I love the concept of re-evaluating a recruiting or draft class (no matter the sport) a few years later. That’s really when we know how well a franchise/program evaluated the available talent. As is often the case, we commonly see 3-star recruits and late-round draft picks blossom once in the right spot.
This week Baseball America looked back at the 2016 recruiting class. Arkansas was coming off its worst season under Dave Van Horn, but managed to build a class that would anchor its run to back-to-back trips to Omaha.
Arkansas hosted three straight regionals from 2017-19, made the College World Series in both 2018 and 2019 and finished as national runner-up in 2018. This class played a key role in all of those teams. Cronin was one of the best relievers in the country throughout his college career, emerging as a dominant force at the back of the bullpen. Fletcher was a three-year starter in center field for the Razorbacks and was the top draft pick in the class at No. 75 overall in 2019.
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