Amending my post from the other day a little bit after talking with Van Horn just now at Swatter’s Club.
Pitchers: Isaiah Campbell and Connor Noland will start this weekend. Possibilities for Game 3 are Jacob Kostyshock, Kole Ramage and Cody Scroggins.
C - Casey Opitz
1B - Matt Goodheart or Trevor Ezell
2B - Jack Kenley
3B - Jacob Nesbit
SS - Casey Martin
LF - Christian Franklin
CF - Dominic Fletcher
RF - Heston Kjerstad
DH - Matt Goodheart or Trevor Ezell
Anything wrong with wicklander??
Arkansas’ football Red-White game is at 3 p.m. in Fayetteville.
The Razorback baseball team plays at 2 at Auburn
Connor Noland?
No. He might be a third starter, but probably will come out of the bullpen. I forgot to mention him in the post.
Apparently, Kjerstad has has been quiet in preseason scrimmages. Any comments on that?
That’s exciting. One good starting pitcher can completely change a season.
I’m surprised to see Kenley at 2B and Nesbit at 3B though, I thought that would be flipped.
He has struggled in the ones that I have seen. He had a couple of base-running mistakes Saturday and went after some balls low in the zone. It looks like the breaking ball is fooling him a little right now.
But he also hit the line drive that went off Angus Denton’s neck in practice Sunday. I kind of am in a wait and see mode with him. He has the ability to turn it on when the games matter.
Matt, can you comment on the 2nd and 3rd base moves?
When I watched the scrimmage Saturday, Jacob Nesbit was having some trouble turning double plays. He could get the force at second, but he wasn’t getting the ball out of his glove quick enough for Kenley, the shortstop on his team, to get the throw to first in time. I think Kenley has quicker hands and can make those plays at second - he’s good at the positions across the infield. This gives Arkansas a better defensive tandem up the middle until Trevor Ezell is able to get in the field at second.
D1 Baseball Projected Lineup a couple weeks ago…given Opitz and Plunkett will be splitting time, and Ezell is still on the mend, I guess the only surprise is McFarland, if he hits .299 this year I think he’ll work his way in.
Arkansas’ Projected Lineup
Pos.\tName, Yr.\tAVG/OBP/SLG\tHR\tRBI\tSB
C\tZack Plunkett, R-Sr.\t.222/.300/…556\t1\t2\t0
1B\tJordan McFarland Jr.\t.299/.379/.402\t3\t15\t0
2B\tTrevor Ezell, R-Sr.\t.377/.442/.558 (SEMO)\t6\t50\t11
3B\tJack Kenley, Jr.\t.222/.389/.259\t0\t10\t1
SS\tCasey Martin, So.\t.345/.418/.556\t13\t49\t8
LF\tChristian Franklin, Fr.\tHS–Overland Park, Kan. (Rockhurst)
CF\tDominic Fletcher, Jr.\t.288/.338/.468\t10\t49\t1
RF\tHeston Kjerstad, So.\t.332/.419/.553\t14\t58\t3
DH\tMatt Goodheart, So.\tTransfer–San Jacinto (Texas) College
Pos.\tName, Yr.\tW-L\tERA\tIP\tSO\tBB\tSV
RHP\tIsaiah Campbell, R-Jr.\t5-7\t4.26\t69.2\t75\t29\t0
RHP\tKevin Kopps, R-Jr.\tDNP–Injured in 2018
LHP\tPatrick Wicklander, Fr.\tHS–San Jose, Calif. (Valley Christian)
RP\tMatt Cronin, Jr.\t2-2\t3…54\t48.1\t59\t14\t14
D1 is like any other outside commentary, they have not seen the freshmen. Connor Noland is unknown to them. His progress during preseason cannot be properly evaluated by them.
I bet Kenley moves back to third when Ezell’s arm comes around.
McFarland may play against lefties. Might be a platoon situation at first, although Ezell is a switch hitter.
Having Opitz and Ezell as switch hitters is real nice.
I read an article (don’t remember if it was on here or not) referencing conversations between CCM and DVH about the use of Connor this spring. One of the points discussed was “if he was scheduled to start in a series on Saturday”. The statement was that Connor would pitch and not make the Saturday scrimmage game. Now, I don’t know if that Saturday scrimmage also included the the Red-White game or not. I also don’t remember if that was the author’s thoughts or if it was an actual agreement between the 2 coaches.
My thoughts only here: I bet neither coach, when making this agreement before Spring, thought Connor would be the Saturday starter. I also think that an SEC baseball game should take precedent over the Red-White football game.
I wrote that story: http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2019 … star-hour/
This was Van Horn’s quote:
“It’s even to the point if Connor is one of our weekend starters and he’s supposed to pitch on Saturday and it’s the same day as the Red-White football game, then he might not play in the football game that day,” Van Horn said. “That’s kind of the way (the agreement between coaching staffs) was worded.”
The “Red/White” game is a glorified scrimmage and Nolan will have scrimmaged plenty by the end of spring practice. CCM will know what he has at that point with Connor and can use the minutes for Hicks and Hyatt. I don’t think missing the Red/White game will be that big of a deal even if he is the starter at QB.
Thanks Matt. So, it was on here and was your article and I “mis-remembered” a bit of it. It did reference the Red-White game, the agreement, and was a DVH quote.