Texas baseball notebook: Jared Thomas adjusts to new position after breakout at first base

When baseball fans at Texas next see Jared Thomas, they may notice something different.

Thomas is still wearing the No. 9 jersey, and he has no plans on using anything other than Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Snake Farm" as his walk-up song. And after hitting .321 as a freshman, he will likely still be used atop the Longhorns lineup.

But when fall practices got underway for Texas last week, Thomas was focusing on playing the outfield. Thomas started 60 times at first base in 2023.

"I think it's just a matter of me just getting comfortable out there," Thomas said. "I've got a feeling right now in the back of my head that I could go play first in my sleep, so I want to be as comfortable in center or in right than I am at first so it's going to take a little bit of time to adjust."

As a freshman, Thomas proved to be a solid defender at first base. He committed only three errors and boasted a .994 fielding percentage. Texas also liked having Thomas at first because he was left-handed, and UT coach David Pierce previously noted that made it "so much easier to turn the double play, (or) on a pick to get inside the throws."

So why mess with a good thing?

Pierce said that opening up first base would allow the Longhorns to add a better offensive option to the lineup. Pierce wouldn't close the door on Thomas returning to first base, but he felt that "I think JT has leadership abilities to play center."

If Thomas isn't playing first base, UT may turn to redshirt junior Cam Constantine or freshman Casey Borba. Texas could also choose to start second baseman Jack O'Dowd or third baseman Peyton Powell at first base instead, and catcher Kimble Schuessler is another possibility.

Then there's Luke Storm. Pierce told reporters Friday that he's not yet allowed to talk about an expected addition to the roster, but signs point to Storm being that mystery player. Storm announced in July that he would transfer to Texas after spending the past three seasons at Duke. Storm hit 13 home runs with 51 RBIs as a junior. Of Storm's 60 starts for the Blue Devils in 2023, 18 were made at first base and 28 were at third base.

Pierce on new role, departure of Williams: Last Friday marked Pierce's first media availability since the 2023 season ended in June. That gave him the first chance to publicly address a significant change to his coaching staff.

This summer, it was reported that Woody Williams would not return to Texas after spending one year as the Longhorns' pitching coach. Pierce will now instruct the pitchers.

On Friday, Pierce said that "I have a pitching coach background. I've been our pitching coach from '06 through '18 by label, either as the full-time pitching coach at Rice or the pitching coach-slash-head coach (at Sam Houston State and Tulane and) all the way up through my first two years here. ... In my background, it's just hard for me to just let somebody handle it and do it. I just felt like it was the best thing for our players and the best thing for Texas. Those are kind of how I make the decisions is how does it work out best for the University of Texas and are we giving them our best effort by structure as well as our day-to-day work and are we putting our players in the best position? I thought Woody did a great job and such a fun person and it was a hard, hard decision, which all those are always tough. Sometimes timing is not the best, but I just felt like it was the right time and the right thing to do for our players."

Pierce also said this move helped the Longhorns add another offensive-minded assistant to the coaching staff. The Longhorns promoted Caleb Longley from his volunteer position in the offseason and brought Philip Miller back to a full-time coaching role. Steve Rodriguez is returning for his second year as an assistant, and former MLB all-star Troy Tulowitzki will be the program's director of player development.

Pierce wasn't concerned about juggling his duties as the team's head coach and pitching coach. He said that Chris Gordon, UT's director of hitting and pitching development, can't do any on-field coaching but can assist him with the day-to-day prep. Pierce added that he was looking forward to just focusing on the pitchers while letting his assistants handle the offense and position players.

"It really has been rejuvenating for me," Pierce said.

New wrinkle for LBJ: Fourth-year pitcher Lebarron Johnson Jr. revealed last week that he wants to work on throwing a splitter this fall. Johnson said he didn't throw that pitch much this past spring, but instead relied on his fastball and slider.

"(It's) definitely just for lefties. I want to be able to instead of having a pitch that goes into them, something that kind of goes away," Johnson said. "I can never really throw a good change-up. With my big hands, splitter is what's best for me. Just (having) that three-pitch mix to be able to have that starting role is key for me."

Johnson broke out during the 2023 season. Over 20 appearances and 13 starts, the 6-foot-4 right-hander went 8-4 with a 2.91 ERA. He earned a first-team nod on the Big 12's all-conference team.

Injury updates: Pierce said that the plan for pitcher Tanner Witt is to "slow play him all fall. We just want to give him some time to really be able to go through this throwing process, throwing program, get on the mound and get comfortable."

Witt missed much of the 2023 season as he continued to rehab the elbow he injured in March 2022. When he returned, Witt struggled to regain his form while Texas chased a Big 12 championship and went on a postseason run. Over six appearances and 10⅔ innings, Witt had a 10.97 ERA.

The Baltimore Orioles took a shot at convincing Witt to turn pro when they selected him in the 18th round of July's MLB draft. Witt opted to return to Texas.

Pierce was also asked Friday about the status of relief pitchers Heston Tole and David Shaw, who were injured at the end of the 2023 season. Tole was slated to throw in a scrimmage that day. Shaw won't throw this fall.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: News and notes as fall baseball season starts for Texas Longhorns