FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas played its first midweek game last Tuesday and will play six more this month as part of a 20-game March schedule.
It is the time of year when a team would ideally play a backup catcher to gain game experience and give the primary starter a day of rest. But the Razorbacks’ backup play behind the plate has been somewhat shaky, meaning starter Casey Opitz might be called upon more than he usually would be during Arkansas' midweek series against Grand Canyon that begins Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
“He’s a third-year player and he knew that he was the guy coming into the season,” said Taylor Smart, Arkansas’ volunteer coach who works daily with catchers. “I think him putting on some extra weight and strength in the offseason has kind of helped...keep that longevity throughout the 56-game regular season and postseason. He should want to catch. He’s going to go into professional baseball and be asked to catch a lot of games.”
Freshman Dominic Tamez started in place of Opitz for Arkansas’ midweek game against Illinois State last week, but had three passed balls in six innings before he was replaced by Opitz. The first two passed balls didn’t hurt the Razorbacks, but the final passed ball allowed a runner to advance to third base with one out in the sixth inning, and he scored on a sacrifice fly.
The Redbirds defeated the Razorbacks 8-7.
“I like him, I think he has a good arm and I think he’s a good hitter, but the catching has been his issue,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said following the game. “It’s some stuff that needs to be routine at this level - just catch the baseball. He did do a good job of blocking a few balls, which was nice to see, but he would have stayed in the game the whole game if we would have had confidence in him.
“Dom and I have talked about that. He’s got to earn the confidence of his teammates, and he has to earn the confidence of the pitchers, where they feel like they can depend on him to be the backstop back there and catch it and block it.”
The Razorbacks’ other freshman catcher, Cason Tollett, has yet to catch in a game. Tollett was inserted as a pinch hitter against Eastern Illinois on Feb. 15, but hasn’t played since with an arm injury that kept him from throwing or swinging the bat for around three weeks.
Tollett began doing both again over the weekend, but Van Horn said last week that a best-case scenario for Tollett to be able to play in a game would be next week when Arkansas goes to No. 14 Oklahoma and hosts No. 21 Alabama three times.
The Razorbacks play twice at Troy the following midweek and have other midweek games scheduled this season against Oral Roberts, Arkansas-Little Rock, Missouri State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff at home, and at Michigan State.
“Cason has been in the bullpen catching all those guys a lot, so he’s still getting work in while that arms heals up,” Smart said. “I think he’s pretty close to coming back, so you’d like to get him in there pretty soon in a midweek game to see what he can do, and give him a full game to catch and throw and get some at-bats, too."
Opitz, a junior, understands the significance of this time of year for a new catcher. As a freshman in 2018 he saw a lot of his playing time in midweek games while then-junior Grant Koch took an occasional game off.
Opitz was the starter last season after Koch was drafted and signed professionally, and either Tamez or Tollett are likely to replace Opitz as the primary catcher in 2021.
“That’s the future of the position the next couple of years,” Opitz said. “I’m going to get them ready. They’re going to be ready by the time they’re called on this year, or next year especially.”
Van Horn has said that both Tamez and Tollett are capable hitters. Tamez is 4-for-10 and has scored three runs this season; Tollett grounded out in his only at-bat.
But at last week’s Swatter’s Club meeting, Van Horn indicated that offense is secondary to playing the position well defensively.
“It’s not about the bats,” Van Horn said. “It’s about catching, making the pitchers feel comfortable and making everyone else feel comfortable, including the coaches.”
Defensively, Smart said Tollett is ahead of Tamez in terms of receiving pitches, but that Tamez is ahead in arm strength and footwork.
“Tamez’s biggest thing is he needs to continue to just work on receiving,” Smart said. “It sounds very simple, but when you’re catching 93, 95 (mph) with some movement...it’s difficult coming from a freshman who hasn’t seen all that.
“Both are very young. They both need to develop to become factors down the road after Opitz leaves.”
Tamez was able to play two innings near the end of the Razorbacks’ 15-2 win over South Alabama on Saturday without issue. The Jaguars went down in order in those innings and Tamez threw to first base to complete a strikeout after he blocked an off-speed pitch in the dirt.
“He did better,” Smart said. “His biggest thing is he needs to just sit and catch. It sounds simple, but it’s not the easiest task.”
Opitz said the key for Tamez is to stay composed.
“He gets a little too amped,” Opitz said. “It’s honestly a good thing to have that - you want someone back there with a high motor - but sometimes we’ve got to calm him down and make sure his mind is on one pitch at a time.”
Smart said that slowing Tamez down has helped his accuracy to second base. Tamez was erratic with his throws early during fall practice, but had visibly improved in that area during preseason practices.
“He was trying to go too fast and get the ball out too quick to second base,” Smart said. “It’s just about controlling your body more than anything. For him, when he keeps his head quiet and doesn’t kind of jerk his head on his throws, he tends to be more accurate.”
For Tollett, Smart said focus is centered around throwing and footwork.
“We need to get his feet quickened up and get better direction to second base,” Smart said. “If his feet quicken up, on those exchanges he’ll be able to get the ball out faster.”
Smart said the freshman catchers have a great example to watch every day at the park. Opitz is expected to be a high-round draft pick this year, ranked No. 94 among all prospects by Baseball America.
“I’ve been harping on that: bear down on Opitz, man,” Smart said. “You’ve got probably the best catcher in the nation and you can learn a lot from him by not even playing.”