When Texas baseball opens its three-game series Thursday evening against Missouri, the Longhorns will have a second baseman in the lineup. But as of Wednesday afternoon, Jim Schlossnagle didn’t know who that second baseman would be.
While speaking with reporters Wednesday, Schlossnagle was non-committal about a positional plan at second base. Schlossnagle, though, felt safe saying that Ethan Mendoza likely won’t play in the field this weekend after injuring his shoulder during last week’s trip to Tennessee.
Mendoza was injured during this past Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Volunteers while diving for a ground ball. Mendoza exited Friday’s game after his first-inning injury and remained on the bench on Saturday. Mendoza was used as a designated hitter in Sunday’s finale in Knoxville, Tenn., and Schlossnagle said he will again be available for those offense-only duties in the Missouri series.
“I don’t have enough information yet to say if he’ll throw anytime soon,” Schlossnagle said. “Certainly I don’t think (he’ll play the field) this weekend.”
Leading into the opener at Tennessee, Mendoza has started at second base in each of the Longhorns’ games this season. That meant that his exit left Texas scrambling for a replacement.
Texas immediately replaced Mendoza with sophomore Callum Early, a Liberty transfer who had played in just five games with the Longhorns. Early remained in the game until the Longhorns returned to Mendoza’s spot in the lineup, which forced Texas to then play a game of musical chairs. Josh Livingston pinch-hit for Early and then headed out to first base, which shifted starting first baseman Casey Borba over to third base and starting third baseman Temo Becerra over to second base.
On both Saturday and Sunday, Texas started and mostly stuck with senior Jayden Duplantier at second base (Early manned that position in the ninth inning of the Longhorns’ 13-6 win on Sunday). Duplantier had started at second base during his collegiate career, but he had previously started 18 times this season as a right fielder and once as a designated hitter.
“I took a lot of reps, obviously, in the outfield, and every now and then throughout the week, I’d take ground balls with the infielders,” Duplantier said when asked Wednesday if he had been practicing with the Texas infielders ahead of last week. “I took some reps before (Saturday’s) game and was all good. I feel good about it, kind of wherever I am on the field and just confident regardless of the position.”
Schlossnagle said that Duplantier, Early and Becerra, who have started 41 times at third base this season and another eight times at shortstop, are all possibilities at second base over the next few days. The Longhorns’ plans may end up being dependent on matchups and if speedy outfielder Dariyan Pendergrass is healthy enough to add another element to the UT lineup.
Texas enters the final week of the regular season with a 37-12 record and the No. 6 ranking in the D1Baseball poll. The Longhorns are tied for second place in the SEC standings with their 16-10 mark in conference contests while Missouri (23-27, 6-21) is the SEC’s last-place team.