Tag: Dylan Carter

Arkansas righty Dylan Carter to return in 2025

Arkansas needs all the bodies it can get next year. Carter will be another year recovered from Tommy John.

Dylan Carter will return to the Arkansas baseball team in 2025.

The right-hander, who will be a senior, came back from Tommy John surgery in 2024 and pitched in eight games for the Razorbacks. Before that surgery, in 2023, Carter pitched in 16 games, all out of the bullpen, and 3.65 earned-run average.

That number went up in 2024 as he battled back from the injury. But because of the injury and the COVID-19 pandemic, he was granted a rare sixth year of eligibility. He started his career at Crowder College before transferring to Fayetteville in 2022.

Carter, who is a Bentonville native, should be a major part of Arkansas’ bullpen next year if he recovers further. The Diamond Hogs are losing a bulk of their roster, including their entire starting rotation and most positional startesr.

The Razorbacks spent about half the season in 2024 ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, but struggled in the final couple weeks of the regular season. They earned a top-eight national seed and hosted the Fayetteville Regional, where they beat Southeast Missouri State in the first game before dropping the next two, against Kansas State and then against SEMO.

Three injured players expected to return this month, one possibly against UCA

Can the rich get richer? Two key pieces to an already outstanding pitching staff—and one on the field—could return by the beginning of SEC play.

The Diamond Hogs will welcome back some injured players sooner rather than later according to Dave Van Horn.

In an interview at the March Swatter’s Club, he let the media know that second baseman Peyton Stovall (broken foot) and right-hander Ben Bybee (mononucleosis) could both be back at the end of the month and that righty Dylan Carter could pitch in relief against UCA today.

“Obviously, we want it to feel right, maybe not put him in a super leverage-type position… Maybe it’ll be like start an inning and kind of go from there,” said Van Horn of Carter.

Carter suffered a torn UCL in April of 2023 and is only 10 months removed from Tommy John surgery. When the injury happened, Van Horn was convinced Carter wouldn’t play. “When it first happened, I thought, ‘Well, he probably won’t pitch in ’24. Get him ready for ’25,’” said Van Horn

For most pitchers, a year’s recovery time is the average, but the Bentonville West product is far advanced in his rehabilitation schedule.

Van Horn said, “But then [Carter’s recovery] went really well. He looked great after the surgery and then the rehab process throughout the summer and throughout Christmas break. He’s just really worked hard and stayed on it.” Now, Carter is throwing in the mid-90s, according to Van Horn

Later this month, Stovall and Bybee are expected to make appearances, and both should be back before the start of the SEC schedule.

“He’s fielding, he’s hitting. He just can’t sprint and cut on the outside of that foot,” Van Horn said about Stovall. “When he comes back he’s going to really help our lineup.”

Stovall will bring much-needed production to the Razorbacks’ offense. He finished with an average of .253 last season, which is better than 4 current batters.

Because of Bybee’s diagnosis of mono, he’s been riding the pine, waiting for the protocol to end. But Van Horn said Carter was given the green light to return on Sunday.

By the end of March, Arkansas could return two, key pieces to an already outstanding bullpen and another on the field.

Dave Van Horn pleased with Diamond Hogs’ bullpen as season nears

Dave Van Horn is very confident in Arkansas’ bullpen depth and versatility entering the 2024 season.

[autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag] has never really had issues with the quality of their pitching under [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag]. Quantity, on the other hand, has been the issue over as of late.

Entering the 2024 season, Van Horn expressed a renewed confidence in his bullpen rotation when speaking to the media last week.

The bullpen is shaping up fine, we have some really good arms,” Van Horn said. “Obviously, they have to go out and do it in a real game, but bullpens have been great.

We feel like we have a really good mix of left and right-handed pitching. The right-handed pitching is usually there, but have some options (that are) left-handed out of the pen is going to be a big-time plus for us this year.”

Last year, the bullpen was decimated by injury and struggled without the key arms of [autotag]Dylan Carter[/autotag], [autotag]Koty Frank[/autotag] and [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag]. This year, they will add those guys back to a stacked and pretty healthy pitching rotation.

Carter is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and freshman left-hander Hunter Dietz will miss about two months with a stress fracture, but other than that the Diamond Hogs are in good shape.

Their starting rotation of [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag], Brady Tygart and [autotag]Mason Molina[/autotag] could be one of the strongest in the SEC. Koty Frank, Gage Wood and Will McEntire headline an extremely strong bullpen rotation that is more than capable of holding their own and throwing different looks at opponents.

Left-handed Kansas transfer [autotag]Stone Hewlett[/autotag] was a guy that Van Horn singled out in his press conference.

“If you’re looking for a left-on-left matchup, we have Stone Hewlett, he transferred in from Kansas,” Van Horn said. “That’s what he does. He gets lefties out.”

Aside from Hewlett, Arkansas has sophomore Parker Coll and a slew of other freshman who looked very promising through the fall.

All-in-all, this year’s pitching staff has a legitimate chance to be the nation’s best. The key, as always, will be remaining healthy and avoiding an avalanche of major injuries like last year. If the [autotag]Diamond Hogs[/autotag]’ bullpen can do that, the rest of college baseball should be very afraid.

Arkansas baseball opens up their season with a four-game series against James Madison beginning on Friday, Feb. 16th at 3:00 p.m. in Baum-Walker Stadium.

Arkansas pitcher Dylan Carter suffers season-ending injury

The injury bug strikes again for Dave Van Horn and Arkansas baseball’s pitching staff

The injury bug has struck Arkansas baseball yet again. The Diamond Hogs lost another important bullpen piece when RHP [autotag]Dylan Carter[/autotag] suffered a season-ending UCL tear.

The sophomore from Bentonville shared the heartbreaking news to Twitter with a short statement.

“Razorback Nation: It is with a heavy heart that I announce my 2023 season has come to an end due to a UCL tear,” Carter’s announcement read. “This season has been nothing short of amazing and our teams season isn’t over yet. I will be the best teammate and supporter as we finish up the season and begin our run to Omaha. #31”

Carter was injured in last Thursday’s series-opening win over Texas A&M after just one inning of relief work. He’s been stellar this season, having recorded a 6-0 record, 3.65 ERA and two saves across 37 innings pitched this season. Carter has walked 11 batters, struck out 26 and opponents are batting .264 against him.

This is third season-ending injury suffered by an Arkansas pitcher. Jaxon Wiggins and Koty Frank are both out with UCL injuries that required Tommy John surgery, just as Carter will need.

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Next year’s Will McEntire? Dylan Carter is trending that way for Arkansas

Dylan Carter is the second straight Arkansas player to pitch in the Northwoods League All-Star Game.

You’d be excused if you’re unfamiliar with the name of Dylan Carter.

The rising Arkansas junior pitcher redshirted last year and played two seasons at Crowder College before that. But the Bentonville native should be on Diamond Hogs fans’ radar heading into next spring.

Carter was named to the Northwoods League All-Star Game on Friday. He’s played summer ball for the Green Bay Rockers, registering a 2.51 earned-run average with a .191 batting average-against in 46 2/3 innings.

Carter, who graduated from Bentonville West High had an 8-1 record at Crowder in 2021 before redshirting this past year with the Razorbacks.

His All-Star selection is the second straight for a Diamond Hogs pitcher. Will McEntire made the team last year playing for the Duluth Huskies. McEntire had a 2.59 ERA with with 49 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings with the Razorbacks.