Coach Van Horn previews fall ball for Arkansas Baseball (9-3-24)

would be Andrew you're letting that hair and that flow go man I like it country western singer look going I like it so I'm good let's go I'm ready hey Bob how you hey hey Dave how you doing good I think the last time we talked to you you weren't able to talk about the the portal guys the transfers and I now now you can um heck it's easy to say some of these guys schools there are their names for me but you got in you know from Vandy and I guess BYU and Ohio State and some other places I know you haven't started practice yet but how how do you feel like those guys are fitting in and kind of what are your expectations how do you feel about that portal group overall well first off I appreciate those guys you know coming to Arkansas because they all had many many options and there's a lot involved when you're talking about the the transfer portal not only do they need to the players need to pick the right school that you know really is in need of those positions um but you know there's finances involved and and in many cases here um these guys you know they came here and they they could have made more money other places and feel very fortunate that uh they really evaluated their situation uh as far as development and just what we have to offer here and uh they're going to make a big impact on our team that's what I see so far you know not really naming names I mean we feel like that we plugged in some some depth some holes um you know got a couple couple experience starting pitchers uh to mix in with our really good staff um position playerwise we brought in a couple infielders and couple outfielders maybe maybe three outfielders and it's you know so far so good but you know we got to go out and practice and put them in game situations and you know we don't expect it to be you know over the top good but guys got to continue to get better we're we're excited to see what we've got I guess I guess Jimenez hopefully I'm saying his name right what all where all do you see him playing so you talking about our pitcher um I'm sorry I met uh the guy from Vandy uh Co coelle am I coelle he's a he's second baseman swings bat left-handed hitter really strong um you know was in and out of the lineup as a freshman it's hard to do at this level um I've see him being a second baseman and I've see him playing a lot you know he's got a lot of competition but uh you know we've things always have to be earned everywhere you go so uh he's an infielder and he can also play Outfield obviously he can DH and those are some things he did at Vanderbilt would him and soua compete at second or was there maybe possibility to move soua to first or something or third or I think you just said everything that could happen sua could move to the Outfield he could play second base Suza can play shortstop sh can play Third uh really gifted made a jump too you can see it from our first couple of weeks of you know skill work um really really playing well right now it's fun to watch him thanks H yeah Dave another one of those transfers you brought in was aloy's uh brother from BYU I know he was mostly a DH out there I think he played a little bit of first also listed as an outfielder kind of where do you project him uh playing for y'all well we're going to work him out at first uh you know DH spot has always that possibility um little little different body style than his older brother is just thicker really strong um if you go off of you know some of the metrics we've been keeping an eye on I mean his exit velocity is the best on the team consistently right now he hits it hard um you know he I think he might have hit right in the middle of the order for BYU hit some home runs six or seven maybe more uh thing was is BYU recruited him as a pitcher number one and he didn't hit all fall and went home and they said you know we might need you to hit next spring and something along that line came back in the spring they said yeah we need you to hit so he he took a lot of time off from hitting and still crack the lineup what he is is he's got power and he's got power everywhere it's right field center field left field um we'll see how that works out but he's still young he's only sophomore and the exciting thing about coil you know and some of these guys they're young you know they have two years with us at a minimum so excited to see how it turns out and you mentioned bringing in a couple of starters uh you got root and then you also have Landon beetles shees I don't know if that's how you pronounce his name I just call him Landon that's that's that's a good call uh I'm curious like you know those are two Elite you know guys out of transfer portal starting pitchers you only got three spots in the weekend rotation you had a bunch of guys coming back from last year's staff just how do you convince you know multiple guys like that to to come in and and pitch for y'all well they want to pitch for Coach Hobbs um they like what they've seen uh from the development of our younger pitchers or maybe even a guy like Smith who turned down maybe a million dollars out of high school and got got eight eight million so um appreciate those guys because they have some options many many many options could have gone to our league we we would had to try to beat them and uh you know they came in here because they they wanted to be a part of the Arkansas program and like I said be with with Coach Hobbs and I think they just want to be on a team with the with a great pitching staff and I think that's that's what we foresee and one more if I turn it back over Robinette one of your your guys coming back you know how good was it to see him have a as productive of a summer as he has and do you see him more as a third baseman first baseman or kind where do you project him I see him I've see him doing both um you know we work him out at third and first I think he's really improved at third played a lot over there in the summer all you know made the allstar team out there he had a really rough place to play though he's at Martha's Vineyard you know it's tough living over there but uh other than that got to give him credit he he just keeps getting better and he went and played he hit he hit some home runs um but really excited for him and and you know the experience you gain this summer is definitely you know it's already paying off we can see it Ellis coach you guys have had a lot of Jo guys come in and get drafted have a lot of success it seems like Bren iale is as high up there and highly regarded as any of them just how big of a deal was it to get him to campus and whatever your early Impressions have been of him yeah you know Bren was a guy that you know turned down money to come to school here obviously he's put up huge numbers at the junior college level and you know you can say well it's junior college but he's still still put up the numbers and he hit if he's a good Defender he's a big strong kid he's got he's got a lot of power he can actually really run as well he's he's actually his tools are a little better than I thought they would be I thought we were looking more of a hitting guy pretty good Fielder I didn't know he could run like he can he he throws accurate um yeah it was you know he's one of about Five Guys that we got through that we didn't think we were going to get him to be honest with you and you know Justin Thomas's one and you know there's a couple more in there a couple High School guys and and then getting Kendall Diggs back and all of a sudden it might have got a little crowded but we got a little better too so uh we'll just let them battle it out when you think about like your junior class of pitchers guys like wood Fouch BBY and all those guys they all kind of took a nice little step in their second year how important is it for your team and just that staff as a whole for those guys to kind of continue that progression and take Next Step well I think they're going to do it you know you talk about Gage wood hey had a great summer Bobby had a good summer I think these guys they you know with the competition here going out and playing Summer Ball The Experience they've gained as freshman and sophomores it it just makes you better physically they're in great shape and um you know they're going to be they're going to be counted on um we depend on them to be leaders for us whether it's on the field or off in the weight room and and so far I like what I've seen from these guys Dudley it appears Ryder hellick had a big summer talk about him a little bit and just your catchers overall that you've got in this year yeah it was fun watching Ryder play this summer um he's tougher than Nails honestly very athletic he can run tremendous arm he's got power he proved that this summer with wood bat I mean I watched him play two games um up in the cape and both times I went to watch him play he didn't catch he just dhed it in the three hole because it was kind of an every other day thing and I didn't need to see him catch I know he can catch but I went and watched some of our other guys as well on those other days and uh you know he's you know he's the front runner obviously um like I said he brings more than just receiving to the game and calling the game he can really block can control the running game he can call pitches and deal with our with our with our pitchers and uh then on the offensive side you're getting a guy that made a jump offensively and really started working on some things towards the end of the season and took it into the summer you know calmed down his swing a little bit didn't try to pull everything and I think he just changed his mindset a little bit and he had a he had a great summer it was fun watching him and then following him throughout the summer and then you know we we brought in a couple of freshman catchers and then a a Joo catcher that put up huge numbers offensively that's Elliot Peterson and then I guess Zane Becker was a was a guy that we didn't know if he would make it to school you know catchers high demand and um you know it's good to see see him walk through the door and then Carson Willis um lived here in Northwest Arkansas for a while I lived in South Carolina and getting him here you know gave us two freshman a transfer and a returner I think it's a good mix and just kind of switch those guys out out every other you know every other scrimmage probably this summer or excuse me this this fall but looking back on the summer um those guys you know they they played they got better they got stronger and now they get to handle these pitchers and it'll be it'll be up to the coaches to really do a good job of developing these young catchers and uh you know hopefully we'll move forward and just we've been so good back there over the years I don't I don't see that changing appreciate it ason yeah coach I I was wondering about Bea you know he had such a a hot offense in the summer just what do you think of the way that he really turned things on with the bat so got to watch him a couple couple of times this summer as well and you know he he start if you go back and you watch video of him when he walked in the door where he had his hands open stance big leg kick you know this is a guy that hit 350 at sack day didn't see the pitching he saw here obviously from the day he walked in here to you know to the time the season was over um basing all the SEC arms and then some really good ones out league play and he we we were talking about just calming it down a little bit and man did he did he make an adjustment this summer from leg kick to you won't see a whole lot going on there uh you know I watched his batting practice up there the first day up in in the cape and I got him off to the side and I videoed it sent it back and I said look to the other coaches you know look what look what's going on here he's he's made an adjustment and at the time he was hitting over 300 and hitting home runs and uh I talked to him after BP and I said hey I I love what you're doing he just stayed through the middle hit line drive after line drive hit some balls out of the park dead center maybe left center right center and then in the game you know his first of bat he singles up the middle then he lined out to short it was just uh taking BP to the game and not trying to do too much and same guy showed up here you know last fall he's trying to hit see if he could hit him up there by the picnic benches and BP when they had free rounds now it's see if he can ping pong the middle and maybe hit one off the batter's eye and go the other way it's it's called hitting and uh it's been been a great thing so far and you guys returned a lot on the pitching staff but you know we've talked about some of the guys you added what does it say about Coach Hobbs as a recruiter and I guess you know what have you seen from him as a recruiter well you know just you know our philosophy is we got to get the best high school kids in here and we've done a good job we've got some really good young arms in here you know things are going to change in the future with rosters and you know profit sharing and on and on and on we don't probably need to get into all that but uh we still feel like the portal is a good thing as far as changing your roster helping your roster but you can't live in the portal so you know we don't want to get more than a couple three pitchers every year we want to have enough younger players in the program that are really good that we can build off of build around and that's what we did this Summer that was our plan maybe three guys you know we were thinking maybe we can get one really good starter with experience so we brought in a couple three we end up getting a couple you know give Zack root some credit I mean he sees that we get Landon he's got offers from every team in the SEC for the most part and he's still comes to Arkansas we didn't think we would get him once once once Landon you know made his commitment and put it out there but we really wanted him and uh he turned down some things to come here so uh what that says about Coach Hobbs number one his kids want to pitch for him got a great reputation as a recruiter and a coach and uh you know here there you go and also are you guys still planning on playing some outside competition fall yeah our by Weekend in football I'm not sure I don't have dates in front of me 6th 7th 8th of October whatever that is probably see something coming up on that maybe that Friday night and maybe again on on Saturday uh you know we were going to go to Omaha and playing this event up there us and bras Oak State and kraton at the championship Ballpark and we were all invited and I think it got too big and they couldn't handle it and they just they kind of pulled the plug on it so as of right now we're going to bring Oklahoma State over here for a couple of games and Friday's game might be a normal game nine innings Saturday might be 10 11 12 Innings because that'll be to that'll be maybe be the end of our fall just play those couple of games instead of playing a red white Series where we always run out of pitching and I don't know we haven't finished it the last couple years it seems like so um that that'd be the plan right now you can only have two outside competitions and that that would be it unless some changes thank you Tom hey Dave uh from a big big picture perspective what do you want to see what do you want to get done this fall what do you want to come out a fall having accomplished well it's kind of like the fall of 21 got a lot of new players starting as early as we can honestly this is early as we could start I mean I guess we could start today and we are so couldn't start yesterday it's a holiday um so we just we want to see what we have it gives us a little more time in the off season the 45 day window when that gets over in the middle of October gives us a little more time to make some adjustments um just get our roster right you know we got a roster right at 50 can turn in a roster of 40 when the season starts you know next year it's going to be even smaller than that um so uh there's a lot of things we we want to get accomplished um we need to get our field lined up we need to figure out who's going to play in that Outfield um you know we've got some it's going to be a battle out there and there's some guys that can swing a little bit got some defensive guys you know we brought davlin in uh really athletic and Logan Maxwell can flat out hit and you know Justin Thomas is an outstanding Defender that's got you know some experience in the SEC went off to Junior College put up big numbers you know that's just the name of a few and uh you know we we need to see them hit our pitching we want to see about you know can these guys run can they steal bases I mean we've we've been working a lot on it in the first two weeks I think if you come out to the watch us workout you'll see us doing a few more things than maybe we have in the past working on uh trying to score runs and be a threat and that's one reason we went out and got some guys that could do some things thanks watch and Bob anything else I've got a couple more uh you mentioned I think the last time we talked to you that Fouch should come home with an injury do you have do you have an update on his status yeah he's good to go he's good to go you know I just tweaked something um you know not an elbow or his shoulder just little little pull kind of on his b back so looks like he's good to go and if we don't throw him this weekend it's not because because we're going to scrimmage a couple times this weekend but you know here it is Tuesday we're not going to scrimmage till Friday and Saturday and Friday we'll I think we'll scrimmage at 3 o'clock and then Saturday we're going to go early at 9:30 get as many in as we can uh before the football game starts and then uh jnez I think he missed this past season with an injury what what do you know what the injury was and is he healthy is he good to go yeah he won't be good to go this fall he's he's we're wanting him to be good to go in the spring I mean he he tweaked his elbow so he had to get that fixed and uh you know he's big strong he would have been their number two or number one pitcher if he would have been healthy and you know we're hoping that uh he can be healthy this year and we can either use him out of the pin or as a starter or if it's not 100% we'll get him ready for the for next year but he's a he's a talent does that mean he had the had Tommy John and then one more guy I wanted to ask about was Carson BS you got him from the D2 ranks I know you mentioned last time like hey if you can hit you can hit uh just curious what you saw from him and what made you go after him well basically he put up incredible numbers yeah I was division two level I coached division two for one year and I had two two to three guys on my team that were definitely division one players and one of them end up being the MVP of you know division two baseball and he had about same numbers kind of crazy numbers and uh he end up signing a pro contract but uh a lot of doubles hit some homers big batting average swung the bat really well you know it's batting practice it's drill work got to take it to the game um you know I didn't mention him an outfielder we got bryndan Clark's a really good freshman outfielder with a good swing I mean it's going to be a fight out there it's going to be uh it's just a good mix of left and right-handed hitting um some with pop some with more double swings and um just want you know before the Smoke Clears in the spring just like to have nine deep that when you go through our lineup you're going to have to work for outs and that's that's what we're really fighting for this fall all right Bob close it out Dave had maybe off topic about a couple of your Major Leaguers um obviously Andrew Ben and tendy Dominick Fletcher I mean they're they're in the big leagues they're getting paid great all that but they're playing for the white socks and Andrew is probably their best hitter um just historically bad team uh do do you stay in touch with those guys and if so I just curious what the interactions like you tell them hey keep your chin up you're a major leager just wonder what your thoughts were on that I mean the te it's mostly through texting but I don't I don't give them any of those type of speeches like you said they're big Leaguers it's it's it's a job and they show up they want to have success uh you they're playing on a team doesn't win much and they're kind of changing some things up they just you know what do you do you just you play they play 162 games they I think they tied a record for losses in a row this summer so uh you got to change a little bit you gotta you know be one of the leaders fight to change the culture a little bit and I'm sure it'll be an interesting all season for the white socks and you know Hagen he might he might be up there next year he might be there their Ace or something I how fast do you think think he can maybe get to the big leagues and help him out probably about as fast as they want to take him I mean they bring him up there now if they want and let him get some experience but I think what they'll do is they'll they'll wait till next year and see if he's healthy and has good spring training and you know for Hagen too I think that he would like to have a little time in the miners being around the guys that are in the organization kind of show people what he can do and that you know he's he's that guy he's not going to go around telling everybody how good he is he's going to show you um make it a little bit easier go out and have good spring training and in an earned spot I think that'd be the route I would if I was their GM but I'm not um but he he's got big league stuff now I think they actually broke the Orioles record for consecutive losses then they beat the A's then they fired their manager I guess they just wanted to let him get get a win before they fired him I don't know anyway any I know the Tigers swept them in Chicago so we got Tigers did of course the Tigers they're the best baseball thanks Mason last one here yeah coach you guys I guess gave Zack root number 33 does that signify anything or just random I'll just leave that up to your mind whatever you want to think there no we uh I've always had a for the most part I've had what have I had a lot of left-handed pitchers of warn that Nick schmidth Drew Smiley wear that number might have been another one in there might have been a couple more so let I'll let Bob dig into that but uh yeah it's left-handed pitcher number in my eyes and uh he's left-handed and uh Landon had already requested number 35 and he got it and then you know talked to Zach about it and he kind of he kind of knew that there had been some guys wearing that that were pretty good so uh didn't want to throw that on him if he didn't want to handle that and he was good with it coach appreciate your time okay see you guys