HawgBeat - Arkansas Baseball Notebook: DVH speaks at first Swatter's Club of 2024
HawgBeat provides a loaded preseason notebook after Dave Van Horn spoke at the Swatter's Club for the first time in 2024
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Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn met with fans and media at the first Swatter's Club luncheon of the 2024 season on Monday afternoon in Fayetteville.
Van Horn is entering his 22nd season as the head coach of the Razorbacks and he broke down every player on his roster as preseason workouts continue to roll on. The Head Hog touched on just about everything ranging from scheduling details in 2025, thoughts on the MLB Draft, players who are standing out and much more.
A few random notes:
There were a few random notes and tidbits Monday:
- There will be a pregame flyover and a beanie giveaway to the first 1,000 fans on Opening Day (Feb. 16)
- The game against UAPB at Dickey Stephens Park in North Little Rock on Tuesday, April 23 could potentially be televised. The annual game the Hogs play there usually is not streamed anywhere.
- Arkansas baseball has had 13 straight semesters with a team GPA of over 3.0.
- Van Horn said the Diamond Hogs are planning on returning to Arlington, Texas, in 2025 for another early season tournament at Globe Life Field. He mentioned TCU and UCLA as two teams he expects to be part of the field.
- The Head Hog also teased that the Razorbacks could be hosting both Tennessee and Texas for home series as Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville during the 2025 season. He didn't mention those two by name, but context clues made it obvious he meant the Longhorns and Volunteers by saying "a couple of teams that have a T on their hat." He said the five total series will be pretty cool at home in 2025.
- Van Horn mentioned that junior right-handed pitcher Brady Tygart put on 20-25 pounds of good weight this offseason.
"Over the top competitive"
Van Horn spoke very highly of his team's competitiveness during fall scrimmages and even the preseason scrimmages they've had so far in 2024. He said his team might not be the closest they'll get relationship-wise, but they will get there.
"When it gets tough during the season and you're in that bunker — we call the dugout a bunker sometimes — you've only got the people around you to rely on," Van Horn said.
One thing Van Horn made clear was that all of his players have a burning desire to be the best.
"They all want to play professional baseball and they want us to win," Van Horn said. "If you get a good mix there, it can make for a fun situation."
The 2023 Diamond Hogs, who won a share of the SEC regular season title, ran out of gas at the end of the season according to Van Horn. He said he thinks this year's team might be in a better situation.
"We knew it going into the regional," Van Horn said. "We were limping, and I don't think that's going to happen again this year."
Left field battle
One of the only position battles remaining is in left field, where sophomore Jayson Jones, JUCO transfer Will Edmunson and Missouri transfer Ross Lovich are three primary names to watch.
Through the fall and spring preseason scrimmages, Jones is slashing .238/.373/.429 with five doubles, one home run and two RBIs. He's also struck out 15 times with eight walks.
"Jones hit a home run inside (Saturday) — because it went like 415 feet so we give him a home run — it was inside," Van Horn said. "He’s hit some balls good. Then you look at Edmundson, he popped one the other day in a big situation and he also had another hit.
Edmunson has continued to rake after hitting for a .454 batting average at Hutchinson Community College last season. In 54 at-bats, the right-hander has 16 hits, two doubles, two home runs, eight RBIs and 10 strikeouts with four walks. He has a slash line of .296/.367/.444 with an OPS of .811.
"And Lovich, the left-handed hitter, you could always use a lefty against those crafty righties. He’s 20 pounds up from what he was in the fall. I just feel like he’s going to make a push to play as well.
With a limited amount of quality left-handed bats, Lovich will almost certainly be used situationally at a minimum throughout the season. He finished with a .306 batting average in 98 at-bats during the 2023 season with Missouri but has struggled during the preseason with the Hogs.
"So to answer question two of the positions are already taken and left field is still a battle but if we could get Jones to swing it like he does in batting practice — because he hits the ball harder day-in, day-out, every swing is recorded and it’s pretty amazing."
Injury Updates
The most notable injury as of late is to sophomore right-hander Ben Bybee, who exited a scrimmage last Monday with what looked to be a hamstring injury.
"Yeah, he’s got a little bit of a hamstring issue," Van Horn said. "He did it over the holidays working out. I guess he tweaked it in the summer a little bit. It bothered him a little in the fall ball but he … we’re not throwing him this weekend. Obviously he’s not throwing today. He’s a little irritated with that. He wants to pitch.
"And we’re ‘Well, we don’t need to throw you. We need to get healthy.’ Because he’s been throwing the ball good. He’s got another pitch or two this year, he’s bigger and stronger and he throws a lot of strikes. Yeah, it’s a little bit of a light hammy. He’s just got to keep it stretched out. I’m just hoping it’s one of those things that once he gets over the hump it’s done."
A 6-foot-6, 235-pound native of Overland Park, Kansas, Bybee made 15 appearances, including seven starts, on the mound as a true freshman. He posted a 2-1 record with a 7.24 ERA in 27.1 innings and he struck out 29 batters on the year.
Van Horn also added that redshirt junior right-hander Dylan Carter is ahead of schedule on his recovery from tearing his UCL last season.
"We're still going to let him kind of show us what we need to do," Van Horn said. "We're not going to tell him we need him to pitch, he's not going to come in and say 'Hey I need to pitch.' He's going to have to show us that he's ready to pitch at this level. And I wouldn't be surprised if he was, because it's been amazing watching him get better week-by-week."
Van Horn added that freshman lefty Hunter Dietz (stress fracture) probably won't pitch until early April, but he added that fans are going to like the 6-foot-6 lefty from Trinity, Florida.
