![Texas A&M infielder Boston Kellner (6) fields against Florida during an NCAA baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field in Gainesville, FL on Friday, April 24, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_59,y_0,w_2392,h_1345/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/273/01krhn3z203naj15rg49.jpg "Texas A&M infielder Boston Kellner (6) fields against Florida during an NCAA baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field in Gainesville, FL on Friday, April 24, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Texas A&M baseball has begun to trend downwards in recent days, having lost two straight SEC series following five straight series wins. That has to do, without a doubt, with the remarkable number of injuries that the Aggies have sustained in that time frame: Nico Partida and Boston Kellner have both missed time due to injury, taking two of A&M's most prodigious freshman bats out of the lineup.
The Aggies are about to take another hit on the injury front, according to head coach Michael Earley. The head man for Aggie baseball has announced that Texas A&M will be without their best pitcher, Aiden Sims, for this weekend's series against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. MSU will be possibly the best team that the Aggies have faced in SEC play yet, and they'll apparently have to forge ahead without Sims in this series.
Texas A&M baseball loses key pitcher Aiden Sims for Mississippi State series
The Aggies have had worse and worse luck with their pitching as of late, raising a lot of questions about pitching coach Jason Kelly along the way. The end of the season is in sight, though, so the Aggies clearly are not looking to make a move at that position before that time.
However, the uncertainty on the mound has led to some changes, such as pulling Shane Sdao from the Friday night starting spot in favor of Clemson transfer Ethan Darden. Darden pitched two innings in his first start against the Ole Miss Rebels in a loss, allowing two runs in the process. Sdao came in in relief in that game.
Darden's ERA is currently better than Sims's, but that's a bit deceiving thanks to the relative level of exposure each has gotten; Sims has pitched in almost three times as many innings as Darden up until this point in the year. He doesn't seem to be a long-term answer at the position, but with Josh Stewart out for the year and Sims now resting during this series, the Aggies are running out of places to look for those answers.
Some combination of Weston Moss, Clayton Freshcorn, and Juan Vargas seems to be the order of the day on Saturday and Sunday. Against a hard-hitting Mississippi State lineup, that could be a tough watch for some Aggie fans, but it's the hand that Texas A&M has been dealt.
This move could end up being very consequential in the grand scheme of things. Texas A&M is looking to secure a national seed with the regular season coming to a close, and thanks to their 1-2 records in series against both Auburn and Ole Miss, this three-game spate against the Bulldogs is going to be very consequential in that pursuit.
To come away with another series loss— or even a sweep— could be disastrous for those chances. Texas A&M is going to struggle to get the seed they want even if they come out of this weekend at 3-0, so there has to be some greater calculation going on on the part of Michael Earley.
Add us as a preferred source on Google