Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn was brutally honest about his team in 2024 after it fell in a home regional for the second straight year. Through the entire season, ace Hagen Smith had carried them.
“You take him out of our team and we’re just really average,” Van Horn said after the Razorbacks were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. “That’s the way one guy can make a difference.”
Now, the reality is that Smith was drafted No. 5 overall by the Chicago White Sox. In order for the pitching staff to remain elite, six important newcomers must play key roles. Let’s count them down in order of expected importance in the 2025 season:
Arkansas Baseball’s Top Newcomers on the Mound
No. 6 – RHP Aiden Jimenez (transfer)
Aiden Jimenez is only No. 6 because there are still serious questions as to how much, if at all, he will be able to contribute. The right-hander is roughly 10 months removed from Tommy John surgery after suffering a partial UCL tear in the build-up to the 2024 season at Oregon State.
He has been throwing off a mound already, according to his social media, which could give him a pathway to contribute at some point during the season. Jimenez was in the mix for a starting spot with the Beavers until his injury, but 21 of his 22 college appearances have come out of the bullpen. He owns a 5.68 ERA in 38 innings.
No. 5 – LHP Cole Gibler
Perhaps the only true breakout surprise of fall camp, Cole Gibler was often tasked with facing the heart of Arkansas’ top lineup and passed with flying colors, getting hitters out and racking up strikeouts at a Hagen Smith-esque rate. The southpaw faced 28 hitters in 7 2/3 innings and struck out a team-leading 14.
While not reaching the triple-digits that fans have become accustomed to with Smith, Gibler did hit 96 mph with his fastball during winter workouts, according to MLB.com, and operated at 92-93 mph throughout the fall with a good curveball.
No. 4 – RHP Carson Wiggins
A name already very familiar to Razorback fans as the younger brother of Jaxon Wiggins, Carson Wiggins immediately turned heads in a fall scrimmage against Oklahoma State. That may not have been his biggest surprise, though. That would be the fact he’s suiting up in a Razorback uniform at all.
Wiggins was ranked the No. 79 overall draft prospect out of high school, per MLB.com. He lit up the radar gun to the tune of 101 mph. Van Horn complimented Wiggins’ control, despite having a turbo engine of a right arm.
“He’s gotten hit a little bit, but his stuff’s been amazing in our scrimmages,” Van Horn said of Wiggins after an intrasquad scrimmage in October. “Tonight, they didn’t hit him. Fastball is 97, 98 mph. Throwing strikes. Got a good breaking ball. Looked like a guy that can help us right away tonight.”
No. 3 – LHP Landon Beidelschies (transfer)
For the transfer portal era, Arkansas actually has a fair amount of relievers from last year’s roster return for a modern college baseball roster. The likes of Gage Wood, Christian Foutch and Gabe Gaeckle are all back. However, Arkansas lost all three of its weekend starters from last year with both Brady Tygart and Mason Molina getting drafted alongside Smith.
Assuming the plan to slide Gaeckle into the starting rotation goes without a hitch, that leaves two spots to be filled in the rotation. Beidelschies transferred in from Ohio State to provide some veteran experience as a Friday night starter, leading the Buckeyes with 91 strikeouts last year, to the tune of a 4.15 ERA. It wasn’t always great, but the left-hander certainly flashed his potential with a dominant inning in a scrimmage against Oklahoma State.
No. 2 – LHP Hunter Dietz
I’ve made an exception on this list – Dietz isn’t technically a newcomer. He pitched one inning last year, including being thrown straight into the deep end against LSU in a high-leverage situation, but was subsequently shut down with an elbow injury and has not thrown a pitch since.
However, Van Horn continues to speak highly of the lefty, who is just a year removed from being the No. 7 overall left-handed pitcher in his class, according to Perfect Game. He also takes the cake for the best NIL deal completed by a Razorback athlete, complete with wordplay and executed with the perfect amount of playful gravitas.
No. 1 – LHP Zach Root (transfer)
If there was ever an attempt to directly replace Smith, this is it. Zach Root is wearing Smith’s number (33), he’s a lefty and he was brought in as a potential Friday night starter. Asking anyone to put up the same Herculean numbers as Smith is equal parts fantasy and sheer ridiculousness, but Root was the most heralded of the incoming transfers on the mound.
He was the No. 2 starter at East Carolina, a perennial baseball powerhouse that ended up hosting its own regional. Root got off to a rocky start in the fall, but rounded into form late and remains on track to lock down a spot in the weekend rotation.
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