Injury Report: Timeline for Matt Goodheart's return
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will be without its best hitter for at least one more game.
Sophomore Matt Goodheart, who leads the team with a .385 batting average, won’t play in the Razorbacks’ annual game at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock on Tuesday against Grambling State, head coach Dave Van Horn said.
The hope is that he’ll be ready to play in this weekend’s series at Kentucky.
“He’s feeling a lot better today,” Van Horn said after Sunday’s win over Tennessee. “We’re just going to rehab him. … We’re hoping he can swing the bat maybe Wednesday, Thursday and if he can play Friday, we’ll play him Friday.”
A shoulder injury suffered when diving back into first base in the sixth inning of Friday’s series opener against the Volunteers sidelined Goodheart for the final two games of the series.
It was seemingly a big blow to Arkansas’ offense because he had reached base in 20 consecutive games and is hitting .439 in SEC play, but the Razorbacks haven’t skipped a beat.
Junior Jordan McFarland filled in at designated hitter and went 3 for 7 with a double and home run against Tennessee. After starting the season a miserable 4 for 32 (.125), he is actually riding a six-game hitting streak in which he is 10 for 22 (.455)
“I think Jordan’s done a good job helping us win some games this weekend,” Van Horn said. “He’ll stay in the lineup until (Goodheart is) available to go.”
It is unclear how the Razorbacks will handle Goodheart and McFarland if they get healthy and continue to swing the bat well.
One possibility is Van Horn’s original plan earlier in the season: platoon them based on pitching matchups because McFarland is a right-handed batter and Goodheart is a lefty.
Both players are also capable of playing in the field when not serving as the designated hitter. Goodheart has started games at both corner outfield positions and McFarland is a vastly improved first basemen.
That would give Van Horn even more options with his lineup if other players go down with injuries or if he needs to pinch hit in late-game situations.
Sore Arms
Arkansas is also expected to get redshirt junior right-hander Cody Scroggins back this weekend. He was dealing with a sore elbow, so Van Horn decided to rest him as a precaution the last two SEC series.
It sounds encouraging that he'll be able to pitch against Kentucky because he actually wanted to pitch this past weekend against Tennessee.
Unfortunately, just as Scroggins went at the same time Jacob Kostyshock was returning to action, the Razorbacks might be down another bullpen arm right when they get one back.
Sophomore right-hander Zebulon Vermillion was expected to throw a few innings in Sunday's finale against the Volunteers, but was scratched after complaining of soreness in the front part of his shoulder a few minutes before the game.
Van Horn did not specify if that would prevent him from traveling to Kentucky.
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