Hello all! My name is Ryan, and I have started this blog to give my thoughts, specifically, on Arkansas Razorback baseball. I also want to discuss some stats in a way where the average baseball fan may not understand. My first memories with Razorback baseball are watching Nick Schmidt and Jess Todd pitch at Louisiana Tech back around 2007. This interest has continued since then and have been lucky to attend many games in Fayetteville. My goals are to provide you with interesting topics and possibly expand into other sports. In the end, I hope this blog provides you with some more information about Arkansas and about baseball in general.

I wrote this first post last Thursday, right before the Texas Longhorns came to Fayetteville. All stats you will see are updated right up to that point and good news! Arkansas ending up sweeping #1 Texas, with some of the best starting pitching performances this year!

If you have watched Arkansas baseball this season, it seems like there is something off with the starting pitching, especially when you just use the eye test. Though, it is hard to compare when you have had someone like Hagen Smith the past 3 years, but still, a pitcher like Zach Root has felt more like a solid #2 starter. Let’s dive into some stats, to look more into this. 

One stat you can look at is Strikeouts per 9 Innings (K/9). Elite pitchers in college baseball will have a K/9 over 13.5 (Hagen Smith 2023 & 2024, Paul Skenes (LSU), Chase Burns (TENN), to name a few). Zach Root leads the starters so far this year at 12.57 K/9, which is close to Mason Molina’s number,12.50 K/9 in 2024.  

Here are the K/9 for this year’s starters: 

Zach Root – 12.57 K/9 

Gabe Gaeckle – 10.32 K/9 

Landon Beidelschies – 8.94 K/9 

Of the 10 pitchers that started more than 5 games in the past 3 years for Arkansas, Root is #3, Gaeckle #6, and Cheese #7 in K/9. What does this mean? Hitters are making a lot of contact. There have been many times the starters get ahead in the count with 2 strikes and are unable to strike the batter out. Bats are not being missed. 

Let’s look at another stat, the starters’ ERA. What if I told you that 2024 Brady Tygart has a lower ERA than Zach Root currently does? That is probably not something you want in your presumed “ace”. Cheese even has a lower ERA than Root at this point. The main pitching stats do not always tell the whole story.  

This is where Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) comes in. This is the calculated ERA if you take out all balls that were put in play. FIP is independent of the team’s defense 

 Zach Root ranks 33^rd in the SEC in ERA right now. His FIP (3.02) ranks the 6^th lowest in the SEC. From this, you could say Root has been “unlucky”. Another stat that goes along with this is Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP). For a pitcher, this is the opponents’ batting average when you take out homeruns and strikeouts. Typically, this will settle around .300. Root, right now, has the 9^th highest BABIP (.345) in the SEC. You could assume that over more innings Root will have more “luck”, and his stats should improve. 

Gabe Gaeckle also has a higher BABIP (.331) and his ERA is 1.38 higher than his FIP. I would also expect his numbers to come down, but he really needs to improve his control. He is walking 4.76 batters per 9 innings, 7^th highest in the SEC. However, at this point in time, Gaeckle has been moved to the bullpen in place of Gage Wood. Arkansas will still need to rely on Gaeckle as a big piece of the team. 

Landon Beidelschies, also, looks like his starting spot may be in jeopardy. He is the opposite of Gaeckle and Root right now, where you could say has had more luck. His ERA – FIP is at –1.47. While Cheese does not walk many (2.72 BB/9), hitters do not miss much with his low K/9 and giving up nearly 2 homers per 9 innings.  

For other potential starters, I am looking at Gage Wood (already done), Ben Bybee, or Aiden Jimenez. Gage Wood has just come back, but his advanced stats look much better than I thought. Here are the stats we have discussed for each pitcher in a table: 

Pitcher	Innings Pitched	ERA	FIP	K/9	BABIP
Zach Root	58.0	4.50	3.02	12.57	.345
Gabe Gaeckle	45.1	5.56	4.18	10.32	.331
Landon Beidelschies	46.1	4.27	5.75	8.94	.297
Gage Wood	10.1	4.35	2.15	16.55	.350
Ben Bybee	32.2	3.58	3.94	10.19	.329
Aiden Jimenez	28.2	1.88	2.58	9.42	.282

Amidst this 3-series losing streak, I do not believe it is time to panic, Razorback fans. Root is pitching better than he has ever had, against the toughest competition he has faced, Gage Wood is working his way back, and the bullpen seems good enough to give time to figure out that 3^rd starter. With the hitting potential and bullpen for this team, the Razorbacks should be primed for another deep run in the NCAAT and hopefully, a trip to Omaha.  

What 3 pitchers would you choose as your starter?? 

References

FanGraphs. (n.d.). College leaderboards. FanGraphs Baseball. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/college

(2025). Arkansas baseball vs Washington State: Hogs sweep Cougars (J. Fuller, Ed.) [Review of Arkansas baseball vs Washington State: Hogs sweep Cougars]. https://www.swtimes.com/story/sports/college/sec/2025/02/14/arkansas-baseball-vs-washington-state-live-score-game-highlights/78330197007/

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