Reading through the D1Baseball Arkansas fall report from Aaron Fitt. I'm going to add some notable quotes from DVH on some guys below, but obviously I encourage you to give the D1 guys a click because there is way more breakdown than just quotes.
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On Peyton Stovall and his shoulder injury
“He was fighting it last year, he did a great job for us. It was hurting to swing, it was killing him throwing,” Van Horn said. “I expect him to come back and be better than ever. His arm action right now and his throwing looks great, no pain. I feel like he’s gonna have a big-time year.”
On Sac State transfer SS Wehiwa Aloy
“He’s got six home runs this fall, and he hit one into the wind the other day into the batter’s eye, 109 off the bat and didn’t go out of the park. He’s gotten more physical here too,” Van Horn said. “He’s a good kid and he’s played solid defense, fielded everything. He’s one of those guys, if you were doing drills and you said, ‘All right man, let it go,’ he can throw, and it’s accurate. But he’s kind of like a pro where he kind of does what he needs to do, and I’m good with that. He’s gonna be good, a middle of the order hitter, he’s got some power to all fields. He can hit it out anywhere. One thing we’ve tried to work with him on is, you don’t have to attack the first pitch every time, look for a spot and he can hit it.”
On Peyton Holt
“He’s a good ballplayer, man — he’s a tough nut, the players love him,” Van Horn said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was voted a captain. And he can play anywhere. Last year when we were having some problems behind the plate and guys started getting hurt, we started catching him in the bullpen just in case we needed an emergency catcher. So he’s that type of guy, he plays hard. He’ll be in the lineup somehow, somewhere.”
On freshman C Ryder Helfrick
“Here’s a guy that comes in here and we didn’t think he was gonna get to school,” Van Horn said. “Then he gets to school, and all of a sudden — this is what we deal with. We don’t know. We didn’t have enough catchers the last two years, and then we get our starter back [Rowland], and he’s had the best fall. Helfrick’s hit three or four homers, Rowland’s hit three or four, but he’s also hit some doubles. Helfrick’s just been a tough out. He doesn’t strike out much. He’s gonna make us play him, and we’re gonna play him. He’s got a great arm, and he can really catch.”
Matt Hobbs on LHP Hagen Smith
“His slider’s still a plus pitch, the cutter’s good, the splitter has done enough to be used; it’s probably the fourth pitch but good enoguh to be used, and the fastball command is significantly better,” Hobbs said. “I’ve never seen him this good. He’s more physical, I think he weights like 230 now. The job our strength coach does is phenomenal, but the job he’s done with Hagen is next-level great.”
On RHP Brady Tygart
“Transitioning into that starter role last year at the end of the season really set him up,” Hobbs said. “You know who he reminds me of? Coach Van Horn was watching this kid pitch and said it’s like Zac Gallen — it’s four pitches, can throw them all for strikes. Gallen’s curveball is harder, but Brady’s slider can replace that a little bit. Brady’s changeup’s really good. Brady’s average fastball velo is .4 mph lower than Gallen — Brady averages 93. But they’ll botjh pitch with other stuff, both about 47 or 48 percent heater. Both righthanded, both deep deep arsenals. Gallen was a better strike-thrower in college than Brady. I think if Brady is willing to pitch 92-96, which is a wide range of fastball velocity but go down when you can go down and go up when you have to, but if he’s willing to mix, his strength is his arsenal. The curveball is way above-average, but he’s got four average to above-average pitches in college.”
On Texas Tech transfer LHP Mason Molina
“We didn’t have him throw a bunch of breaking balls because we wanted him to develop his changeup, which I think is plus,” Hobbs said. “I felt pretty good about his slider and curveball coming in, because they were good at Texas Tech. I was more concerned with seeing what we had in the changeup and the fastball. and the fasball’s plus — it’s not 96, but it’s 91-93 with huge carry, backspin, throws it above the zone, a ton of swing and miss. It’s like a 40 percent whiff pitch, which is crazy for a fastball. He struck out a bunch of guys with it last year. It had a little more carry as a freshman, less as a sophomore, now back more to carry numbers he had as a freshman. I’m impressed with the kid, how competitive he is. We have Hudson White, he said you’re gonna love [Molina] because when the game starts, he’s like a different dude.”
On RHP Will McEntire
“I feel like he’s kind of the key to this whole thing, because as good as those other guys are, which they are excellent pitchers, Will McEntire is your Swiss army knife. He can do a ton of stuff, has pitched in really big games, and he’s got the ability to rise to the moment, and he’s done that his whole career,” Hobbs said. “So he’s really exciting to me. We’ve always tried to start him because he throws strikes, throws multiple pitches, but when we’ve used him out of the pen in his career he’s always been really good also. So this gives him the chance to get out of the pen and be like a super reliever, the two time per weekend guy, that’s honestly what he’s built to do, unless one of them is a huge workload. He can give you that calming presence in the pen.”
On freshman RHP Gabe Gaeckle
“Electric. He’s been up to 98, almost 99 depending if you round up,” Hobbs said. “It’s a reliever look because he’s small, but I think he’s got a chance to start. It’s four distinct pitches, never threw the changeup in high school so that’s work in progress, but it’s good, really good shaped pitch. I like his slider and his curveball, and the heater is the heater.”
On RHP Christian Foutch
“Exciting guy, the stuff was electric,” Hobbs said. “He throws this split that’s like a demon pitch, 85-86 with sometimes tumbling curveball shape. It’s a split so a little inconsistent, but he threw it in the zone a lot more this fall — heavy swing and miss on that pitch, then he’s added a slider. It’s his third pitch, but he needed something that could spin laterally. His fastball has good life up in the zone, high carry. He looks like he’s striding wide open but does a good job hiding the ball still, which is interesting. He didn’t throw enough strikes last year to be a big factor, but he pitched a lot this summer, with inconsistent results in the Northwoods. But he had a really good fall, a sub-1 WHIP. It’s big time, it really comes out, and he’s big and physical.”
2023 Fall Report: Arkansas • D1Baseball
With an elite pitching staff and a revamped lineup featuring another strong group of transfers, Arkansas should remain a leading contender for the national title in 2024.
On Peyton Stovall and his shoulder injury
“He was fighting it last year, he did a great job for us. It was hurting to swing, it was killing him throwing,” Van Horn said. “I expect him to come back and be better than ever. His arm action right now and his throwing looks great, no pain. I feel like he’s gonna have a big-time year.”
On Sac State transfer SS Wehiwa Aloy
“He’s got six home runs this fall, and he hit one into the wind the other day into the batter’s eye, 109 off the bat and didn’t go out of the park. He’s gotten more physical here too,” Van Horn said. “He’s a good kid and he’s played solid defense, fielded everything. He’s one of those guys, if you were doing drills and you said, ‘All right man, let it go,’ he can throw, and it’s accurate. But he’s kind of like a pro where he kind of does what he needs to do, and I’m good with that. He’s gonna be good, a middle of the order hitter, he’s got some power to all fields. He can hit it out anywhere. One thing we’ve tried to work with him on is, you don’t have to attack the first pitch every time, look for a spot and he can hit it.”
On Peyton Holt
“He’s a good ballplayer, man — he’s a tough nut, the players love him,” Van Horn said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was voted a captain. And he can play anywhere. Last year when we were having some problems behind the plate and guys started getting hurt, we started catching him in the bullpen just in case we needed an emergency catcher. So he’s that type of guy, he plays hard. He’ll be in the lineup somehow, somewhere.”
On freshman C Ryder Helfrick
“Here’s a guy that comes in here and we didn’t think he was gonna get to school,” Van Horn said. “Then he gets to school, and all of a sudden — this is what we deal with. We don’t know. We didn’t have enough catchers the last two years, and then we get our starter back [Rowland], and he’s had the best fall. Helfrick’s hit three or four homers, Rowland’s hit three or four, but he’s also hit some doubles. Helfrick’s just been a tough out. He doesn’t strike out much. He’s gonna make us play him, and we’re gonna play him. He’s got a great arm, and he can really catch.”
Matt Hobbs on LHP Hagen Smith
“His slider’s still a plus pitch, the cutter’s good, the splitter has done enough to be used; it’s probably the fourth pitch but good enoguh to be used, and the fastball command is significantly better,” Hobbs said. “I’ve never seen him this good. He’s more physical, I think he weights like 230 now. The job our strength coach does is phenomenal, but the job he’s done with Hagen is next-level great.”
On RHP Brady Tygart
“Transitioning into that starter role last year at the end of the season really set him up,” Hobbs said. “You know who he reminds me of? Coach Van Horn was watching this kid pitch and said it’s like Zac Gallen — it’s four pitches, can throw them all for strikes. Gallen’s curveball is harder, but Brady’s slider can replace that a little bit. Brady’s changeup’s really good. Brady’s average fastball velo is .4 mph lower than Gallen — Brady averages 93. But they’ll botjh pitch with other stuff, both about 47 or 48 percent heater. Both righthanded, both deep deep arsenals. Gallen was a better strike-thrower in college than Brady. I think if Brady is willing to pitch 92-96, which is a wide range of fastball velocity but go down when you can go down and go up when you have to, but if he’s willing to mix, his strength is his arsenal. The curveball is way above-average, but he’s got four average to above-average pitches in college.”
On Texas Tech transfer LHP Mason Molina
“We didn’t have him throw a bunch of breaking balls because we wanted him to develop his changeup, which I think is plus,” Hobbs said. “I felt pretty good about his slider and curveball coming in, because they were good at Texas Tech. I was more concerned with seeing what we had in the changeup and the fastball. and the fasball’s plus — it’s not 96, but it’s 91-93 with huge carry, backspin, throws it above the zone, a ton of swing and miss. It’s like a 40 percent whiff pitch, which is crazy for a fastball. He struck out a bunch of guys with it last year. It had a little more carry as a freshman, less as a sophomore, now back more to carry numbers he had as a freshman. I’m impressed with the kid, how competitive he is. We have Hudson White, he said you’re gonna love [Molina] because when the game starts, he’s like a different dude.”
On RHP Will McEntire
“I feel like he’s kind of the key to this whole thing, because as good as those other guys are, which they are excellent pitchers, Will McEntire is your Swiss army knife. He can do a ton of stuff, has pitched in really big games, and he’s got the ability to rise to the moment, and he’s done that his whole career,” Hobbs said. “So he’s really exciting to me. We’ve always tried to start him because he throws strikes, throws multiple pitches, but when we’ve used him out of the pen in his career he’s always been really good also. So this gives him the chance to get out of the pen and be like a super reliever, the two time per weekend guy, that’s honestly what he’s built to do, unless one of them is a huge workload. He can give you that calming presence in the pen.”
On freshman RHP Gabe Gaeckle
“Electric. He’s been up to 98, almost 99 depending if you round up,” Hobbs said. “It’s a reliever look because he’s small, but I think he’s got a chance to start. It’s four distinct pitches, never threw the changeup in high school so that’s work in progress, but it’s good, really good shaped pitch. I like his slider and his curveball, and the heater is the heater.”
On RHP Christian Foutch
“Exciting guy, the stuff was electric,” Hobbs said. “He throws this split that’s like a demon pitch, 85-86 with sometimes tumbling curveball shape. It’s a split so a little inconsistent, but he threw it in the zone a lot more this fall — heavy swing and miss on that pitch, then he’s added a slider. It’s his third pitch, but he needed something that could spin laterally. His fastball has good life up in the zone, high carry. He looks like he’s striding wide open but does a good job hiding the ball still, which is interesting. He didn’t throw enough strikes last year to be a big factor, but he pitched a lot this summer, with inconsistent results in the Northwoods. But he had a really good fall, a sub-1 WHIP. It’s big time, it really comes out, and he’s big and physical.”
