I've got a loaded notebook from today's interview with DVH...
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman outfielder Gabe D’Arcy is no longer with the program.
HawgBeat originally reported the news prior to Friday’s season opener against Illinois State, as he left the team the day before.
Head coach Dave Van Horn commented on D’Arcy’s decision during Tuesday morning’s press conference, telling reporters that it was “100% his call” to leave and that it came shortly after they discussed him redshirting in 2022.
“We told him there was going to be a good chance we’d redshirt him and talked about next year and the future, so we were really positive with him,” Van Horn said. “Then an hour later he sends a text that says, ‘I don’t want to play anymore,’ to Coach (Nate) Thompson.”
Upon further investigation, Van Horn said he believes homesickness played a role in his decision to leave. D’Arcy played at JSerra Catholic, a baseball power in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., which is in Orange County near Los Angeles.
“It was just kind of like, ‘Wow, really?’” Van Horn said. “Then you talk to the players who live with him and you find out that he really wasn’t happy being away from California, honestly.”
Despite being a heralded recruit coming out of high school, checking in at No. 204 in Perfect Game’s ranking of Class of 2021 prospects, D’Arcy was likely heading for a redshirt because of Arkansas’ deep outfield that features five potential starters.
However, listed at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, he was a promising prospect with raw power and athleticism. In five public scrimmages leading up to the season, though, D’Arcy went just 3 for 16 (.188) with a double, two RBIs, four runs, two walks and six strikeouts.
Round Rock Time Changes
With cold temperatures and a slight chance of rain in the forecast the first two days of the event, the Round Rock Classic has moved up the start times of each game this weekend.
Instead of playing at 7 p.m. CT Friday and 6 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday, the Razorbacks’ three games are now scheduled to start at 4 p.m. CT. It’s also worth noting, however, that they are the second game at Dell Diamond, home of the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate Round Rock Express, each day.
All three games will still be streamed on FloBaseball.
Same Rotation
Arkansas will not make any changes to its weekend rotation, Van Horn confirmed Tuesday.
That means right-hander Connor Noland will pitch Friday against Indiana, left-hander Hagen Smith will pitch Saturday against No. 3 Stanford and right-hander Jaxon Wiggins will pitch Sunday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Each of the starters threw at least five innings on Opening Weekend, highlighted by Smith’s six scoreless innings in his collegiate debut. They combined for a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings against Illinois State.
“Connor had a rough first inning, but after that I thought he was really good,” Van Horn said. “We have no problem putting him out there. Obviously Hagen threw the ball extremely well game two, and we’ll keep him there, and I thought Wiggins threw the ball extremely well.”
Ramage’s Role
The only pitcher who made two appearances over the weekend was super senior Kole Ramage.
The right-hander took the loss in Game 1, giving up an earned run in 1 1/3 innings, and then earned a four-inning save in the series-clinching Game 3 win, allowing just one earned run again.
Pitching twice in one weekend is something Van Horn could see Ramage doing throughout the season. He threw 18 pitches Friday and 61 pitches two days later.
“He could be a guy that could close, use him for the last three innings on a Friday and maybe throw him for an inning on Sunday, or use him just like we used him last weekend, a little bit more than the other guys,” Van Horn said. “He’s an older guy, he wants to pitch.”
Other Bullpen Arms
Including Ramage, Arkansas used seven different relievers on Opening Weekend and they combined for a 2.45 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Uncertainty surrounding the bullpen was - and probably still is - one of the main concerns about this year’s team, but if the Illinois State was their first test, they aced it.
However, that was just one series and the Razorbacks still have three more weeks, and 13 total games, before welcoming Kentucky to Baum-Walker Stadium on March 18 for their SEC opener.
“We do think we have some really good arms and some guys that can help us, where when you’re talking about future travel, for example when you can take 27 or 30 to an SEC weekend, it’s gonna be tough when you get down to those last couple of guys on there you can take,” Van Horn said. “Hopefully that’ll start to clear up here in the next few weeks.”
After Sunday’s game, Van Horn mentioned right-hander Issac Bracken and left-hander Nick Griffin as the top two bullpen arms they didn’t use the first weekend. Both pitchers missed last season, as Bracken was a graduate transfer from Northern Colorado who had an elbow injury just before the season and Griffin was a heralded freshman who needed Tommy John surgery upon arrival on campus.
Asked again at Tuesday’s media availability about other relievers he’d like to see pitch sooner rather than later, the veteran coach mentioned senior Elijah Trest, redshirt sophomore Evan Gray and true freshman Nick Moten — all of whom are right-handed.
“These are guys that all haven't pitched yet and we like them and there's more,” Van Horn said. “So we have we have a lot of work to do to get those guys in the game, and we'd like to score some runs.”
(Story continues below)
HawgBeat - Around the Diamond: D'Arcy leaves team, time change, stat check, more
HawgBeat provides several baseball notes, stats and other tidbits.
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman outfielder Gabe D’Arcy is no longer with the program.
HawgBeat originally reported the news prior to Friday’s season opener against Illinois State, as he left the team the day before.
Head coach Dave Van Horn commented on D’Arcy’s decision during Tuesday morning’s press conference, telling reporters that it was “100% his call” to leave and that it came shortly after they discussed him redshirting in 2022.
“We told him there was going to be a good chance we’d redshirt him and talked about next year and the future, so we were really positive with him,” Van Horn said. “Then an hour later he sends a text that says, ‘I don’t want to play anymore,’ to Coach (Nate) Thompson.”
Upon further investigation, Van Horn said he believes homesickness played a role in his decision to leave. D’Arcy played at JSerra Catholic, a baseball power in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., which is in Orange County near Los Angeles.
“It was just kind of like, ‘Wow, really?’” Van Horn said. “Then you talk to the players who live with him and you find out that he really wasn’t happy being away from California, honestly.”
Despite being a heralded recruit coming out of high school, checking in at No. 204 in Perfect Game’s ranking of Class of 2021 prospects, D’Arcy was likely heading for a redshirt because of Arkansas’ deep outfield that features five potential starters.
However, listed at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, he was a promising prospect with raw power and athleticism. In five public scrimmages leading up to the season, though, D’Arcy went just 3 for 16 (.188) with a double, two RBIs, four runs, two walks and six strikeouts.
Round Rock Time Changes
With cold temperatures and a slight chance of rain in the forecast the first two days of the event, the Round Rock Classic has moved up the start times of each game this weekend.
Instead of playing at 7 p.m. CT Friday and 6 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday, the Razorbacks’ three games are now scheduled to start at 4 p.m. CT. It’s also worth noting, however, that they are the second game at Dell Diamond, home of the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate Round Rock Express, each day.
All three games will still be streamed on FloBaseball.
Same Rotation
Arkansas will not make any changes to its weekend rotation, Van Horn confirmed Tuesday.
That means right-hander Connor Noland will pitch Friday against Indiana, left-hander Hagen Smith will pitch Saturday against No. 3 Stanford and right-hander Jaxon Wiggins will pitch Sunday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Each of the starters threw at least five innings on Opening Weekend, highlighted by Smith’s six scoreless innings in his collegiate debut. They combined for a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings against Illinois State.
“Connor had a rough first inning, but after that I thought he was really good,” Van Horn said. “We have no problem putting him out there. Obviously Hagen threw the ball extremely well game two, and we’ll keep him there, and I thought Wiggins threw the ball extremely well.”
Ramage’s Role
The only pitcher who made two appearances over the weekend was super senior Kole Ramage.
The right-hander took the loss in Game 1, giving up an earned run in 1 1/3 innings, and then earned a four-inning save in the series-clinching Game 3 win, allowing just one earned run again.
Pitching twice in one weekend is something Van Horn could see Ramage doing throughout the season. He threw 18 pitches Friday and 61 pitches two days later.
“He could be a guy that could close, use him for the last three innings on a Friday and maybe throw him for an inning on Sunday, or use him just like we used him last weekend, a little bit more than the other guys,” Van Horn said. “He’s an older guy, he wants to pitch.”
Other Bullpen Arms
Including Ramage, Arkansas used seven different relievers on Opening Weekend and they combined for a 2.45 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Uncertainty surrounding the bullpen was - and probably still is - one of the main concerns about this year’s team, but if the Illinois State was their first test, they aced it.
However, that was just one series and the Razorbacks still have three more weeks, and 13 total games, before welcoming Kentucky to Baum-Walker Stadium on March 18 for their SEC opener.
“We do think we have some really good arms and some guys that can help us, where when you’re talking about future travel, for example when you can take 27 or 30 to an SEC weekend, it’s gonna be tough when you get down to those last couple of guys on there you can take,” Van Horn said. “Hopefully that’ll start to clear up here in the next few weeks.”
After Sunday’s game, Van Horn mentioned right-hander Issac Bracken and left-hander Nick Griffin as the top two bullpen arms they didn’t use the first weekend. Both pitchers missed last season, as Bracken was a graduate transfer from Northern Colorado who had an elbow injury just before the season and Griffin was a heralded freshman who needed Tommy John surgery upon arrival on campus.
Asked again at Tuesday’s media availability about other relievers he’d like to see pitch sooner rather than later, the veteran coach mentioned senior Elijah Trest, redshirt sophomore Evan Gray and true freshman Nick Moten — all of whom are right-handed.
“These are guys that all haven't pitched yet and we like them and there's more,” Van Horn said. “So we have we have a lot of work to do to get those guys in the game, and we'd like to score some runs.”
(Story continues below)
