The 2023 season could be labeled as the year of the injury for head coach Dave Van Horn and his Arkansas baseball team.
Before even playing a game, the Diamond Hogs were down one of their top players as projected ace and right-hander Jaxon Wiggins tore his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) be prior to the start of the season. Wiggins was the first of many unfortunate setbacks for Arkansas players.
The second season-ending injury came when Nebraska graduate transfer right-hander Koty Frank tore his lat on March 5 during a game against Wright State. Frank had a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings. The righty had nine strikeouts compared to just one walk in that span.
Like Wiggins, Frank was projected to throw a lot of innings for the Razorbacks. The native of Tushka, Oklahoma, remained with the team throughout the season and was commonly helping pitchers as they warmed up in the bullpen.
Another season-ending injury came later in the year when sophomore second baseman Peyton Stovall's year came to an end after 38 games due to a torn labrum.
Both Frank and Stovall are both already back in Fayetteville working out, helping with camps and rehabbing, according to Van Horn.
"Coming along good as far as we know," Van Horn said Tuesday . "Corey Wood, our trainer, and I said he was the busiest trainer in the country last year, he’s working hard this summer helping those guys. We just appreciate the effort that they’re putting in to get back.
"That’s really about all I can give you right now, because we’re not throwing ball yet, obviously, and those type things. They’re not. They’re just working on their bodies and staying in shape, and working on a little mobility.We’re going to do everything we can to get those guys back 100%."
While Frank is expected to make a full recovery, there's always the chance that Stovall — who posted that he had surgery on June 8 — might not go back to his same second base role right away. He played through the injury until the pain became too much on April 29 against Texas A&M. Stovall slashed .253/.330/.393 with five home runs and 31 RBIs prior to the injury.
After playing primarily first base during his freshman season, Stovall could potentially move back there as a junior due to the injury. Arkansas baseball has seen a similar situation in recent history as recently pointed out by Andrew Hutchinson of Best of Arkansas Sports. Trevor Ezell converted to first in the 2019 due to an offseason shoulder surgery and he ended up being an SEC All-Defensive Team selection.
Van Horn didn't think the injury would be an issue, though, and he said the conversation with Stovall is that he expects to play second base next year.
"I feel like it’ll be fine," Van Horn said of Stovall's shoulder. "Just kind of the way it turned out. They got in there, looked at it, fixed it. Just things I’ve heard. I know he’s going to work extremely hard to get back. I just feel good about it. I’ve seen that injury with a pitcher – a little more difficult (than) with a position player. You can use different arm slots and he’s got all of those arm slots and I think he’s going to be just fine."
The player that commonly filled in for Stovall was Peyton Holt, who is draft eligible following his junior season. Holt slashed .392/.489/.581 across 31 games played and 19 starts. Van Horn said Holt is a utility type player who he expects to be back for another year in Fayetteville.
"He had some injuries last year," Van Horn said of Holt. "Just about the time it looked like he might get in the lineup a lot, he hurt his hamstring. Obviously, the back thing. Just got to keep him healthy. He’s working on that this summer to limber up a little bit.
"He’s extremely strong. It’s not all about strength with him, it’s already there. It’s more about flexibility. I think he’ll be battling to play and getting the lineup a lot. That’s what you want. You want guys that really want to get after it and play and Holt’s that guy."
Another season-ending injury came when right-hander Dylan Carter revealed on May 3 that he had torn his UCL. As a redshirt sophomore, Carter had really taken the next step with the Diamond Hogs. The Bentonville native appeared in 16 games and had a 3.65 ERA across 37.0 innings pitched.
With a usual recovery time of at least a year following Tommy John surgery, Carter is looking at potentially being able to throw late in the 2024 season, but that's still up in the air.
"I don’t think anybody can outwork him and he’s tough as can be," Van Horn said. "I think if he does pitch, it would be late in the season. We’ll just try to evaluate that as best we can through late fall, January.
"The issue is, you’ve got to turn in a roster, but they’ve raised the number on the roster to 40 instead of 35. You used to have to turn in a roster of 35, so now we can go to 40. Unless that changes, because you know, things change. It’ll really just be up to how he feels."
Two other significant pitchers for Arkansas suffered injuries during the 2023 season. Sophomore righty Brady Tygart sprained his UCL on March 1 against Illinois State, but he returned as a starting pitcher on April 28 and he excelled in the new role.
In four SEC starts, Tygart had a 1.80 ERA, 12 strikeouts and two walks across 10.0 innings pitched. The Hernando, Mississippi, native earned an invite to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp for the second year in a row, but he elected to rest instead.
"We were really trying to take it easy with him there at the end of the season for the most part, keeping an eye on him," Van Horn said. "Just don’t want to aggravate anything. Just want him to heal up and be ready to go in the fall. So yeah, he didn’t go."
The other injured arm was left-hander Hunter Hollan, who had minor surgery to repair entrapment of the saphenous nerve located at the adductor canal in his left knee on June 9. Although Hollan threw out the idea of a return, he is ranked the No. 100 MLB Draft prospect and Van Horn doesn't expect him back.
"I would love to have him back," Van Horn said. "Let’s just leave it at that. I figure someone is going to sign him, but I would love to have Hunter back."
Van Horn and his staff still have plenty of work to do to shape the 2024 roster and the next step is the 2023 MLB Draft on July 9-11.
