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FAYETTEVILLE — Although left-hander Nick Griffin needed Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2021 season, two other Arkansas freshmen dealing with injuries have a more positive prognosis moving forward.
Head coach Dave Van Horn gave encouraging updates on catcher Dylan Leach (arm) and right-hander Tyler Cacciatori (shoulder) during Wednesday’s press conference to recap the Razorbacks’ fall.
An early enrollee who skipped his entire senior year at Carthage, Texas, Leach “tweaked his arm” near the end of fall practice and was held out of Arkansas’ annual Fall World Series.
“We had an MRI and everything you could do for the most part and as of right now it looks good,” Van Horn said. “We’re going to take it easy with him all the way until after the holidays.”
That is good news for Leach and the Razorbacks, as he has a good shot at winning the backup job behind Casey Opitz at catcher.
Van Horn singled him out before the Fall World Series as the newcomer who had surprised him the most among position players. Had he not gotten hurt, Leach would have started for the team opposite of Opitz, ahead of JUCO transfer Charlie Welch and second-year freshman Cason Tollett.
Although he wasn’t getting as many hits as he’d probably like, Leach had showcased an ability to get on base via walks that impressed Van Horn. The veteran coach said he also made strides defensively and was throwing out a bunch of potential base stealers.
As for Cacciatori, the right-hander from Sheridan is still dealing with the partially torn labrum that HawgBeat originally reported on in mid-August.
He told HawgBeat then that he would take the non-surgical route and instead opt for PRP therapy injections that’d help heal the shoulder before beginning a throwing program. On Wednesday, Van Horn confirmed that’s what happened.
“We’ve been concerned about it for a while, (but) still wanted him to come in,” Van Horn said. “He’s doing some rehab, looks like it’s not a surgery situation. Anytime you’re talking about certain parts of the arm, there’s some parts you don’t want to get into if you don’t have to.”
A big-game pitcher who took home MVP honors after helping Sheridan win the Arkansas Class 5A state championship as a junior in 2019, Cacciatori wasn’t able to pitch over the summer and his senior season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.
That means he’s behind other pitchers who’ve been healthy the entire time, but Van Horn said he’s getting close to throwing again. He said Cacciatori should be able to do more around Christmas and then they’ll see how he looks when practice rolls around this spring.
“I’m hoping that he’ll be able to help us this year, and if not this year, obviously in the future,” Van Horn said. “He’s a good kid, works extremely hard, really well-liked amongst his teammates, so we’re all pulling for Tyler.”
