The Arkansas Razorbacks are getting ready to host the Fayetteville Regional during the NCAA Tournament. There, head coach Dave Van Horn knows that he’s going to need star pitcher Hagen Smith to be at his best.
During the SEC Tournament, there were concerns that Smith may not be at his best and the SEC Network broadcast actually said that his velocity was down. However, Van Horn has since pushed back on those incorrect concerns about Smith’s velocity numbers, explaining they had the wrong speed on his pitches.
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“So, they’re wrong,” Dave Van Horn said. “They were watching the scoreboard, which was at least four miles an hour slow and sometimes five. We’re seeing it on TV, like if you’re watching a game recently, and you’re seeing 93-94, they’re seeing 89-90. So, they’re sitting there in that booth, looking at that scoreboard, and they were wrong.”
Generally speaking, Hagen Smith throws his fastball between 95 and 97 mph. He’s even able to touch 100 mph at times. Along with that excellent fastball, Smith is able to throw a slide that can be a devastating strikeout pitch. He also has a cutter and a splitter.
A drop in velocity is always a concern for a pitcher for several different reasons. The first is that it, generally speaking, makes a pitcher less effective. Worse than that, it’s also sometimes seen as a sign of fatigue or a potential injury.
“Hagen’s velocity was still way up there, as was what you were watching on TV. You weren’t watching that goofy scoreboard out there that was really messed up. Easily four miles an hour slow because I said something about it in game one to one of the coaches, and Coach [Matt] Hobbs said, ‘Yeah, that thing is four to five miles an hours slow. All the scouts are getting the correct time on their radar guns,'” Van Horn said.
“That’s kind of disappointing that these guys would say that to a national audience with not having the facts. He’s fine.”
Hagen Smith has been absolutely vital to Arkansas this season as he has become one of the best starting pitchers in the country. In 15 games, all of which he started this season, Smith has thrown 79 innings and has a 9-1 record. His ERA is just 1.48 for the year and he has struck out 154 batters. With that, MLB.com ranks him as the sixth-best prospect in the 2024 MLB Draft, with the only pitcher ranked ahead of him being Jac Caglianone.
Statistically, Hagen Smith compares very well to last year’s top draft pick, Paul Skenes. In 2023, Skenes had 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. The MLB single-season record in that stat is 14.19, held by Shane Bieber. This year, Smith is currently striking out 17.5 batters per nine.
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