PGCROSSCHECKER COLLEGE TEAM SCOUTING REPORT
5.
TEXAS
(41-21, lost in NCAA regionals).
Conference/Projected Finish: Big 12/1st (19-7, 1st in 2006).
Coach: Augie Garrido (432-214, 10 years).
First Game: Feb. 2 vs.
San
Diego
at Round Rock,
Texas
.
OVERVIEW: The Longhorns failed to reach
Omaha
in 2006 after playing in the national championship game three of the previous four years—winning titles in 2002 and 2005. The team’s top two hitters were lost to the draft, as was their winningest pitcher, but every other significant player is back, including a quartet of promising sophomores: C Preston Clark (.273-5-30), 3B Bradley Suttle (.301-4-36), and OFs Jordan Danks (.319-2-21) and Kyle Russell (.276-10-42).
X-Factor: Pitching, normally a staple of
Texas
teams, was inconsistent in 2006 and staff ace Kyle McCulloch has departed after being drafted in the first round by the White Sox. Senior RHP Randy Boone (4-2, 3.59) made only three starts a year ago, in part because of an elbow injury, but he and junior RHP Adrian Alaniz (7-4, 4.18) will be asked to head up the rotation. Boone is coming off a strong summer league performance and his emergence is critical as the Longhorns lost the services of five elite freshman arms last summer before they enrolled at
Texas
.
TOP FRESHMAN: Russ Moldenhauer, c/dh. An unsigned third-round pick of the Angels last June, he’ll see most of his action this season in a DH role. He can swing the bat with anyone on the team, but is nowhere near the defender behind the plate that
Clark
is.
TOP SOPHOMORE: Preston Clark, c.
Clark
ranks as the nation’s premier defensive catcher, but his inability to swing the bat with more consistent pop may keep him out of the first two rounds of this year’s draft. A red-shirt sophomore, he is one of three prominent
Texas
sophomores who are draft-eligible this year. Russell and Suttle, true sophomores, also are eligible.
TOP JUNIOR: James Russell, lhp. Russell, a junior college transfer who worked under new Longhorns pitching coach Skip Johnson at Navarro (Texas
) JC a year ago, is the son of former big leaguer Jeff Russell. His mound presence, to go with a plus changeup and emerging fastball, has positioned him to be a 5th-8th rounder in June.
TOP SENIOR: Randy Boone, rhp. A 38th-round draft pick in 2006, Boone elevated his stock considerably last summer with a dominant 6-0, 1.09 season in the Texas Collegiate League. He flashed a 92-93 mph fastball and biting mid-80s slider, was selected that league’s top prospect and is primed to be one of the first seniors drafted this year.