From @masonchoate
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn met with the media one final time Wednesday before he begins his 22nd year with the Diamond Hogs when they open the season Friday against James Madison.
The Razorback skipper revealed his starting rotation, shed some light on lineup questions and previewed the challenge James Madison presents with a four-game series to start the 2024 season.
HawgBeat provides notes and analysis on what Van Horn had to say, plus some final thoughts, notes and tidbits ahead of first pitch...
While there was no question that Van Horn was going to list Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina in some order, there was the question of who will get the nod in Monday's fourth game of the series against James Madison.
Sophomore right-hander Ben Bybee and freshman righty Gabe Gaeckle were two solid options, but Van Horn went with a sneaky choice in freshman left-hander Colin Fisher.
"We’ll go with Hagen Smith on Friday, we’ll go with Tygart on Saturday, Molina on Sunday and Colin Fisher on Monday," Van Horn said. "In how many year, maybe never, I’ve been able to tell you a rotation, so hopefully they’ll stay healthy all year and we’ll be able to figure this one out."
The only question about the trio of Smith, Tygart and Molina was which day the latter two would throw.
"It really doesn’t matter," Van Horn said. "And it could change, just maybe the two guys who have been in our program the longest. And you could go through a lot of things. Maybe how they pitched. But I think they’re pretty equal. They’re both really good. We’ll go that way but nah, no particular reason."
A freshman out of Noble, Oklahoma, Fisher will soon suit up for arguably the biggest outing of his career to date. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder was rated as the No. 2 left-handed pitcher in the state of Oklahoma for the 2023 class on Perfect Game.
"We were thinking about Bybee and we’ve got some other guys as well," Van Horn said. "Bybee you know tweaked his hamstring a little bit and his pitch count was down. He tried to pitch last weekend. We were inside. He didn’t have his best stuff and have the command that he’s had. But that’s kind of what we’re looking at.
"If you really look at it, Gabe Gaeckle has pitched really well lately. He threw great last weekend. He would be a candidate and there’s a couple of others. So it’s a good problem to have. Some of these guys are young but their stuff is really good. We’ll just play it out."
Fisher has looked strong in preseason scrimmages, as he's logged a pair of starts and struck out seven batters while walking two across 4.2 innings pitched. Fisher did give up four earned runs on two hits on the mound this preseason, according to stats compiled by Arkansas media members.
Junior second baseman Peyton Stovall suffered a broken foot after getting hit by a pitch on Feb. 5 to set him back 4-6 weeks. It was a tough break for Stovall, who had just recently returned to live action after recovering from a season-ending torn labrum injury last spring.
"It was tough for Peyton," Van Horn said. "It was tough for me personally for Peyton and I think our team feels really bad for him. He was upset about it when he found out. He was ‘Why me? Why does this keep happening?’ He missed games last year. He was really swinging the bat well and playing good good.
"I just told him, ‘You’re one of the strongest guys mentally. You can handle this and that’s why this was put on you.’ He’ll be even more ready to go once he gets it going, gets his live at bats."
As for who will fill in for Stovall, senior infielder Peyton Holt will move from third to second, where he played last year after Stovall went down with the torn labrum. Richmond transfer Jared Sprague-Lott will fill in at third for Holt, and Sprague-Lott could also play second if needed.
"Holt will play there," Van Horn said. "Played there the last third of the season and did a great job. He was going to be our starting third baseman, so Sprague-Lott, who was probably going to play a little bit everywhere, will start and he’s started in college for a few years. So I feel good about those guys defensively."
Given the nickname "spark plug" from Van Horn, Holt saw action in 31 games and he logged 19 starts, with 17 coming at second. He slashed .392/.489/.581 with two homers, four doubles and two triples.
Sprague-Lott was a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 conference selection after starting all 53 games for Richmond last season. He slashed .314/.440/.582 with a team-leading 13 home runs, a team-high 60 runs scored and 43 runs batted in.
Stovall was also the projected leadoff hitter for the Razorbacks, and Van Horn said he expects everyone to just move up one spot in the lineup. That would leave Texas Tech transfer catcher Hudson White as the first player to step in the box for Arkansas on Friday.
"White’s a tough out if he’s catching," Van Horn said. "If he’s not catching, then we’ll flip it around. But if White’s not catching, he’ll be DHing on Friday or Saturday. That’s what we’re looking like.
"Probably I’ll go left after that and then right, then left and then pretty much right after that. If Stovall was in the lineup, he might be hitting leadoff for us and then you go left-right-left-right-left-right probably and then you shuffle a few right-handers at the end."
White slashed .294/.395/.547 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI in 2023 for the Red Raiders. He was also the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2022 after he started 58 games for the Red Raiders.
Van Horn did add that he won't catch White all weekend, which is understandable given that it's a four-game series. Even if it was a normal three-game series, it sounds like freshman Ryder Helfrick would've seen plenty of action.
"Yeah, I won’t catch (White) all weekend, no doubt," Van Horn said. "I think Helfrick is definitely going to catch and you might see another one. We’ll just see how it goes. We feel really good about our catchers and I’m sure it’s going to be an ongoing question throughout the year, unless guys really do well and separate themselves, how I’m going to handle it. I don’t know, I’m going to let it handle itself right now."
The No. 46 overall player in the class of 2023 according to Perfect Game, Helfrick could have been a high draft pick had he chosen not to go to school.
Parker Rowland has the best shot at significant playing time between him and Hudson Polk — the two returning catchers. Rowland hit for a .182 batting average in 2023, but his defense has received constant praise from Van Horn. Polk struggled to hit as he slashed .190/.342/.310 during the 2023 season, but he's been hitting well in preseason scrimmages.
HawgBeat - Arkansas Baseball Notebook: Final Notes Before Opening Day
HawgBeat gives final notes, thoughts and tidbits on Arkansas baseball's rotation, lineup and more ahead of Opening Day.
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn met with the media one final time Wednesday before he begins his 22nd year with the Diamond Hogs when they open the season Friday against James Madison.
The Razorback skipper revealed his starting rotation, shed some light on lineup questions and previewed the challenge James Madison presents with a four-game series to start the 2024 season.
HawgBeat provides notes and analysis on what Van Horn had to say, plus some final thoughts, notes and tidbits ahead of first pitch...
The pitching rotation
While there was no question that Van Horn was going to list Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina in some order, there was the question of who will get the nod in Monday's fourth game of the series against James Madison.
Sophomore right-hander Ben Bybee and freshman righty Gabe Gaeckle were two solid options, but Van Horn went with a sneaky choice in freshman left-hander Colin Fisher.
"We’ll go with Hagen Smith on Friday, we’ll go with Tygart on Saturday, Molina on Sunday and Colin Fisher on Monday," Van Horn said. "In how many year, maybe never, I’ve been able to tell you a rotation, so hopefully they’ll stay healthy all year and we’ll be able to figure this one out."
The only question about the trio of Smith, Tygart and Molina was which day the latter two would throw.
"It really doesn’t matter," Van Horn said. "And it could change, just maybe the two guys who have been in our program the longest. And you could go through a lot of things. Maybe how they pitched. But I think they’re pretty equal. They’re both really good. We’ll go that way but nah, no particular reason."
A freshman out of Noble, Oklahoma, Fisher will soon suit up for arguably the biggest outing of his career to date. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder was rated as the No. 2 left-handed pitcher in the state of Oklahoma for the 2023 class on Perfect Game.
"We were thinking about Bybee and we’ve got some other guys as well," Van Horn said. "Bybee you know tweaked his hamstring a little bit and his pitch count was down. He tried to pitch last weekend. We were inside. He didn’t have his best stuff and have the command that he’s had. But that’s kind of what we’re looking at.
"If you really look at it, Gabe Gaeckle has pitched really well lately. He threw great last weekend. He would be a candidate and there’s a couple of others. So it’s a good problem to have. Some of these guys are young but their stuff is really good. We’ll just play it out."
Fisher has looked strong in preseason scrimmages, as he's logged a pair of starts and struck out seven batters while walking two across 4.2 innings pitched. Fisher did give up four earned runs on two hits on the mound this preseason, according to stats compiled by Arkansas media members.
Plenty of confidence in Holt, Sprague-Lott
Junior second baseman Peyton Stovall suffered a broken foot after getting hit by a pitch on Feb. 5 to set him back 4-6 weeks. It was a tough break for Stovall, who had just recently returned to live action after recovering from a season-ending torn labrum injury last spring.
"It was tough for Peyton," Van Horn said. "It was tough for me personally for Peyton and I think our team feels really bad for him. He was upset about it when he found out. He was ‘Why me? Why does this keep happening?’ He missed games last year. He was really swinging the bat well and playing good good.
"I just told him, ‘You’re one of the strongest guys mentally. You can handle this and that’s why this was put on you.’ He’ll be even more ready to go once he gets it going, gets his live at bats."
As for who will fill in for Stovall, senior infielder Peyton Holt will move from third to second, where he played last year after Stovall went down with the torn labrum. Richmond transfer Jared Sprague-Lott will fill in at third for Holt, and Sprague-Lott could also play second if needed.
"Holt will play there," Van Horn said. "Played there the last third of the season and did a great job. He was going to be our starting third baseman, so Sprague-Lott, who was probably going to play a little bit everywhere, will start and he’s started in college for a few years. So I feel good about those guys defensively."
Given the nickname "spark plug" from Van Horn, Holt saw action in 31 games and he logged 19 starts, with 17 coming at second. He slashed .392/.489/.581 with two homers, four doubles and two triples.
Sprague-Lott was a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 conference selection after starting all 53 games for Richmond last season. He slashed .314/.440/.582 with a team-leading 13 home runs, a team-high 60 runs scored and 43 runs batted in.
Plan at catcher
Stovall was also the projected leadoff hitter for the Razorbacks, and Van Horn said he expects everyone to just move up one spot in the lineup. That would leave Texas Tech transfer catcher Hudson White as the first player to step in the box for Arkansas on Friday.
"White’s a tough out if he’s catching," Van Horn said. "If he’s not catching, then we’ll flip it around. But if White’s not catching, he’ll be DHing on Friday or Saturday. That’s what we’re looking like.
"Probably I’ll go left after that and then right, then left and then pretty much right after that. If Stovall was in the lineup, he might be hitting leadoff for us and then you go left-right-left-right-left-right probably and then you shuffle a few right-handers at the end."
White slashed .294/.395/.547 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI in 2023 for the Red Raiders. He was also the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2022 after he started 58 games for the Red Raiders.
Van Horn did add that he won't catch White all weekend, which is understandable given that it's a four-game series. Even if it was a normal three-game series, it sounds like freshman Ryder Helfrick would've seen plenty of action.
"Yeah, I won’t catch (White) all weekend, no doubt," Van Horn said. "I think Helfrick is definitely going to catch and you might see another one. We’ll just see how it goes. We feel really good about our catchers and I’m sure it’s going to be an ongoing question throughout the year, unless guys really do well and separate themselves, how I’m going to handle it. I don’t know, I’m going to let it handle itself right now."
The No. 46 overall player in the class of 2023 according to Perfect Game, Helfrick could have been a high draft pick had he chosen not to go to school.
Parker Rowland has the best shot at significant playing time between him and Hudson Polk — the two returning catchers. Rowland hit for a .182 batting average in 2023, but his defense has received constant praise from Van Horn. Polk struggled to hit as he slashed .190/.342/.310 during the 2023 season, but he's been hitting well in preseason scrimmages.
