The MLB Draft went about as well as it could have gone for the Arkansas Razorbacks, particularly for the pitching staff. The Hogs had four pitchers selected in the first 12 rounds, and they were able to hang onto a talented class of freshman pitchers to add in with a loaded transfer portal group.
The Diamond Hogs bring back a strong core group of returning pitchers, but the roster looks a lot different heading into the 2025 season. Here is a closer look at where things stand for the Arkansas pitching staff, which should be among the more talented groups in the entire country once again.
[ICYMI: Arkansas Baseball Roster Breakdown: Position Players]
Arkansas Well-Represented in MLB Draft
After an outstanding junior season from Hagen Smith, which saw him garner unanimous All-American honors and become a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the Chicago White Sox drafted Smith with the 5th overall pick in the 1st Round of the MLB Draft. Smith signed for $8 million, the highest bonus of all time for a left-handed pitcher.
Obviously, Arkansas will now be looking to replace its best arm, but this development was far from unexpected, and it does more for the program in the big picture to have a well-known arm turn down MLB teams out of high school only to earn a higher draft position and record signing bonus after three years with the Hogs.
The other two components of Arkansas’ weekend rotation were also taken in the draft as expected, with Mason Molina going to the Milwaukee Brewers with the 215th pick in the 7th round and Brady Tygart going to the Boston Red Sox with the 357th pick in the 12th round.
RHP Jake Faherty also heard his name called in the 11th round as the Miami Marlins took him with the 334th pick in the draft. Faherty, who threw just one inning in his first two seasons at Arkansas, signed for $200K after posting a 1.84 ERA as a junior with the Hogs.
Big-Name Transfer Additions
- Ohio State (Jr.) LHP Landon Beidelschies
- Oregon State (R-So.) RHP Aiden Jimenez
- ECU (Jr.) LHP Zach Root
Last offseason, the Hogs went after two of the top arms in the portal (Luke Holman and Mason Molina) and wound up adding one to complete the rotation. This summer, the Razorbacks went 2-for-2 and landed two of the top five pitchers in the portal, according to 64 Analytics.
ECU transfer Zach Root is the headliner after going 6-2 with a 3.56 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 68.1 innings this past season. He’s been up to 96 miles-per-hour with his fastball and currently ranks as the No. 63 overall prospect in the 2025 MLB Draft according to Joe Doyle of Future Star Series.
Ohio State transfer Landon Beidelschies may not be quite as flashy, but he brings a ton of quality experience to the table after posting a 4.15 ERA in 84.2 innings as a sophomore. He’ll work in the low 90s with his fastball, but he’s struck out 136 hitters in 115 collegiate innings, so there’s plenty of swing-and-miss ability there.
With the addition of that veteran duo, the Razorbacks shored up a lot of concern after being tasked with replacing the entire starting rotation. Jimenez tore his UCL just before the start of the 2024 season but also offers plenty of projection after compiling 38 innings of work as a freshman for Oregon State in 2023.
Strong Core to Build Around
Even without all of the positive developments for Arkansas in the draft and transfer portal, the pitching staff had a nice group of returners in place, featuring a mix of older veterans with talented youngsters.
Will McEntire recently announced plans to return for one more season at Arkansas, joining fellow senior in-state right-hander Dylan Carter in doing so. Both guys bring a ton of big-game experience to the table and can help set the tone for the group next to a loaded junior class.
The Razorbacks have a group of five true juniors – Gage Wood, Ben Bybee, Parker Coil, Cooper Dossett, Christian Foutch – that will ultimately end up determining how good the staff is overall. Each guy has shown plenty of positive flashes and taken some nice steps in their respective careers, and they’ll now be looking to step into more solidified leadership roles for a talented Arkansas staff.
An argument could be made that Gabe Gaeckle is the single most important piece on the team following a Freshman All-American campaign, and he’s surrounded by an intriguing crop of rising sophomores ready to make a bigger mark for the Hogs. Left-handers Colin Fisher and Hunter Dietz had their freshman seasons cut short due to injury but should jump right back into the mix for key work this offseason.
One of the more notable developments of the offseason has been the play of right-hander Tate McGuire in the Cape Cod League after he threw just 1.2 innings as a freshman in 2024. McGuire has posted a 1.93 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 23.1 innings this summer, showing why he was such a highly regarded piece in Arkansas’ No. 1-ranked recruiting class in 2023.
A Familiar Name Set to Make Mark at Arkansas
The University of Arkansas has gotten pretty good over the years at identifying talented families to help boost athletic programs. Just in the last decade, you’ve had the Allen brothers, the Henry trio, the Morgan brothers and now the Aloy brothers in baseball. And after the MLB Draft, Carson Wiggins is set to follow in his brother Jaxon’s footsteps and join the Razorback pitching staff this fall.
Hog fans never got to see the best version of Jaxon Wiggins, who currently holds a 2.14 ERA with the Chicago Cubs’ Single-A squad, and not many expected his younger brother Carson to end up making it to campus. Carson Wiggins was the No. 79 overall prospect entering this summer’s draft, according to MLB.com.
The consensus from the scouting world is that Wiggins is more polished than his older brother was at this stage with a big-time fastball/slider combo. Draft scouting certainly isn’t the most definitive declaration of a player’s value. Still, it’s worth noting that Wiggins was unanimously ranked higher than Arkansas’ top two high schools arms from last season in Hunter Dietz (141) and Gabe Gaeckle (159).
This year’s draft also saw Arkansas also held onto LHP Cole Gibler, who was the No. 128 overall prospect according to MLB.com. Below is the entire list of freshmen pitchers arriving on campus this fall.
- RHP Tag Andrews
- RHP Kel Busby
- RHP Eli Crecelius
- RHP Lance Davis
- RHP Steele Eaves
- LHP Jackson Farrell
- RHP Ross Felder
- LHP Cole Gibler
- RHP Wade Mountz
- RHP Charlie Sundall
- RHP Carson Wiggins
- LHP Luke Williams