Injury Report: Koch, Biggers, Cronin updates
FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas fans found themselves holding their breath during the seventh inning Sunday when catcher Grant Koch went down holding his left ankle while tracking down a passed ball.
It appeared to be a serious injury, as he had to be helped off the field and replaced, but head coach Dave Van Horn speculated after the game and confirmed Tuesday morning that it was just a sprained ankle.
The junior from Fayetteville and team captain gave his head coach an encouraging message on Monday, the day after suffering the injury.
“He said he felt better than he thought he would,” Van Horn said. “He was walking around yesterday without any crutch or anything.”
Van Horn said Koch “probably” wouldn’t start Thursday’s series-opener at Georgia and “maybe” won’t play Friday either, but he is considered day-to-day.
“Hopefully we’ll get him back by the end of the series or the tournament,” Van Horn said. “It’s just a matter of him healing up.”
Although his offensive production (.263/.380/.428) hasn’t lived up to his preseason All-SEC accolades, Koch has been solid defensively and a key to Arkansas’ successful pitching staff. He is still considered one of the top draft prospects at his position.
With him out of the lineup, the Razorbacks will turn to Casey Opitz. The heralded freshman was taken in the 27th round of the MLB Draft last summer, but chose to come to school. In limited action, he is 6 for 24 (.250) with five RBIs, including a sacrifice fly in his lone plate appearance Sunday.
Zach Plunkett, a transfer from TCU, could also get some action. In seven appearances this year, he is 2 for 9 with a home run.
Shortstop Jax Biggers also went down against Texas A&M. He suffered a fractured left index finger when he fouled off a bunt attempt in the first inning Friday.
With the injury on his glove hand, Biggers’ return is dependent on how quickly he heals to the point he can tolerate the pain.
“Biggers is still extremely sore,” Van Horn said. “We had some live pitching yesterday with hitters and he didn’t swing the bat. I don’t know if he’s going to practice too much today.”
The plan is to see how Biggers (.276/.388/.387) feels at practice Wednesday in Georgia. However, it seems like Jack Kenley will continue to start at shortstop.
Despite going 0 for 6 against the Aggies, Kenley managed to reach base on three walks and a hit by pitch. He also laid down two sacrifice bunts and played stellar defense.
The Razorbacks did have some good things happen on the injury front over the weekend. Closer Matt Cronin made his first appearance in three weeks on Sunday after being out with mono.
He needed only 14 pitches to retire the first five Texas A&M batters he faced and was sitting in the mid 90s with his fastball.
When he went out to pitch the ninth inning, Cronin’s velocity topped out at 89 miles per hour and he was leaving everything up in the zone, resulting in back-to-back walks that marked the end of his outing.
Speaking to the media for the first time since getting sick, Cronin said he lost about 10 pounds during a five-day period in which he felt weak and couldn’t eat. Although he is healthy again, he is still working on his endurance – which contributed to his legs giving out against the Aggies.
“I’m probably still working my way back on just more endurance,” Cronin said. “I’d say my strength is there, it’s just trying to be able to hold what I have for extended periods.”
Monday was the first time Cronin was cleared to work out, so he hopes to regain the final three or four pounds he lost while sick.
Van Horn said he hopes to throw Cronin a maximum of 30 pitches at Georgia this weekend. That could be an inning in two separate outings or two innings in one appearance and only a hitter or two in a second appearance.