What Jonah Williams’ season-ending surgery means for Texas

For the second straight year, the ceiling for a Texas Longhorns baseball team off to a hot start is limited by a key injury in the outfield.

Last year, the loss of slugger Max Belyeu and the persistent injuries suffered by Jonah Williams left head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team thin in the outfield.

This year, the news that Williams is undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, combined with the shoulder injury of catcher Presley Courville sustained going through outfield drills, has left the Longhorns without ideal depth after the staff’s plans to bolster the outfield through the transfer portal suffered significant blows when commits Jack Moroknek and Kaleb Freeman signed professional contracts after the 2025 MLB Draft.

So where will Schlossnagle turn with Williams out for the season?

The long-term loss of Williams and the shorter-term loss of Courville impact more than just the outfield — those injuries also take away two options at designated hitter, where the Longhorns are in the unusual position of using that player at the bottom of the lineup, a commentary on the team’s depth situation.

In the outfield, the good news for Texas is the incredible start to season from freshman Anthony Pack Jr., who has gained almost 30 pounds of muscle since arriving on the Forty Acres, allowing his natural confidence to match up with his ability to execute in the batter’s box.

Benefiting from a swing refined by assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki, Pack has shown off unexpected power in hitting four home runs in 19 games, including a walk-off grand slam against USC Upstate. He’s also been able to use a mature whole-field approach to handle fastballs and off-speed pitches, ranking second on the team in batting average at .354 and leading the team in on-base percentage at .489.

A left-handed hitter, Pack’s bat-to-ball skills have helped him keep his strikeout rate under 17 percent and his ability to command the strike zone have allowed the California product to produce more walks than strikeouts. And he’s dangerous enough covering the plate that he’s been hit by a team-leading four pitches as opposing hurlers have struggled to find ways to get him out.

Without the remarkable start from the kid called Pack-Man, the Longhorns would be in the much worse position of needing to address two outfield spots in addition to designated hitter. Instead, calling Pack a potential future star at Texas would negate his credible argument that he’s already a star with his current level of play.

Pack switches between left and right field depending on the other outfield spot, which has developed into a platoon between senior Jayden Duplantier, who has the arm and speed to play right field, and junior Ashton Larson, who is limited to left field.

Duplantier is the right-handed batter with historic positional versatility for the Longhorns who was thrust into extended action for the first time last season and struggled, batting .166 in 30 games, including 10 starts. The Houston product did manage to post a .345 on-base percentage by drawing some speeds and impacting defense’s with his speed, but he also had a strikeout rate of almost 35 percent, looking especially overmatched against SEC pitchers in batting .125 in conference play.

This year, however, Duplantier has improved at the plate in 18 games, including four starts, as Schlossnagle and his staff have limited his at bats against right-handed pitchers, helping him hit .333 with a .441 on-base percentage. There still isn’t much power in Duplantier’s bat with only one double among his nine hits, but the start for Duplantier is far from the worst-case scenario established in 2025.

A 6’2, 210-pounder from Overland Park (Kan.) St. Thomas Aquinas, Larson was the No. 78 overall prospect and No. 13 outfielder in the 2023 recruiting class, according to Perfect Game. Selected in the 20th round of that year’s MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins, Larson opted to honor his commitment to the Tigers.

In conference play, Larson was particularly good, batting a team-best .337 (28-for-83) in SEC regular-season games with eight doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI, and 16 runs. But injuries derailed Larson as a sophomore as he battled for playing time in a crowded outfield, receiving only five starts and hitting .256 in 39 at bats with a strikeout rate of 35.9 percent.

The torn quadriceps suffered by Larson has limited his athleticism, and he’s not exactly a slugging corner outfielder, but he is slashing .344/.463/.531 with three doubles and a home run. Like Duplantier, the left-handed hitting Larson benefits from favorable matchups against right-handed pitchers.

When Courville is able to return from his shoulder injury, he’ll factor in at designated hitter and could play in the outfield as well with fellow freshman Maddox Monsour currently serving as the fourth outfielder, typically in pinch-hitting or pinch-running opportunities. In a limited sample size, Monsour has been good at the plate, batting .429 with a triple and four RBI — high-level bat speed and a short swing should help the 5’11, 205-pounder become an effective college hitter over a larger number of at bats, but Monsour is unlikely to receive that many opportunities this year without further injuries.

As Texas tries to navigate the crucible of SEC play, the outfield looms as the team’s biggest potential weakness, one that Schlossnagle and his staff will have to manage for another season in hopes of achieving a higher ceiling and floor with the team’s 2027 outfield.