FAYETTEVILLE — There have been no surprises from Dominic Fletcher. He's been as good as advertised and that's saying a lot for a player ranked as one of the nation's 10 best outfielders in last year's prep class.
When Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn talks about getting exactly what was expected from Fletcher, he includes a slump in SEC play.
The good news is that the true freshman outfielder bounced out of it last weekend at Tennessee when he slammed two home runs and five hits in two games. That's the most hits for Fletcher in an SEC series since five in three games at Missouri in the second SEC series of the season.
“He went through what we all knew he'd go through when a freshman plays every day,” Van Horn said Wednesday as the Hogs prepare for the start of the Vanderbilt series Friday night.
“Andrew Benintendi ran into the same things as a freshman - a great start and then some struggles.”
Benintendi finished strong, then went on a tear as a sophomore that landed him in the first round of the MLB draft. He won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top collegiate player.
Fletcher hit .303 through 10 games, but he's been sliding over the last six weeks. His average slipped to .259 after the Ole Miss series when he came off the bench as a pinch-hitter for the final game of the three-game set.
It's back up to .279 with the hot series against the Vols. He has 8 home runs and 26 RBI.
“He's figured some things out,” Van Horn said. “He has some confidence now. He hit some pitches at Tennessee that he wouldn't have hit two weeks ago.”
Part of the struggles might have been fatigue, along with the pressure of playing every day combined with finishing the second semester of his freshman season in school. That's a lot to handle.
“You get a little tired,” Van Horn said. “You have practice, school and then play every day. I think it's helpful to everyone on the team when you get done with finals, but especially for the freshmen like Dominic playing every day.”
It slows down from this point, because the Hogs have no more midweek games and classes ended last week. Finals are over Friday.
“What we saw last weekend (from Fletcher) is really good,” Van Horn said. “We could really use his bat.”
Fletcher hit in the fifth spot in the lineup for most of the season, but Van Horn has put him seventh of late. The Cypress, Calif., product thought that was helpful.
“I think that takes the pressure off and maybe you see a few more pitches to hit,” Fletcher said. “That happens the further down the order you get.”
Van Horn said the Hogs knew he would be the team's every day center fielder early in fall practice.
“It was pretty much his position and no one took it from him,” he said. “He's as good in the outfield as we've got as far as getting a jump and reading the ball off the bat. His arm, it's probably the best we've got in the outfield. He'll probably play right field at the next level because of that arm.”
Make no mistake about it, Fletcher has a future in baseball, just like his brother, David, who was a sixth-round draft pick of the Angels two years ago.
Dominic Fletcher has power and all of the tools needed to play pro ball. One of his homers traveled about 450 feet at Tennessee.
“I think he's got some confidence after that series,” Van Horn said. “I think he's shown a little more patience in his approach at the plate of late.”
Fletcher said it's about laying off some pitches as he's faced better staffs in the SEC. The breaking ball in the dirt has been his nemesis.
“You knew that was going to be the case,” Fletcher said. “The pitching gets much better when you get to SEC games. You see more velocity, sharper breaking balls. Everything is just better. You combine that with quality coaches developing great scouting reports, it just gets better.”
Junior Carson Shaddy said he's watched Fletcher develop into a quality SEC player.
“We talk a lot about approach,” Shaddy said. “We talked last night. He asks questions and I'm glad to help him. I think you've seen him lay off pitches of late.”
Van Horn said the same thing.
“The breaking ball is so good in this league,” Van Horn said. “You have to realize that they are going to try to get you to chase out of the zone. He's been better at staying away from that, then getting his pitch to hit when he's ahead in the count. That's what I saw last weekend.”
The scouting report on Fletcher was that he was strong for his age and would handle the grind of a long college season.
“What we saw when we got on him in recruiting was maturity,” Van Horn said. “We thought he'd play early. You saw that again when he got here in the fall. He was mature in the way he worked and handled things for a freshman. We knew he could help us right away.
“Now maybe things are going to get easier for him with school over. It's usually a wow feeling, like I just get to play ball now. It's such a relief.”
It's also a relief when you see two long drives leave the ball park like at Tennessee.
“It's a good feeling,” Fletcher said. “You get your confidence up. But it's about staying with your approach; just keep grinding. You have to make adjustments as you see scouting reports change on you. Everyone has slumps. That's baseball.”