The NCAA Tournament is here. With that comes a lot of pressure on Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn to lead his team on a deep run to Omaha.
One of the keys for Arkansas is going to be the pitching rotation. That’s something that Van Horn recently addressed, explaining what goes into his decisions regarding the rotation and how he uses his pitching staff as a whole during the Regional.
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“Gotta see who’s feeling really good, actually,” Dave Van Horn said. “And obviously look at the team we play and their lineup and how they do against rights or lefts, if you have that option. If we had a set rotation, because it’s been a little bit jumbled the last few weeks, it might make it a little easier. So, we’ll just look at all those things.
With all of that in mind, Dave Van Horn was not yet ready to announce what the Razorbacks’ rotation is going to look like.
“Right now we’re just kind of diving into scouting reports and trying to watch some video and just make a good decision,” Van Horn said. “Our goal is we’ve got to win at least three in this thing to win it. So, it’s gonna take all of them.”
In a normal week, a team plays a three-game series over the weekend and most teams have three starters who work those weekend games. Then, if there is a mid-week game, teams figure it out either with a fourth starter or a bullpen game. Arkansas is no different, heavily relying on its excellent three-man rotation of Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart, and Mason Molina.
Notably, however, Dave Van Horn did make late-season changes to the rotation, giving Gage Wood and Will McEntire starts in the final regular season series against Texas A&M. Ben Bybee went on to earn a start in the SEC Tournament.
One starter who is locked in is Hagen Smith. He’s been dominant this season and is now one of the top MLB Draft prospects.
Dave Van Horn calls out SEC Network broadcast for incorrect concerns of Hagen Smith’s velocity numbers
During the SEC Tournament, the SEC Network broadcast shared concerns about Hagen Smith’s velocity, which were incorrect and Dave Van Horn recently called out.
“So, they’re wrong. 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,” Van Horn said.
“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 hour slow. All the scouts are getting the correct time on their radar guns.’ That’s kind of disappointing that these guys would say that to a national audience with not having the facts. He’s fine.”
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