Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn on good summer practice, when fall practice starts and some hints about non-conference opponents fans will probably like.
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00:00 Yeah, coach, I guess it's been a while since we talked to you just with the draft and this offseason as a whole was there
00:05 Were there any big surprises or anything that really stuck out to you?
00:08 We knew that we were gonna lose some kids in the draft
00:12 Obviously and we were just hoping that we might be able to keep one of those
00:15 You know one of those three infielders that signed
00:19 fortunately, we were able to keep Sousa and
00:22 You know the the money that was
00:27 You know given them so to speak and where they were drafted, you know, there was
00:32 there were some tough calls, but they got what they wanted and they stuck to their word and
00:37 But other than that, I mean
00:41 Probably some of the surprises were that maybe we got a couple more pitchers through than I thought we might you know
00:47 and some big lefties and
00:49 Some guys that really had
00:52 Had put it out there that they wanted to go to college and I say got a lot of money and that's that's why we
00:57 Didn't have maybe another five or six guys
00:59 drafted anyway
01:02 With the transfers I'm assuming you're able to talk about more than you were before
01:07 Are you allowed to talk about all those transfer guys?
01:09 Maybe not all of I think there's a couple that we're still getting some things finalized whether it's
01:15 transcripts and all that but
01:18 Probably all that you've seen they're all coming. Just I can't speak maybe to a couple of them
01:25 Well, I'll start with shortstop and catcher because I know those are those were positions
01:29 A lot of people had their eyes on with white and alloy
01:31 Just how good do you feel to get big-time prospects like that huge players in their class to get you know
01:36 Productive plate pieces like that at those spot. Yeah super excited about both of those guys, you know, they both have did you want experience?
01:45 Those are some positions that we felt that we needed to you know, take care of a little bit more and
01:54 Those are probably two of the better ones in the country and we were fortunate that
01:59 You know in the case of Hudson white it worked fast
02:03 Once he got a portal we saw him there
02:06 you know, we got on it and
02:09 You know, he was a kid that we recruited out of high school. So we already had a relationship with him
02:15 so I'm sure that helped a lot but
02:17 you know and then
02:20 you know, you're when you're talking about the Hiva and
02:22 and
02:24 You know
02:25 His name is not pronounced like it's spelled so you guys can figure that out. But
02:29 you know, he he had some really good visits lined up and
02:33 We were very fortunate that he decided that this was what he wanted to do
02:38 And then he went, you know, he went on back home because he had to have
02:44 some surgery
02:46 Not on his arm or knee or anything
02:49 But he had to get some things taken care of and try to get healthy for this fall
02:52 So we're excited about both of those guys
02:54 Bob
02:59 Hey Dave, how you doing good is Lincoln Riley a guy you can talk about
03:04 I
03:08 Don't think so. No, okay - yeah, not not everything's done yet
03:15 Okay, and white, you know, he looks like he's got great hitting stats
03:19 His deep his defensive stats didn't jump off the page at me
03:23 Is he a guy maybe you're thinking about as a DH or first or different position or you looking at him as a catcher?
03:28 He's really good defensive catcher. It's not having a great summer offensively, but he's having a really good summer just catching and playing
03:37 He's had some some good years offensively
03:41 Now I plan on being a catcher
03:45 Okay, maybe I miss red does or maybe he's gotten better
03:47 But and then you got to Mizzou outfielders if you can talk about those guys
03:52 I mean those guys aren't just you know, high level division one players or SEC players
03:57 And when you're playing other teams, sometimes do you think yeah, but they guy goes in the portal
04:03 I might be interested in him, you know, or that that kind of thing. How'd that all come about? Well, you know
04:09 Basically there
04:13 You know you talk about Ty he's an everyday player center fielder can really run likes to steal bases
04:18 Very intelligent
04:22 You know talk to their former coaches
04:25 now at another university and at all kinds of good things to say about him and
04:30 You know when you're talking about Ross a little bit, you know, he's left-handed hitter that was injured a lot this year and
04:40 We feel like that that he's a guy, you know, if he could stay healthy and
04:45 Be in the lineup that he can he can really help us. So yeah, I mean and when you're playing other teams
04:52 I don't think we're just trying to win but obviously, you know, you're thinking yeah
04:57 Well, I wish I had that guy here and there
04:58 I think that's just human nature, but you know the way you're recruiting has changed a little bit
05:03 I think there's probably a lot of that a lot more of that going on
05:06 Thanks
05:09 Matt
05:11 Hey, good morning, Dave. What's the update on Dylan Carter and Peyton Stovall right now where they are in their recovery?
05:16 Well, they're just working hard. They've been here all summer. I think that I
05:22 Feel like Dylan's probably farther along than a lot of people thought he would be but you know
05:28 he had surgery midseason late season, so
05:30 it's going to be it'll just be interesting to see how it goes when he can get back and
05:38 Stovall's been here all summer. He went home for just a little while had the surgery got back
05:43 He'd been working with Corey super hard our trainer
05:46 You know, I think he's on pace or ahead of pace from everything that that I've been told
05:53 That's really about all we know right now
05:56 Do you know if you're gonna play any teams outside your own team this fall? Yeah, I would say no
06:07 We just feel like that
06:09 we have
06:11 you know a lot of pitchers in here that we need to see them throw and that would maybe take away a little bit and
06:17 You know when you play outside competition, there's you know, then your rosters kind of
06:22 set your counter so to speak and I
06:26 Don't think we're we want to go there yet. So we will have a
06:32 We'll have a really good fall when it comes to our scrimmages. We have
06:37 We have good players
06:39 That can play
06:42 Multi-positions and we feel like our scrimmages are gonna be super competitive
06:45 try to get these guys from it bats see who can do what who can run the bases who can steal a base and
06:51 Let some guys pitch especially some of these younger guys. They they can kind of go show us what they what they've got
06:57 You promoted Bobby Wernest to a full-time role. I wonder what has that done for your staff in terms of evaluations?
07:06 Being able to have more coaches out on the road
07:08 yeah, you know Bobby's done a tremendous job here as a player and then as a
07:12 young coach went away and then we got him back as our volunteer and then we hired him full-time and super happy for
07:19 him and
07:21 Just glad that we we have him with us
07:23 You know as far as the recruiting
07:27 It just puts him out on the road. He's done a great job this summer. He's been all over the place as
07:32 all the coaches have
07:35 Just makes us a little stronger
07:37 Tom
07:40 Don't you hey, hey Dave
07:45 It looks like you got went more a little bit more portal than you know
07:48 Whereas last year was more Duke Junior College
07:51 Was that a just a product of the available talent or maybe a little bit of a fill of philosophical?
07:57 deal
07:59 Maybe it was the way it worked for us this year
08:03 It just it made more sense
08:05 We had to see what we had throughout the season and what we were going to need and so
08:11 obviously that a lot of the junior college kids were maybe gone and
08:16 But but I think if you ask me I would probably rather
08:22 You know if it take a kid that's got division one at bats or gotten division one hitters out
08:28 if you're talking about right now, and I feel like that
08:33 we
08:34 we covered our bases this summer as far as getting the kids in here that we need to
08:40 Help us put together a roster that can can be competitive in the SEC
08:46 Yeah, hey speaking of the right now your roster
08:50 Construction do you feel like you kind of addressed every need and you got defense speed pitching relief pitching the whole
08:57 Kind of the whole works you covered the gamut
09:00 We do you know, you never know how it's going to turn out
09:04 We but we feel good about
09:06 The experience kids we have coming in we feel good about
09:09 the guys that are coming back that will have been in our program that they've continued to develop and get better and
09:15 Then the the freshman class that's coming in. It's still a really good class
09:21 Even though you know, we lost some kids to professional baseball and like I said, we knew we were
09:27 so we we tried to to cover all that and by going out and getting a couple infielders and getting a few more pictures it
09:35 It really helped us
09:37 Joe
09:40 Hey coach, what do you what do you make of Parker Coyle summer in the Cape Cod League?
09:48 And what do you feel like maybe his next steps are and where he fits into the mix you start to look toward the fall
09:54 Well, he's had a tremendous summer, you know pretty much out of the pen
09:58 Just coming in and and what he's done. He's thrown a lot of strikes and
10:03 It's always had a good breaking ball. Looks like he's really confident and he and he's just taking a step forward
10:10 I mean he could come in and challenge to be a starter or you know
10:13 There's a lot of roles for him and you know, we use them in some tough situations last year
10:19 Some because it was towards the end of the weekend. We had a lot of injuries. We had to go with some guys that
10:24 We didn't know if they were ready yet. And and he got us out of some jams
10:29 he started some games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and
10:32 You know, I think he's starting to you know
10:35 Turn the corner physically starting to put on some little a little bit more weight
10:39 And I think that this fall will be big for him and he'll be a big part of our team in the spring
10:44 Daniel
10:49 With all the injuries that you dealt with last year
10:52 Is there anything you're doing kind of differently this fall or anything to kind of prepare all the guys to get ready?
10:58 Yeah, we'll we'll make some we've made some adjustments
11:01 You know when you talk about fall practice or the way we you know go about on the field, you know workouts
11:08 It'll be it'll be pretty much the same. It's formula this worked
11:12 I mean if you go back and look over the last five years
11:13 I think we've won
11:15 More games in a division one program in the country and we could go on and on about some statistics
11:19 so don't want to change a whole lot there, but
11:22 You know, we'll maybe shorten some things up and and yeah, we're definitely makes some adjustments
11:29 Nathan
11:33 Yeah coach you got will McIntyre back
11:35 Was there any worry that he might you know, not come back and then also, you know, Zach Morris left just reaction to that
11:43 Yeah, Mac entire we really wanted to get him back and but at the same time for him individually and for his
11:51 You know his future if somebody drafts him and they give him slot money
11:56 We get it and we would have been super happy for him there. But
12:01 We we really wanted him back. We let him know that
12:04 I think he'll be a big part of our pitching staff love the experience and and the makeup and the stuffs good
12:12 It should continue to get better if he's healthy
12:15 You know as far as Zach Morris, you know
12:18 Zach did a lot of good things here for us and pitched in some really tough situations and and
12:24 You think about his career? He had a good career here, but he just wanted to pitch more
12:29 I think he wanted to be a conference starter and you know, we couldn't guarantee him that and
12:34 And we got some kids coming back that have been there. We've got a couple guys coming in that have been there
12:41 and I feel like that he just he felt like that he needed to to go and and and we get it we're gonna
12:49 wish him all the best we already have and
12:51 Hope he does well
12:54 And you had a lot of guys playing summer ball this summer just the overall health of everybody, you know
13:00 How are you feeling about that?
13:01 Yeah, so far the health is good. You know, we're keeping up with them. Some of the guys are just finishing up and
13:09 We'll keep an eye on those guys in fall ball, you know for if guys
13:13 thrown a lot or
13:16 Played most every day in summer ball. We're gonna give them maybe a little more downtime
13:21 Then maybe normal example instead of catching or playing outfield every day, you know
13:28 we'll let them DH and just hit and
13:30 Save a little energy there and then but they're still going to get their work
13:35 But I think that the summer ball a lot of times you don't see
13:39 How it helped you until maybe spring but the developments there
13:44 Falls the fall they'll get better. They'll be more confident and then
13:49 You'll see it. You'll see it down the road where they where they make a jump
13:53 Ellis
13:57 Yeah coach I wanted to ask you about Adam Hockman
13:59 I know he's a one of those pitchers that you were really hoping might make it through and he comes through what's the update with
14:03 His rehab and sort of that timeline with him. Yeah, he had a little different surgery
14:09 you know than just straight-up Tommy John he had the the internal brace, which is
14:14 Could be half the time. It's kind of a new thing and I'm not going to go through all the details and I'm
14:20 That's kind of the way that you know that we hear here. You know, it talked about it. It's an internal brace and I
14:30 Feel like that he'll show us what we need to do, you know, we're not going to rush him push him
14:35 If he's ready to pitch this year, he'll definitely pitch if he's not
14:39 Just get ready for the future and hopefully have two really good years get two and a half good years. That's that's fine. Whatever
14:46 big hard throwing left-hander six foot six
14:50 six five maybe
14:53 but you know, I don't feel like you'll be seen in pits this fall, but
14:58 You know, maybe in the spring and if that's if that's the case, that'll be great
15:02 You've also got a lot of position players
15:05 It seemed like they can move around a little bit like Jason Jones Jack Wagner and even Peyton hold
15:09 I was just wondering how much you've allowed yourself to think forward of like where you know
15:13 These guys might go who all might move around and who all could be bouncing around for you this fall
15:18 Yeah, I mean obviously
15:21 Jones and Holt are already in our program. We already know what they can do and they've you know
15:25 Holt just had to get healthy. We want to do him to really limber up this summer
15:29 You know, he's strong enough. He's got to be limber limber and quick and he's worked on that
15:35 You know
15:38 Jason has had a good summer. He's played every day for the most part up in Wisconsin. His team's done really well. I think he's
15:45 He's close to hitting double-digit home runs
15:48 something like that and
15:51 Maintained a batting average a little bit driven and runs got some big hits and played a lot of third base. So we're
15:57 We're excited about that and I really I don't think I can really speak about Wagner yet still working on a few things there. But
16:05 But it's just some things that are you know, that have to be taken care of but it's all good
16:11 So and we have more that kids that can move around and play different positions and and that's going to give us some options
16:19 Wow
16:21 Hey day, you were talking about guys in the summer, you know
16:24 We all know that the Kendall Diggs really improved his defense getting a shot to playing the outfield
16:29 He had some injuries, but I was about a month ago. It's about 1 a.m
16:33 I'm laying there on a couch about half asleep and I hear
16:35 Sports Center top 10 says Kendall Diggs and I'm thinking are you kidding me?
16:40 And I kind of had to wait and then watch the rerun of it
16:43 Did you see that play just waiting about Kendall making the top 10 foot for his defense?
16:48 He made a lot of good plays this summer
16:50 some sliding catches into the fence
16:53 diving catches I
16:56 think and you kind of said it, you know just him getting in the lineup when we we had the injury to
17:02 Wagner when he had to go to you know
17:04 and we put chase over and left and put Kendall in the game and you could see game to game the
17:11 That he got better. It wasn't so
17:15 Mechanical so to speak it just got easier and looked easier for him and
17:19 By the end of the year, you know, he was back DH and again
17:23 But we we had no issues putting me in the field and obviously he'll be
17:28 One of the front runners to grab one of those outfield spots
17:31 So it's been it's been good watching his development there and I think for him personally he knows when he he gets back
17:38 From summer ball that he knows where he's gonna go where he's got a chance to play and you know in the past
17:45 it's been bouncing around third first little outfield and now he'll just
17:48 He'll go straight to a corner outfield and get his work in and get ready
17:53 Jim guys pretty cool. Oh, maybe when his home runs got top ten on there, but
17:58 Him again a defensive play getting a shout out like that on national TV. Yeah, I think it's great
18:03 I mean, it's awesome anytime that happens here. You kind of like like you
18:08 I don't stay up till one o'clock in the morning laying around like that
18:10 But you know kind of walk me up and that's you're moving around a little bit
18:14 So I'm sure there's some other Razorback fans that probably did the same thing
18:17 Thanks, Dave
18:19 Matt
18:21 Big picture what's important for your team this fall?
18:24 Really really got to show us
18:27 Guys got to show us what to do on the defensive end. We're gonna put a lot of time on defense
18:31 You think about the last two seasons? We've really played great defense and it's it's helped us a lot and
18:38 We spent a lot of time last fall on defense and we didn't have a great start to the season defensively
18:44 but that we kicked it into gear and
18:46 you know, I think we
18:49 We surprised a lot of people how good we were
18:52 Defensively when we lost so many position players from the year before basically our starting left side
18:59 Starting second baseman. We move our first baseman to second then he end up getting hurt this year, but
19:05 And then the outfield same way we played good. We played really good defense. So spend a lot of time on defense
19:11 Do a lot of scrimmaging and without a give us an opportunity to see
19:17 if the defenses that we're working all the work we're putting in is paying off and
19:21 you know with the schedule that we have next year and it hasn't been announced but I mean the non-conference games that we're going to play and
19:29 Then conference games here that the fans are going to have an incredible home schedule
19:34 You
19:35 Have a date yet for the team practice when that's going to begin in September. Yes, we're gonna
19:40 We we actually since enough said something out to our guys our team
19:46 We've moved the days just a couple we're gonna start on Friday, September 8th
19:52 With full team practice and that'll get us all the way to about the middle of October with our 45
19:59 day window if we use it all sometimes we don't use the last couple of days and
20:05 we get those back for maybe in the in the spring, but
20:08 We'll see we'll see how that turns out
20:12 I like you know, our philosophy is to get them here go a couple of weeks with
20:16 they're they're kind of their position coaches and the weight room a little bit and then
20:21 Get out there and get it going and get them off the field in October so we can get that weight room
20:27 Get them off the field and you know, I just believe that
20:30 Guys need a little time away from maybe the competition of baseball and just kind of refine some things and get ready for for January
20:40 Mason
20:44 Yeah coaches Mason Molina one of the transfers that you can talk about
20:47 Yes, I can talk about Mason
20:51 Just what do you think about, you know landing a guy like him, you know with the season he had and did did Hudson white
20:57 Have any role in getting him?
20:59 Well, first off, you know Mason is uh, I
21:04 Mean he had I think he when we talked he had about 37 division one schools trying to get him to come to school there
21:10 You know, we feel really fortunate that
21:14 He liked it here. I know that he took three visits. He went to Georgia. I
21:20 think he
21:22 Went to Texas a and them and then we were his last visit and we didn't know how it was gonna go when he left
21:29 We felt like he had a good visit. I think he liked what we're doing here
21:33 You know, we had some of the guys in town
21:36 So they got to hang out with him a little bit and talk about our program and I feel like that always helps
21:42 so we're you know when you can get a picture that has a couple years of division one experience, especially
21:51 You know in a in a really good conference it should help
21:55 If he's healthy, I mean, I think he is
21:58 I think that he's gonna be a big part of our pitching staff
22:02 So that was a big get for us and you know as far as Hudson helping us
22:08 I never talked to Hudson about it, but I feel like that anytime that if you have guys that are on one team
22:14 I mean, it's just normal or human nature that they're gonna say hey, you're going there. I might be interested in going there
22:21 so I would say it was it was definitely a plus on our side, but
22:26 You know who's to say I think that that he you know, he knows about
22:32 how we handle our pitching and and a lot that we do here with our pitching staff and
22:39 all the technology that we use and he just he he like
22:44 you know, maybe thinking about coming to pitch for Coach Hopp, so
22:49 That was a big get for us
22:51 And then also with the seasons that Josenberger and Jared Wagner had last year and then they got drafted
22:57 Was that something that you were able to you know show to maybe some of these older transfer outfielders that you brought in?
23:04 Oh yeah, and we've done that with the class before and the class before because we we've done a pretty good job of
23:10 Sometimes maybe not getting the biggest name, but maybe getting
23:16 Maybe someone who just under that that comes in and has a really good year and I
23:20 think that you know, you're talking guys that some of these guys know each other because Midwest kids and
23:26 Playing our league or close to our league, you know around this area and
23:31 They follow, you know
23:33 If a guy came in here from KU and did really well and I came in here from Craig did really well or who you or whoever
23:40 They know these guys and they're following kids are keeping up with all this now
23:44 I mean recruiting is so different than it was five years ago as far as
23:49 you know recruiting these older kids and
23:52 They're smart. They know they're 100%
23:56 they they investigate they're making phone calls and
24:00 You know, they're asking these guys. Hey, what'd you think about the way they run the program?
24:05 I mean, what'd you think about coach Van Horn? Did you like the hidden guy?
24:08 They're asking all those questions. And I think the guys that we have been in here over the last three four years
24:15 These transfers have done well on paper. They they had a chance to play pro ball out of here and
24:21 They're definitely saying the right things to help us get guys
24:26 Yeah coach Jake Farity, you know, he's been around for a couple years
24:34 I've got a pretty good idea what the area of focus will be for him this offseason
24:38 But he seemed to draw a lot of attention for his stuff this summer
24:40 I was just wondering
24:41 Do you think it's time for him to finally take that step forward and be a guy that you guys can count on in the back?
24:46 End. Yeah, I mean that that's that's gonna be I mean his battle is the zone
24:51 And if he finds his own a lot he makes a team and he pitches a lot
24:57 He had some really good days up in the cave. He had some that didn't go so well and
25:02 probably
25:05 The coaches up there in a couple situation just left him in where we never would have left him in, you know
25:10 And then the numbers were skewed a little bit but stuff's good
25:14 Scott just got this fall and go out and do it and
25:20 Hopefully he does, you know, we're all pulling for him