FAYETTEVILLE — Another abbreviated Major League Baseball Draft will take place over the next three days, and the repercussions from it will help shape Coach Dave Van Horn’s University of Arkansas roster heading into fall enrollment.
Sophomore third baseman Cayden Wallace and junior pitcher Peyton Pallette headline the group of current Razorbacks likely to be taken in the early rounds of the draft. Arkansas also has signees like pitcher Cole Phillips and infielder Jayson Jones, as well as transfer commitments like shortstop Jordan Sprinkle, who are potential draft picks who might not make it to campus.
The 20-round draft, scheduled to coincide with the MLB All-Star break, will start with the first two rounds and some supplemental picks tonight at 6. Rounds 3 through 10 are scheduled for Monday, and rounds 10-20 will wrap up the 616-man draft Tuesday.
This is the third consecutive year the draft format will depart from the 40 rounds that took place prior to 2020. The draft was squeezed to five rounds in 2020 when there were no professional seasons taking place due to the coronavirus pandemic. The draft went 20 rounds last season.
Van Horn said organizations are eager to re-stock their minor league systems and would like to sign as many of their draftees as possible this summer.
While the Razorbacks have some signees on campus and in summer school, there’s a chance they lose a few to the pros, but Van Horn isn’t positive how many.
More from WholeHogSports: Latest Razorback baseball coverage
“Don’t really have a number there,” he said. “We know who there’s a possibility of losing. If we lose them, we get it. There’s 20 rounds, if you see someone’s name pop up, then they probably already made a deal. Very rarely now with limited rounds are teams going to select somebody [they won’t sign], unless it’s a little later or they’re going to take a chance and they just, I don’t know, on a whim. But with 20 rounds, they’ve got to get those kids signed.”
Van Horn said he and his staff have tried to get a read on what all their signees are thinking, and they’ve asked them to “stay strong” with the signing figures they have in mind.
He also said he is no fan of the draft being this late in the summer, saying he felt MLB owners were the only ones who wanted it during the All-Star break.
“They think it’s cool to have the draft during the All-Star Game,” Van Horn said. “Nobody cares.”
Van Horn suggested the last week of June would’ve been a better time for the draft because college programs have to scramble to determine their rosters in the immediate aftermath of the draft, depending on how many of their signees or commitments sign pro deals.
“Have the draft last week, let us get to work, get our rosters right, treat the kids right, give the ones that are not going to be able to come in more time to find a place to play,” he said on July 7. “I mean, it’s a joke. So we’ve got to get through that and then you’ve got about 14 days after the draft to see who’s going to sign and now it’s August 1.
“That’s when the smoke will clear. Hopefully within a couple days after that, we’ll have a final roster. There could be a lot of changes.”
The Baseball Hall of Fame, in touting the draft this week, reported that roughly one draftee per year over the past 20 years has been elected to the Hall of Fame. Since the draft began 57 years ago in 1965, 45 players who were taken in the draft made it to Cooperstown. The first of those was catcher Johnny Bench, selected in the 1965 draft by the Cincinnati Reds, in 1989. Ten years later, another 1965 draftee, pitcher Nolan Ryan, joined Bench in the hall, followed by Reggie Jackson (1966 draftee), Carlton Fisk (1967) and Ted Simmons (1967).
Wallace is rated as the No. 53 prospect for the draft by Baseball America, and is as high as the No. 31-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline. The sophomore from Greenbrier is eligible for the draft because his 21st birthday falls within 45 days of the start of the draft.
Van Horn said MLB scouts love “a lot of things” about Wallace, who hit .298 with 16 home runs and a team-high 60 RBI while helping the Hogs to a 46-21 record and the College World Series semifinals this season.
“No. 1, he’s very athletic, and he’s a big athlete,” Van Horn said. “He’s strong. He’s got a lot of power potential at the next level. He’s got an extremely strong arm.
“I think he’s versatile, too. You can play him at third — and that’s what they’re going to draft him as, a third baseman — but they also know that he can play right field, maybe even center.”
There’s a chance Wallace could slip into the first round. If he does, it would be the 10th first-round pick for the Razorbacks.
Pallette, a right-hander from Benton who projected as the staff ace in 2022, did not pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery before the season began. He is the No. 37-rated prospect by ESPN and No. 38 by Baseball America.
“I think his rehab has gone really well,” Van Horn said. “He worked extremely hard. He’s gotten bigger and stronger, and I think he’s going to be a really good draft [choice].”
Phillips, a Texas high school star and right-hander who has hit 100 mph on his fastball velocity, was projected as a first-round selection prior to suffering an elbow injury in March.
Phillips, speaking to BVM Sports in May, said he selected the Razorbacks over scholarship offers from schools like Texas, Texas A&M and LSU based on his long-term prospects.
“The final thought for me was my goal is to be a major league pitcher and a very successful one,” said Phillips, of Boerne, Texas. “And the thought was what program will help me get to the point? I felt like Arkansas had the best resources.”
Hogs second baseman Robert Moore told Little Rock’s KABZ-FM the door wasn’t shut on a return for his senior season. But Van Horn said he thought pro scouts were too high on the son of Kansas City Royals General Manager Dayton Moore to let him go unsigned and he would be surprised if Moore returned to school.
Third baseman Jayson Jones, a Razorback signee out of Savannah, Texas, is ranked as the No. 35 recruit by Perfect Game. Jones, a 6-2, 190-pounder, won the home run derby at the Baseball Factory All-America game last September.
Other would-be Razorbacks with the potential to be taken include Sprinkle, a transfer from California-Santa Barbara, outfielder Mason Neville, a 6-3, 190-pound lefty bat from Las Vegas, and left-handed pitcher Parker Coll of Jones, Okla.
A number of Razorback veterans like shortstop Jalen Battles, first baseman/outfielder Brady Slavens and graduate transfers Michael Turner and Chris Lanzilli also have a shot to land pro deals.
The Razorbacks will likely have several pitchers from the current roster taken, including left-handers Zack Morris and Evan Taylor, and 2022 staff ace Connor Noland, who has not dismissed the idea of returning for his bonus senior season due to covid 19.