2/8/2023 baseball Edit

Arkansas Baseball 2023 Lineup Projection: No. 7 - Hudson Polk

Mason Choate • HawgBeat

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We are nine days away from Arkansas baseball, and HawgBeat is continuing its lineup preview series for the 2023 Diamond Hogs.

The Razorbacks will return just two starters from last year's lineup, so fans will soon become familiar with all of the new faces.

With scrimmage coverage, weekly notebooks, position previews, the Diamond Hawgs Podcast and more, HawgBeat provides the best Arkansas baseball coverage around.

We continue things with the seven-hole spot, which is projected to be filled by junior catcher Hudson Polk...

#16 - Hudson Polk - C

Jr. | R/R | 6' 1" | 205

Coppell, Texas / Coppell HS / Oklahoma

2022: 6 games, .313/.522/.563, 5 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 7 BB/8 K

Arkansas have been fortunate to have exceptional players at the catcher position over the past 10 years. The last three Diamond Hogs catchers — Grant Koch, Casey Opitz and Michael Turner — were all extremely reliable and great at what they did.

With the departure of Opitz after the 2021 season, Turner transferred in last year from Kent State and put together a strong campaign in Fayetteville. He slashed .323/.388/.323 with 17 doubles, nine homers and 53 RBIs, all while being a nearly everyday player behind the plate.

Turner was selected in the 9th round of the MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. His backup, Dylan Leach, transferred to Missouri, leaving the Hogs with a lot of work to do in the transfer portal.

Head coach Dave Van Horn and his staff went out and got three catchers from the portal — Oklahoma's Hudson Polk, Eastern Oklahoma State College's Parker Rowland and New Mexico State's Cal Kilgore. As things currently stand, the battle for the starting catcher spot is between Polk and Rowland, with Polk having a slight edge.

"Those are the two guys," Van Horn said on Jan. 20. "Those are the guys that are going to log the innings and get it done for us back there. I just feel like that someone will be the No. 1 guy. If you’re going off of fall ball, it’s Polk. But I feel like the other catcher’s right on his tail."

Polk spent the past two seasons at Oklahoma, where he played in just 16 games. He backed up starting catcher Jimmy Crooks during the Sooners' 2022 season, which featured an appearance at the College World Series.

During his sophomore campaign, Polk slashed .313/.522/.563 with, five hits, five RBIs and five runs scored. The Coppell, Texas, native recorded two doubles, one triple, drew seven walks and was successful on his only stolen base attempt.

Oklahoma started Polk behind the plate six times in 2022, and he had a .980 fielding percentage with one error. He caught just one runner stealing on seven attempts.

Though Polk has a leg up on Rowland in the position battle, the two are good friends, according to Van Horn.

"They work hard, and they're both gonna get to play," Van Horn said after the Sept. 30 Fall World Series. "A switch-hitter and a right-handed hitter. They both swung the bat good tonight. They've caught the ball well, thrown well. You know, we've been very fortunate here over the last 10 years, we've had some good catchers, and these guys are gonna be fine."

So far in preseason scrimmages, Polk has been with the squad that features projected starters and the slight edge he had on Jan. 20 has grown. During Sunday's scrimmage, he picked off Jayson Jones at first base and threw out Kendall Diggs trying to steal third, while reaching base three times in four plate appearances.

Polk might not be the experienced catcher that Arkansas fans are used to, but he seems to have what it takes. During an Oct. 12 scrimmage against the Texas Rangers Instructional League team, Van Horn said Polk called nearly the whole game by himself.

"He did a great job behind the plate," Van Horn said. "You can really see the leadership abilities there. Takes control of the game. We didn't call one pitch, well maybe a couple, I guess we did late...but other than that he called every pitch. He was solid. Blocking was outstanding."

The Diamond Hogs will start their season on Feb. 17 at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas. The first matchup will be against the Texas Longhorns at 7 p.m. CT.