FAYETTEVILLE -- Right-hander Trevor Stephan was a leading candidate to be Arkansas' No. 3 starter even before Keaton McKinney suffered a season-ending injury, Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said Friday.
Stephan, a junior transfer from Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas, was an 18th-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox last summer and has turned heads during his short time at Arkansas with a fastball that has been clocked at 97 mph.
Stephan didn't start pitching until two years ago, signing with Hill as a first baseman, then converting to pitcher.
"He throws a lot of strikes," Van Horn said. "For a guy that's not been pitching a lot, for a long time, he comes across as a little bit raw, I guess is the word. Just new. But he's got a real arm. It's quick. With that fastball, he can fill up the zone. He can get you out for a few innings just throwing that pitch and he's done it to us many a time."
Stephan said there are plenty of quality candidates for the rotation and bullpen.
"I'm not too sure yet," Stephan said of his projected role. "It could be in the back of the bullpen, or maybe even a starter. I'm not sure. There's a lot of competition right now. I feel like I had a pretty decent fall, but so did a lot of other kids."
Other possible starters include right-handers Dominic Taccolini and Barrett Loseke and freshman left-hander Evan Lee, Van Horn said.
McKinney, a junior, was a freshman All-American in 2015 and started 12 games last season. He will have Tommy John surgery.
Arkansas coaches said they were disappointed, but said they could overcome the injury.
"You're going to have something happen every year, so if you're not preparing for it, then you're not preparing," Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson said. "I like our guys and this is going to give some other guys some opportunities, and hopefully they'll make the most of it."
Team captains
Senior pitcher Dominic Taccolini, junior infielder Carson Shaddy and sophomore catcher Grant Koch have been voted captains by their teammates.
Coach Dave Van Horn said he instructed the players to vote for two captains, but that Taccolini, Shaddy and Koch received so many votes it made sense to have three.
"When you have 35 guys voting and three guys got 30 votes, you had probably better take those three," he said. "So that's what we did."
Van Horn said Koch, who backed up Tucker Pennell last season, was surprised to be voted a captain.
"They selected him as a captain because he's a leader by his actions," Van Horn said. "Good student. Great guy, great teammate. You don't have to worry about Grant Koch. Grant Koch is on a mission. If you had a team full of those guys they would be tough to beat."
Shaddy and Koch were teammates at Fayetteville High School.
Top returners
Arkansas' top returning hitters are Carson Shaddy (.332), Luke Bonfield (.304), Grant Koch (.276), Eric Cole (.265) and Jake Arledge (.245). Shaddy and Bonfield tied Michael Bernal for the team home run lead with 8, and the RBI leader was Bonfield with 39, followed by Shaddy (35), Chad Spanberger (17), Koch (14) and Arledge (11).
The Razorbacks return six of their top seven in ERA, with Cannon Chadwick (1.76), Blaine Knight (2.98), Barrett Loseke (3.03), Isaiah Campbell (3.69), Jordan Rodriguez (3.86) and Josh Alberius (3.90). Dominic Taccolini had the most victories (5), and was second behind Zach Jackson with 61 strikeouts.
Big on Jax
Dave Van Horn laid a heavy compliment on shortstop Jax Biggers, a 5-11 sophomore from Missouri City, Texas, who is likely to start most games.
"Jax Biggers is as good as any shortstop that we've had here since I've been here," Van Horn said. "When you think about it, I think the only all-conference shortstop we've had ... might have been Scott Hode. That's been a long time.
"What Biggers brings to the table is he's a little gym rat. He's a good baseball player. He loves it. He can run, has really good range, has a good release. ... He came in from Day 1 in the fall and kind of said, 'This is my spot and you're going to have to take it from me' and nobody has."
Fletcher in center
Dave Van Horn said he expects Dominic Fletcher, a freshman from Cypress, Calif., to start in center.
"Nothing's for sure until the first day," Fletcher said. "If you are the starter the first day, that doesn't mean you're the starter for the whole season. So I'm going take it day by day and earn it every day and hopefully the next day I'll continue to be in the lineup."
Starting out
A scrimmage Friday provided a glimpse of the Razorbacks' potential starters.
The infield included Jared Gates at first, Carson Shaddy at second, Chad Spanberger at third and Jax Biggers at shortstop. The outfield was Luke Bonfield in left, Dominic Fletcher in center and Jake Arledge in right. Pitching was Isaiah Campbell and the catcher was Grant Koch.
Coach Dave Van Horn said position players seeking playing time would be outfielders Eric Cole and possibly Evan Lee, who also pitches, along with Jaxon Williams, Matt Burch and possibly Hunter Wilson on the infield.
Van Horn said he would likely do a lot of late defensive substitutions.
Around the horn
• The Razorbacks have nine left-handed pitchers, one of their deepest groups.
• Cody Scroggins, a sophomore from Bentonville who hit .204 with 6 RBI in limited duty and pitched 31/3 innings last year, is sticking with pitching this season.
Bob Holt of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contributed to this report.
Sports on 02/04/2017