David Hamilton. Trey Faltine. Jalin Flores. Adrian Rodriguez?
Over the last decade, the Texas Longhorns have featured elite play at the shortstop position, a standard that former Gold Glove winner Troy
Tulowitzki has helped elevate since joining the coaching staff on the Forty Acres in 2019.
After playing second base, third base, and left field last year for the Longhorns, Rodriguez takes over the position that Flores played at a high level for three seasons as he works his way back from hand surgery.
The sophomore battled through pain after missing seven games when he was hit by a pitch against Missouri that forced him to only hit left-handed for the rest of the season and made it difficult for him to play in the infield.
As Rodriguez proved his toughness in earning Perfect Game Freshman All-American honors despite the injury, he was able to reach base safely in the final 25 games of the season, ultimately slashing .313/.410/.516 with 35 runs scored, 14 doubles, seven homers, and 23 RBI and tying for the team lead with 15 stolen bases.
The expectation is for Rodriguez to take a step forward in 2026 if he can stay healthy even though his offseason development was hampered by the hand surgery — his ability as a switch hitter ensures he always has favorable matchups, and his bat-to-ball skills were impressive even when it was painful for him to swing.
“He’s on track to come back from his hand surgery. He’s not swinging the bat right now, but he should be able to do that in about a week or two,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said last week.
“The biggest thing with him was we had to hold him back. If you tell him five swings is good, he’s going to take 50. So we’ve to be careful with him that way.”
The double-play partner for Rodriguez is junior Ethan Mendoza in his second season on the Forty Acres. After gaining strength and showing early signs of a power surge after transferring from Arizona State, Mendoza was set back by a shoulder injury that forced him into a designated hitter role and seemed to sap his improved power.
Adding about 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason while focusing on making similar gains in straight-line and lateral quickness has further increased Mendoza’s pop with hopes that he can translate the four home runs he hit over a six-game stretch last season into more consistent power across the entire season. At the least, improvements in his exit velocity should translate to a higher slugging percentage thanks to better gap-to-gap power.
The Southlake Carroll product was also successful in altering his approach at the plate after arriving at Texas, showing more patience and working deeper into counts to get better pitches to hit, jumping from 13 walks in 2024 to 36 walks in 2025, although the side effect was nearly doubling his strikeout rate, a concession that Schlossnagle is willing to make.
To replace Kimble Schuessler, the former catcher who grew into one of the best defensive first baseman Schlossnagle has ever coached, the staff moved junior Casey Borba across the diamond from third base back to his primary infield position from 2024.
The focus for the California product has been improving his functional athleticism and understanding of the position because Schlossnagle wants to have a regular starter at first base.
“It takes some time to learn bunt defenses, where to play, where to position yourself, what balls to go get that are towards the second baseman, how to communicate in running away from the ball knowing that the second baseman can get the ball. And you only get those things through repetition and in the games and in practice,” Schlossnagle said on the Around the Horns podcast.
At the plate, the staff has continued to emphasize the need for an opposite-field approach. Borba hit 12 home runs in 2025 and improved his slugging percentage by 86 points, but his batting average suffered because he was hitting the ball hard into the shifts regularly employed against him, which put a hard ceiling on his ability to get base hits.
Borba did flash his upside in the Austin Regional win over Kansas State, recording the first multi-home run game of his career with a grand slam and a three-run blast on his way to a career-high eight RBI.
For Borba to have a true breakout season and capitalize on the potential that made him a near top-150 prospect nationally by Perfect Game out of Orange Lutheran in California, Borba will have to use the entire field as a hitter.
Back across the diamond at third base, Schlossnagle teased a platoon between Stanford transfer Temo Becerra, a defensive-minded former shortstop with a high contact rate and little power, and Wichita State transfer Josh Livingston, who has mostly played first base and second base.
“He worked his tail off to become a serviceable or even better than that third baseman — he’s really done a nice job,” Schlossnagle said of Livingston.
After leading the Shockers in home runs (15) and slugging percentage (.555) last season, Livingston brings a left-handed power bat to the Longhorns lineup and should receive starts against right-handed pitchers in addition to the possibility that he could see time at designated hitter.
Asked to pick a position player who could surprise, however, Mendoza nodded to Becerra.
“I think he’s a really good baseball player. Obviously, he’s been there for a really long time. He knows what the game is about, and he’s just a grindy player, too,” Mendoza said.
Sophomore Liberty transfer Callum Early provides infield depth after batting .295 for the Flames last year, as does well-regarded freshman Maddox Monsour, who has the versatility to play in the outfield, as well.
Schlossnagle would prefer to have more depth in the infield, but the starting group has plenty of experience and enough untapped potential to make the trajectories of Rodriguez, Mendoza, and Borba intriguing storylines to watch in 2026.
