Diamond Hogs have solid bullpen options entering 2024
Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn spoke to the media Thursday and set the tone with his confidence in the Diamond Hogs’ bullpen heading into his 22nd season as head coach in Fayetteville.
"The bullpen is shaping up fine,” Van Horn said. “We have some really good arms. Obviously they have to go out and do it in a real game, but bullpens have been great. We feel like we have a really good mix of left and right-handed pitching. The right-handed pitching is usually there, but having some options (that are) left-handed out of the pen is going to be a big-time plus for us this year.”
Throughout the 2023 season, the Arkansas bullpen was somewhat of a mystery. With injuries to key pieces such as Koty Frank, Brady Tygart and Dylan Carter, Van Horn was left hoping true freshmen like Ben Bybee, Christian Foutch and Parker Coil could grow up quickly.
Carter is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, while freshman lefty Hunter Dietz has a stress fracture that will hold him out of live action until likely April. Aside from those two, the Razorbacks are expected to have a relatively healthy pitching staff when official practice begins Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Frank was primed for a successful first year as a Razorback before tearing his lat March 5. The former transfer from Nebraska will likely have a big role out of the bullpen as a sixth-year senior just a year removed from throwing 11 innings before injury.
“He looks 100% to me,” Van Horn said. “He’s thrown a couple times to live hitters in the indoor and he pretty much sliced them up, because that’s what he does. He’s different. He’s got an incredible changeup with movement, works fast, fields his position. I think he’ll get a lot of innings for us if he stays healthy, and I don’t see why he wouldn’t.”
Fifth-year senior Will McEntire's game is similar to Frank's, as the pair are both big right-handers with nasty off-speed pitches and lower velocities on the fastball. While he began the 2023 season as a starter, McEntire is going to be one of the go-to options out of the bullpen for Van Horn this spring.
Sophomore righty Gage Wood emerged as a reliable closer last year as a young freshman. Wood finished with 23 appearances and a 4.80 ERA, and the role for him will likely only grow. Van Horn’s praise alluded that a potential “sophomore leap” could be in play for Wood.
“He had a really good fall,” Van Horn said. "You’ll see he’s really grown up, matured. He looks older, physically in tremendous shape. As far as throwing the baseball, he’s been better than he ever has been.”
As Van Horn mentioned, Arkansas will have a few left-handed options out of the pen, something the Razorbacks haven’t always had during his tenure. Kansas transfer Stone Hewlett, sophomore Parker Coil and a handful of freshmen make up the lefty options.
Hewlett finished third in the Big 12 with 28 appearances last year, and he recorded 42 strikeouts to just 13 walks. While Hewlett's stats (4.68 ERA) may be inflated due to Kansas’ abysmal record, the production is there, and Van Horn recognized that when he brought Hewlett in from the portal.
“If you’re looking for a left-on-left matchup, we have Stone Hewlett, transferred in from Kansas," Van Horn said. "That’s what he does, he gets lefties out.”
The Razorbacks will open up the season Feb. 16 against James Madison with a four-game series, and the first three starters on the mound are becoming highly-anticipated.
Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina could all make up a trio that will share the mound in respective starts at Baum-Walker Stadium opening weekend, but the fourth starter is unknown right now.
“Guys are going to get to throw the next three weekends," Van Horn said. "If someone really jumps out there and it’s easy for us, great. One of the pitchers who’s made a really big jump is Ben Bybee. He throws nothing but strikes, for the most part now. Really good breaking ball, now he’s got a slider/cutter, he needed that other pitch. Got a good changeup. A little older, he’s a guy who could take it.”
A right-handed sophomore, Bybee was thrown into the wolves as a freshman due to the previously mentioned injuries, and struggled at times. Bybee started seven games and appeared in 15, as he earned a 7.24 ERA thanks to allowing 22 earned runs on 32 hits. Bybee did, however, strike out 29 batters and walk 24 on the year.
Coil and sophomore right-hander Christian Foutch join Bybee and Wood as part of an intriguing second-year group. Other names to keep an eye on include sophomore righty Cooper Dossett, junior right-hander Jake Faherty and freshmen righty Gabe Gaeckle.
It’s fair to say that the Razorback bullpen, if healthy, has potential to be one of the best in the SEC. The Diamond Hogs will hold their first official preseason practice Friday at 2 p.m. CT at Baum-Walker Stadium. If weather permits the team to play outside, the scrimmage will be open to the public.
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