It wasn’t even 24 hours since the disappointing end to the 2024 Arkansas baseball season, but Dave Van Horn had already shifted his focus to next season.
The Razorbacks have been eliminated in the regionals in back-to-back seasons despite earning top-5 national seeds each year, but are just two years removed from being within a game of playing in the College World Series finals.
Next year’s squad will look much different than the one that just won the final SEC West title of the division era, though. Arkansas is expected to lose at least 70.2% of its at bats and 49.5% of its innings pitched from this past season.
“We’re going to lose almost all our players again for the third year in a row,” Van Horn said. “Really, since 2021, we’ve had to almost start over. … I think about it every day. It’s just the way it is. It’s the way it is these days.”
The NCAA will once again allow college baseball teams to carry a 40-man roster in 2025, continuing a waiver that increased the limit from 35 in response to the pandemic and all of the roster complications that came with it — eligibility relief and the shortened MLB Draft, chief among them.
As things stand on the day after the season, Best of Arkansas Sports’ projected Arkansas baseball roster for next year is at 44 players. That includes every player on the 2023 roster who isn’t draft eligible, a few who have a decision to make and the 2024 signing class.
That number will change drastically over the next couple of months. The transfer portal officially opened to all players Monday, so the Razorbacks could see players leave while also recruiting transfers of their own. The MLB Draft is July 14-16 with the signing deadline set for July 30 and, as always, Arkansas could see some of its incoming freshmen picked off before ever stepping foot on campus.
Roster movement will continue even after the 2024-25 school year begins, too, as some players may choose — or be asked — to transfer out, usually to the JUCO level, following fall ball.
It’s a complex process and one that Van Horn has been thinking about long before the Razorbacks were eliminated by SEMO.
“I could go on and on about personnel and what we’ve got to do for the future because my mind is already hitting there and it really never leaves there,” Van Horn said on Sunday. “It leaves every time you practice (and) play a game, but you got to look down the road a year or two.”
Keeping track of it all can be quite difficult, even for those who do it for a living, so Best of Arkansas Sports will keep you updated with all the news here…
Projected 2025 Arkansas Baseball Roster: 56 players
Not Draft Eligible/Announced Return (22)
- RHP Dylan Carter — sixth-year super senior
- RHP Will McEntire — sixth-year super senior
- OF Kendall Diggs — senior
- SS Wehiwa Aloy — junior
- RHP Ben Bybee — junior
- LHP Parker Coil — junior
- RHP Cooper Dossett — junior
- RHP Christian Foutch — junior
- RHP Gage Wood — junior
- RHP Josh Hyneman — redshirt sophomore*
- INF Reese Robinett — redshirt sophomore
- LHP Hunter Dietz — sophomore*
- LHP Colin Fisher — sophomore
- RHP Gabe Gaeckle — sophomore
- C Ryder Helfrick — sophomore
- RHP Tate McGuire — sophomore
- INF Nolan Souza — sophomore
- RHP Jaewoo Cho — redshirt freshman
- LHP Tucker Holland — redshirt freshman
- RHP Diego Ramos — redshirt freshman
- LHP Jack Smith — redshirt freshman
- INF/OF Ty Waid — redshirt freshman
It is highly improbable that all 22 of these Razorbacks are on the roster next season. Every year, a handful of players choose to hit the transfer portal. The younger players on this list could also head to JUCO, where they’d get more playing time. Anticipating exactly who will do that, though, is difficult.
*Josh Hyneman is listed as a redshirt sophomore, but he could probably get a year of eligibility back with a medical redshirt because he missed this season — his redshirt freshman year — because of Tommy John surgery. It’s unclear if Hunter Dietz would be able to receive a medical redshirt. He appeared in just two games, but they were in the middle of the season.
Draft Eligible, Decision to Make (0)
Each of these players have remaining eligibility, but could also technically be drafted. However, there isn’t as much buzz about them at the professional level as those listed below.
Something to consider with both Dylan Carter and Will McEntire is the fact that they’ve been in college for five years already. Do they want to come back for a sixth year?
Sure, it helps that both of them are in-state kids who dreamed of playing for the Razorbacks, but six years is also a long time. They may want to give the pros a shot — McEntire did look great in the first half of the season and Carter touched 95 mph after a quick return from Tommy John — or they could come back for one last ride.
If they move on, the percentage of pitched innings lost from this year’s team jumps up from 49.5% to 61.9%.
The fourth name in this section may be a bit of a surprise. We originally included Reese Robinett in the “not draft eligible” section because he’ll be a third-year player in 2025, but we’ve since learned that he’s actually a draft eligible sophomore. Considering he redshirted this past season, though, it’s highly unlikely he’ll get drafted.
UPDATE (June 7): RHP Dylan Carter has announced he’ll return to Arkansas as a sixth-year super senior in 2025. Check out our exclusive interview with him about his decision.
UPDATE (July 2): Senior-to-be Will Edmunson entered the transfer portal.
UPDATE (July 10): RHP Will McEntire has announced he’ll return to Arkansas as a sixth-year super senior in 2025, as well.
UPDATE (July 16): As expected, infielder Reese Robinett went undrafted. We’ll move him up into the “returning” section, even though he hasn’t made a public announcement.
Transfer Portal Additions (11)
- DH/1B/OF Kuhio Aloy — BYU
- OF/INF Charles Davalan — Florida Gulf Coast
- SS Maximus Martin — Georgia State
- OF Logan Maxwell — TCU
- LHP Landon Beidelschies — Ohio State
- OF Rocco Peppi — Fresno State
- RHP Aiden Jimenez — Oregon State
- OF Carson Boles — Lincoln Memorial
- 1B Michael Anderson — Rhode Island
- LHP Zach Root — East Carolina
- INF Camden Kozeal — Vanderbilt
UPDATE (June 7): The first Arkansas baseball commitment out of the transfer portal is Kuhio Aloy, the younger brother of shortstop Wehiwa Aloy. Click here for our analysis of the commitment.
UPDATE (June 14): Charles Davalan committed to the Razorbacks out of the transfer portal, according to an ESPN report. Click here for our analysis of the commitment.
UPDATE (June 16): The Razorbacks’ third transfer portal pledge, and second in three days, was Carson Hansen. Click here for our analysis of the commitment.
UPDATE (June 19): Former Rutgers and Georgia State shortstop Maximus Martin announced his commitment to Arkansas.
UPDATE (June 20): Arkansas has landed its fifth player from the transfer portal in Logan Maxwell from TCU. Check out our exclusive interview with Maxwell.
UPDATE (June 24): The first pitcher to commit out of the portal is Landon Beidelschies from Ohio State. The left-hander is considered by many to be one of the top overall players in the portal this cycle. Click here for our analysis of the commitment.
UPDATE (June 25): After landing players who were more speed-oriented, Arkansas landed a true slugger from the portal in Rocco Peppi from Fresno State. Click here for our analysis of the commitment.
UPDATE (June 25): Later in the day, the Razorbacks reeled in their second transfer pitcher in right-hander Aiden Jimenez from Oregon State. He missed the entire 2024 season with an injury, but pitched some as a freshman the year before and was competing for a spot in the Beavers’ rotation when he got hurt.
UPDATE (June 26): Arkansas dipped into the Division II ranks to land another slugger in Carson Boles from Lincoln Memorial, a school in Tennessee. He hit .475 with 15 home runs and 68 RBIs this past season.
UPDATE (June 30): The Razorbacks landed a commitment from Rhode Island first baseman Michael Anderson, who has hit 23 total home runs over the past two seasons.
UPDATE (July 1): After reeling in a big fish exactly one week earlier, Arkansas secured one of the other top pitchers available in the transfer portal in Zach Root from East Carolina. Click here for our analysis of his commitment.
UPDATE (July 12): Many people believed Arkansas was done in the transfer portal, but Dave Van Horn went out and made another splashy addition in former Vanderbilt second baseman Camden Kozeal. The No. 115 overall recruit in the Class of 2023, according to Perfect Game, Kozeal started 35 games for the Commodores as a freshman, hitting .284 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 148 at bats.
UPDATE (July 19): Milwaukee transfer Carson Hansen has flipped his commitment to Kentucky. It is likely a result of Arkansas making it through the MLB Draft with Kendall Diggs, Logan Maxwell and Rocco Peppi not being selected.
Class of 2024 JUCO Signees/Commits (6)
- INF Brent Iredale — Sydney, Australia (New Mexico J.C.)
- C Elliott Peterson — (Southeast C.C.)
- OF Kolton Reynolds — Huntsville, Ark. (Crowder C.C.)
- INF Trenton Rowan — Erie, Col. (Seward County C.C.)
- INF Carson Schrack — Edgerton, Kan. (Coffeyville C.C.)
- OF Justin Thomas — Glennville, Ga. (Georgia / Florida SouthWestern State C.C.)
Among the JUCO signees, Brent Iredale and Justin Thomas are likely the biggest MLB Draft risks. They are widely considered among the best prospects at that level, particularly Iredale. In fact, Prep Baseball Report ranks them No. 2 and No. 6, respectively, on their list of the top 50 JUCO prospects for this summer’s MLB Draft.
UPDATE (July 7): Arkansas has added a sixth JUCO player to its 2024 class in catcher Elliott Peterson, who led all of NJCAA Division I with a .517 batting average.
Class of 2024 HS Signees/Commits (17)
- RHP Tag Andrews — Maumelle, Ark. (Maumelle HS)
- C Zane Becker — Flower Mound, Texas (Flower Mound HS)
- RHP Kel Busby — Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy)
- OF Brenton Clark — Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove HS)
- RHP Eli Crecelius — Jonesboro, Ark. (Valley View HS)
- RHP Lance Davis — Jonesboro, Ark. (Valley View HS)
- RHP Steele Eaves — Lonoke, Ark. (Lonoke HS)
- LHP Jackson Farrell — Jenks, Okla. (Owasso HS)
- RHP Ross Felder — Springdale, Ark. (Springdale Har-Ber HS)
- INF Gabe Fraser — Westminster, Calif. (Orange Lutheran HS)
- LHP Cole Gibler — Blue Springs, Mo. (Blue Springs HS)
- INF Tyler Holland — Mission Viejo, Calif. (Mission Viejo HS)
- OF Sam Lee — Montgomery, Texas (Lake Creek HS)
- RHP Wade Mountz — Morgan Hill, Calif. (Bellarmine College Prep)
- RHP Carson Wiggins — Roland, Okla. (Roland HS)
- LHP Luke Williams — Owasso, Okla. (Owasso HS)
- C Carson Willis — Rogers, Ark. (P27 Academy)
This year’s signing class isn’t quite as heralded as some of the more recent ones, checking in at No. 17 on Perfect Game, but there are still a few draft risks included in the group.
Most notably, right-hander Carson Wiggins — the younger brother of former pitcher Jaxon Wiggins — is regarded as one of the top prep arms in the class. He is the Razorbacks’ highest-ranked signee on Perfect Game at No. 54 and he checks in at No. 77 on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 200 draft prospects.
He’s not the highest-ranked Arkansas signee on that list, though. That honor belongs to Tyson Lewis, an athletic shortstop from Nebraska who has seen his stock rise this season and sits at No. 46 on MLB Pipeline.
The only other player among that outlet’s top-200 draft prospects is left-hander Cole Gibler at No. 130.
UPDATE (July 14): As expected, signee Tyson Lewis was taken on Day 1 of the MLB Draft. He will almost certainly sign with the Cincinnati Reds and begin his professional career, so we’ll remove him from this list and move him down below.
UPDATE (July 16): Early on Day 3 of the MLB Draft, signee Eli Lovich was selected by the Chicago Cubs. Considering he went in the 11th round, he likely had a deal in place with Chicago and will almost certainly sign, so we’ll also remove him from this list and move him below.
Not Expected to Return/Make it to Campus (23)
Out of Eligibility (10)
- RHP Koty Frank
- LHP Stone Hewlett
- UT Peyton Holt
- LF Ross Lovich
- 1B Ben McLaughlin (also selected in MLB Draft)
- C Hudson Polk
- C Parker Rowland
- 3B Jared Sprague-Lott (also selected in MLB Draft)
- 1B Jack Wagner
- CF Ty Wilmsmeyer
Entered the Transfer Portal (5)
- OF Will Edmunson
- OF Hunter Grimes
- LHP Adam Hachman
- OF Jayson Jones
- OF Kade Smith
UPDATE (June 14): Arkansas was the last high-major program to have a player enter the transfer portal. Hunter Grimes was the first to do so, but he was already believed to be out of eligibility because he was a sixth-year super senior in 2024 who had already redshirted. Perhaps he’ll receive a medical redshirt for one of his previous seasons. Grimes did not appear in a game this season, but did make one of the biggest plays in the 2023 season.
UPDATE (June 17): The first notable departure via the transfer portal came a few days later, as infielder-turned-outfielder Jayson Jones opted to leave the program. Click here for our analysis of his decision and why it might be best for both sides.
UPDATE (June 28): After redshirting as a true freshman, Kade Smith has entered the transfer portal.
UPDATE (July 2): On the final day to submit paperwork, Will Edmunson entered the transfer portal. He started 22 games and slashed .241/.362/.333 in his lone season at Arkansas. He was a JUCO transfer and is set to be a senior in 2025.
UPDATE (July 2): Also on the final day to submit paperwork, Adam Hachman entered the transfer portal. He was a heralded prospect in the Razorbacks’ 2023 signing class, but never appeared in a game as he redshirted while recovering from an injury this season.
Likely Gone to MLB Draft (8)
Current Hogs
- RHP Jake Faherty
- LHP Mason Molina
- LHP Hagen Smith
- 2B Peyton Stovall
- RHP Brady Tygart
- C Hudson White
Signees
- INF Tyson Lewis — Yutan, Neb. (Millard West HS)
- OF Eli Lovich — Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley West HS)
Yes, even though he struggled mightily this season, Kendall Diggs will almost certainly still get drafted and sign professionally.
His draft stock probably suffered this season, as he dealt with a nagging shoulder injury and hovered around the Mendoza Line for much of the year. Still, he will get a larger signing bonus as a junior than he would as a senior, even if he came back to school and tore it up at the plate.
That’s because seniors have no leverage when it comes to negotiating. They can’t threaten to return to school, so teams can sign them for well under slot value.
The same logic applies to guys like Mason Molina and Brady Tygart, who struggled down the stretch.
Perhaps the most surprising name on this list is Jake Faherty. He threw only 14 2/3 innings this season, but he had a 1.84 ERA with 26 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .151 batting average. Throw in his elite velocity and it’s highly likely that a team will take a chance on him because that’s the kind of stuff you can’t teach.
UPDATE (June 26): During his end-of-season press conference, Dave Van Horn revealed Kendall Diggs suffered a fully torn labrum and would require surgery. That opens up the possibility of him returning to school next year. We’ll leave him as a projected draft pick for now, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him back as a senior.
UPDATE (July 16): The six current Razorbacks were drafted, as expected, as were the two high school signees we’ve added to this section. Kendall Diggs went undrafted, so he’s officially been moved to the returning section.
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