Texas baseball adds San Jacinto transfer RHP Donny Diaz

Texas Longhorns baseball may not have lost many stars after a dismal 2016 campaign, but the team has relentlessly added new additions to the program. Head coach David Pierce’s newest commitment is former San Jacinto Community College right-handed pitcher Donny Diaz. The junior will be immediately eligible for the 2017 season.

Coming out of King high school, Diaz was not exactly a highly touted prospect. In fact, the Texas native didn’t even have a recruiting profile on Perfect Game. However, the 6-1, 230 pounder enrolled at San Jacinto community college and quickly flourished on the baseball team.

As a freshman, Diaz aided San Jacinto in reaching the Junior College World Series and was eventually named to the Texas/New Mexico All-Star team. In his sophomore season, Diaz finished at 3-0 on the mound, notching an impressive 1.85 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched.

David Pierce adding another right handed arm is intriguing because what the Longhorns truly lack is reliable lefties (Texas only has three lefty pitchers on the roster). However, the addition of Diaz will undoubtably enhance the depth a bullpen which struggled tremendously to find its footing last season.

An interesting development for this year’s Texas team is that the Longhorns have added far more players than they are losing. Forty one players are currently listed on the team, but the NCAA roster limit is 35. Thus, Texas will almost surely have transfers on the horizon.

Already there has seemingly been attrition. Brady Harlan, who started 11 games as a freshman last year, is no longer listed on the roster. His number eight is now being worn by freshman Andres Sosa.