum Engineering.
11) Matteo Bocchi, who will start for the Longhorns today to open the Big 12 Tournament against Kansas (12:30 p.m.), is from Italy and taught himself to pitch from videos on the internet. Imagine going from Italy to Odessa College and then to Texas. Pierce joked earlier this season Bocchi had like seven different pitches because he taught himself, and Texas had to simplify. Lately, it’s working well.
Against Texas State, which was Bocchi’s best outing of the season, the big righthander was watched by his parents in the United States for the first time. Once he learned he was going to transfer from Odessa College to Texas, Bocchi, smartly, told his parents to save the trip for Austin instead of Odessa.
“It was the first time. They had a chance to come to Odessa (Bocchi transferred from Odessa College), but they ended up not coming because I was like, ‘If you really want to come, come next year when I’m at Texas because it’s a much better place,” said Bocchi with a big smile. “They’ve been watching the games online. When you’re in the game locked-in, I don’t pay attention to the stands. But I was glad they were here.”
12) And finally, Pierce. Perhaps I’m burying the best part, but it’s a good way to end.
When the Texas coaching search made its way to the former Tulane head coach, he was aware. He knew he wasn’t the Longhorns’ first option from the jump because he had his eyes on the job hoping it would make its way to him. It did.
And when Pierce interviewed at Texas for the position, the story, from what I heard, goes a little like this: Pierce basically relayed, very emphatically, that he didn’t care what number candidate he was. If Texas picked him, he would win games.
13) Again, I don’t know how the 2018 Longhorns will end up. They’re far from perfect. However, we know they’re going to compete until the very end, and are capable of playing right with anyone. How they got to this point forecasts a bright future for Texas Baseball.
14) As we enter the final portion of May, I think the Longhorns are poised to make a big run in football recruiting. Decisions are upcoming, more summer visits and decisions will happen, and Texas is trending well with several prospects. The next couple of months should be active in the world of Texas Football recruiting.
15) Earlier this week, we reported Texas was close to finalizing a deal to hire Iowa State assistant coach Neill Berry to the same position at Texas. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary recently, and still expect the move to get done at some point. From what I’ve gathered about Berry, he has a good reputation as a recruiter, and is already recruiting a couple of key targets that are key targets for Texas as well, like Samuell Williamson and Harlond Beverly. He was the point man for Iowa State in the recruitment of five-star Lindell Wigginton. More importantly, though, will be what Berry can bring to the Texas offense.
16) The Houston Rockets don’t win last night at Golden State if they don’t have P.J. Tucker and Chris Paul. Specifically, they have influenced the Rockets’ competitiveness, confidence, and toughness. Last night was a perfect example of the type of game Houston loses to good teams in past playoffs.
It had to endure the toughest run to endure in the NBA – a Steph Curry run of ridiculous deep threes in front of a crazy crowd. Instead of shying away from the moment, the Rockets bounced back in the third quarter after bouncing back in the first quarter despite falling behind 12-0. When the game turned muddy and slow late in the game and became a half-court grind, Paul was there to help James Harden carry the load on offense, and Houston’s much-improved defense suffocated one of the better offenses in NBA history. Mike D’Antoni shortened his rotation, and played Gerald Green (+14) at the perfect time, and also made quality adjustments throughout the game (like getting Houston into offense quicker and not switching everything on defense late in the game after Golden State kept slipping pick-and-roll and was getting Kevin Durant matched up on Paul).
Yeah, these Rockets are different than Rockets of recent seasons. I don’t know if they’ll be able to finish the job. After all, the Warriors have been here before, and these Rockets haven’t. But I know this: the Warriors are going to get Houston’s best shot, and if they win, they will have earned every bit of it because these different Rockets are for real.
17) LeBron is still LeBron. And like D'Angelo says in the The Wire, "The King stay The King."
18) While baseball is fixated on things like launch angle, exit velocity, and how spin rates are improving, a quiet revolution is ongoing: teams are getting more aggressive in elevating young talent to the big leagues, and some of those young players are throwing stereotypes in the faces of scouting.
For example, Ozzie Albies is in a third-place tie for homers in Major League Baseball. He’s listed at 5-9, 160 pounds and is 21-years-old. Find scouting reports on Albies, and they’ll probably list something along the lines of an unorthodox swing and approach. Obviously, Jose Altuve, another tiny guy, is really, really good and so is Mookie Betts, who leads the MLB in homers at 5-9, and, well, everything. Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez, listed at 5-9, currently rates third in fWAR and fifth in ISO.
Meanwhile, the Nationals just promoted 19-year-old Juan Soto, who has only played 23 games above the A level. Small sample size alert: he’s hitting .500/.667/.1.000 in three MLB games. The tools are loud. The Braves promoted 20-year-olds Mike Soroka (pitcher) and Robert Acuna, Jr. (outfielder). Soon, the Blue Jays will promote 19-year-old Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Fernando Tatis, Jr. (Padres), another 19-year-old, will probably be up before seasons end along with 20-year-old and 5-9 hitting-machine Luis Urias.
Baseball continues to evolve, and maybe, as the Rays are showing right now, usage of bullpens and starting pitchers could change too.
19) Recently, I watched the first episode of HBO’s “Barry,” and am intrigued, but haven’t been intrigued enough to hit “play” on episode two. Is it worth the time?
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21) A recent deep dive back into David Bowie’s catalog led to an important question: is there a consensus on his best two albums of all-time? Because I find myself all aboard on Ziggy Stardust being in the top two, but my second pick for favorite/best changes each time I listen.
22) This week’s read… Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins
