D1Baseball released its list of 150 best college prospects yesterday. There are three Razorbacks and an incoming JUCO transfer on the list:
14 Christian Franklin
56 Casey Opitz
80 Patrick Wicklander
131 Jalen Battles
Battles is a shortstop from McLennan Community College in Waco, which is the same school Dave Van Horn played at before he transferred to the Razorbacks in the early '80s.
Wow wasn’t expecting Franklin to be anywhere near that high! Hope he plays well enough to make it happen…
Franklin is trending toward being a first rounder. If the 2021 draft were today, I think he’d be a top 30 or so pick. Outside of Kjerstad, he might have been the most well-rounded position player on the 2020 team.
No love for Noland?
I don’t think Noland has done enough to set himself apart yet as a draft prospect. I think he could be a solid prospect by the time he leaves Arkansas. That may be a couple of years away, or maybe he shoots up the boards with a great season next year.
It’s unfortunate we didn’t get to see more of him this year because I think he had grown quite a bit as a pitcher.
Franklin has done nothing but improve since he’s gotten here so that continues he will be a highly sought-after player.
Agree. I thought he looked sharp to start the season. What happened that he didn’t play in our last series? Did he have a slight injury?
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I don’t know how I missed your question when you posed it. Noland had an oblique strain that kept him from throwing in the South Alabama series. I think he would have pitched at Mississippi State, but the season was suspended before he had the chance.