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Texas A&M baseball to not retain pitching coach Jason Kelly following 2026 season

Texas A&M athletics reporter Carter Karelsby: Carter Karels06/02/26CarterKarels

The Texas A&M baseball team will not retain second-year pitching coach Jason Kelly, Aggie Yell confirmed Tuesday through a source. Ryan Brauninger of TexAgs first reported the news about Kelly, who will see the initial two-year, $1.4 million contract he signed with the Aggies expire on June 30.

Kelly arrived at A&M ahead of the 2025 season, spending the prior two years as the head coach at the University of Washington before joining the initial staff under Michael Earley. His time with the Aggies is set to end following a 41-16 campaign, which ended Monday with a 7-1 loss to USC in the College Station Regional Final.

Through two seasons under Kelly, the A&M pitching staff largely underwhelmed. 

The Aggies left a lot to be desired with their pitching for much of this past season, ranking 46th nationally in WHIP (1.41), 56th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.3), 83rd in ERA (5.24) and 146th in hits allowed per nine innings (9.75). 

While its pitching staff performed better in 2025 and placed third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31), 11th in WHIP (1.27), 20th in ERA (4.30), 28th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.6) and 35th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.50), A&M missed the NCAA Tournament and produced a middling 30-26 overall record.

Right-handed pitchers Aiden Sims and Clayton Freshcorn showed the biggest progress under Kelly in 2026. Sims secured a weekend starter role as a sophomore and shined, compiling an 8-1 record and 3.84 ERA over 13 starts and 68 innings. However, the Aggies recently shut him down for the season after he missed three weeks with what Earley described as “tightness.” Freshcorn distinguished himself as the top reliever, producing a 4-3 record, 2.82 ERA and a team-high 12 saves through 27 appearances and a start over 54.1 innings.

Beyond Sims and Freshcorn, though, A&M lacked consistent, reliable options. Left-handed Shane Sdao opened the year as the top weekend starter but struggled despite being projected as a top-100 selection in the 2026 MLB Draft, finishing with a 4-4 record and 7.03 ERA over 17 appearances with 13 starts and 71.2 innings while surrendering 16 home runs. The initial No. 2 starter, right-handed Weston Moss, mostly underwhelmed with a 5-2 record and 5.46 ERA over 15 appearances with 14 starts and 64.1 innings while giving up a team-high 17 homers.

Without Sims, the Aggies were short on proven starting pitchers. They opened the postseason with wins over Lamar (7-5) and Texas State (17-2) before suffering back-to-back losses of 14-3 and 7-1 to USC.