[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Hog Sports Network daily podcast.
Now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: It's Thursday. Bubba Carpenter's in studio with us. We'll talk Razorback baseball. Big series this weekend between the Razorbanks and number six Georgia down at Foley Field in Athens. We'll also look back at the Arkansas State game on Tuesday. Get Bubba's perspective from that one. But first word from Kendall King at Kendall King.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: We're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kindle, King, Soapbox and Shopcart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are designed.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Welcome in Bubba Carpenter here with me. You know, Arkansas is 31 3. Bubba and I had this thought the other day as they won that game. And I think seeing Patrick in scove on the Arkansas State roster helped remind me of this because his dad John was on the national championship team for the Razorback basketball in the 90s. 31 and 3. That was the record of the 94 basketball team that won a national championship. You got the number one ranked baseball team. They're 31 and three. They're trying to get to that point, too.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: That's pretty impressive that you tied those two together.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: I've got nothing else to do with my time.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Wow. Our brains think total different.
But no, you're right. I mean, that's pretty cool. I didn't even know that until the game had started. It didn't even dawn on me. And then Phil brought it up on the air, so.
But yeah, I love, I love what this team is doing. I mean, 31 and 3, great record.
Didn't think we played our best game against Arkansas State, but, you know, it's, it's that game and I said it. One of the keys to the game before was, you know, don't overlook these guys. You know, we had a series against Missouri. Anytime you got that, that Tuesday sandwich between and you're getting ready to leave and go play a big, big road series in sec. It's, you got to worry about your team mentally, how they're going to go out and react.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: And you mentioned mentally. Dave talked about this after the game. Fatigue. He said mental fatigue might have been a factor in this game. And we were talking about this yesterday on our show.
In pro baseball, you are, you know, you are accustomed to playing 5, 6, 7, however many days in a row. Yeah, you're not necessarily accustomed to playing that many games in that short of amount of time in college baseball. It's not to say you can't, and it's not to say that it wears them out physically. But I do wonder, like, what do you think the mental toll is there? Because they played Arkansas State, and really it was their fourth game in four days because they had played Saturday and then they played two on Sunday, do you think, or how much do you think that has any toll, if at all?
[00:03:07] Speaker C: I think the mental toll is more so than the physical toll because these guys are still, you know, they're still developing. They're still trying to figure out, you know, there's. There's a lot on their mind. They've got classes, you know, they got social life. They've got. They've got all these other things going on. And then there's a lot of pressure of playing for the Razorbacks and, you know, your number one team in the nation. Now, I don't know that that that necessarily affects this team a whole lot, but I just think there's a whole lot going on where you get into pro ball. All you got to worry about is playing baseball. You don't have all these other things to worry about. It's. It's you getting up, taking care of yourself, and going to the field and being ready to play. You know, what you got to do by that point. I think that's the part of it that kind of wears on these guys. And I thought some guys weren't really locked in at the plate, to be honest with you. I don't think they. I think we have a few guys that don't bear down midweek as much as we do on the weekend. And look, I can remember back in the day, I was a terrible midweek hitter. I hit way better on the weekends.
One of these days, you Rain Man. Go back and look at the stats and see. You'll see. My. My midweek stats were terrible.
I. I didn't realize it at the time, but now looking back, I realized that I wasn't really locked in. There's a thing called hyper focused, and I didn't really think that was a word. I had a. I had a crazy. A crazy dad used to yell that out to his kid all the time during the game. Let's go hyper focus.
And I. I just thought that was something he made up. And so one day I Google it, and it's really a thing. So maybe we're just not hyper focused sometimes on Tuesdays it was, I thought.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: It was, to your point, disappointing. The two, three, four hitters, nine strikeouts between them. And those are three guys, including Kozal, who got a national player of the week award last week. Those are three that you really expect a lot more from.
[00:04:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I thought Cam chased a few pitches out of the zone. I was worried that fastball up and in, by the way. I think he fouled that off. He got.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: The bench thought so too.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: Yeah, I thought he foul tipped it and then it hit the catcher and went down. And then on his backswing, he hit the ball again. He actually hit it twice.
So, yeah, I don't know why there wasn't a review there. But, you know, but I think, I think I'm not worried about Cam. One thing that I worry a little bit about it. I've kind of seen a trend with Viva and Kahu Kuhillo. They're late on fastballs. It looks like they're hittable pitches. Vaheva mixed missed a couple his last bat that looked like they were right there. Now we don't, didn't have the strike zone, but just going off where the catcher set up where, where the glove moved to. They look like good pitches to hit. 90 mile an hour fastball, he's late. And then what happens is you have to cheat. Soon as you start to cheat, they drop that slider on you. Swing and miss. I've seen both of them miss some fastballs lately that they were crushing early on. I think that's, that's my only concern is seeing something like that.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: I thought the umpire on Tuesday night had a very generous strike zone. I mean, it was, it was big. It was a big strike zone that both teams were throwing into. Does that change your approach at all as a hitter when you know that the strike, you're going to have to maybe go after some pitches that you wouldn't have to with someone else behind the plate.
[00:06:18] Speaker C: Yeah, you're a little more defensive. You don't want to get to two strikes because you don't know what he's going to call two strikes. So you know, you're, you're, you're not as, you know, like you watch guys, good hitters aren't afraid to hit with two strikes. You get a guy like that, well, you really don't want to be two strikes because you don't want to leave it up to him. I said, it's funny. I said at the first inning, I'm like Ramon Hernandez. I said, that name stands out to me, which is usually a red flag. If I remember an umpire's name, he was. There's something about him that made me remember his name, and that's not being consistent. You know, if you. The best game is. Is you go the whole game and you never have to say the umpire's name or you never notice him. This guy stood out to me for some reason, and I know now why.
[00:07:02] Speaker B: Have you figured out why?
[00:07:04] Speaker C: Inconsistent strike zone. Yeah, Just not knowing. It looked like he would call a pitch here ball, and then out here a strike. It was just. The zone was inconsistent. The batters looked frustrated on both sides. The pitchers look frustrated. They thought they had some strike threes. They didn't. And then there were a few balls called. Like There was a 3, 1 pitch. I don't remember who it was. Catcher didn't even bother framing it, and they called it a strike. And it's just. Yeah, it's a little different.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Before we talk a little bit more about the game, I will say this about Arkansas State. They look like a lot better team than other Arkansas State teams that have come in here in the past. They've got a first year head coach Mike Silva came there from Nichols. I think that could potentially be a more competitive midweek series than we've seen the last few years.
[00:07:53] Speaker C: Absolutely. Moving forward. I watched them take. Watch, take ground balls. And so I always watch teams when they come in and take ground balls. I think Amy told you this. When Missouri's taking ground balls. They booted balls left and right.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: They had eight errors in a game the other night and still won.
[00:08:07] Speaker C: Yeah, Yeah, I heard that. Crazy.
What was it?
Nut, knuckle, Canoe, whatever. The guy's name. Knutson, Knudson, Josh.
Still early.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: I said let you hang yourself.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: Yeah, appreciate it. He had like four errors in one inning. But anyway, watch them take ground balls. And they looked really good taking ground balls. I mean, they. They fielded it crisp. They threw it. I mean, they. Good throws, good footwork. You could tell they've been well coached. And so that's. Yeah, I think they're. They're. And it looks like they brought in some good players. I thought they had some guys that came out of the pit and they could throw a little bit. Especially some of those guys at the end of the game.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: I think there were some of their weekend pitchers. They're throwing.
[00:08:49] Speaker C: Yeah, they look pretty good.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Pitching numbers are pretty good this year. I mean, they're like under 380 or A. I think. Yeah, not bad numbers.
[00:08:57] Speaker C: I Think the only thing that I was a little bit baffled with is some of the splits. There were some reverse splits where they brought like a lefty in to face Davilon. His numbers against lefties weren't very good. Davilin hits a three run.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Jack Davilin is better against. Well, I said better the other night and Dave said I wouldn't say better. He said, maybe he's as good, he just hadn't had as many.
But his numbers are better, his batting average is higher, let's put it that way, against left handers, considerably higher than against right handers. It was almost like Arkansas State stepped into a trap, so to speak, right there. Yeah.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: And it kind of surprised me because Mike Silva's, you know, he's got a pretty good, he got a pretty good track record and maybe he wasn't looking at that. Maybe he just looked and said, look, these are the guys I want to get in, I'm going to get them in. But there were a ton of pitching changes and it looked like almost every pitching change went against the split of what you would think you would bring in in that situation. But you know, maybe like I said, he just had a list of guys he wanted to get their work in. That's it. I don't know.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: Is there, is there such a thing as being a clutch hitter?
[00:10:01] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. I say all the time it's not what you hit, it's when you hit some guys in that situation, their heartbeat speeds up, they try to do too much and you know, okay, I'm going to like Brady Slavins. When Brady was here and I hate to call out ex former players because, you know, I love any former Razorback. I love. Brady would get up in that situation, I think things would speed up on him and he would chase three pitches out of the zone. I think other guys have the ability to slow things down, relax their eyes, trust their eyes, and then come through in a big situation. And I think we've got a few of those guys on this team right here.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: Well, Davilin is the guy. I mean, to me, I was thinking back like Ole Miss, two outs, down a run, he gets a hit and then gets ve to the plate. He ties the game versically, gives him the win. And we've seen a number of times, I mean like even the grand slam in the Missouri game, it felt like that changed the whole tone of that first game of the doubleheader the other day. It's not a game winning hit against Arkansas State, but the whole feeling in the stadium and the dugout. I felt like just totally changed whenever he hit that home run and it goes from 2 to 1 Arkansas State to 4 to 2 Arkansas.
There are guys like that, like you were talking about old players. Brett Ibner was like that. Remember Brett Eibner, the Virginia game at the World Series. And then a lot of people don't remember. So he saved Arkansas season against Virginia in oh, nine at Rosenblatt, he had a two strike home run. Chuck Barrett's call, phenomenal on that home run by the way. You ought to go look it up if you haven't heard it. But then the next year they're at a super regional against Arizona State, the number one seed in the tournament, and they're down to their last out. I think last strike, home run ties the game since it's extra innings and there's just a, like some players just seem to have that, that it factor. You want him up at the plate when the game's on the line. And I feel like Davlin, even though the game wasn't on the line with two outs in the fifth inning the other night, it felt like it very much kind of hung in the balance. And Arkazole was able to seize control because of what he did.
[00:12:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. And you know, if you ask Davlin, he's gonna say, oh, it's because I got studs behind me. But he's good. He's just really good. He's good.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: The studs behind him didn't hit the home run.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: But you know, you know, if you ask him, he's like, well, they're pitching to me because they don't want to pitch to be heaven. I think early on I bought into that, but now I'm like, no, it's not. They'd rather, they'd rather pitch to the haver right now than you because I mean, he showed the ability to hit the all fields. Lefties, righties, it doesn't matter. He kind of takes what the pitcher gives him. And you're right, he's got a knack for that big hit at the right time.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: Let me tell you this stat. I want to get your reaction to it. 12 home runs, nine strikeouts.
Wow, that's his numbers.
[00:12:54] Speaker C: That's. You don't see that these days very often. I mean, you, you just don't see it.
The only time you would see something like that, Matt, is a guy that's just up there hacking early in the count so they, they don't ever strike out. And you look at him like, whoa, they never strike out, but I mean, they got weak contact because they're just up there swinging early.
But, yeah, what he's doing is pretty impressive. That's a, that's a great number.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Like, and you don't, you don't see those numbers from power hitters because power hitters are going to strike out. And I think part of something I've thought about this team and I'd like your thoughts, is I don't feel like they have a lot of power hitters. And what I'm saying by that is that they don't have a lot of guys who are up there swinging for the fences. It's just they're up there taking good at bats. And the power is just a byproduct of, you know, putting a good line drive on the baseball.
[00:13:46] Speaker C: You know, I say all the time, you got to be a good hitter first, a power hitter second. I think these guys are good hitters, therefore, the power comes because they get good hit, they get good pitches, and they barrel them up and they're strong. Therefore balls go over the fence. I mean, it's, you know, you look at it and you, you can overanalyze it, but at the end of the day, it's about getting a good pitch and being on time, and these guys are good at doing that.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: You mentioned Cahillo earlier. He had a home run in the game, another big one. Two run home run with two outs. I think they scored all their runs with two outs on Tuesday night, which they've been really good at this year.
Have you seen anything different from him? Because he had five strikeouts in his first six at bats against Missouri. And we talked about this the other day. Nate Thompson brings him over, puts his arm around him as he's coming off the field. He goes five for nine the rest of the series.
Had the home run the other night against Arkansas State. I think he had another hit in that game.
Is he beginning to come around? I mean, what are you seeing from him right now?
[00:14:41] Speaker C: I hope so. I just see him late, like I said, fouling off, falling off fastballs that he wasn't falling off early in the year. Like when you threw him a fastball early in the year, he was going to hit it hard somewhere and most of them went over the fence. But he's falling off. He's a little bit late. I call it being caught in between. You're a little bit late on the fastball, therefore you cheat and you're early on the breaking ball. Instead of just picking his speed. But you know, he hit a hanging slider out the other night to right center and I think if he could stay on a few more of those breaking balls and drive them like that, then he's going to get more fastballs and then you got to be on time with that fastball.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Is he streaky?
[00:15:22] Speaker C: Very. I think he's very streaky. We're seeing that right now. He's kind of on the low end of a streak right now, but hopefully I think he's a guy when he gets hot, he can carry a team like he did early in the year. And the same with Viheva. And I mean they're both tremendous threats at the plate. And you see pitchers, they real careful when they come up to the plate because they know one mistake, you know, and it's gone.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: You know, we're talking about him and how much he's struggling. You still look at his stats.371 hitter. It's amazing how much that the start to the season that he had is going to help him eat statistically. Probably for the whole year.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: Yeah, getting off to a huge big start like that's huge.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: And Even in SEC play, 302 is not a number that you sneeze at. It's just not a. It's not at the number that it was earlier in the season. So we were having this conversation the other day in the press box and it was, who's the best hitter on the team? Is it Davilon or is it Cam Kozal? And I kind of piped up, I said I'm not so sure it's not Carson Bowles. And then about two minutes later he comes to the plate and hits a three run home run. I'm like, see now I got lucky there. But it just seems like every time that he plays, he gives them something. A couple hits, you know, two or three rbi. There was one point the other day after he hit the home run. 9 RBI in 8 at bats in his previous 8 at bats, 9 RBI. And so it just, it seems like there's production from him every time he comes to the plate. He was a really good hitter. Division 2 All American last year.
It's hard to get into this outfield though because you got Davlin playing well. Obviously Justin Thomas I think has played really well for him at center field. And then Logan Maxwell when he's healthy is. You can't take him out of the equation.
What's Carson Bowles role on this team and what's the value of having someone like that, that you can bring off the bench.
[00:17:16] Speaker C: Well, first of all, you watch him and you can tell a lot about a hitter by the way he takes pitches and he takes pitches. I mean, he sees them well, takes sliders off the plate. Like you can tell he's got a really good approach, really good feel, is really good at recognizing pitches. I mean, the key to hitting is trusting your eyes. And I think he does a good job at that. There was a bat that stood out for me. I'll make it quick.
2o count, gets a fastball down and away, takes it. Not a good pitch to swing at 2 0. 2 and 1, same thing. Dude painted down and away and then 22 slider and then 32 fastball off the plate draws a walk. A lot of guys would have either swung at the 20 pitch and if they didn't swing at the 2 0, they'd have swung it to 2. One fastball. Even though it's a pitcher's pitch, it's a fastball down and away. I was really struck by him, the way he took those pitches. He knew he didn't want him.
He'll take his chances with two strikes. Not afraid to hit with two strikes, end up drawing a walk right there.
But the three run homer, you know, he gets 2o count, gets fastball, hammers it. I just love his approach at the plate. Now, I guess the long winded answer to your question, what's his role?
You know, he could, he could, he could even dh. I wonder if Kuhillo starts to struggle. You know, he could be a guy that could DH or maybe have Kuhillo DH against the lefties because he rakes lefties. Have Carson against the, against the righties, I don't know. I haven't seen Carson really have a bad at bat yet, though. Every time he's in there, you just feel good about it. I said the other night during the game, I said I'm going to write him down for an RBI right here. You know, just because you feel good about it.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: I've been impressed with him. I think he's a really good player. The DH thing is interesting because if Cajillo ends up being too streaky, I think you might see him, you know, and we've seen Van Horn a lot of times. If a player is struggling too much, he'll go set him off to the side for a game or two and try to slow things down for him. I just, I feel like Carson Bowles could have a bigger role on this team moving forward. I don't know what it is, but we'll see.
I was having Missouri State flashbacks the first couple of innings against Arkansas State because they were hitting Tate McGuire hard, I mean real hard. Everything was 103, 101 off the bat. And you know, even, even some of the ones that Arkansas caught, they were still hard hit balls. And I mean, you know how that goes. You hit it hard enough, enough, right, it's eventually going to go through and. But the, it changed when the relievers came in. Ben Bybey came in, had a real quick inning, like 10 pitches. Colin Fisher, I thought his first inning was really good. The second one wasn't quite so good. But then Carter and Gibler and Wiggins all come in. What changed do you think in the middle of that game?
[00:20:11] Speaker C: Well, I think if you go back to Tate, I think Tate McGuire isn't a good matchup for this team. You look at their stats, they don't strike out a lot as a team, they don't walk a lot as a team. So obviously that tells you they're swinging early in the count. Well, Tate, those a lot of strikes. So that's not a good matchup. You know, you almost need to early in account, you know, not throw a strike or you know, throw a strike that they, they're going to miss the barrel, you know what I mean? I mean he's just, he's, he's in the zone a lot and I don't know, it's a good matchup where some of the other guys coming in and I'm not knocking Tate, I'm just saying that it's a good thing that he throws strikes, but he almost throws too many strikes to face a team like that where you look at some of the other guys that come in, you know, Bybee a little different look for him a little bit more velo, you know, Colin Fisher different look. Dylan Carter looked really good, you know, and then Gibbler and Wiggins look looked awesome. So I don't know, I think I'm not really answering your question. I'm just saying I'm really just using Tate as an example right there.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Wiggins had eight pitches, eight strikes. Pretty quick inning that he pitched and first time he's pitched in the midweek since February. You know, I mean he's been saved for the weekend roles. Now I was talking to Matt Hobbs earlier this year and we were talking about using, I can't remember what the word was, but I'll say a term here, a high intensity pitcher, someone who throws really hard and you know there's some nerves there from a pitching coach to throw those guys, especially on consecutive days, you know, you want to parcel out their appearances and take care of their arms. So I feel like with them now saying that he's going to pitch for them more often, Dave said, I think that he would be comfortable pitching them with a day of rest in between. And Carson said that, you know, he thought that that was. Felt good to him. It feels like maybe he's earned some trust from the coaches in terms of just how he knows how to use his arm.
[00:22:20] Speaker C: Well, I think the key is throwing strikes. You know, if he can come in and have a nine pitch inning, you know, that makes things a whole lot better. It's a whole lot easier to bring him in. If he comes in on Friday and throws, you know, 10, 15 pitches, it's way easier to bring him back on a Sunday, you know, and he showed that ability. And I'll tell you what, the slider is ridiculous. I mean, everyone talks about his fastball, the sliders. I don't like the word unhittable, but use Hobbs word.
Oh, that's right, we can, can I say that?
I'm not gonna stop you, but yeah, it's.
I haven't seen anyone take a good swing at his slider yet. I really haven't. There's some really uncomfortable swings at that slider. And I mean, you've got to cheat to his fastball, his fastball, even when he's throwing just nice and It's a nice easy 98, which is crazy. 98, 99.
So you gotta cheat for the fastball and the slider tunnels off that fastball. It looks just like a fastball and it just disappears. Crazy.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: You know, like you get the NFL draft coming up and whenever they evaluate quarterbacks, they talk about hand size. We get these pictures of Wiggins throwing and the ball looks like he's about to skip a rock across a pond or something. His, his hands are so big. I don't know what that means as a pitcher, but it's just something I, I notice.
[00:23:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I did see the picture. It looked like he was holding a golf ball.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's amazing. What'd you think about the band at the baseball game?
[00:23:51] Speaker C: So when I got my headsets on, I, I don't, I don't hear a lot, but I found myself taking the headset off and you could probably feel it underneath you.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:00] Speaker C: Listening to, listening to it a little bit, I thought it was cool.
I don't think the, the people Sitting in the row right in front of the trumpets. Thought it was really.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: I don't think they like that.
[00:24:09] Speaker C: They looked. They look like their fun meter was a little bit low. But I thought it was cool. I mean, I thought it was something different. I'd like to see it on an SEC weekend when we've got 11, 000 people in the. In the stands. You know how cool that would be.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: I've never seen a band at a baseball game. I've always thought it would be kind of a cool deal if they did that.
I'm interested to see if this happens again because it's a neat little. I think it could potentially, if they do it right. And part of that is not blowing out the ears of the people, you know, that are your paying customers sitting right in front of you. If they could find a way to position them right, this could become kind of a neat little wrinkle to bomb.
[00:24:51] Speaker C: What if you could put them up in Mackey's Landing?
[00:24:53] Speaker B: I actually had somebody say that to me the other day.
[00:24:56] Speaker C: Yeah, that would be a cool spot. Of course, then you're gonna. Those people have to move out, which, you know, I thought it was cool, though. Last time I saw a band, I was telling Phil in the air was would have been in Dominican. When I played in Dominican Republic, there's no. You see everything in the stands, but they had bands. They had all kinds of stuff going on up in there.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: So, yeah, I think there's some areas where you could put the band. You put them in the front of the hog pen, give a little section in the hog pin, and they're not in front of anybody or they're. Nobody's in front of them.
[00:25:25] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I guess. But then you're rooting out hog people, Hog fan people, hog pin people. You don't want to do that.
[00:25:31] Speaker B: Plenty of room out there. Plenty of room. And the hog.
[00:25:34] Speaker C: Let's just build them a big scaffolding out there in left field and have.
[00:25:37] Speaker B: Them put them next to the cameraman and center.
All right, when we come back, we're going to talk about Georgia West Johnson's time at Arkansas and more. First, another word from Kendall King.
[00:25:47] Speaker A: At Kendall King, we're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King Soapbox and Shopcart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are soapbox. We are shopcart. We are designed.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. I want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com want to tell you too. You can get the latest breaking news on all Razorback sports@whole hogsports.com Most in depth source for all Arkansas sports with analysis, latest in recruiting, unique stories on all your favorite teams. Subscribe today@whole hogsports.com Speaking of subscribing, hope you'll subscribe to our podcast. You can find us on Apple Search Whole Hog Sports. We'll also put a video version on our YouTube page at. Or I'm sorry, our Whole Hog Sports YouTube page. Arkansas playing Georgia this weekend down in Athens. Georgia was number three last week and then they went to Texas and got swept. Texas basically took their ranking Longhorns for number two behind Arkansas. Georgia moved down to number six in the polls this week. Wes Johnson's their head coach. First time we're going to see him in a head coaching role against the Razorbacks. He was at LSU the year that they won the championship. Coach Paul Skeins there.
What do you remember about Wes Johnson's two years at Arkansas?
[00:27:37] Speaker C: You know, so in 2018, that was my first year. So that's the, you know, I only got to be around him that one year. Always enjoyed Wes. He was always really good to me. He's good to talk to.
I was amazed at his knowledge. I mean, just when you talk to him about pitching, you know, he's I liked what he brought to Arkansas, and you and I have talked about it. I thought he brought like a new phase of analytics to pitching. I thought he was kind of the start of that. And then, you know, Hobbs has kind of taken it from there and taking it to another level.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: But yeah, when Wes left Arkansas, he went to the Twins. It was the first time that a coach had left a college dugout to go to a Major League baseball dugout in 39 years. Dick Hauser was the one who did it before when he went from Florida State to the Royals, I believe maybe it was the Yankees. But anyway, this is something that just doesn't happen, you know. I mean, this isn't like where the NFL takes a college football coach and brings them up.
It's a much more nuanced process in baseball. If you want to go from college baseball, you go into somebody's, you know, minor league or, you know, fall development league or something like that, and then you work your way up through the ranks. And so what he did and what the Twins did, that was really historic. When that happened seven years ago, I was talking to Matt Hobbs and I said, did you know him? He said, we kind of knew of each other.
But Wes actually, when he left, you know, he didn't want to leave his. Because he left at a weird time. It was in November when he got that job with the Twins after the major league season had ended. And so you don't want to leave. And Wes is from Arkansas. I think he loves the Razorbacks. So you don't want to leave, you know, the program in a bind. You certainly don't want to leave your pitchers in a bind. And you want to put them in the best position you can for that season that begins in like two and a half months. And so they hire Matt Hobbs, but Wes had actually given Matt Hobbs name to Dave Van Horn. They knew of each other. I think, you know, from the way Matt explained it to me, he said, you know, he thought Wes knew that they did some things similarly in terms of how they use technology. Wake Forest had that pitching center that they had built up and had a reputation for that in terms of analytics. But I think to your point, it is right. I think when you look at Arkansas baseball like 2016, 2017, and then you look at it now, it doesn't. And I'm talking about what they do on a day to day operations basis inside that building. It doesn't look anything similar to me. And I feel like Wes from a pitching standpoint was really influential in terms of pushing the program forward into more of a modern age, you know, philosophy. And then I feel like, you know, Nate Thompson came along the next year and he and Wes overlapped for one year. And I feel like he did kind of a similar thing from a hitting perspective.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: No, I think you're right. And, you know, I think. I think Hobbs has kind of taken it now to a. To a different level. I mean, I think. I think Wes kind of got us on that path. And then, you know, he, He. He knows a lot about the game, a lot about pitching, a lot about analytics. I used to enjoy, you know, just asking him questions and, you know, he could talk. He talks a lot. He's really good at selling what he believes west does.
But, but yeah, I think he, I think he kind of got us going in that direction. Now, if I had to pick between the two, I doubt that Wes will see this. I really don't care. I mean, I'm a Matt Hobbs fan because I like how Matt simplifies everything. I mean, he really does. He, he can talk to someone that really doesn't know a lot about pitching and make them understand the art of pitching without using a bunch of big fancy words and trying to wow you with, you know, you know, his vocabulary. I think he just does a good job of explaining it to not just people, but, you know, breaking it down and taking the technology and applying it to each individual pitcher to make them better.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: One more tie in between Matt and Wes. I remember I did a story about five years ago and I talked to Kyle Barker, who owns a company down in Jacksonville, Arkansas called Newt Force, and he and Wes were high school classmates at Sylvan Hills High School. And Kyle, you know, I don't even know how I would say this scientific brain, we'll put it that way. And anyway, he created the smart mound. And Arkansas was the first, I think, program to get one of these smart mounds, which reads the, the force that you're putting down on the mound or on the ground whenever you're pitching. And now it's programs everywhere, major league programs, they all have this in there. But, but, you know, Arkansas got one of the first generation smart mounts. Talking to Matt for this story and he said, okay, he said, I come in and I'm talking to Kyle and he says, okay, Kyle, I see this. It's really, what do I do with this? How do I use this to teach my pitchers? And he gave me a great quote during that. He said, you can have all the technology, but if you can't verbalize that, it's useless.
[00:33:08] Speaker C: Right.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: And so it was just kind of an interesting little tie in there.
[00:33:13] Speaker C: No, I, I, I think that's, and that's, that's great because I can see, I can see Matt asking him that question. I can picture that because his whole thing is, you know, all the technology is great, but, and I think, I think there's a lot of people around the country now that have technology, but I think a lot of people don how to apply it to like, you know, Wiggins, you know, how do you take this and apply it to Carson Wiggins or Cole Gibler or, you know, whoever McIntyre or, I mean, look at, look at the guys that have come here how much better they look at Higgin Smith. Look at him from the day he got here to the day he left.
I mean, obviously he's getting better now. Part of his strength, maturity, whatever. But they're taking that technology and making these guys better. And that's the key to it. You can have all the technology in the world. If you don't know how to use it and make a kid better, it's useless.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: Here's the exact quote. This is great. We were trying to get there at Wake Forest. What do I do with it? Tell me what to tell Conor Nolan to throw a better fastball.
[00:34:17] Speaker C: I wish I could have set in on that conversation. I bet that was a good one.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: But Kyle Barker, who I talked to, he said, you know, to Matt's credit, he figured it out. And it's amazing how they paint a picture of a pitcher. I mean, it's like there's nothing a pitcher can do. And again, all this started with Wes down there, but there's nothing a pitcher can do that you don't have five different metrics, you know, analyzing it. Whether it be with the Rapsodo cameras, the Trackman system, the smart mount. I mean, it's. You are getting a 360 degree analytic picture of every single, not just pitch that a pitcher throws, but every single motion that he makes that leads to that pitch. Thousands and thousands and thousands of data points just to get the ball 60ft from the mound to the plate.
[00:35:11] Speaker C: It's awesome, isn't it?
[00:35:12] Speaker B: It's amazing.
[00:35:13] Speaker C: Well, you know, with all that technology, though, you don't want a guy to lose a field. You're not creating robots. I mean, you still want a picture. You still have to have a feel for it. You know, you can look at all the numbers and read that and look at the screens and take all that, but at the end of the day, you've got to be able to feel that technology boom right there at your fingertips when you let go of that ball.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: What'd you call it, from your feet to the. When you let go of the pitch. You said this a week or so ago.
[00:35:39] Speaker C: Oh, the kinetic chain. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's. I don't like that because you, you get all these, these guys on YouTube talking about pitching mechanics and all that. They try to use all these fancy wor. Words and terms and they, It's.
Yeah, it's in anyway. I don't know if they ever put a jock on or not, but they, they, they act like they know what they're talking about.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: So, you know, Georgia, they're. They're off to a really good start. They're 30 and 5, like I said. And it's not just a good start to this year. Like, Wes had them playing really well last year, too. They were right there on the doorstep of going far in the postseason.
Yeah.
[00:36:17] Speaker C: I mean, you know, and Wes is a good recruiter. You know, he's going to get the. He's going to get what he needs in there.
I think the key is recruiting players for that ballpark. You know, it's definitely a hitter's ballpark.
I think, I think that's the key for him is, is being able to get the right players in there to, to play in that ballpark.
[00:36:38] Speaker B: If you're a left hander and you look down the right field line and see that foley field's what, 314ft a lot of times, I think with the wind at your back, I mean, what are you thinking?
[00:36:49] Speaker C: You know what I'm getting ready to do? I'm getting ready to ground out the second four times because I'm gonna be trying to hook everything. Yeah.
If there's a runner at second, nobody out. I'm the man for your job right there.
[00:37:02] Speaker B: It's the shortest porch in the sec. I remember when they were doing the renovation to build the Hunt center at Arkansas. They actually remember they moved. They had to move the right field fence in just a little bit.
[00:37:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: In order to do that. And that made the fence at Arkansas. I think it was 312ft. And so it became the shortest porch in the SEC for that one season. Then they moved it back to 320 and now Georgia's the shortest again.
[00:37:24] Speaker C: I think the difference in Baum, Walker and Foley Field is. I mean, there's days that Baum plays small. I mean, there are, there's days that the wind's blowing out, ball's carrying even some days when it's not. I mean, the ball carries there, but I didn't fully feel. It seemed like the ball. There's never not a good day to be a hitter in that ballpark.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: One thing they've done this year, they did a $45 million renovation at the park over the off season. And one of the real noticeable deals is that now it is all AstroTurf. It's a little bit different.
I hate it. I like to me and I understand why they did it. I guess they had a lot of rain outs last year and they felt like if they had a turf field, they wouldn't have had to Play so many double headers.
I'm all about the aesthetic. I feel like baseball should be played on grass, not on turf. But. So now you're going to another ballpark where it's all turf. I think it's a different kind of turf than what Vanderbilt had or what they played on at Vanderbilt a couple of weeks ago. But that's kind of an interesting little angle to this weekend too.
[00:38:31] Speaker C: Okay, so I'm not a ground screw guy, but you know, I've been around a lot of ground screw guys. And the new drainage. Look at Bomb Walker. Look, we got a flood this weekend. All day Friday it rained, or for three days it rained and we're playing on Saturday. I think, I think non turf fields with the drainage systems that they put in place now, I mean, almost better than turf.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: I think there's probably some. You have to spend some money to save some money here too, you know, I mean, in this new college sports here. And I'm not saying this is the way it is at Georgia, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was a consideration. You don't have to have a whole lot of groundskeeping done on a turf field. I mean, there's. Obviously there's maintenance that's, that's done on these fields, but it's not at the level of what you have to do with a field that's real dirt and real grass.
[00:39:21] Speaker C: Yeah, there's just something about it, though. There's nothing for me, there's nothing better than stepping out on a real grass dirt field. You just feel good. I feel good when I'm dirty, when I got some grass, stings on me, some dirt on me, you know, but.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: So I feel after I weed, eat, smell like gas.
[00:39:39] Speaker C: But you know, I looked at the numbers this weekend and Texas came in and they, I mean, they shut them down.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: Yeah, they did. I mean, it's. It was impressive.
[00:39:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, 38, 38 strikeouts held them to 15 hits. I mean, their pitch staff did a good job. Now, I don't know if their staff is that good, but whatever they did work this weekend.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: You look at Georgia's numbers and their offensive numbers are really good. I've got them pulled up here. This was before the Presbyterian game the other night. I think they hit five home runs in that game, but their first in home runs, it was at 87. I think it's 92 now. I mean, 92 home runs at this point in the season hadn't even gotten hot yet. It's amazing. Their first nationally home runs game Second in runs, third and on base, fourth and slugging. And it goes on down the line, six and scoring. This is a really good offensive team. Think about West Johnson. And I think the thought at Georgia was this was going to be a team that's built on pitching and defense. It's almost become the opposite Bubba, where the pitching, while not bad, it's not elite. They're having to rely on a team to score a lot of runs to win a lot of these games.
[00:40:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. But if. Okay, so we're to the point in the season where I look at SEC only and if you go SEC only, we're hitting.361, they're hitting.285. We've scored 138 runs. They've scored 108. We're out slugging them. We've got one more home run than they do. We're striking out less. We're walking more. I mean, offensively, we're actually, we're better than they are offensively. And then if you look at the pitch inside of it, ERA is not even close.
We're 3, 96 or 5, 6 6.
[00:41:20] Speaker B: The only team in the SEC with a better conference, only ERA is Texas than Arkansas.
[00:41:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I mean, we're striking out. Our pitchers striking out. They've struck out 119. We've struck at 118. Opponents batting average, pretty close.
They walk way more people than we do. Way more batters. So they've got 67 walks in SEC. We got 38. So I mean, I really, I know it's a hard place to go in and play. I feel really good. I feel, I feel good about. I think this team can go in there and win a series.
[00:41:52] Speaker B: Now you talk about the SEC only stats. Let's. Let's address the elephant in the room. Georgia has not gotten to play Missouri. Okay, so like, like that could be. I know that counts toward the SEC only stats, but we might need to wait a couple of weeks to let this maybe come back down to earth a little bit.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: You weren't supposed to bring that up, Matt.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: No, you're right. I mean, I think Georgia, a lot of their big numbers, you look at their. I've got this pulled up here. Their non conference strength of schedule was 162nd. Arkansas's non conference strength of schedule is 96. Now, it's not a great number, but it does show you that Georgia has not challenged itself in the non conference, you know, nearly as much as most of the other SEC teams have.
[00:42:37] Speaker C: Well, did you I went and looked at a lot of their non conference games and then early in the year, I mean, they gave up a lot of runs to teams that like a lot of directional schools that Quinnipiac. Yeah. I mean they're giving up 7, 10 runs to teams like that. And so, I mean. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, but it's early in the year. Maybe they're still feeling out their staff. But I looked at their starters for this last weekend. Their starters, you know, the Friday night guy, Goldstein. I don't know if that's. If they'll stay with him. On Friday night he went three and a third, gave up four hits, three runs. Curly did a pretty good job Saturday. Five innings, three hits, two runs. And Finley did a pretty good job on Sunday. Five innings, three hits, three runs.
Didn't walk a lot, walked a few guys. Curly had nine Ks and five innings. So I mean, it looks like their starters did all right. It looks like they've got a couple relievers that are pretty good and they've got J.T.
[00:43:36] Speaker B: Quinn. Remember him from Ole Miss?
[00:43:37] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: Very good relief pitcher.
[00:43:39] Speaker C: So they got a few guys that are good. You kind of, you know, you kind of get in the middle of that bullpen, you can do some damage again, that's you.
[00:43:47] Speaker B: You would think that Georgia, a West Johnson coach team, they can, they can throw it by you. They're a high strikeout team.
[00:43:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: But I think that there's a lot of inconsistency there with how they pitch. They do get to play on their home field. Like that makes a huge difference. But I think this is, I'm with you. I feel like this is a series that Arkansas's got a chance to go in and, and have some success this weekend. You look at this, the stretch run here for the Razorbacks. I wrote about this yesterday. They play numbers 2, 3, 4 and 6 and then a couple of unranked teams. But the unranked teams are A and M, who's preseason number one, and Florida, who's preseason number 10. And so these are six really good or at least really talented teams that they're going to play. I don't know how well A and M and Florida are playing as a team right now. And looking into Florida a little bit like they have really been hit with the injury bug this year.
I thought A and M had been bit hard until I started reading about Florida and everything that they're going through. And it's very, very difficult what they're going through. But these next six weeks it's going to tell you a lot. You know, I don't expect Arkansas to win every series. I mean, I don't ever expect any team to win every series. Arkansas in 21, I think they were only the second SEC team that's ever won 10 series in the same season. So it's very rare. Even the great Tennessee team of 22 that won like 57 regular season. I guess you can't win 57 regular season games, but you know where I'm going with this. Yeah, they didn't. They barely lost. They lost a series. They lost to Kentucky that year. So these next six weeks I think is going to build a lot of character in the team and it's going to help get them ready for the postseason. That's what, you know, that's really the name of the game.
[00:45:22] Speaker C: Right. Well, okay. So when you and I were talking about them going to Ole Miss, we said, well, we're going to learn a lot about this team when we go to Ole Miss. Took two out of three. Then Vandy. I was looking at Vandy's pitching stats. They were giving up like opponent bat average188 when we went in there. I said, wow, this is a big test. We're going to learn a lot about our team when we go to Vandy. We swept them.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: So you're saying we're broken records?
[00:45:46] Speaker C: I mean. Well, no, I mean what you said is justified. It is going to get harder and, and now we're. Well, we're going to really learn a lot about this team when we go to Georgia. And, and I, I agree. I think this is a big test for us, but it just seems like we keep saying that and they keep going in and take care of business. So at some point, you know, we have learned about our team and they're pretty damn good.
[00:46:12] Speaker B: I think you're right. So as we record this, we don't know what the plan yet is with Gagewood, but we know that on Monday Dave Van Horn said there's a chance maybe this weekend or next that he'll get back into the weekend lineup. How would you approach bringing him back?
[00:46:29] Speaker C: It's a long season. I wouldn't rush it. I know Gage wants to be out there more than anyone in the world. I know they want him out there, but. But boy, I don't want to rush him. I mean, I want him healthy later in the year is what I, what I. That's when I want him healthy.
[00:46:47] Speaker B: Remember when they brought Brady Tigert back a couple of years ago? They Wanted to bring him back in a very controlled way. And so they just, they started him. It was like, hey, you're going to start today and throw 15 pitches. You're going to start, throw 25, 35 and build his pitch count up.
Do you think they do that with, with Wood? It's a different injury.
[00:47:06] Speaker C: You know, I think they could, Matt. I think they could, they could, they could start him on a Sunday and just say, hey, you, you've got this many pitches that way it, it's controlled and they, I mean he's got his routine. He can get loose, he can do everything he's got to do and then bring bottle, she's in after that. There's, there's a lot of ways.
I know they'll do the right thing. They'll get him, they'll get him out there and get him ready and, and I just, I just hate to rush it. I'm going to be nervous the first time he gets on the mound and just. Yeah.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: What they found in 23 was that actually piggybacking Will McIntyre with Brady Tiger was a great recipe for success.
Maybe they'll find that too.
[00:47:47] Speaker C: Can you imagine though, let's say he comes back and he can go, you know, even against pitch counts. It's going to take a little bit to get it up there. Him and then vital chief coming in after that. That's pretty good. One, two, punch.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: It could be.
[00:48:01] Speaker C: I like it.
[00:48:02] Speaker B: Again, we've talked about vital season. I mean they need left handers in the bullpen. And also on Monday, Van Horn mentioned that they haven't given up on Hunter Deets yet, that they're still the.
They want him to pitch if he is, if he's able to. And I think that able, I think that kind of takes a lot of different physical, mental, everything. You know, if they can get him back to something that resembles the pitcher that he was before he got hurt, they want him to be able to pitch for them. So that's one that could potentially. And it's weird. I mean, they're the number one ranked team, but you feel like, hey, they could hit better, be more consistent, they could field better.
And then they've got these guys. Whether it be Parker Coyle or. We'll see what happens with Deets. Obviously Wood, they've still got some bullets there in the pitching staff that could make it a stronger bullpen.
[00:48:55] Speaker C: Oh, absolutely. You know, this is a weekend where you really miss Parker Coyle because you look at how these against lefties are hitting.252, be a really good weekend to have Coyle and Deets and all those guys healthy, but, you know, I like where we're at.
[00:49:12] Speaker B: Want to mention this? Georgia, they've got a player, Rylan Zaborowski, the national hitter of the month by the Dick Hauser Trophy last month. He hit.448 during the month of March. 7 doubles, 14 home runs, 48 RBI in. In just one month. So. And more walks than strikeouts, which is also a pretty good sign of good hitter. So he's really the one to watch. Six foot five, 250 pounds, right there in the middle of the Georgia lineup. Okay, I want to finish here. Talking about one thing I heard yesterday on Chuck Barrett and Bo Mattingly show they had Bobby Wernus on. And he talked about the difference in coaching third base at the pro level than at the college level. And I thought this was really interesting insight. He said, he said, quote, when I was coaching pro ball, I coached third a little bit, but it's almost like a completely different sport in the minor leagues. They just kind of want you to force action. Wins and losses, which is crazy to say in professional baseball. It's minor league level, don't really matter as much. They'd rather have the kid get the rep of going first to third or try to stretch something second to home. And then he went on to say, in the sec, you're not just blindly forcing action, you're playing to win the game. It's a completely different animal. Very interesting because, you know, a lot was made of when they put him at third base before the season. He has experience coaching third base, but I thought that was interesting insight in how what they want him to do in the Phillies organization where he worked and obviously what he's doing now are just really different games.
[00:50:39] Speaker C: Yeah, it's totally different. And I thought, I think he's done a great job over there, but he's right about the minor leagues. It's all about player development. It's, you know, see if this guy can go first at third or see if he can score first to home. You know, they want him to run those bases. And then, you know where. Yeah. In the sec. I mean, one, one mistake at third base cost you a game. And I think he's done a really, really good job over there. I liked, I liked the other night how the, the Missouri guy didn't charge the ball in right field and he ended up scoring Davilon. And I thought, hey, that's good. You know, the guy didn't come get it and so, you know, it's, it's one of those things.
[00:51:20] Speaker B: Bobby said that whenever they made the decision, they were going to move Nate Thompson to the dugout and put Bobby to move him from first base to third base. Box. He said he reached out to some of his buddies in the college coaching profession, and he said they told him, quote, man, no matter what you do, it's going to be wrong. Just learn to be okay with it.
[00:51:39] Speaker C: Okay, so every time, like, if there's like a questionable call, did he send him or did he not send him at third? I. The first thing I do is look at DVH in the dugout. I'm like, what's his reaction? I want to see what his reaction is. Because there's, you know, there's times, I mean, obviously you, you. You don't want to make the third out at third. You, you don't want to make the first out at home. You know, you got to be. You got to know when to be aggressive, when not to.
With two outs, you got to be more aggressive sending that guy home.
There's. There's a lot of things that you got to do. And I watch Bobby on the top step when another team's taking infield, he's watching those outfielders. He knows who can do. I mean, they've got scouting reports, but still he wants to see it with his own eyes. He want to know that left fielder, you know, has no arm at all. You know, he wants to know who he can take the extra base on. And then, you know, that's what good coaches do.
[00:52:30] Speaker B: I can't. Obviously, you can't see everything on the road, but you can see most of it home. I can only think of one time where he's made a call at third this year where it looked like, hey, he probably shouldn't have done that. I think it was in the Charlotte Series, and it looked like he was sending the runner at third, but it looked like he was looking at the guide second. And so he thought he was going and then ended up getting thrown out. I can't remember exactly how that went, but I guess the point being that when you don't notice the third base coach, it seems like he's probably doing a pretty good job. And that's really the only time I've noticed him this year.
[00:53:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. And I think there was one where a runner was around in third. He had him going and then held him up late. He slipped and fell and could get back to the back. I don't remember which series that was. But, but, yeah, I mean, but it's, there's a lot of things happening really fast and there's so many things. You got to know your runner, how his turns are around the bases. You got to know the fielder, you know, a good, a good outfielder. You know, they say all the time an outfielder, he doesn't, he doesn't stop you with his arm, he stops you with his feet. You know, I go off of how quick he gets to that ball, if he's got that ball, you know, I'm going to hold a guy up. If he's, if he's slow to get to it, I'm going to, I'm going to take a chance. He's got to feel it and throw it. And, and I think Bobby's done a really good job of reading that, Bubba.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Good stuff. Appreciate you being in here. Arkansas Georgia this weekend, first pitch on Friday is going to be at 5:00 Central Time. Of course, Athens is Eastern. 5:00 Central on Friday, 3:00 Central on Saturday. That's a change from what was originally announced before the season. And then noon Central on Sunday. All of these games are going to be on SEC Network. Plus, of course, we'll have plenty of coverage, not just from the series, but from what Dave Van Horn has to say about it today on our
[email protected] hope to see you then. We're back with one more podcast before the weekend tomorrow. Have a great day, everybody.
