After Texas Longhorns senior right-hander Ruger Riojas went from the No. 1 starter role to the No. 2 role and then moved into the No. 3 role last weekend due to arm soreness, the UTSA Roadrunners transfer only threw five pitches in Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Missouri Tigers.
Combined with the previous arm soreness, the dip in velocity for Riojas was concerning as the Longhorns head into the postseason as a projected top-eight seed.
As head coach Jim Schlossnagle did last week when
Riojas pitched three scoreless innings after allowing a first-inning, ballpark-aided grand slam, Schlossnagle downplayed the significance of the issues for Riojas.
“We basically just wanted him to get an appearance on Senior Day, to be honest with you, and I’m not going to tell you, he felt like a 10, but he didn’t feel any worse than last week,” Schlossnagle said on Saturday.
Because the Horns won’t play in the SEC Tournament until next Friday, Riojas will have plenty of time to rebuild strength and address whatever physical problems are impacting him, which Schlossnagle said last week were not structural.
But depending on how things go in Hoover, Riojas could rest until the Austin Regional, which starts on May 29 — even if Texas makes it to the championship game on Sunday, Riojas might not be available.
“We get to really give him a chance to reset between now and the regional,” Schlossnagle said.
Given the dip in results from Riojas between the start of the season and recent results that have included three games allowing five or more runs, it’s clear that the ability of Riojas to regain his fastball velocity and off-speed effectiveness will set the upside for the Longhorns in their quest to make it to the College World Series for the first time under Schlossnagle.
