The position-by-position look at the 2027 Texas Longhorns team starts with an infield led by star shortstop Adrian Rodriguez.
Catcher
Departures: Carson Tinney (draft), Andrew Ermis (transfer), Presley Courville (transfer)
Additions: Ian Armstrong (transfer), Brady Murrietta (signee), Jax Robinson (signee)
Returning: None
For a second straight year, Texas turned to the portal to land a high-level catcher, missing on Clemson transfer Nate Savoie before landing a commitment from Saint Mary’s transfer Ian Armstrong, who at the time of his pledge was ranked as the No. 22 overall player in the portal and the No. 30 prospect in the 2027 MLB Draft by Over Slot. Baseball America ranks
After slashing .364/.402/.576 with 55 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs, and 40 RBI in 2024, Armstrong was even better as a sophomore, leading the WCC with 16 home runs and batting .351 with a .416 on-base percentage, a .654 slugging percentage, and a 1.070 OPS. The first-team All-WCC selection notched 80 hits with 17 doubles, two triples, 51 RBI, and 53 runs scored.
For Schlossnagle, high-level play behind the plate is a prerequisite for the position and Armstrong fits that mold with refined receiving ability, lateral quickness, clean footwork, and a plus arm.
Armstrong’s burgeoning power combined with an all-fields approach to hitting has turned him into a strong all-around batter as he heads to the Forty Acres with high expectations. Good bat speed allows Armstrong to produce an excellent contact rate on pitches in the strike zone, especially fastballs, and driving a breaking ball away out to center against UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional flashed his ability to handle offspeed pitches.
Signees Brady Murrietta and Jax Robinson will battle for the backup job. Perfect Game considers the two players prospects of similar quality, although Murrietta is perhaps ahead of Robinson defensively.
First base
Departures: Ashton Larson (transfer)
Additions: Sawyer Solitaria (transfer), Easton Autrey (signee)
Returning: Casey Borba
After splitting time between third base and first base in 2026, senior Casey Borba returns for his senior season as the projected starter at first base. Because Ashton Larson entered the NCAA transfer portal, the prime competition for Borba at first base will come from Kent State transfer Sawyer Solitaria, who also plays in the outfield and could be the designated hitter for the Longhorns in 2027, and signee Easton Autrey.
Last offseason, Borba opted against playing summer baseball to focus on improving his functional mobility in the field, improving as a third baseman in 2026 while also spending time at first base, but even as his power kept improving — up to 18 home runs — his struggles using the whole field to hit continued to limit his batting average as late-season struggles dropped it to .266 as his walk rate also decreased and his strikeout rate ballooned to 36.5 percent.
So Borba continues to have plenty to work on as a hitter. The swing and miss in his game combined with his reliance on his pull-side power limits his upside and could put his starting job in jeopardy next season.
One possibility is a platoon with Autrey to get the Coricana product’s left-handed bat in the lineup. A 6’4, 233-pounder with better physicality than the 6’1, 210-pound Borba, Autrey possesses prodigious power with elite exit velocities even using a wood bat at the draft combine. Autrey’s power is so elite that it was fully present two years ago, when he was capable of a 544-foot blast in a showcase.
Some projections put Autrey’s future in the outfield, so with Borba’s quality play defensively at first base, Autrey’s best path to playing time in 2027 may be at designated hitter.
Solitaria, a Kent State transfer who hit 16 home runs in 2025, is the projected starter at designated hitter with the portal additions crowding the outfield competitions, but could also be a factor at first base if Borba struggles.
Second base
Departures: Callum Early (transfer)
Additions: Lawson Behan (signee), Reiston Durham (signee)
Returning: Ethan Mendoza
The Horns also boast a returning starter at second base following July’s announcement from senior Ethen Mendoza that he’ll be back for a third season on the Forty Acres. Initially considered a draftable prospect during the season, Mendoza went undrafted after struggling with a shoulder injury for the second consecutive year and opted against signing as a free agent.
Mendoza had spent the offseason bulking up to further improve his power, which helped him hit 10 home runs in 2026, but his batting average dropped to .278 and the increased weight contributed to Mendoza only stealing 11 bases.
If Mendoza does require offseason surgery to address his persistent shoulder issues, it could impact his early-season availability. Texas Tech transfer Linkin Garcia is the projected third baseman for Texas next season, but could play second if Mendoza isn’t available. Long Beach State transfer Trevor Goldenetz also played some second base in high school before playing center field for the Dirtbags as a freshman.
For middle infield depth, the Longhorns also signed Lawson Behan and Reiston Durham, but the rankings for both players suggest they will need some time to develop, so Texas could make a late portal addition.
Shortstop
Departures: None
Additions: Behan, Durham
Returning: Adrian Rodriguez
In Adrian Rodriguez, Schlossnagle has one of the nation’s best returning shortstops. After playing second base, third base, and left field in 2025 as a freshman, Rodriguez worked to improve his range at shortstop for his sophomore season, which paid off in an impressive campaign with a .964 fielding campaign.
Forced to undergo a second, midseason surgery on his left hand to remove a staple that was causing an allergic reaction, Rodriguez suffered the consequences as the persistent issue forced him to hit exclusively from the left side and continued to sap his power. Even so, Rodriguez still slashed .327/.417/.514 with 18 doubles, five home runs, 47 RBI, and 14 stolen bases, finishing the season red hot and proving his postseason capabilities.
As with Mendoza, the offseason priority is to finally get his hand healthy and gain as much strength as possible while maintaining his range defensively, a balance that leaned towards getting as lean as possible last year.
Third base
Departures: Temo Becerra (graduation)
Additions: Linkin Garcia (portal)
Unable to land an elite infielder from the portal last year, Texas settled for Stanford transfer Temo Becerra, who brought a professional approach to the plate in hitting .301, but wasn’t able to sustain his early-season power surge. The Longhorns didn’t settle this offseason, landing Garcia from the Red Raiders.
A top-25 prospect in the portal when he quickly committed to Texas, the 6’5, 218-pounder has immense physical upside that makes him a potential first-round pick next July as a draft-eligible sophomore. Baseball American ranked Garcia as the No. 17 player in the portal.
In Garcia’s single season in Lubbock, he started all 55 games for Texas Tech, including 30 games at shortstop and 25 games at third base, batting .338 with four home runs and 59 RBI while tying for the Big 12 lead with 21 doubles, earning a spot on the All-Big 12 Freshman team. A contact hitter in his first collegiate season, Garcia had low strikeout and walk rates.
Given Garcia’s physicality and gap-to-gap power as a freshman, expect a big power surge for the California product in burnt orange and white similar to the improvement by Aiden Robbins, who went from six home runs for Seton Hall in 2025 to 24 for Texas in 2026. Working deeper into counts is part of the equation, as Garcia’s barrel rate and exit velocities are similar to Robbins.
“A guy like Linkin Garcia contacts the ball, doesn’t walk much, doesn’t strike out much, hits the ball on the ground a little bit too much, right? So, is that something that we can impact? We believe we can,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said last week.
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