HawgBeat - Arkansas rotation not set in stone ahead of Mississippi State series
Dave Van Horn didn't commit to keeping the Razorbacks' same starting rotation ahead of the Mississippi State series.
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Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn didn't fully commit to keeping the No. 5 Razorbacks' same starting rotation ahead of this weekend's series against the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
"We’re not sure on it right now," Van Horn said after Monday's Swatter's Club luncheon. "We’re going to make sure that everybody is good to go and have some conversations and then kind of go from there."
Ace left-hander Hagen Smith and junior righty Brady Tygart have started a game in each of the 12 weekends of baseball the Hogs have played this year, while Texas Tech transfer Mason Molina has started on 11 weekends as he missed the Florida series (April 26-27) due to an ankle injury.
One thing is for sure — Smith is pitching Friday no matter what. The nation's best pitcher, Smith owns a 9-0 record with a 1.36 ERA, 125 strikeouts and 25 walks in 66.0 innings pitched this year.
"He's been amazing," Van Horn said Monday. "He's one of the best pitchers I've ever seen at this level. There's been guys that go through college that have pitched in the big leagues for 20 years and won Cy Young Awards that are not better than what he's doing. Not better than him."
As for Tygart and Molina, their jobs might be up for grabs. The former allowed five earned runs on six hits at Kentucky, while the latter allowed three earned runs on three hits against the Wildcats in just three innings.
Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Gage Wood has put together a pair of solid appearances in a row to get his name in the conversation.
"These guys have to pitch good, because when we get down to the end of the year, we can't just hope they can get it back or hope that they do it," Van Horn said. "We've got to put somebody out there that can do it. So Gage Wood, he could take somebody's job. Because that's the way I feel. I may upset some people, but that's okay. I've got a lot of people mad at me all the time."
Tygart (4-2, 3.34 ERA) pieced together back-to-back starts at South Carolina and against Florida, but he struggled to locate with three walks and two strikeouts in three innings of work against Kentucky.
"The other day, he'd probably tell you it might be his worst start he's ever had," Van Horn said. "Velocity was down. Breaking ball, couldn't throw for a strike. He had a rough start."
Molina (3-2, 3.81 ERA) hasn't gotten out of the fourth inning in either of his last two starts. He walked seven and allowed two earned runs on two hits in 3.1 innings at South Carolina on April 20, and his next outing featured three walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs on three hits in three innings at Kentucky.
"We gave him last week off because he had a little bit of a twisted ankle," Van Horn said. "The weekend before that, he walked 7 in 3.1 (innings). Unheard of. Probably one of the worst starts we've had here in a long time.
"Gave him the ball (Sunday) and just too many balls. Too many scattered pitches and next thing you know, we're losing pretty good. A little frustrating. He has some really good starts, but he's got to be better."
Wood (3-1, 2.81 ERA) made his first career start April 30 and he threw three innings of scoreless ball with four strikeouts and no walks at home against Missouri State.
The Batesville native threw 4.1 innings of relief at Kentucky on Saturday, when he gave up three earned runs on three hits, but looked dominant at times with six strikeouts compared to just two walks.
"It’s been good that (Wood) got to start (against Missouri State) and threw three innings," Van Horn said. "Then he threw 70-something (79) pitches on Saturday. Kind of building up, and even, we’ve been building him up in his bullpens.
"Got that pitch count up a little bit, just in case we needed to do this. We’ll see how it works out. It would be nice if our rotation would get back together and roll, but they've got to do it."
Arkansas should officially announce its rotation at some point Thursday.
The Razorbacks will open the series against Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
