FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ baseball program received a jolt Friday when slugger Brady Slavens announced he would return to play the 2023 season for the Razorbacks.
“There’s no place I’d rather be…see y’all at Baum!!!” Slavens wrote in a post to his Twitter page, accompanied by the hashtag #runitback.
A team spokesman confirmed Slavens' intent to return to the team.
Slavens, who has one year of eligibility remaining, was not selected in this week’s MLB Draft. He opted to return to school when he likely could have signed a contract as a professional undrafted free agent.
Baseball America rated Slavens the No. 216 prospect in this year’s draft, but noted a high strikeout rate and lack of a defined defensive position as areas in his game that need improvement. Slavens has played first base and right field at Arkansas, and spent most of the 2022 season as a designated hitter.
Slavens has been the Razorbacks’ best power hitter the past two seasons with a combined 30 home runs, including 16 this year, which tied third baseman Cayden Wallace for most on the team. He also has hit 22 doubles and six triples since transferring to Arkansas from Johnson County (Kan.) Community College prior to the 2021 season.
Slavens played his freshman season at Wichita State in 2019. He has five seasons of eligibility because he played during the covid-19 shortened 2020 season.
In 2022, Slavens overcame a prolonged slump in the middle of the season to bat .255 with an OPS of .855. His 58 RBI were second most on the team behind Wallace’s 60.
Slavens had the team’s biggest highlight of the season when he drove in the winning run during the ninth inning of a 4-3 victory over North Carolina in the second game of the NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional on June 12. The victory sent the Razorbacks to the College World Series.
During a game against Ole Miss at the College World Series on June 22, Slavens hit a 436-foot home run to straightaway center field — a typical dead area for hitters at the pitcher-friendly Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb. It was the longest home run recorded in a College World Series game at the stadium.
Slavens had the team’s top batting average for most of his first year at Arkansas, but it dropped in the postseason after he suffered an ankle sprain during the SEC Tournament that caused him to miss several games. He finished the 2021 season with a .284 batting average, .907 OPS, 14 home runs and team-high 63 RBI.
Slavens has struggled with strikeouts during his two years at Arkansas with 130 in 457 at-bats, but he often does damage when he makes contact. Of his 123 hits as a Razorback, 58 have been for extra bases and he has a slugging percentage of .540 during that time.
Slavens will provide a welcome veteran bat to a lineup that must replace much of its offensive production next season. Arkansas is expected to lose seven of its primary starters from this year's team to the draft, eligibility or transfer.