FAYETTEVILLE — Dave Van Horn went through some of the lineup and pitching competition Friday two weeks before the baseball season opener. He admitted there were lots of question marks and things left to be decided.
Shortstop is not one of them.
After losing Michael Bernal - the starter for most of the last three seasons - to graduation and top signee Cole Stobbe in last year's draft, it might be a surprise that things are settled.
But it's clear that Jax Biggers is the starting shortstop for the Razorbacks. And it's a good sign that Van Horn wasn't asked about that spot until he was about finished with his media day briefing.
“Jax is as good as any shortstop since I've been here,” Van Horn said.
That deserves an asterisk. The Hogs have had only one All-SEC shortstop in Van Horn's previous 14 seasons, when Scott Hode made the second team in 2004. Van Horn did credit Hode for having “the best walk-up song ever.”
Cab Calloway's little “hi-de-ho” ditty, Minnie the Moocher, is still played sometimes at Baum Stadium.
It's not clear if Biggers has that kind of walk-up music, but he might be better around the bag than Hode, more of a hitter than a slick fielding shortstop.
But Biggers can hit, too. The 5-11, 175-pounder from Missouri City, Texas, cracked seven home runs with 50 RBI last year in his only season at Cisco (Texas) Junior College. He hit .385 to help Cisco to the quarterfinals of the NJCAA World Series at Grand Junction, Colo., in June.
That's about the time when the Hogs were sure that Stobbe wasn't coming to school. Draft projections were all pointing to an early-round pick. Indeed, Stobee went in the third round to the Phillies and quickly signed.
“I went to Grand Junction to see a lot of prospects, but the one I liked the most was Jax,” said Tony Vitello, the UA recruiting coordinator and hitting coach. “The question was whether or not we could take him as a freshman. Sometimes that's a tough deal.”
So Vitello called Biggers' summer league coach from the Houston area, Ronnie Thames.
“Jax had played with Dominic Taccolini for Ronnie with the Columbia Angels,” Vitello said. “Ronnie and I are real close. It can be uncomfortable to go after a JUCO freshman. Ronnie said a ton of teams are already after him.”
The Hogs had to beat out Auburn and Arizona State for Biggers. It was a quick sell after his visit.
“You get Mondays off in the summer,” Biggers said. “So I came in and loved it. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.”
Van Horn knew Biggers' father, Brian, as both a junior college coach and an assistant at Lamar (1994-97). So did Vitello.
“I'd seen Jax in high school,” Van Horn said. “He was good then, but he's filled out some since then. The thought then was that he was just a little small. What he did at junior college was just mature.”
Vitello laughed a little about the trip to Grand Junction. It's the first time he'd ever attended the junior college national tournament.
“You are there if you are losing,” he said. “It's the same time as the (NCAA) regionals. If you are there, you didn't make the tournament. I'd never been.”
It was a bit of a hairy trip.
“You fly into Denver and then catch a small plane over the mountains to the west border of the state,” he said. “My flight into Grand Junction was canceled. So I split a rental car with the Kansas City Royals scout late that night.
“Neither one of us had ever been over that road through the mountains. We really didn't know what we were doing and it wasn't real fun.”
Seeing Biggers was plenty fun. Vitello quickly got Van Horn plugged into a game with phone video.
“I could tell he would be fine in the SEC,” Vitello said. “There have been some really good shortstops in our league and he fits. He's as good as any in our league right now.
“Cisco had the best position group of any team at the nationals. For him to be their shortstop says something. They just needed a little more pitching and they would have won it. You don't go after a freshman in junior college unless they can really play.”
Biggers knew the track record of SEC shortstops. Alex Bregman (LSU) and Dansby Swanson (Vanderbilt) went first and second in the 2015 draft.
“This is the highest level and there have been great ones in the SEC,” Biggers said. “I wanted to be here. I'm glad Coach Vitello found me.”
There are other shortstops on the roster, but Biggers has not given any openings.
“It was his position in the fall and no one has taken it from him,” Van Horn said. “He's a gym rat type, can run, has great range and a good release. You will like him. He'll play hard.”
If he's a gym rat, he came by it naturally. Both parents have coached. His mother is a former high school basketball coach. He played a bit of everything in high school. He played slot receiver in football and at least one year of point guard in basketball.
“I've had hitting coaches, but a lot comes from my dad,” Biggers said. “I bat left-handed, he's right. We'd stand across from each other and he'd tell me to mirror him.”
Van Horn said the question about shortstops is always, “Can they hit? That was what you wondered about Jax, but he can hit, probably better than we thought. He sprays it around, can bunt and gets down the line. He hit in the fall.”
Vitello called his skill set “average for an SEC shortstop. He probably won't wow you in batting practice, but you will like what he does against live pitching after you see him a few times. I knew he was right up Coach Van Horn's alley, a guy who can run and competes.”
Biggers does not have a rifle arm, but his release is quick and he's slick with the glove.
“He picks it as good as anyone,” said Carson Shaddy, the likely starter at second base opposite of Biggers. “He's been helping me as I learn second. He is really good with the double play. And he can hit, too.”
Biggers didn't back away from questions about his skill set.
“My glove is pretty good,” Biggers said, “and I get rid of the ball pretty fast.”
Biggers has tried to spend as much time with Shaddy as possible.
“From November until now, we've been around each other a lot,” Biggers said. “He's a good dude. I love him. He's worked so hard at second and improved a lot.
“The key is for me to know exactly what he's going to do on every situation and for him to know me. That's what we are working toward.”
The Hogs were 26-29 last year, finishing on a 13-game losing streak. Still, hopes are high as they sail towards the opener against Miami (Ohio) on March 17.
“I think we are really good,” Biggers said. “Obviously, I wasn't here last year. But what I see is a very talented team. The players who were here last year think this team will be pretty good.”
No one seems concerned about shortstop.
“You lose a three-year vet like Bernal,” Vitello said, “and to not be worried is as big a compliment as you can give Jax Biggers.”