5/15/2020 baseball Edit

Diamond Hogs land graduate transfer catcher

Robert Emery will play his final season at Arkansas as a graduate transfer. (San Francisco Athletics)

Andrew Hutchinson • HawgBeat

Managing Editor

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Much like his counterparts in football and basketball this year, Dave Van Horn has been active in the transfer market this offseason.

Having already landed a pair of pitchers, Arkansas now secured a commitment from Robert Emery, catcher from San Francisco. As a graduate transfer, he’ll be immediately eligible in 2021 for his final collegiate season.

Much like Lael Lockhart Jr. from Houston and Issac Bracken from Northern Colorado, Emery was expected to finish his career this season as a fifth-year senior. However, the NCAA granted eligibility relief to all spring athletes in response to the coronavirus pandemic eliminating nearly the entire year.

A two-time selection for the Buster Posey Award watch list, he was riding a 13-game hitting streak - during which he went 22 for 49 (.449) with seven multi-hit games - when the season ended. Including the four games prior to that stretch, Emery hit .381/.451/.540 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 2020.

Emery actually began his career at Dartmouth, where he hit .275 overall and .340 in conference play as a freshman in 2016. That earned him second-team All-Ivy League honors. After that season, he chose to transfer back to his hometown of San Francisco, which required him to sit out the 2017 season.

As the Dons’ backup catcher in 2018, he actually struggled at the plate, going 6 for 40 (.150) with just one RBI. However, he exploded the following two years. Leading the team with a .320 batting average while also notching five home runs and 40 RBIs in 54 games, Emery earned second-team All-WCC honors last season. That set the stage for what was shaping up to be a monster senior year.

With the Razorbacks, Emery will likely serve as Casey Opitz’s replacement. Opitz is considered an MLB Draft prospect even if it is shortened to five rounds and Van Horn has repeatedly said he believes he’ll get drafted. Baseball America rates him as the No. 101 overall prospect, while MLB Pipeline has him at No. 171.

A pair of freshman catchers played for the Razorbacks last season, but Dominic Tamez struggled defensively and Cason Tollett battled an injury. Both players are capable of playing another position, as well. Dylan Leach, a 2021 commit from Carthage, Texas, is also expected to enter the mix as an early enrollee.