Following a strong 2024 campaign from a select few freshmen pitchers, the Arkansas Razorbacks will look to lean on some of those second-year arms even more in 2025.
Head coach Dave Van Horn and pitching coach Matt Hobbs added plenty of talent to the pitching staff via the transfer portal and freshman recruiting class, but they also have to be pleased with who they return from a year ago.
Right-hander Gabe Gaeckle out of Aptos, California, headlines the group of sophomores, which also features lefties Colin Fisher and Hunter Dietz along with right-hander Tate McGuire, who is coming off a strong summer.
Below is a glance at those four arms, plus a brief update on freshmen pitchers from last year that are moving on from the program.
RHP Gabe Gaeckle - 6’0”, 195 - R/R - Aptos HS/Aptos, Calif.
2024 stats: 22 APP, 0 GS, 2.32 ERA, 3-3 W/L, 7 SV, 42.2 IP, 26 H, 14 R, 11 ER, 19 BB, 57 K, .167 BAA
Gaeckle was a unanimous first-team Freshman All-American during his first season of college baseball for the Razorbacks. He was also a Freshman All-SEC honoree and he became the fifth Arkansas freshman pitcher since 2003 to record five or more saves in a season.
"If you just look at the freshmen pitchers and what he did this year, he was the one that rose to the top," Van Horn said June 26. "We knew how talented he was when we got him here. I mean, last year, when he called us and told us that he wasn’t going to sign, he was taking his name out of the draft, I mean honestly, we’re high-fiving knowing that we got us a guy. You’ve got to have them. You’ve got to have really good players."
During the summer, Gaeckle earned an invite to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp and made the International Friendship Series roster that represented Team USA in a five-game series against Chinese Taipei. He then returned to Fayetteville for a productive fall.
"I think got elevated maybe to the older team, honestly, it’s just going to make him better," Van Horn said of Gaeckle's time with USA Baseball. "Gaeckle’s already mature for a sophomore to be. You can see his demeanor on the mound. All indications are he’s going to be a starter for us and he’ll be a great one. But it excels their development a little bit, at least if anything mentally just to be around those type of players."
According to stats compiled by local media members, Gaeckle appeared five times in the fall and four of those were starts. He did get hit around a little bit by allowing five earned runs on seven hits, but he struck out 10 compared to just two walks.
Gaeckle started the Friday night exhibition matchup against Oklahoma State on Oct. 11 at Baum-Walker Stadium and he tossed a hitless frame that featured three strikeouts on 17 pitches. The plan is likely for him to be part of the starting rotation this season, and he could potentially be the ace of the staff.
LHP Colin Fisher - 6’3”, 225 lbs - L/L - Noble HS/Noble, Okla.
2024 stats: 10 APP, 7 GS, 2.67 ERA, 6-1 W/L, 27.0 IP, 24 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 8 BB, 27 K, .240 BAA
Fisher quickly emerged as a midweek starting option last season and he appeared three times on the weekend, including twice in conference play. In five of his 10 outings, he allowed no earned runs, and he had three outings with no hits allowed.
His first career start was a five-inning outing with three hits allowed, no earned runs, no walks and four strikeouts Feb. 9 against James Madison. His last outing featured him allowing three earned runs on six hits in 4.0 innings against Texas Tech on April 17, and he then was sidelined for the remainder of the year with an arm injury.
Fisher underwent an internal brace procedure, which is different and not as extreme as Tommy John surgery. The lefty didn't pitch in the fall, but Van Horn said June 26 that Fisher should be on track for 2025.
"Seems to be on schedule, ahead of schedule," Van Horn said. "Trying to stay in shape the best he can. Every indication right now, it looked good in there when they looked at it later. Like, hey, the surgery went great. When they got in there it wasn’t a tear, it was kind of a stretch and they could do this different procedure and that was the idea going in. See what they see and then do it and that’s what they did. If all goes good, he should be pitching for us in the spring and he’s a pitcher. You saw that, and he hurt it in high school.
"When they got in there they said this is an old injury. Give him credit too. He’s pitching probably some of his high school year, senior year, and in here with a problem. Pitched really well, especially early in the fall he was really good. When he gets healed up, he should really take off and continue to climb velocity wise. He already has what we call pitch ability. He throws strikes, changes speeds. He knows how to hold runners, quick to the plate. Now stay healthy, if he does that, he’s going to have a great career and he’ll pitch for a long time."
LHP Hunter Dietz - 6’6”, 230 - R/L - Calvary Christian HS/Trinity, Fla.
2024 stats: 2 APP, 0 GS, 0.00 ERA, 0-0 W/L, 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, .250 BAA
Dietz entered the 2024 season still nursing an arm injury from high school and he didn't make his debut until March 30 against LSU. The left-hander was thrown into a high-leverage relief situation and it produced some good experience for him. He also appeared one other time April 9 against San Jose State for 1/3 of an inning.
"Everything was good, it was good, bullpens great, let’s let him go and then it didn’t go good," Van Horn said. "We’ve got to get him healthy because he’s really talented and he pitched so good for a little while last fall. We got to see what he could do and the players knew what he could do. Hitters didn’t like hitting off of him, we could go on and on."
If healthy, Dietz projects to be a big part of the Razorbacks' pitching staff. During the fall of 2023, Dietz struck out 13 batters and walked eight across 8.0 innings pitched, according to stats compiled by Arkansas media. He only allowed two hits in 25 at-bats — the lowest on the team.
"If Hunter Dietz could’ve stayed healthy and Colin Fisher could have stayed healthy, who knows where we would have been (in 2024)," Van Horn said. "We might’ve been able to have a No. 2 and a No. 3 that could have helped Hagen (Smith) a lot more, honestly."
Like Fisher, Dietz also did not pitch in the fall due to injury. HawgBeat has been told Dietz has been getting work in on the side, but there is no official status update as of now regarding if the lefty will be ready for preseason action in January.
RHP Tate McGuire - 6’3”, 210 - R/R - Liberty North HS/Liberty, Mo.
2024 stats: 2 APP, 0 GS, 5.40 ERA, 0-0 W/L, 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, .375 BAA
McGuire appeared twice as a freshman, both of which were in February. He walked two and struck out one in 2/3 of an inning Feb. 18 against James Madison and then he gave up one earned run on three hits in 1.0 inning with three strikeouts and no walks Feb. 27 against Grambling.
D1Baseball called McGuire one of the unofficial MVPs for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer. McGuire posted a team-high 33 strikeouts across 26.0 innings pitched. He started in all seven of his appearances, he walked 12 and he gave up 11 earned runs on 24 hits.
"Tate McGuire, last fall Tate looked really good," Van Horn said June 26. "Didn’t go real well early. He got hit a little bit at the end of fall and then early spring didn’t go great. Put him out there and it didn’t go great, but inside we always thought ‘this guy is going to be good.’ We thought he was going to pitch more as a freshman. For him to go out, have success, do what we thought he could do, it’s big. He walks in here a lot more confident."
McGuire made four relief appearances in the fall and he posted a 5.06 ERA after allowing three earned runs on five hits across 5.1 innings pitched. He struck out seven and walked one.
"His five-pitch repertoire is highlighted by a 91-93 mph sinking fastball (2000 rpm), a 93-95 riding fastball (18” IVB), a late-dipping 81-84 (2050-2275 rpm) changeup and repeatable mid-80s slider that flashes plus (2300-2400 rpm)," D1Baseball wrote. "McGuire will also subtract a bit from his slider and show an 80-81 curve (2400-2500 rpm) to both left and righthanded batters."
Freshmen from 2024 no longer with Arkansas:
- LHP Tucker Holland - 6’6”, 235 lbs - R/L - The Burlington School/Fayetteville, N.C.
- RHP Diego Ramos - 6’3”, 205 lbs - S/R - Vian HS/Vian, Okla.
- RHP Jaewoo Cho - 6’3”, 220 lbs - R/R - IMG Academy/Seoul, South Korea
- LHP Jack Smith - 6’4”, 225 lbs - L/L - Hartselle HS/Moulton, Ala.
