February 15, 2024 at 2:42 p.m.
FAYETTEVILLE — Pitcher communication technology will be utilized in an Arkansas baseball game for the first time Friday when the fourth-ranked Razorbacks open the season with a game against James Madison at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Catchers will call pitches via transmitters similar to PitchCom devices used in Major League Baseball. Pitchers will be alerted through ear-piece receivers worn on their caps, and position players will be able to track the communication via wristbands they will wear on the field.
Arkansas players have been using the technology during preseason practices. Other schools, such as LSU and Vanderbilt, used similar technology in games last season. PitchCom technology has been fully embraced by MLB in recent years.
“Guys feeling comfortable with it is probably the biggest adjustment,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “And that includes me.”
The devices help speed up the game by eliminating signs from the dugout. If a coach wants to call a pick-off throw, he simply has to punch a button on a transmitter that will alert players on the field.
“I’m calling plays with someone standing next to me that’s plugging it in,” Van Horn said. “If that someone who is plugging it in gets sick that day, I’ve got to make sure I know what I’m doing or we have someone else who can get it in, because we really don’t have physical signs anymore.”
Van Horn called the system “better” because it helps with pace-of-play rules that have been instituted in recent years.
“With what I call the shot clock, the 20-second [pitch] clock, it’s hard to put [plays] on,” Van Horn said. “We used to have to get out and put signs on. Now, you’ve got to go. I’m always thinking a pitch or two ahead when we’re on offense, but on defense if you see something, you plug it in and it’s, ‘Hey, let’s pick this guy off first.’
“You’ll probably see more picks than normal just because it’s easier to get them in….They’re trained to look at that [wrist device] and it says, ‘Catcher pick to first.’”
Arkansas coaches generally allow catchers to call their own games, but can continue to suggest pitches in certain situations by radioing to an earpiece worn by the catcher.
Peyton Stovall, the Razorbacks’ second baseman who will miss the season-opening series while he heals a broken foot, said last month the players have acclimated well to the new devices.
“If we’re in the field and we have a first and third, it’ll show our first-and-third situation instead of a catcher giving a sign,” Stovall said. “It’s very easy to read and to understand. I like it.”
Players will also be able to use the devices while at the plate or on the bases.
“It’ll show offensive signs like bunt, hit and run, stuff like that,” Stovall said. “It’s pretty neat.”
Leading off
Catcher Hudson White might be the Razorbacks’ lead-off hitter to start the season, Van Horn said Wednesday.
White batted .300 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .683 during Arkansas’ open scrimmages between Jan. 26 and Feb. 10. White was a .296 hitter last season at Texas Tech.
“We’ll probably hit our catcher leadoff, maybe the first time we’ve ever done that,” Van Horn said. “White is a tough out. If he’s not catching, he’ll be [a designated hitter].”
White bats from the right side. Van Horn said he will likely rotate left- and right-handed hitters behind him.
Stovall was expected to lead off before his injury. Peyton Holt struggled some while leading off during scrimmaging following Stovall’s injury.
Ty Wilmsmeyer was a lead-off hitter last season at Missouri, where he batted .307. Wilmsmeyer batted ninth most days during the preseason.
Blind ace resume
Can you name these Arkansas starting pitchers by their season stat lines?
Ace 1: 2.87 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 11.9 K/9, .215 b/avg
Ace 2: 2.13 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, .204 b/avg
Ace 3: 2.80 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, .230 b/avg
Ace 4: 2.09 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 9/8 K/9, .226 b/avg
Answers below.
Injury update
Van Horn seemed to keep the door open for pitchers Dylan Carter and Adam Hachman to pitch this season if their recoveries from torn ulnar collateral ligaments go well.
Carter, a right-hander who was the Razorbacks’ most-used relief pitcher at the time of his injury last April, has progressed quickly from Tommy John surgery. Carter said last month he is hopeful he can pitch in a game this season.
“Dylan threw a bullpen the other day, and it was really good,” Van Horn said Wednesday. “It’s amazing. He’s way ahead of schedule. When he hurt it last year, I didn’t think he’d pitch this year, just going off of history and what’s gone on with guys that have had this injury. But he’s way ahead of the game, so to speak, as far as recovery, and he wants to pitch this year.”
Carter has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
“When it’s about time for his to possibility pitch for us, we will talk about it,” Van Horn said. “The conversation will be, ‘Do you want to use a year [of eligibility] to try?’ And if it doesn’t go good, it is what it is.”
Hachman, a freshman left-hander from the St. Louis suburb of Wentzville, Mo., was able to avoid Tommy John surgery after he tore his UCL last April. He had an internal brace procedure, instead.
Hachman has done bullpen work in recent weeks and “is starting to get there,” Van Horn said.
“If he’s ready to go in a few weeks, we’ll ramp him up and see what happens,” Van Horn said.
Hachman was rated a top-100 draft prospect by Baseball America last year.
College baseball teams can carry as many as 40 players on their rosters in 2024, up from 35 in previous years. Arkansas has 43 players on its roster, which means at least three must redshirt.
Stovall speaks
Stovall described the injury to his broken right foot this week on the “Bases Loaded” podcast.
Stovall was hit in the foot with a changeup from freshman right-hander Tate McGuire on Feb. 5. He is expected to return to the lineup by mid-March.
“It was just a freak accident,” Stovall said. “If you’ve played baseball long enough, you’ve been hit in just about every body part you can think of. I’ve been hit in the foot plenty of times in my career. Unfortunately it just hit me in a bad spot.”
Stovall said he was “super disappointed” when he found out he would be sidelined, but said his spirits were lifted when he went over timelines with team trainer Corey Wood. The injury did not require surgery.
“It gave me a lot more positive thoughts [than] when I found out about the injury,” Stovall said. “Rehabbing this thing, it’s been pretty much every day.”
Speaking Monday, Stovall said he had been in a boot and on crutches since suffering the injury but was hoping to walk without assistance within a week.
Pinstripes return
Arkansas will add a white jersey with red pinstripes to its uniform rotation this season.
It is believed to be the first time the Razorbacks will wear pinstripes since the 2016 season. Pinstripes will not be worn for the season-opening series against James Madison and might be worn primarily for home mid-week games.
Arkansas also has red, white, gray and cream jerseys in its rotation this season.
Sounds of Baum
The Arkansas baseball program unveiled walk-out songs for players this week.
Songs are generally older than in past years, with several selections recorded a decade ago or before. The oldest walk-out song belongs to left-handed reliever Stone Hewlett, who chose the Motown hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967.
With three selections, Metallica is the artist represented most on the playlist. Other artists selected multiple times: Michael Jackson, Morgan Wallen and BigXthaPlug.
Blind ace answers
These were the stats of Arkansas' top starting pitchers between 2017-21:
Trevor Stephan, 2017: 2.87 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 11.9 K/9, .215 b/avg
Isaiah Campbell, 2019: 2.13 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, .204 b/avg
Blaine Knight, 2018: 2.80 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, .230 b/avg
Patrick Wicklander, 2021: 2.09 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 9/8 K/9, .226 b/avg
Where is Kevin Kopps, the 2021 Golden Spikes Award winner as a reliever?
His dominant stat line would have been a dead giveaway: 0.90 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, .162 b/avg.
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