Arkansas Baseball Fans May Need to Soon Tolerate Losses for the Greater Good

With injuries piling up, a more Musselman-like approach may be needed on the diamond

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Apr 13, 2023 1:04 PM EDT
Original:
Apr 13, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Razorback baseball coach Dave Van Horn may have to go spend some time in the offices of Eric Musselman.

The legendary Arkansas skipper has become just that because of his ability to get a team rolling in the regular season with hopes the momentum keeps up once the postseason arrives.

However, he might need a different approach this year.

Much like Razorback basketball, the baseball team entered this season with a dream line-up that looked poised to cruise its way to the College World Series finals. That was until injuries started chipping away at top talent.

Right before the season opened, Jaxon Wiggins went on the injury list for the entire year as it was discovered he needed Tommy John Surgery. Next to fall was Brady Tygart, as shaking of his arm on the mound on March 1 turned out to be a strained UCL that has kept him on the shelf since.

Next up was Koty Frank, a dominant set-up pitcher who came to Arkansas from Nebraska to shine up his resume for the MLB draft. A seventh inning lat injury a few days after Tygart's put him out for the year.

To review, the Hogs lost their best overall pitcher, best closer and best set-up man and kept rolling along as best they could. This has been possible because a potent hitting line-up led by the Arkansas Mountain Monster, Jared Wegner, has bashed opponents into submission.

The team's 56 home runs is already well ahead of last season's pace and that was done in the half of the season where the ball doesn't travel as far because of the heaviness of cold, wet air.

Now, even that strength is taking a hit. Wegner will likely miss Friday's highly anticipated game against Tennessee at Baum-Walker with what is being described as a hairline fracture. Arkansas has access to some of the best sports medicine physicians in the world, but having seen many a teenager suffer similar injuries, even the best doctors can't make something like this heal quickly.

Wegner may be back in the line-up soon, but it will be because the healing has reached a point he can tolerate, not necessarily a point that it's fully healed. It will be a while before he is truly the free swinging beast fans have come to love and opponents have learned to fear.

There are only so many set-backs a team can take. At some point there has to be a slump that results no matter how talented the team.

That Arkansas is 26-7 with everything going on paints a clear picture as to why there was open talk about the Razorbacks having all the tools to finally get Van Horn the national championship ring he so richly deserves. But, if that's going to happen, he's going to have to borrow a page from Musselman's book.

No one knows how to deal with juggling line-ups and handling the mental adversity of a dip in the middle of the season more than Musselman. Late December, early January slumps are such a part of the Musselman formula that fans for the most part keep themselves in check while the Razorback world temporarily falls apart.

Then, just like clockwork, the basketball professor mixes the right chemicals and his team magically peaks just in time to make a run when it matters most.

That's just not Van Horn's style. He prefers to bull through teams so hard in the regular season that they're essentially defeated the second they see the jersey in the postseason.

It's an approach similar to Jimmy Johnson's back when he was coaching Miami football or Mike Tyson during his heyday. Win the mental game and the rest is typically a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But this year may have to play out differently. Wiggins and Frank aren't coming back. However, there's plenty of room for Wegner and Tygart to return.

A Musselman mentality will allow Van Horn to let these key players to fully heal, understanding that peaking in late May and early June is far more important that trying to squeeze an extra series win out of April.

It goes against every fiber of who he is, but this weekend might need to be more about getting younger guys experience under fire that will pay off in a crucial moment as spring fades into summer than whether the despised Tony Vitello slips out of Fayetteville with a series win.

Ole Miss proved last season that it's not about the regular season. It's about making the field and peaking at the right time.

The Rebels barely got in last season with a 32-22 record. That's five games better than where Arkansas currently sits in the win column with at least 22 games to play.

The Razorbacks are 7-3 against the eventual national champions in non-NCAA Tournament action four of the past five seasons. That sentence should read against every national champion for the last past five seasons not named Arkansas, but everyone knows the story and doesn't want to relive it again.

Arkansas has won 227 games since 2017, and that includes a season cut short 16 games in by Covid and this season that isn't quite halfway through if all goes well. The Razorbacks haven't won less than 46 games in a full season over that span and once won 50.

However, teams like Mississippi State and Ole Miss have gotten hot at the right time and taken national championships that should have belonged to the Hogs.

If there is a year to put all thought and focus into making a run late rather than getting hung up on the regular season, then this is it. It's still a potential national championship run that can be salvaged with the right priority.

Of course, that involves understanding from fans also. While basketball fans are used to a mid-season slump for the greater good, Razorback baseball fans aren't used to losses.

Now, that doesn't mean losses will definitely come. This is one of the most talented college baseball rosters ever assembled.

It just means that if the Hogs lose a series because Wegner and Tygart are getting extra rehab time or because a player with nagging injuries who has been toughing it out takes a game or two off, then Razorback fans will need to keep things in perspective.

As they can ask their Ole Miss counterparts, it's a lot more fun to win in Omaha in June than Fayetteville in April, no matter how much hotter it may be.