State of the Hogs: Van Horn provides hints about 2019 club

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn throws batting practice on Thursday, June 21, 2018, at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

— Perched on the top steps of the dugout in Omaha on the off day ahead of the championship series of the College World Series, Hunter Yurachek watched Dave Van Horn throw a bit of batting practice.

Yurachek still hasn't finished his first year as athletics director at Arkansas, but he was already marveling at his new baseball coach.

It didn't take long for Yurachek to learn in December that Van Horn didn't just think he had a good team, but that it was good enough to win it all. Van Horn all but told Yurachek it was Omaha or bust for the 2018 Razorbacks.

That's not really news because Van Horn had been telling everyone in the media all the way back to the summer of 2017 that the Razorbacks were national title contenders. He put together the school's toughest schedule because “that's how you win a national championship.”

At least, that's what he said when asked why there was Kent State, Southern Cal, Texas, Texas Tech and Missouri State on the non-conference slate.

There was talent, experience and depth. Yurachek knew that, but he was still a bit surprised when Van Horn talked highly about the expectations and the talent.

“Most coaches go the other way,” Yurachek said that Sunday afternoon in Omaha. “He didn't. Basically, he said we were really good and could win it all.”

The Hogs missed that by one out, failing to close out the championship against Oregon State three days later. They led 3-2 with two out in the ninth, only to lose 5-3. They were blanked 5-0 the next day to finish second.

The Hogs were pretty good in all three phases in 2018. They had some off nights on defense early in the SEC campaign, but settled in there as the season progressed. The hitting wasn't as good in the three games against Oregon State, with too many swings and misses in two-strike counts.

Van Horn talked about that issue Tuesday in a season review that slid into a 2019 preview at times. Hitting coach Nate Thompson will head into his second season with a plan to eliminate some of those swings and misses. Part of that issue last season had to do with so many veterans. It's not easy for a new coach to change old habits.

The Hogs went 48-21 last year, including 18-12 in the SEC. In Van Horn's 16 seasons, that's the seventh time they've won at least 18 league games. That's not a good total in the nation's best baseball league, but a great result.

They hit over .300 until the championship series in Omaha and finished at .297. They hit 98 homers to break the school record.

Thompson gets some of the credit for those numbers, but the Hogs should have been good on offense. Van Horn predicted that when he gave his new hitting coach the scouting report 12 months ago.

“I think he did a great job,” Van Horn said. “What Nate inherited was exactly what I told him when I called him last year, ‘If you take this job, you’re going to get a really good bunch of hitters.’ I think when he walked in the door here, he kind of realized that.”

But it wasn't always a piece of cake. New ideas for old guys doesn't always go smooth. Van Horn said when the veterans got back to campus, it was interesting.

“There was a little bit of friction there at first as far as the older guys buying into some of the things he wanted to do,” he said. “I told him that would happen. I’ve seen it. I’ve been around too long, I guess.

“The younger guys, they were fine. They love it all. They’re like a big sponge. Then they slowly warmed up to Nate, honestly.

“It probably took a few weeks into the spring for some of the older guys and if you think about it, some of the older guys didn’t get off to very good starts and then they started asking for a little bit more help. He thinks out of the box a little bit.”

Thompson's known for building up big long ball totals.

“There’s still a lot of things we need to work on,” Van Horn said. “I love the power aspect. I love the chance for us to elevate the ball on certain days when the wind’s blowing out or just normal days.

“We’ve talked about it. We’ve gotta do a better job of taking a walk and we’ve gotta do a better job of two-strike hitting. That’ll be something we’ll emphasize and has already been talked about with the group that left here that’s coming back.

“We’ll put that in this fall and try to do a better job in that part of hitting. But overall, I think he did a great job for the first year coming in to a team with a lot of expectations and a lot of veteran hitters that have been coached, some of them, by three different people now.”

The Hogs bring back some of that power in Casey Martin, Heston Kjerstad and Dominic Fletcher. That will be the heart of the lineup. Those three hit 37 homers last season. All had at least 49 RBI.

So the Hogs should be able to score runs again. The losses are heavy as far as pitching where Blaine Knight, Kacey Murphy, Barrett Loseke and Jake Reindl were drafted and signed. That's four of the top five in innings pitched.

There's some talent left. Isaiah Campbell and Kevin Kopps are two likely starters. Campbell showed flashes of brilliance, but also had off starts. Kopps was superb in middle relief two years ago, but missed last year with elbow surgery. He's highly regarded.

Pitching coach Wes Johnson called Kole Ramage “a star in the making” in the final month of the season when the true freshman began to pitch key innings and sparkle.

Newcomers will need to fill some gaps. Van Horn would not talk about the freshmen, only a few of the transfers. Two to watch have Arkansas roots.

Lefty hitting outfielder Matt Goodheart has a great foundation. He hit .335 at San Jacinto this past season in a solid freshman junior college season. At 6-2, 190, he'll look a little like Kjerstad and could take his spot in left. Van Horn suggested that Kjerstad would likely move to right.

Goodheart's dad is retired Southern Arkansas coach Steve Goodheart. The Muleriders won over 40 games seven times under Goodheart. They played in the NAIA World Series three times, finishing third in 1987.

There's a good summation of Matt Goodheart by San Jacinto coach Tom Arrington in the school's media guide.

“Matt Goodheart was born to hit,” Arrington said. “He has an old school approach and somewhat funky stance. It works, and works as well as any on the team. His barrel is always in the zone for a very long time and he crushes baseballs. You can tell Matt comes from great lineage.”

The Hogs should get help in the infield from Southeast Missouri grad transfer Trevor Ezell. A native of Alexander and graduate of Bryant High School, Ezell hit. .377 and was over .400 as late as May 1. He had 10 hits in a three-game series at Tennessee Tech, one of the nation's best teams.

Ezell (5-8, 200) had post-season shoulder surgery. He played second last year, but could also help at third base. He's a switch hitter. As a sophomore, made the all-tournament team at the NCAA Starkville Regional.

Van Horn isn't making any predictions to anyone just yet. In fact, there may be another piece to the puzzle on the way. He said he's still recruiting, whatever that means.

When he's done, I want to be on the top steps of the dugout at a random fall practice if Hunter Yurachek drops in for a scouting report on the 2019 Razorbacks.

There should be some slippage from 2018. But, if Dave Van Horn gives his boss a thumbs up, don't bet against them.