Clay Henry: Fall Ball Gives Diamond Hogs Reason To Believe This Season
By Clay Henry
Generally, the pieces that I do for Hogs+ that move the needle are with head coaches. That should not surprise.
But there is one sit down interview every year with an assistant coach that is “can’t miss.” When you get Matt Hobbs, it’s going to be like some of his pitchers, just plain electric.
Hobbs did it again with his recap of the just completed fall for the Arkansas baseball team. The Razorbacks pitching coach delivered the goods.
The almost hour long video delivered to Hogs+ was terrific. Of course, it helps that he has some terrific talent to discuss and we didn’t even get into the specifics of what promises to be an ultra talented group of freshmen pitchers.
There is detail of the returnees, including the four talented catchers who split time between assistant coach Bobby Wernes and Hobbs. It may be the deepest and most talented catcher group in college baseball.
It surely helps that Hobbs lets – no demands – that his catchers call pitches even as the SEC allows ear pieces for communication from the dugout. Hobbs thinks catchers have a better feel and view than anyone in the dugout.
The breakdown of the catchers and their fall was where we started, but the meat of the interview developed 30 minutes in as we rolled through the roster and got to the likely weekend starters. With Hagen Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina, the Hogs might have the best 1-2-3 starting rotation in college baseball.
