Jared Wegner questionable for Tennessee series opener
Arkansas star left fielder Jared Wegner suffered a hairline fracture in his thumb during the first inning of Tuesday's 21-5 win over Little Rock that has left him questionable for Friday's series opener against No. 16 Tennessee.
The transfer from Creighton sustained the fracture in his left thumb sliding into third base in the first inning of Tuesday’s game. Head coach Dave Van Horn said it's 50/50 of whether Wegner could be able to play Friday.
"He's got a little fracture in that thumb, little hairline," Van Horn said Wednesday. "Broken, whatever you want to call it. He's very tough. It's not a clean break or anything, it's more of a hairline fracture.
"It's very painful right now, but I think if anybody could handle the pain, it would probably be him. I don't know yet. We'll know more tomorrow. I don't think it'll be until Friday I'll know if I'm going to write him in the lineup. He's going to have to show me he can play."
With the injury being sustained to his left thumb, the right-handed hitting Wegner is at an advantage with the injury, according to Van Horn.
"He can grip the bat," Van Horn said. "If you hurt your top hand thumb, it’s going to affect you more than the bottom hand, I would think, the way we swing a bat. It’s more about the pain and him not thinking about that thumb, so if he shows me tomorrow that he can hit a little bit or Friday, we’ll probably go with him. But we won’t know for a day or two."
Once the team looked at Wegner after Tuesday's game, they realized he wouldn't be able to play in Wednesday's 11-4 loss to the Trojans. It then became a situation of whether or not he can play Friday, or any game against the Volunteers for that matter.
Wegner leads Arkansas with 12 home runs, 22 RBIs, 27 walks and he's tied with Jace Bohrofen for the team-lead with 37 runs scored. The potential of not having his bat in the heart of the lineup would be detrimental for a big series against Tennessee.
As far as replacements go, the best option seems to be putting designated hitter Kendall Diggs in right field and moving Bohrofen, who is the starting right fielder, to Wegner's spot in left field. In that scenario, the team would need to bring on another DH in place of Diggs.
"I could put Kendall in right, Bohrofen in left," Van Horn said Wednesday. "I could have another DH. There’s options there."
The worry at that point would be Diggs' fielding abilities in right. The one game he started in the field was on March 15 against UNLV and he had an error on a ball that hit off his glove. He also went to right field in the fifth inning of Tuesday's run-rule win over Little Rock. Centerfielder Tavian Josenberger said he thinks Diggs has improved in the field.
"He’s definitely gotten a lot better," Josenberger said Wednesday. "Just getting more reps because he’s honestly pretty new out there. But yeah, if he sticks him out there, he’ll be perfectly fine."
The top options for DH in place of Diggs could possibly be freshman Reese Robinett (hits lefty) with a right-hander on the mound and potentially junior Peyton Holt (hits righty) with a lefty on the mound. All three of Tennessee's starting pitchers are right-handers, so Van Horn will have some tough decisions to make.
Robinett boasts a .286 average, two homers, six hits and seven RBIs in 21 at bats. Holt has a .318 average with one home run, seven hits and seven RBIs in 22 at bats this year.
Of course, everything is situational and other names could come into play, such as redshirt junior Hunter Grimes, who started in left field during Wednesday's loss to Little Rock. Grimes has a .357 batting average with five hits, one triple and six RBIs across 14 at bats this year. He went 0-6 with with a run scored, four walks, a sacrifice fly and one strikeout in two starts against Little Rock.
"I think Hunter had been swinging it well and he hadn’t had a lot of opportunities until today," Van Horn said. "He popped up a few times and hit a decently hard ground ball to third, struck out the other at bat, maybe walked. But yeah, I don’t know yet."
The potential of Wegner playing still hasn't been rule out yet, though, and first baseman Brady Slavens said Wegner is a tough guy who just wants to help the team win.
"He’s good," Slavens said. "I mean he just wants to do whatever is best for the team, whether or not he’s ready to go or not. So if he’s not, he has full faith in anybody that steps in for him and has his back. He’s in good spirits. Really good player, so he’s going to bounce back."
Arkansas and Tennessee will begin Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium with first pitch set for 7 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. First pitch Saturday will be 6:30 p.m. and Sunday will be 2 p.m., with both games being streamed on the SEC Network Plus.