FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn indicated Thursday he is not concerned about the catcher position for the 2023 season.
“We're fine,” Van Horn said when asked about recruiting the position.
The Razorbacks lost their only players who spent time at catcher this year, starter Michael Turner to expired eligibility and backup Dylan Leach via transfer to Missouri. Max Soliz, who was the team’s emergency catcher, will also transfer but has not announced a destination.
Arkansas has added two commitments at the position, Van Horn said, although only one has publicly announced. Parker Rowland, who played this year at Eastern Oklahoma State College and spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Arkansas State, committed June 29.
Van Horn said he could not speak about the other catcher who is committed. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from speaking publicly about players until they sign a letter of intent.
An Arkansas team spokesman said Thursday that neither catcher has signed with the Razorbacks.
Van Horn said he was hopeful to add a third player with a catcher background, but who could also play another position. He referenced Charlie Welch, the Razorbacks’ ace pinch hitter in 2021 who had caught prior to playing at Arkansas.
“We’re still looking for another guy that maybe he's an outfielder, right fielder that also can catch,” Van Horn said. “It’s a secondary position because you'd like to have three. You know, in this modern day Division I baseball, it's hard to have three. It's hard to put more than two on a scholarship, and sometimes even more than one unless you can find a guy who's got outstanding grades or get him some help somewhere else or whatever you need to do. But it's an imperfect world. It'd be nice to have three guys that can get back there.”
Rowland (6-3, 220 pounds), a switch hitter who throws right handed, batted .408 with 12 home runs, 10 doubles and 78 RBI, and had an on-base percentage of .509 this season. He was named a regional Gold Glove winner after he fielded .988 and threw out 12 of 27 (44%) of attempted base stealers.
At Eastern Oklahoma State, he caught pitchers who will play next season at LSU, Houston and Oral Roberts.
“It’s a top-line pitching staff that he had a chance to handle every day,” EOSC coach Matt Parker told WholeHogSports.com last month. “I think he’s proven he can do it behind the dish, and obviously with the offensive year he had, say, ‘I can do it at the plate as well.'"
The 2023 season will be the second consecutive that Arkansas will rely on a transfer behind the plate. Turner transferred from Kent State.
Van Horn spoke about the process of evaluating catcher transfers.
“Number one, we want them to be able to really receive the baseball and, obviously, leadership qualities are big for us,” Van Horn said. “We talked to these guys on the phone, through Zoom with the coaching staffs and the player and their parents a lot of times, kind of get a feel for that and then talking with former coaches.
“In some cases, kids just want to leave. They want to go to a program where they feel like they have a chance to get to the World Series. They want to play in a different league….Maybe they feel like they could develop more at a different place.
“We just try to evaluate all the above as far as you know, can you handle a pitching staff, good catch-and-throw guy, and then the bat, to me, is last when it comes to the catcher.”