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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will once again be relying on a newcomer at first base this season.
Head coach Dave Van Horn had hoped junior Matt Goodheart could transition from designated hitter to first this offseason, but shoulder surgery over the summer put those plans on hold. With the season now three weeks away, he still isn’t recovered enough to play in the field.
“The problem is Goodheart’s shoulder is not near ready to throw,” Van Horn said. “His defense has been fine fielding the ball, but he will be our DH starting out until that shoulder gets better and we can go from there.”
Goodheart, who is also dealing with a hamstring issue, hit a team-high .345 last year despite a late-season slump after hurting his shoulder diving back into first base on a pickoff attempt in April. The injury caused him to miss three games.
It never fully healed and he tried to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League over the summer, but lasted just a week before deciding to return home and have surgery.
In his absence, the Razorbacks tried several players at first base, including All-American outfielder Heston Kjerstad, during fall practices. With the Feb. 14 opener against Eastern Illinois just around the corner, though, Arizona State transfer Cole Austin has emerged as the leading candidate at first base.
Although Austin played third during the fall and made some nice defensive plays in the scrimmage against Oklahoma, he has experience playing first with the Sun Devils.
His move was made possible by the addition of Robert Moore, a member of Arkansas’ highly touted 2020 class who graduated early and skipped his senior season of high school ball.
A top-20 prospect, Moore will take over at second base, which moves redshirt sophomore Jacob Nesbit back to third base, where he started last season.
The only other injury Van Horn mentioned Friday was to junior Zebulon Vermillion. The right-hander tweaked his hamstring while pitching, which the veteran coach said was “very unusual.”
It doesn’t sound like it’s too serious, though. That is good news because he’s one of a few pitchers Van Horn mentioned as a possible closer, as the Razorbacks try to replace Matt Cronin.
“He’s gotten really big and strong and is throwing the ball extremely well, but he won’t throw this weekend coming up,” Van Horn said. “We’re going to skip him and try to get him ready for next weekend.”
Arkansas was so banged up in the fall that it canceled its annual intrasquad Fall World Series. Most notably, junior college transfer Braydon Webb - the projected starting right fielder - missed both fall scrimmages because of a shoulder injury and shortstop Casey Martin had surgery to remove the hamate bone from his hand.
Those guys are good to go now, as the Razorbacks head into 2020 pretty healthy. Even if they are dealt injuries, though, Van Horn feels pretty good about the depth on this year’s team.
“I guess the good thing with this team compared to last year’s team is we couldn’t afford any injuries last year,” Van Horn said. “We were very thin. We had just enough position players and pitching-wise we had a little depth. … We’re in pretty good shape right now.”
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