Can You Smell It?

Smells like baseball.

Welcome to another season of Arkansas Razorbacks baseball according to Jordan and Cody Smith. Our sincerest apologies for dropping off mid season last year. We believe, in our zeal for this team, we attempted to write too often and couldn’t keep up. This season we will try to offer our insight less frequently, but enough to hopefully keep you satisfied. Now, on to the purpose of this blog.

Baseball season is right around the corner ya’ll – I recently learned that ya’ll is derived from the joining of ye all and not you all, as I had always understood. How do I know baseball season is so close? Because you own a calendar. But I don’t have to look at a calendar to know this. How else would you know? I know because the Razorback baseball poster was released this week. I know because the first baseball lunch of the year is next Monday and “Meet the Razorbacks” in the mall is the following Sunday. Because I was able to listen to Dave Van Horn’s media day interview this week. And I know because while riding my bike on a 65 degrees January afternoon I rested for “a while” to watch practice at Baum.

I had read a little about the team already. I knew who we had coming back and the names of new comers, naturally with more knowledge about the highly touted recruits. With my Arkansas official Razorbacks app pulled up on my iPhone I started looking up numbers of players I wasn’t familiar with and putting names to them.

Baseball practice was always something I enjoyed in high school. Football was more of a grind that you just went through 3 times a week before the Friday night fun. With the exception of having to know a hitter’s strengths and weaknesses, I love that baseball is one of the most candid games to prepare for. There is no great defensive scheme needed. Just to work on fielding your position cleanly, making accurate throws, and hitting until the mechanics are like breathing to you. It’s a simple game.

But it’s not. It’s a massively complex game. And that is also what I love about it. The defense has the ball. There is no clock to run out. If you sub out you don’t get to go back in that game. You can strike out and still get on base. Failing 7 out of 10 times will put you among the best to ever play the game. This oxymoron of simple complexity drives fans across this nation to identify with their favorite team as if they know them personally. Or is that just me?

Sitting a few rows behind the home dugout I watched guys warming up their arms in the outfield. I recalled the inside jokes and deep discussions we had during warm up when I played. As they took to their positions for defensive drill work, pitchers went to the new indoor facility. Outfielders worked on drills ranging from charging do or die line drives to over calls to tracking a ball to the wall, and even scaling it if necessary.

Infielders started by pairing up and throwing balls in the dirt at each other’s back hand to practice picking the ball. They then took ground balls and put them in buckets each had behind them. After this only one ball was hit around the infield as fielders all threw to first, then turned double plays before finally working on charging softly hit balls and throwing to first. These drills lasted about 30 minutes while some players who needed work at multiple positions moved around. These 30 minutes were very efficient with little to no mistakes. So. Bobby Wernes worked mostly from third but moved to short for a spell. RSJr. Brett McAfee stayed at short, Jr. Rick Nomura worked at second, juniors Max Hogan and Matt Campbell both worked at second with Hogan getting work in at third and Campbell at short as well. Jr. Cullen Gassaway and Fr. Blake Wiggins both stayed at first. RSJr. Mike Bernal and So. Clark Eagan were both not practicing.

Pitchers then returned to the field to work on bunt defense and first and third defense. Outfielders came in to run bases. As pitchers lined up in foul territory, each holding a ball, one by one they would come to the mound and make a delivery to the plate as DVH squared to bunt and then roll a ball into play as the pitch was thrown. It was very interesting to get to see how these guys are coached during this drill. Pitching coach Dave Jorn does not hold back when he sees a bone-headed play, but it is clear that each pitcher takes it as an opportunity to learn from one of the best in college baseball. First and third defense showed a little of the weaknesses in the new pitchers and catchers making more bad decisions of when to step off the rubber, and when to throw the ball or run at the runner.

After the defensive drills, pitchers took to the bullpens for more work while the position players split into two teams and scrimmaged against each other. Former Hog pitcher and current Volunteer Assistant Christian Kowalchuk pitched behind an L screen for one team while former Hog third baseman and current Director of Baseball Operations Clay Goodwin pitched for the other team. I was only able to see 3 innings but the highlights I witnessed included RSFr. Carson Shaddy making a fully extended diving catch in right center to rob a base hit, Sr. Krisjon Wilkerson hit a monster shot over the fence in straight center, and Fr. Luke Bonfield, hitting 4^th in the order behind Spoon, lifted a home run to left field on his first swing of the scrimmage. So. Andrew Benintendi, who has put on some good weight this year, gave the right fielder no chance to react on a line drive double over his head and to the wall.

There were about 10-15 others in the stands watching. Three faces were familiar from past teams. Speedy outfielder Kyle Atkins (2009-2011) was sporting his Perfect Timing Baseball and Softball Academy shirt where he now works as a private instructor in NWA. Pitcher Chris Oliver (2012-2014), now with the Phillies organization, and second baseman Brian Anderson (2012-2014), now with the Marlins organization, stuck their heads out from working in the cages. Anderson was a standout hitter at Arkansas with a tall skinny frame but has noticeably added a lot of muscle since last season.

Although quite out of the ordinary, it was very nice to have to shield my eyes from the hot sun while wearing shorts and a t-shirt to get a glimpse of what will soon be full swing into baseball season. By no stretch of the imagination do I believe February 13 will bring a warm opening day. I am confident, however, that rain or shine the Diamond Hogs will put a lineup on the field that will compete in a way that we haven’t seen since 2011. This campaign looks to sport a much more rounded offensive team, able to hit better and score more runs in support of a pitching staff that will almost certainly drop off from the 2.47 cumulative ERA over the past three years, which leads the nation. Arkansas picked a good time to be the only team in the nation to finish in the top 15 in ERA in each of the last 3 years. With a batting average in the .260s, anything less from the mound could have kept them from postseason play.

That is where I will leave you today. I will be working on a season preview to get you acclimated to new names and who I believe will impact this season. Go Hogs.