Calling The Hogs

AFTER A BOUNCEBACK 2017 SEASON, ARKANSAS HAS THE TALENT TO CONTEND FOR THE 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AND IS READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP AS A PROGRAM

- Teddy Cahill

Dave Van Horn returned to work Jan. 2 following his holiday break expecting Baum Stadium to be mostly empty. Classes wouldn’t resume at Arkansas for two more weeks, but when the longtime Razorbacks coach looked in the locker room, he found about half the team was already back in Fayetteville, hanging out and preparing for the spring. The Razorbacks’ very early return caught Van Horn off guard but is indicative of their mindset entering 2018. Arkansas is eager to get to work this season in part because it is a team with unfinished business to settle. It starts with righthander Blaine Knight and catcher Grant Koch, who are two of the team’s biggest stars, but who are also still proving themselves as pro prospects.

THE RAZORBACKS’ CLUBHOUSE IS FILLED WITH PLAYERS LIKE THEM —future pros, possibly even productive big leaguers, but few true blue-chip prospects. It is a program where development and a strong, quiet work ethic are points of pride. Of the 13 former Arkansas players on big league rosters in 2017, just two were first-round picks. Even Andrew Benintendi, the highest drafted Razorback in 30 years at seventh overall in 2015, was little known before his breakout Player of the Year campaign.

Van Horn believes a few things help his players outperform their draft position. One is that the skills the Arkansas coaching staff emphasize—plate discipline, strike-throwing, playing clean baseball—translate well to pro ball, as does the work ethic the players develop in college.

“They’ve learned how to fight their way through the minor leagues,” Van Horn said. “They know how to prove it year in and year out. The biggest compliment I get, and we talk about it all the time, is scouts come through here and even crosscheckers and GMs have told us, our players, they’re prepared for the minor leagues.”