FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Razorbacks center fielder Dominic Fletcher batted .448 in April to raise his average from .229 to .305, but what he’s been doing with his glove all season is more impressive than the offensive tear.
Fletcher has made spectacular catches seem routine.
Dominic Fletcher at a glance
SCHOOL Arkansas
CLASS Sophomore
POSITION Center field
BATS/THROWS Left/Left
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 5-9, 188 pounds
HOMETOWN Cypress, Calif.
NOTEWORTHY Strong candidate to make the SEC’s All-Defense team with his numerous highlight catches this season and strong throwing arm. … Is batting .370 in 21 SEC games with 4 home runs, 12 RBI and 7 doubles. … In 45 games this season is batting .305 with 6 home runs and 29 RBI. … Was named Freshman All-American by Baseball America and the National College Baseball Writers Association last season when he started 56 games and batted .291 with 12 home runs and 37 RBI.
“There’s one every weekend at a minimum it seems like, and the interesting thing is it’s always with the game on the line,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Not just two outs nobody on. It’s us with a one-run lead or two-run lead or tied.”
Fletcher added to his collection of highlight defensive plays with two diving catches against Alabama last weekend — one in the Razorbacks’ 7-3 victory Friday night and another in their 9-7 victory Sunday.
“There are a lot of balls that wouldn’t have been caught by a lot of people other than Dom,” Arkansas right fielder Eric Cole said. “He’s going to catch any ball that’s within range of him.”
Fletcher, a sophomore from Cypress, Calif., has made at least eight catches this season worthy of standing ovations.
“They kind of all run together,” Arkansas pitcher Blaine Knight said. “It’s kind of hard to keep up with which one was in which game or how many he’s had or whatever.
“I mean, he’s just going to make them all the time. That’s huge for us, because there’s been a bunch of balls where there were guys on base that would’ve scored if he hadn’t caught them.
“It’s saving us runs. It’s saving pitchers, letting us go out for another inning, avoiding the big innings.”
Pitching coach Wes Johnson said Fletcher has helped the Razorbacks keep their team ERA down to 3.42.
“There’s no doubt he’s saved us a bunch of runs,” Johnson said. “That young man is phenomenal. He’s a premier center fielder in the best league in college baseball. I’m really glad he’s got that Razorback on his chest.”
Fletcher, who chose Arkansas over Ole Miss, has good speed, but his best attribute on defense is anticipating where the ball will be hit.
“Reading pitches and reading swings,” he said. “From center field, you can see where the pitch is and read the guy’s swing before he even hits it. I can be going before the guy even actually makes contact with the ball.”
Fletcher said his best catch this season probably was when he ran down a line drive by Auburn’s Josh Anthony in the right-center field gap off Matt Cronin in the seventh inning with two Tigers on base.
“I moved over to the right side of the mound right before the pitch,” Fletcher said. “I just kind of got that gut feeling, and it paid off.
“Maybe it was just a little bit of guessing right. Just seeing something in a guy’s swing and knowing that Cronin was throwing pretty hard.”
Van Horn called it a game-saving play that helped Arkansas hang on for a 2-1 victory as Knight won a pitcher’s duel against Auburn’s Casey Mize.
“I think Dom’s the best center fielder in the country, and he’s showing it,” Knight said.
Fletcher also had a play against the wall in that Auburn game when he leaped and caught a drive by Edouard Ju-lien with two runners on base for the third out of the sixth inning.
“Fletcher’s defense really made the difference,” Auburn Coach Butch Thompson said. “I thought he robbed us of four runs.”
Fletcher, 5-9 and 188 pounds, said he was a first baseman when he started playing baseball.
“When I was 12 they told me I was too small to play first base, so I moved to center field,” he said. “I’ve been there ever since.
“I take a ton of pride in my defense. I know that’s a big part of my game, and I can always bring it to the table even if I’m not hitting.”
In Van Horn’s 16 seasons as the Arkansas coach he’s had three center fielders play in the major leagues — Craig Gentry, Andrew Benintendi and Brett Eibner.
The Razorbacks have had other strong defenders in center field under Van Horn, including Jacob Morris and Matt Vinson.
“As far as just getting a read on the ball, first step, anticipation, he’s the best,” Van Horn said of Fletcher. “As far as athletically and running and catching it, I’ve had some guys that were faster, but nobody’s made more highlight reel catches than him.”