It Really Wouldn't be Hogs' Press Conference without Hagen Question
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As long as Arkansas Razorbacks starter Hagen Smith is doing what he's doing, coach Dave Van Horn isn't going to get tired of talking about him. That's a good sign, by the way, because he is off to a completely dominating start to the season.
Sure enough, in Van Horn's press conference Tuesday it didn't take long to get around to talking about Smith. While it's hard to think of him as a youngster, he is still pretty young in terms of age with maybe even more room to grow.
"He's just 20 years old and he'll be 20 years old when the season's over. Even if we play in the last game of the season, he's still going to be 20 years old," Van Horn said. "He’s gotten physically stronger. what he can really do is repeat his delivery. He stays balanced. He doesn’t get out of whack much and that's why there's not those bad misses, and when he does miss, they're pretty good pitches. Some are just right there, a ball off and that's what you want."
The way he's developed under pitching coach Matt Hobbs has probably exceeded anything that could have been predicted. Maybe even Van Horn, who just flat admitted it Tuesday.
"Everything combined is just making him the guy we thought he could be and even more honestly," Van Horn said. "Who could project how good he is right now when he walked in the door here? We knew he had a really good arm. We knew he was a great kid and he wanted to get better."
Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Hagen Smith throws a first-inning pitch in the Hogs' season-opening 6-4 win over James Madison on Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.
Campbell Roberson / Arkansas Communications
Smith didn't make it out of the first inning in his final start last year against TCU in a 20-5 loss at the NCAA Regional. This may have motivated him, but he didn't magically get better in the offseason, Smith put in the work. His teammates and Van Horn have seen and recognized this determination, voting him a team captain, and that vote apparently wasn't even close.
"Ever since the season ended last year, and you know it didn’t go well his last outing, that guy has worked incredibly hard," Van Horn said. "This is a guy that is almost a unanimous pick for captain and he doesn’t talk a whole lot. They picked him because they just see that guy working every day and probably as a young pitcher, you’re going, 'how am I going to keep up with this guy?'
"They respect him a lot, then you watch him on the field and it’s been incredible. He’s not worried about all the other stuff. He’s not worried about the draft. He’s not worried about where he’s gonna go and all this stuff. He’s just playing. He’s just pitching and playing for the team. He knows it’s going to be fine. That’s one thing that we as coaches we really appreciate about him is just the way he is off the field and as a person and the way he leads."
Van Horn said Tuesday that Smith will be on the mound for the first SEC road series of the year against Auburn on Thursday night at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and fuboTV.
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