Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said in January 2024 that Ryder Helfrick was as good as any freshman catcher Van Horn has ever had with the Razorbacks.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound product of Discovery Bay, California, appeared in 31 games as a freshman for the Diamond Hogs and he slashed .179/.320/.321 with 15 hits, three doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs. Helfrick had his moments, including a moon shot ninth inning homer at Auburn, but he also had some growing pains as a freshman.
After a very strong summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League and an impressive fall in Fayetteville, Helfrick has a good shot to be the everyday catcher for Van Horn during the 2025 season.
"He’s the front-runner obviously," Van Horn said Sept. 3. "He brings more than just receiving to the game and calling the game. He can really block and control the running game. He can call pitches and deal with our pitchers.
"Then on the offensive side, you’re getting a guy that made a jump offensively and really started working on some things toward the end of the season and took it into the summer. He calmed down his swing a little bit and didn’t try to pull everything. I think he just changed his mindset a little bit and had a great summer."
Helfrick played in 36 games with the Brewster Whitecaps of the CCBL in the summer and he slashed .261/.323/.514 with three doubles, 11 home runs and 37 RBIs. He earned a spot on the CCBL All-Star team for his efforts.
"It was fun watching Ryder play this summer," Van Horn said Sept. 3. "He’s tougher than nails honestly. Very athletic. He can run. Tremendous arm. He’s got power. He proved that this summer with a wood bat. I watched him play two games up in the Cape, and both times I went to watch him play, he didn’t catch he just DHed and hit in the 3-hole, because it was kind of an every-other-day thing."
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The fall was a success for Helfrick, who had a 1.205 OPS with 12 hits, two doubles and four home runs, according to stats compiled by local media. He ranked second on the squad with 13 RBI and he also walked three times compared to just three strikeouts.
Helfrick drove in three runs during the Oct. 4 Fall Classic intrasquad scrimmage at Baum-Walker Stadium. Two of those came via a 411-foot homer to dead centerfield off sophomore pitcher Tate McGuire, plus he threw his second runner out in as many innings from behind the dish in the next half inning.
Coming out of Clayton Valley Chart High School, Helfrick was ranked as the No. 3 catcher in the 2023 class by Perfect Game, which also has him rated as the No. 27 overall prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft.
Helfrick split time with catcher Hudson White last season, plus veterans Parker Rowland and Hudson Polk were still on the team, too. He now enters this spring as the top dog, along with the other options including JUCO transfer Elliott Peterson, who hit for a .517 average last year in junior college, and freshmen Zane Becker and Carson Willis.
The Razorbacks will open their season Friday, Feb. 14, against Washington State at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
