Helfrick Lands on Buster Posey Award Preseason Watch List

WICHITA, Kan. – Ryder Helfrick has been named to the preseason watch list for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, given annually by the Wichita Sports Commission to the nation’s top collegiate catcher.

Helfrick, who was one of 56 players on last year’s midseason watch list for the award, is one of 10 players and one of four SEC backstops on this year’s preseason watch list for the award honoring the country’s best collegiate catcher.

Helfrick enters the 2026 campaign as Baseball America and D1Baseball preseason All-American after playing in 61 games with 56 starts as a sophomore last season. The Razorbacks’ star catcher, also named to Baseball America’s preseason watch list for player of the year, slashed .305/.420/.616 with 15 home runs and 38 RBI in 2025 to help power Arkansas to its 12th College World Series appearance in program history and its eighth trip to Omaha in the Dave Van Horn era.

The Discovery Bay, Calif., native, who recorded 14 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games, was even better in SEC play, slashing .337/.449/.635 with seven home runs and 21 RBI in 30 games against conference opponents. Defensively, Helfrick was one of the best behind the dish in college baseball, committing only three errors in 629 total chances (.995 fielding percentage) and throwing out 10-of-45 attempted base stealers (.222 caught stealing percentage) on the year.

Helfrick and the Razorbacks, led by 24th-year head coach Dave Van Horn, open the season against Big 12 foe Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

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