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After another tough day for Casey Martin on Saturday, it sounds like Dave Van Horn has seen enough and is ready to make at least a temporary change.
The star shortstop notched a golden sombrero, going 0 for 5 with four strikeouts - including the game-ender - in Arkansas’ 8-7 loss to Texas despite moving out of the cleanup spot and into the 6-hole.
With the Razorbacks set to play one more game at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Classic in Houston, the veteran coach will likely make a more drastic change against Baylor at 7 p.m. Sunday.
“He’s had a few of those performances and there’s really not much you can say anymore,” Van Horn told reporters afterward, according to D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers. “It’s his battle and he’s got to get through it.
“I’m probably not going to play him tomorrow. He needs to sit over here (in the dugout) and watch. I want to win every game, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do.”
It is no secret what Martin focused on throughout the offseason.
Considered a potential first-round pick because of his tools, he knew he needed to cutdown his SEC-leading 23 errors and UA single-season record 79 strikeouts. Despite claims by himself and Van Horn, it doesn’t seem like he’s made much progress in either area.
Although he didn’t wasn’t charged with one against Texas, Martin failed to cut off a throw following Zach Zubia’s first-inning RBI single and the error - charged to left fielder Zack Gregory on the throw - ended up costing Arkansas another run. That came a day after his high throw started the Razorbacks’ downward spiral in the seventh inning of their loss to Oklahoma.
At the plate, he is now hitting just .182 (6 for 33) and has more than twice as many strikeouts (14) as hits through nine games this season.
Martin’s problem at the plate has become painfully obvious since the end of last season. The talented junior from Lonoke has no problem hitting fastballs, but looks lost when pitchers throw him anything off speed.
That issue came to a head in last year’s postseason. Contrary to popular opinion, Martin wasn’t terrible all of 2019. He actually ended the regular season hitting .311, including a respectable .295 in SEC play, and almost exactly half of his hits (40 of 81) went for extra bases.
Since the start of the SEC Tournament and including the start of this season - a span of 20 games - though, Martin is just 13 for 78 (.167) with 30 strikeouts.
Martin has always been a high-strikeout guy, even leading the team in that category with 64 when he also had a team-high .345 batting average as a freshman, but he’s seen his strikeout rate spike to 38.5 percent over those 20 games. He struck out just 25.4% of the time as a freshman in 2018 and only 26.5% of the time during the 2019 regular season.
With four more Saturday, Martin now has 157 career strikeouts. That ranks seventh in UA history and it’s only a matter of time before he passes Brett Eibner’s total of 161, the record for a three-year player.
It is unclear who would start in his place at shortstop. The other three starting infielders are likely candidates to fill in, but that would require movement at other positions.
Heston Kjerstad or, if he’s healthy enough after offseason shoulder surgery, Matt Goodheart could move to first base, meaning Arkansas would have to find a new right fielder or designated hitter. Another option is Zack Gregory, who started in left field for Braydon Webb against Texas, but came to Fayetteville as an infielder.
