Arkansas baseball season recap with Bubba Carpenter

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I want to tell you that we're also brought to you by Eglins Best in Arkansas greatness starts early, before the pads go on, before the crowd roars, the day begins at the breakfast table. Eglins Best delivers superior nutrition with more vitamin D and less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. You can start strong with Eglins Best better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. For more information, eglansbest.com we'll take the headsets off here now that we're not going to talk to anybody else on the Zoom Bubba. I mean, first off, when you look at what's happened since Arkansas lost to ku, it really underscores how just unpredictable college baseball is. I mean, who would have had this collection of teams in Omaha? And you've still got a couple of games that have to finish up today, super regionals that have to finish up. Alabama was leading St. John's last night in the seventh inning, 72 when that game got suspended. OU was beating KU 8 to 1 in the third inning when that game got suspended. If those scores hold, then Alabama and Oklahoma will be the last two teams at the College World Series. If they make it, the SEC will have five teams there. But again, you know, you look at Omaha and it's kind of setting up a little bit like it did last year, where you got a lot of power on one side of the bracket. The other side of the bracket looks like it could be navigable for a team. Maybe Ole Miss. Maybe Ole Miss gets a break again and, you know, they, they end up at the, at the championship Series. But I mean, like, Troy is in the College World Series. Who saw that coming? You know, West Virginia, everybody looked at the bracket when, you know, Memorial Day rolled around in West Virginia, they were going to have to go through ucla. Well, they never had to play them. And the team that won the Los Angeles regional went to Morgantown and never really showed up for those games. It's just, it's so strange how, you know, we put so much stock on the College World Series and those eight teams, but it never feels like it's really the eight best teams in college baseball. So many breaks and luck and things like that have to play a factor in it. [00:02:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you know, we say all the time, it's not the best team, it's team that plays the best. And you see it a lot this time of year. You look at a team like ou, you know, we saw them and they had talent, but I would have never thought they'd be one still playing right now. [00:02:28] Speaker A: They Lost four straight series at the end of the regular season and lost to LSU in Hoover. Didn't look good at all in that game down at the SEC tournament. And yeah, come home, you rest up, and they're ready to go. [00:02:41] Speaker B: I do want to give a shout out to Chris Curry and Evan Lee and the boys there at. In Little Rock. I thought I was proud of them. Ran up against a really hot Troy team, but, boy, to get through that regional like they did, I thought that was impressive. So shout out to them. That was, that was. That was fun to watch. [00:03:02] Speaker A: You look at how Arkansas did against some of these teams that are in Omaha. Obviously they didn't have a good year against Georgia. They went 1 and 3 in those games against Georgia, beat Texas in the only game that they played, Texas won the series against Ole Miss. If these scores hold, the day they swept Alabama on the road, they beat Oklahoma in a series here at Baum. So it's one of those years where you look at the Razorbacks and it's like 41 and 22. I've used the word substandard. That's what I think it was for Arkansas. It was a substandard season in a lot of ways, and we're going to dig in some stats and stuff here and explain that a little bit more. But you look at how they performed against these teams that have played the best at the end of the season, I think that, you know, maybe it makes that 41 and 22 record look a little bit better. Even though, you know, there's obvious frustration with how the way the season ended up in Lawrence. [00:03:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think the thing, Matt, is, first of all, you talk about. You talk about the teams that. That are still playing. And I think you look at, I think, something. And even. Even what Lance said about some grown men in junior college right now, I think when the roster's going to 34, you know, you've got some exemptions and all that, but I think there's more good players dispersed across the country, I think, right now than ever before, whether it be JUCO or some of your. Some of your smaller schools. I think you, you. There's talent. There's talent everywhere right now, but. And I think that has something to do with some of the teams you see there. And I thought it was interesting that not a single team that was in Omaha last year made it out of a regional. And I think that's kind of telling because, you know, I know that we've. We've talked about when you're In Omaha, you, It's hard to recruit. You got these guys going into the portal. That's why don't even get me started on this. The portal shouldn't open while you're in Omaha and the draft shouldn't be in July. There's so many things wrong about it. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Like softball. Their season ended. I don't know when the, When Oklahoma City ended. Their portal opened today. Yet you got baseball. Yeah, that's. You know, the teams that are still playing, they've still got. Some of them are. Still have two weeks to play and they've already been portaling for a week. Yeah, like, like, how does that make any sense? [00:05:17] Speaker B: It doesn't. And the draft in July doesn't make any sense. I mean, guys getting drafted, signing that we didn't think we're going to sign, and then you're scrambling to fill that spot. There's just so many things wrong with it. Not. I don't know who makes those decisions, I guess Major League Baseball, you know, and collect the draft back to coincide with the All Star break. No one cares about the draft. It's not like, it's not like you're sitting there watching the NBA draft or the, the NFL football draft. It's. I don't know. I mean, do what's right. Move the draft back up to June and give coaches a break. Move the portal back a little bit. They'd let me run it, I'd fix it. But anyway, back on our season, look, 41 wins. Yeah, that's, that's, that's good. I mean, it's consistency. But I thought we won seven out of 10 series. That's good. 20 wins. We beat 20 SEC teams. If you count the tournament. That's, that is good. But when you look at the team, I think people were frustrated. The thing about the team, and it was frustrating at times, we just couldn't stack games on top of each other. You know, you can look at some of the pitchers. They had a hard time stacking outings, good outings on top of each other, exception of, you know, deets and, and, and, and a couple people. But, you know, defensively we would have. Defensive, you know, let breakdowns. Offensively, we'd have games. You, you look at that game in Kansas, three hits. [00:06:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:46] Speaker B: You know, we lost five, three in that game. It was just the, the, the inconsistency. And man, one thing about baseball is you got to be consistent. And I think that was the frustrating thing about this team. But I thought we, we had a ton of talent. It, it's a team that I, I was, I was on board all year. Even through some of the frustrations. I'm like, this team can make it. I was worried about a regional if we lost the game. That's what happened. [00:07:11] Speaker A: That's what happened. Yeah, they had it set up the way they wanted it. Where you got 100 eats going against the other team's number two guy. [00:07:17] Speaker B: Yeah, can't. [00:07:18] Speaker A: You can't ask for more than that. And you can't ask, I don't think, for more than 100 eats gave him in that game. I mean, he was awesome in that last outing. They just, they didn't support him offensively. You know, the, we talked about the wins that they had over some of these teams in Omaha. The thing that stands out to me is the 22 losses and some of the losses that they had. Like game three at Missouri. We talked about it when it happened. It's like that. That's when you're going to be talking about, boy, you really wish you had that one back. Game three at South Carolina, the same thing. I would even go so far say game three against Auburn. You know, they beat Auburn in game two. They've got, you know, the momentum to the, to the extent you can have momentum. And I know the old Earl Weaver quote, it's, you know, momentum is the next day, starting pitcher. But I didn't think they, I didn't think they played good in game three at Auburn. It just, it didn't look real inspired that day. And then, you know, you kind of go through it. I mean, we talked about the two losses to Stetson and what that did to him from an RPI perspective. UT Arlington, you know, were they. Did the guy throw a complete game or maybe he came within and out of a complete game. Kaden Dygert against. Against them on that Friday where, you know, they just, it just there were, you know, and I understand this happens in baseball. It just seems like there were more of those type games where it just didn't seem to go well for them this year. And I mean, you know, you even think about some of the Game three slug fests they found themselves in. People Forget they're up 6 to 1 on Georgia in game three here in Fayetteville with a chance to win that series. They end up giving 20. They give up nine home runs and 26 runs in that game. Oklahoma, you know, another one where they've got a chance to sweep OU and seventh inning just goes haywire on them. They end up losing that one 15 to 10. Just. Just a lot of those type games this year where it feels like there were more of those type games, getting games that you look back, you know, the next morning and say, boy, that one really got away then. I feel like you've seen from this program in the last five years or so. [00:09:13] Speaker B: I think so. And I think a lot of it, you look at. You look at the games that we lost, Matt, that you're talking about those. Those innings where the game got away from us, it was always an error. It seems like that led to that. Whether it be a ground ball, double play ball should have been turned. Next guy, you know, we don't turn it. We either bumble it or, you know, know we booted or throw it away or whatever, or we just don't have a good exchange. Whatever. We don't turn two. Next guy hits a home run. You know, it could have been an ending inning, ending double play. It seemed like that when we made an error, it was at, like, the worst times. And, you know, our feeling percentage. You look where it was. I don't know. It was. [00:09:54] Speaker A: 972 is what they ended up. [00:09:56] Speaker B: It's been a long time since I've seen one. [00:09:58] Speaker A: Well, I mean, from 21 to 25, they were 980 or better every season. They were 983 last year. That was the second best in college baseball. [00:10:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think some of the errors that we made were like, routine, you know, and plays that you. You know, plays you gotta make now. Made some great plays, you know, that a lot of teams don't make. But you gotta make that routine play. [00:10:20] Speaker A: And some of the plays they didn't make are not considered errors. Like, for instance, think about the play with Mike Anu in one of the Kansas games where a ball bounces and goes past him. That should be a single. Yeah, it bounces past him and goes to the wall and it's a triple. I thought that you and I understand he never touched the ball, but to me, it's like that's a. That's. That's a mental error, even if not a fielding error. Felt like there were a lot of those type plays this year. [00:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. And I think you even texted me on that. [00:10:50] Speaker A: I did. [00:10:50] Speaker B: You text me to see what I thought. I like. To me, that's a single and air. [00:10:55] Speaker A: I guess it can't go down as an error because it never touched his glove. [00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah, but, I mean, I get that, but it was just kind of caught in between. Do I dive or Do I not dive? I've been there before. It's a tough place to be as an outfielder. [00:11:08] Speaker A: Ball on that turf was taking just crazy hops all weekend and yeah, so, [00:11:12] Speaker B: I mean, but you got it. You right there in that situation. Just play it as a single. That's it. Just let it be a single. Keep the guy at first base and. But it didn't happen. I know. I remember specific plays that I screwed up and I think you got to mess it up before you really learn to get it right. And so, you know, I know Mike and New probably learned a lesson from that and won't happen again. But. But you're right, there were a lot of plays that didn't get called. Errors that you should. We should make. And I think we know that. And so. But it just seemed like every time that we made an error, the other team took advantage of it. And I think that's what Razorback teams have done in the past. You give us an extra out, and we did a lot this year. Team gives us an extra out, boom. Next thing you know, we throw up a crooked number. [00:12:02] Speaker A: You know, talking about Micah New playing center field, there were so many guys playing, I think out of position and I understand, I thought Micah actually played an okay center field this year, but he's a shortstop at Marshall and he transferred to the outfield last year on the Cape. Comes in here and he plays in center field. We talked about how Carter Rutenbar is playing the corner outfield positions in first base. He's backup catcher. You know, you got guys. Cam Kozal, he's not a shortstop. He doesn't have the range of a big time shortstop. Like you watch a Justin lebron or a Rock Cholowski and you see the Evo aloys and you see the type of range that they have at shortstop. You can see what we're talking about. Cam, I thought, played pretty admirably at the position and I thought he put himself in good position a lot of time, played a little bit back deeper in the hole, but, you know, he's not a shortstop. He's. He's just. He's not what you. A prototypical shortstop looks like. And he had that happening a lot this year. Where to get the best collection of bats in the lineup. They were having to play guys out of position at multiple positions on the field because I think it became pretty evident, you know, probably midway through the season that pitching is not going to be as strong this year. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Right. [00:13:18] Speaker A: And so if you're going to win games, you're going to have to slug your way, you know, to a lot of those games. Kind of like they did in game three at Kentucky, 16 to 12. Kind of like they were going to have to do on the last day of the Lawrence Regional. They did it against Northeastern, 110 to 9. But that. That just goes back to. I don't think that's necessarily what this team was built for. And so they kind of had to play out of character a little bit as the season went along. [00:13:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. And look, like you said, I think Kojo did a great job at shortstop. You know, made almost every play hit to him. I want my guys to make the routine play, but, you know, back on the outfield, you know, I think of, like, multiple plays. Like, I love. I love Mike Anub. So I'm going to preface that, what I'm getting ready to say with I love him. But there were some simple little plays. Like, there was one play where he fielded a ball, he goes to throw it, and it goes backwards out of his hand. That happened a couple times this year. There was a. In Kansas, there was a ball hit the right field. Zach Stewart charges it. There's a catcher or catcher or DH running at first base. He comes charging it. That guy's not going to go first to third on you. You don't have to charge it like that. He charged it, it kicks off his glove, and everyone moves up an extra base. It's just those little. Those are mental errors for me. You know, it's an error. So it's a physical error, but it's a mental thing in the outfield. And, you know, you saw some of those, you know, you saw Pompey, and I love Pompey, made some unbelievable plays. But then like a routine ball hit to him, he. He boots it. I think he just looked up too soon. He boots it and then throws it away down the right field line. Bases loaded. Should have been a double play, anything. And, you know, those are the things that. That stand out to me. And it's part of. It's mental, but I mean, part of it's physical, but a big part of it is mental to me. [00:15:12] Speaker A: And Poppy, I mean, that's another one that you could say maybe he was playing a little out of position. I know he can play third base, but he was more of a middle infielder when he played at Texas Tech. So you saw that a lot, you know, a lot with this team. And I think about defensive outfield. If Britain Clark doesn't get hurt, if he doesn't tear up his shoulder in the fall. Like, I thought he looked really good defensively in left field in the fall. What, what, like, how does, like, what kind of versatility does that give the team if he's manning left field? Maybe you put Damian Ruiz somewhere different on the field. Maybe, you know, it's just like, like we saw right field. It was kind of a revolving door this year, whether it be Rutenbar or Stewart or Kuhio Aloy early in the year that didn't work out, you know, just with that 34 man roster limit. And I know nobody wants to make excuses, but it does. Like, like it narrows the, like it just, it makes, it just gives you a smaller margin of error. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:06] Speaker A: You know, and a smaller margin for injury, especially in your position players. [00:16:10] Speaker B: Yeah, you look at, look at Cahill, you know, he, the Hamate injury in Hoover. [00:16:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:16] Speaker B: What if he's in the lineup in Kansas? The way that ball was carrying, I mean, oh my goodness, I'd love to have seen him swinging the bat in Kansas in that regional, Just, just the way the ball was flying. You know, there's just, you know, it's, it's hard because an injury can kill you right there. And like you said, there was kind of a revolving door in right field trying to find the right mix even at first base. And, and you know, Reese came on at the end, hit the ball well, Robinette. [00:16:45] Speaker A: But he looks graffy. [00:16:47] Speaker B: You gotta have, yeah, you gotta have him at, at first base. And I love hitting and I love to see hitters go to work. And Root Bar did a good job for the most part. He slumped off at the end, but I feel like you almost have to have a guy like Robinette at first base because he saves you so many runs. You know, then a guy that's, you know, five, 10, you know, with shorter arms, I mean, Reese, six, three, long arms, he saves you a lot of errors, a lot of, a lot of balls getting by you. [00:17:15] Speaker A: We saw too with Kozal, like, he seemed to like, really like to bounce the ball over first. And Robinette with that good glove and the long arms and the range that he had, that was a good combination for those two. [00:17:26] Speaker B: I think so. And I think it's just the confidence of the guys and I'm not, I'm not dogging Rudenbar Rudin. Bar is going to be a great player, but I think the guys felt more confident with Reese over there and they didn't think about, oh, this has to be a perfect throw. They could just Throw it. And Reese would get it. [00:17:43] Speaker A: I mean, Rudenbaum's not a prototypical. He's not a first baseman. I'm trying to think, whatever they. When they put him at first base, they were talking about, like, the last time he had played first base. I think it was like his junior year of high school. Like, he hadn't even worked out at the position until that week. Yeah, I mean, it's. That's kind of telling to me that, you know, not only has he not played, he hadn't worked out there in almost two years. [00:18:07] Speaker B: Yeah. So it was one of his first games, and there were a couple close plays that both of them got reviewed where he's stretching, but he's still on the middle of the bag. Like, one of them was a play where he was stretching out, but his foot was on the middle of the bag. Well, if you move to the edge of the bag, he's out because it was bang, bang, you know, and you. He had that much room Then one was one on the outfield side where he was stretching, but his foot was still on the inside part of the bag where you got to slide. And I don't do this very often. Often, but I don't remember who we were playing, but I texted Clay Goodwin. It's just get him off the middle of the back, you know, But I know they were working on it, but people don't realize how much there is, how many things you can do at first base to save runs. Whether you. What I see a ton are guys stepping too soon. They stride here, but the throws over there, so they're reaching across. I saw Root Bar do that a few times. You got to step to where the ball is going to be. There's just so many things sliding from corner of the bag, this corner to that corner, getting on the middle of the bag and being as tall as you can so you don't have to jump and leave the bag. There's so many things, Matt, that you can do at first base that, that. That you have to learn. And a lot of it, it takes. Takes a while. [00:19:23] Speaker A: Well, and there's just things you can't teach. You can't teach. Being 6 foot 3 like Robin Ennis, when you're 5, 10 like Rudin Bar, sometimes he would be, you know, reaching out and he's. He's. I mean, he's just extended as far as he can go. And that toe is on the bag by maybe like that much. It like, looks like my. To get up to a certain level in Our pantry, you know, just. I'm almost there. You know, it's just, it's just you can't teach height and he didn't have the height. But, you know, hey, I think you give him credit because he did get him. I thought he got better at first base and you know, he's, he's, he's one of those. I feel like he was the ultimate team player down the stretch because it's like, hey, you need me to catch the one game that Ryder Helfer takes off, here I am. You need me to be the dh. I can do that. You need me to be in left field today and right field tomorrow. I can do that. I can play first base for you. Like, I mean, he was the ultimate team guy. And I think that that's got a. I think that's probably got to have earned him some points with his coaches and his teammates, you know, this year. [00:20:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I like, I like just his tough grittiness. You know, you, you talk about, you know, playing for dvh, you take on his personality. Well, I think Rutenbar came in with that personality, that tough. You know, I'll play wherever you want me, coach. Just put me out there, I'll get it done for you. And there's something to be said about that. And I love that about him. [00:20:39] Speaker A: So we mentioned fielding percentage being quite a bit lower. I mean, it was 11 points lower than it was a year ago. 983 versus 972 this year. Era 4, 74 this year. You think about the last two years this has been a team with a three something era. I actually was a little surprised, Bubba, to go back. I was like, well, when was the last time they had an ERA this low? I thought it might have been several years. I was surprised to find they had a five something era in 2023 with that SEC championship team. I didn't remember it being like that. So it's only, it's only been three years since they had an ERA of 474 or above. And then offensively, you know, the number that stands out to me is 705 strikeouts. I calculated this a second ago. That's an average of 11.2 per game. You look back in the history of razorback baseball before this year or 605 strikeouts, not 705. I'm sorry, 605 strikeouts. It's 11 point. What I say, go back to my calculator here. 11.2 per game. Before this year, the record was 581 strikeouts in 66 games. So that's 24 less strikeouts in three more games in 2019. So it was an average of 8.8 per game. Well, that's a high number of strikeouts. And you know, I mean, TJ Pompey, I think he, if he didn't lead the league, I think he might have been second in the league in strikeouts. There were just a lot of players who had high strikeout seasons. And that was something that really started to. It's one of those things that you notice during the season. It's like, man, they had 10 strikeouts and it really seemed like it came up toward the end, like in Hoover. I think they might have had a 16 strikeout game and a 15 strikeout game. And you're facing some really good pitching stats. I mean, Texas is really good, Auburn's really good, and you acknowledge that. But boy, the strikeout numbers at the end of the season were really high. And it shows here in this, you know, in this record book. 605 strikeouts, that's the most in program history. [00:22:42] Speaker B: Yeah, that's, that's a big number. [00:22:46] Speaker A: So. [00:22:46] Speaker B: I hate strikeouts. You know, I'm, I'm kind of a fan of the. I have, I have a, I have a two strike approach. I call it up, up and up. You widen up a little bit, you know, you know, you know, the choke up thing, you know, you scoot up, you widen up, you scoot up, you choke up and you put the ball in play. It's kind of like you saw LSU do it a couple years ago with, when they won a national championship with Dylan Cruz, Tommy White, those guys. [00:23:12] Speaker A: Tommy Wyatt was a great two strike hit. [00:23:14] Speaker B: Yeah, they just really take the stride out. So I'm a big fan of doing that. I know back when I played, when I got two strikes, I got wider. I was already close to the plate, so I really didn't have to get closer to the plate. But I was consciously, you know, I wanted to protect away. If I was protecting away, I didn't want to get beat with that fastball away. And that keeps you on the ball. Then if you get an off speed pitch, your barrel automatically runs into it and you hit it pull side in the air. I don't know, sometimes I was just frustrated that I felt like. And, and look, this isn't. I'm not knocking Nate or Bobby. I know what they work on and they do all the right things. It's up to the players to go out and execute. And I think there were just times you didn't see, you didn't see us staying on that slider away or, you know, it's just a lot of swing and miss at the top of the zone. You know, stuff like that. Like I watch, I watch the, what was it, 1312 game, Georgia versus Mississippi State. And I don't know how many two strike hits there were where they battled, they fell off some pitches and then they got a pitch over the plate. And I'm one of those says if you'll, if you'll. Either let's say you're facing a two seam guy and he paints a two seam fastball down and we take it. The job of that pitch is to get you out. If he throws another one out there, who cares, Take it. He's gonna make a mistake. He's gonna flip a slider up there and leave it over the middle or something's gonna happen. And you saw that in the Mississippi State, Georgia game where it was 1312. They, they did a really good job of getting their pitch. And Wes Johnson comes on, he was frustrated. Mississippi State was up, I think it was seven nothing. And he's like, we're not on time with the fastball. Well, they went out that inning. I think they threw up six, a six spot on. And made it seven, six, five or six. But right when he said that it was home run to left by Jackson, home run to right Luho. I mean it was just like. But they, they took the off speed pitch and they were on time with the fastball and it was. For me, that's, that's hitting right there is being on time, finding your pitch and being on time. Now if it's off speed, be on time, pick a speed and be on that. But for me, if you're not on the fastball, you're not ready to hit. [00:25:27] Speaker A: I think the, the most frustrating thing for this team is that, or offensively for them is that it felt like they were able to hit the elite pitchers like Aiden King, Liam Peterson, they were on those guys. Volchko from Georgia, they were on him. You know, and you could go down the list. It was the, it's what I would call like the junk ballers. Think about there were two Division 2 guys. There was one from Missouri who came in and threw like five scoreless innings or something. Florida had a D2 like last year's D2 National Player of the year. He had a pretty good season, but, you know, he shuts them down. You know, Diegert is a little bit different from UT Arlington, but you know, I felt like, you know, there's a lot of off speed stuff in his. I think Stetson had a guy who was kind of like that, you know, Mason Cook from ku. I thought he was kind of like that. So I don't know. It's just. And that was obviously one of their worst performances of the year where they had three hits. That was the lowest hit performance they had this year. It's just, it's, it's strange to me. It seems like we see that a lot and maybe, maybe this happens a lot of places where like the off speed guys have a lot of success. But you think about like Dylan Delucia in Omaha got it the same thing. Kevin Abel in Omaha got it the same thing. And maybe it's because some of these are, you know, like biggest games of the season. I mean, you know, Mason Cook, the winner's bracket 1o game, that's the biggest game of the season they're playing. And obviously those games in Omaha were season ending games. It just, it feels like, like, like the off speed guys in the postseason have given Arkansas so much trouble over the years. [00:27:09] Speaker B: The, the guy that we struggle with this year, it looked like to me was your sinker, slider guy, little two seam fastball down and then slider away. Maybe, maybe mix in a change up with that. But I just felt like we played their game, not our game. And I'll go back and talk about, I talk about Bill Robinson a lot. He was my hitting coach in the Yankee organization. Came over and transformed me as a hitter. I'd been in triple A for several years. Long story short, I would swing. Triple A is a big sinker, slider, league change, two seam fastball away. I would swing at it and he's like, well, why are you swinging at that pitch? And I'm like, because I know they're going to throw it. And he said, don't swing at it. The job of that pitch is to get you out. He said, hunt one up, they're gonna make a mistake. And I was so worried about the pitcher's pitch, which was his number one pitch, the sinker, that when he would make a mistake, I wouldn't get to it because I was so worried about the two seam fastball away or the sinker away. And it changed me as a hitter. And then all of a sudden I started raking those guys because I quit swinging at their pitch. I started swinging at my pitch and it made me the hunter instead of the prey. And, and it just kind of flipped the script a little bit. And I just seem like when we, when we face those two team guys, we're trying so hard to hit their pitch. And look, once again, I'm not bashing anybody. You know, I don't sit in on the hitters meetings anymore, so I don't know what their plan was against the guy, but yeah, I would assume it was to hunt the ball up, but it's easier said than done. You're dealing with college kids. But, you know, I think those were the guys that we struggle with, was the sinker guy. We roll over fastballs and then chase sliders and you just, you, you're, you're kind of, I call it being caught in between, you know, is he going to throw a two seam, he's going to throw a slider and next thing you know you're, you're getting jammed on a two seam and rolling over it or you're pulling off the slider away and so you're just kind of caught in between. [00:29:01] Speaker A: Fewer games than last year, their power numbers ended up being comparable. Not, not, not totally apples to apples. But think about last year. They had, I think it was 100, what was it? 118 doubles, they had 114. This year they had nine triples. Last year they had six. This year they had 127 home runs. Last year they had 105 this year and again, not as many games. So if they play the same number of games, you're really looking, you know, I would think a lot more comparable numbers, especially with how, you know, the ball just seems to be flying in the NCAA tournament this year. It's, it's pretty amazing. Kind of hard to watch the games, to be honest with you, how high scoring they are. You'd mentioned Mississippi State, Georgia, like they were entertaining in that they were close. I didn't particularly like watching it because I don't know, 13 to 12, 11 to 9, like that's just, let's pitch a little bit here, guys. But you know, the power numbers, they were there again this year and we weren't sure if that was going to be the case. That was kind of interesting. It's first time ever that The Racebacks had four players who had 15 or more home runs. They had 20 by Cam Kozel, they had 18 by Ryder Helfrich. And Zach Stewart and TJ Pompey both ended up with 15. It's kind of interesting. Pompey and Stewart, I think they ended up giving them the type of power numbers in the end that they were expecting from him. It just felt like it came in, in spurts. [00:30:26] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I agree. I think, you know, we, it was kind of a roller coaster. One day would be. And once again, I love Zach Stewart. But look at, in sec. SEC tournament. I can't remember how many strikeouts, nine in a row. Was it nine? [00:30:41] Speaker A: He had, he had homeward five times in four games and then he had nine strikeouts in a row. Yeah, it just shows how fast it can turn on a player. [00:30:48] Speaker B: Now the pitching was really good in SEC tournament, you know, but that's a, that's tough. That can get mental on you if you, if you let it. You got to. Yeah, you got to. I don't know. Some guys are. They want to swing their way out of it. Some guys want to take their way out of it. I was always one of those. When I was in a, When I was struggling, the more pitches I saw, I started to feel better and better and better. Instead of just going up there and hacking, saying, oh, I got to get out of this. I'm going to get the first pitch. That's close. I did just the opposite. I zoned in more and I was more fine tuned. So I would hunt a pitch in a location. You know, when I do my strike zone, it's one through seven. I would hunt one through five and I wouldn't swing at a six or a seven. And if I was going good, it was any pitch in that zone. If I was going bad, it was a specific pitch in that zone, a speed, whatever speed. I was on that at bat, runners in scoring position, I flipped that. I gave up 1 and 2. I looked 3 through 7 and tried to stay in a big part of the field. And that's. That always got me going again is sticking to that plan. [00:31:56] Speaker A: And when you say 1 through 7, can I interrupt? [00:31:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:59] Speaker A: Are you talking about it's 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 across? Because I see some people like they'll have a strike zone or a hitting zone, whatever you call it. That almost looks like a tic tac toe board where it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. [00:32:14] Speaker B: Mine's across. [00:32:15] Speaker A: Okay. [00:32:15] Speaker B: Mine starts, one is inside. If I'm a left handed hitter, it's one for a right handed hitter. I flip it and one. I want one to always be ins side. [00:32:24] Speaker A: Okay. [00:32:25] Speaker B: One through five. So if you're, if you're facing, if you're righty facing a two seam guy, you got to look one through five, hunt the ball up and pull it. If not, you're going to get eaten up with that Two seam fastball in all day. And, and, but the key is being able to take the slider or if you get a slider count where you know the guy's going to throw a slider, give up the fastball, hunt the slider. For me it's about, it's about hunting a speed. Then when you get two strikes, you just got to get in battle mode, you know, fight off the pitch, the pitcher's pitch and you will get a pitch to hit. It's just a matter of time. [00:32:59] Speaker A: It's fascinating. A reminder. Our baseball podcast is sponsored by H and R Tire and Auto. They're a local shop. They've been family owned for three generations. They built their reputation on taking care of customers the right way. That kind of longevity doesn't happen by accident at H and R Tire and Auto. Alright, so we mentioned earlier the three players who have committed to Arkansas at least publicly so far. There may be some silent commits in there, you know, who knows. But they've lost five players to the transfer portal. None of the five, like I shouldn't say none of them played this year because Landon Schaefer did play a little bit. Joey Lorenzini pitched a couple of times and I think he was dealing with some sort of injury. None of these players though, Kaden Mitchell, Tyler Holland, Landon Schaefer, Joey Lorenzini, and I'm missing somebody and it'll come to me here in just a second. Another pitcher who is transferred out of the program. None of them though were like, you know, real crucial to this year. And I think all of them, you look at them and you would have said Jacob Imodo was the other one, the junior college left hander. All of them, like it's hard to see where they had much of a playing time moving forward at Arkansas. So it feels like all of them are going somewhere else to get playing time. You look at, you know who they're going to lose. I've got a list here of draft prospects. Ryder Helfrich is going to be gone. Hunter Dietz is going to be gone. They're both probably going to be first round picks. Dietz might be a early second rounder. Ryder Helfrich, Baseball America's got him ranked number eight overall. That's, that's amazing. He's going to be the highest drafted catcher Arkansas's ever had by a, by a long shot too. Gabe Gackel, they got him ranked number 83. Baseball America does going down the list, Cam Kozol, you know, the expectation is he'll be Gone. Carson Wiggins. We'll talk about that here in just a second. Colin Fisher, Ethan McIlvaine. I'm sure he's going to be gone. Kind of surprised, by the way, to see Fisher up so high in the Baseball America rankings. Tate McGuire, Damian Ruiz. Those are the players who are ranked by Baseball America. There's about four or five players who are from either junior college or high school who are signed with Arkansas who are in BA's rankings. You know, you know how this goes when it comes to the draft. It's all about, you know, what's your number and does the team feel like you're signable with 20 rounds. They ain't wasting draft picks very much. So. There is a vote coming up later this month by the NCAA Cabinet, and this is going to determine whether or not there is five years of eligibility for players. And I feel like this is going to have a big impact on the draft. And of course, you know, down the road, not in the, not too, you know, distant future, you've got the new CBA for Major League Baseball, that the expectation is the draft might even get shortened some more. Maybe they changed the rules. Maybe they can't draft high school players anymore, but maybe you don't have to stay in college for as many years. So this could really change a lot. But going Back to the 5 and 5 vote, you think about some players, like, I don't want to single anybody else. Let's just say Rider Helfrich, because we know Rider Helfrick's not coming back. If Rider Helfrich were to come back next year, all of a sudden, if that 5 and 5 vote changes or passes as it's expected to do, Rider Helfrich, this is his bargaining year, but next year would become a bargaining year, too, for him. And so now you apply that to some of the players who, again, I don't want to use their names because I think people can use their imaginations and probably figure out some players we're talking about, but they could come back, have another bargaining year with the draft next year. I think that this potentially changes things. And you talk about the calendar. This is the one time maybe in the history of college baseball that the calendar has actually worked because you get this vote or it's expected to get this vote before the draft, which is in early to mid July. And so they're going to know by the time the draft rolls around, do I have another bargaining year or not? But this is a big deal. I feel like, to the, to the programs in the draft? [00:37:15] Speaker B: No. I talked to some scouts in Kansas during the regional and they talked about that, how that could affect the guys they go after and the, you know, whether or not they think they can get them or not. They said it could have a big effect and obviously that's going. Some guys going to cost them more money this year because they have more bargaining power. I hope it gets done. I think it would be. You know, the thing I like about it, you know, you've got five years. You know, whether you play or not, you got five years. So it cuts out some of this stuff that goes on where you get these red shirt guys. You know, you, you get your injuries, you get all this other stuff. I think it just clear cut five, you know, you got five years. I think it's from the time you graduate or from the time you turn 19 I think is the way it's drawn up. But there are, there's a few guys and they're the, those, those guys that we're not real sure about and I think we can say their name, can't. I mean in my mind I think it's like a Damon Damien Ruiz, I think a Nolan Sousa. I think of guys like that that are kind of like eh. [00:38:23] Speaker A: Maybe Kahio Aloy. [00:38:24] Speaker B: Kahio Aloy. Absolutely. Those are the guys that's really going to affect and I think it would be good for some of those guys to come back. I'd love to see Nolan Sousa come back and play a full year completely healthy. I think he's a guy that can put up some really big numbers next year and really help his draft status. [00:38:43] Speaker A: About like a Tate McGuire. I mean, you know, he's a junior right now, but you think about if he came back, maybe see a bigger piece of the pitching. Who knows? So I feel like. And again, this is going to make college baseball older again. Yeah, like, like the game just keeps getting older and older and older and I think this is going to contribute to that. So there's that little wrinkle. You look at players who we're pretty certain are going to come back next year. We mentioned earlier the Brenton Clark, the left fielder who people didn't get to see unless they were out at. I really like him. I think that he's got a chance to be pretty good and you talk like he had the red shirt year and he had the medical red shirt year and you know that guy is just itching to get out there and prove himself. And sometimes those are the players who can be the most. The Most effective because they've had to sit and they've had to wait and it's like, hey, it's my time to do this now. Christian Turner, you know, he was a big piece toward the end. You got Carter Rutenbar on the mound, you know, Cole, Gibler, Steele, Eves. So, you know, I thought it was kind of telling that they put Mark or that they put Mark Brissey and they put Peyton Lee out in that last game at ku, it was like. And you heard Dave Van Horn say after the game, he said that kind of is a good feeling for the future to see them pitch like they do or they did. So, you know, the expectation is that they're, they're part of the future plans. And I'm sure there's going to be other players, you know, from this year's roster that are going to be back next year, but it is going to be a much bigger Turnover than the 25 season to the 26 season because there's just not as many parts that are coming back. I mean, you could make a strong argument, Bubba, that they need to go into the portal and get somebody at just about every position on the field. Now, you know, if some of these players come back, that, that changes things. But, you know, I mean, like, like you could make an argument they need a more experienced catcher. You know, they're going to need another catcher regardless. You know, they, they might need a new first baseman, they might need a new third baseman and shortstop. You go all around and it's, it's going to be a busy portal, I feel like, for them. [00:40:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. I think when you talk about catcher, I've heard rumors of a guy that, that, that's going to be coming that would be really good for us. I'm not going to say his name. I think we need a, I think we need a Friday night guy. Unless Carson Wiggins, and here's Wiggins is [00:41:14] Speaker A: an interesting, so really interesting. [00:41:17] Speaker B: Here's the way I, I don't bother the coaches. Like, Matt Hobbs is awesome. I could call Matt Hobbs today and ask him a question about Wiggins. I don't want to bother them. They're in the middle. They're probably on the phone 24 7. The last thing they need me doing is going, hey, where's, what's, what's Carson Wiggins gonna do? We'll find out. When, when they want us to know, they'll let us know. I don't want to dig around. I did call Nate Thompson the other day about a player that I liked. But yeah, the Carson Wiggins thing's huge because I remember Dave at one of the, the, it was at the, the Hunt Center. It was, I don't know if it was for, for sponsors or whatever it was, but it was a get together season. Yeah. And Dave said something about passing a hat for Carson Wiggins. I'm not, I don't have a giant wallet, but I, I'd gladly put a few bucks in that hat. [00:42:14] Speaker A: Here's the Carson Wiggins dilemma. He could probably get drafted right now and command a seven figure signing bonus. Like if he were to get drafted, it would probably be an indication that he's willing to sign and he's probably gonna get overslide money if he comes back and he pitches to the level of expectation that's there. I mean, this guy's throwing 102 as a freshman. And Matt Hobbs told me in the preseason he thought that, you know, his fastball, off speed combination might be the best, you know, 12 in the draft this year. Even without pitching this year, he said he thought that that might be the best combination. [00:42:50] Speaker B: Don't say that out loud. [00:42:51] Speaker A: People know, you know, you're talking about, you know, I mean, are you talking about a top 10, 15 pick, kind of like maybe what happened with 100 eats this year, maybe higher. I mean, you look at the slot values, number one pick next year might be $14 million signing bonus. Now, I don't know that he would be a 1 1, but could he be a 110? That's still a pretty significant amount of money. I mean, Hagen Smith was 15 and he got 8 million. So that's the dilemma for him is do you bet on yourself and say, I can do much better next year, or do you take the, you know, the safe route and say, I could get a million, 2 million, somewhere between a million and $2 million this year. I don't think he can fault the guy either way. And I'm glad I'm not in his shoes and I'm glad I'm not the one advising him because that's got to be a very tough decision. [00:43:41] Speaker B: So my theory on why he didn't pitch, and, you know, I, my wife's a conspiracy theorist person. I'm not as, as much as her, but I feel like he didn't pitch because there's already a deal in place with somebody saying, we'll give you this much money. You talked about slot money. We'll give you this much above slot if you sign with us now, I could be Totally wrong. This could just be there, his doctor being overly protective and saying, I want you to go 15 months till you throw another pitch in, in games. It just feels like to me there's something already in place there. But I agree. If he came back, I, I was talking to someone last night and I said he could be like a Paul Skeens type guy, come in and go one and one, get. What'd you say, the slot next year? [00:44:31] Speaker A: I think it's gonna be about 13, 14 million. [00:44:33] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, if a team gives you that much money, you're going to the big leagues. No, you're going and you're going there quick. If they give you that much money and look, another year they're paying you [00:44:45] Speaker A: 13 million to stick around Colorado Springs. [00:44:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So I just feel like, man, if he stayed one more year, got a little bit more experience because you're going to get developed more here than you are in the minor leagues. They're going to send him to a ball somewhere, probably start him out in low A just to let him pitch some, get some innings, stay here. I mean, be your Friday guy another year under Hobbs. I mean, he doesn't need a whole lot of fine tuning, but I just feel like, man, that's. But you're right, it's, it's. Do you take the money now or do you bet on yourself and, you know, get 10 times that next year? [00:45:26] Speaker A: I think Dave Van Horn said something, pardon me, at the Swatters Club two or three months ago. He said, I think Carson's supposed to get married in the fall. And so I think he said maybe one of their recruiting pitches was, hey, come back and you know, like, be a quote unquote kid for one more year. You know, enjoy that first year of marriage in a, in a college environment and then go pro again. I am glad I'm not the guy advising him because it's. You cannot fault the guy. If he takes a deal now or tries to bet on himself and take a deal later, it is. I feel like it's a win, win situation for him. It's just for Arkansas. That's a big. That to me feels like the biggest question of the off season is what happens with Carson Wiggins? Does he come back or not? Because I feel like there's a lot of dominoes that can fall in a lot of different ways based on him coming back or not. [00:46:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it changes because he's our Friday night guy if he comes back. So that changes what we're. Well, we're still going to go out and look for a Friday night guy. Yeah, that it'd be nice to have two Friday night guys. Yeah, that'd be a good luxury to have. But yeah. I don't know, I just feel like him coming back from Tommy John. I just think, man, one more year of working out the kinks, getting everything, because it takes you a little bit coming back. I don't care how good you are. I know his bullpens have been really good. Just feel like it's always good to have a little more time. But yeah, it's easy for me to say. I'm sitting here in a chair. I don't have a guy dangling a bunch of money in front of me. [00:46:58] Speaker A: I pulled a dollar right here. [00:47:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:01] Speaker A: Well, Bubba, we could sit here and talk about this all day, but we got to wrap it up. Appreciate you being in here all season and looking forward to doing this again next year. [00:47:08] Speaker B: Yeah, let's do it. [00:47:09] Speaker A: Hey, one more time. Our baseball podcast this year has been brought to you by H and R Tire and Auto. They're proudly family owned since 1976. They're trusted across northwest Arkansas, committed to keeping you safe on the road all season long. You can learn more or schedule service at H and r tire and auto.com again you can find our podcast search Whole Hog Sports on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. We put it on our Facebook, our Twitter Pages, on our YouTube channel. Just search Whole Hog Sports anywhere. It's a weekly podcast through the summer. We'll go back to a daily format when football season rolls around in the fall. Hope to see you again next week. Have a great week.