Tag: ProHogs

Baltimore promotes outfielder Heston Kjerstad to majors

Kjerstad is back in The Show. Can he stay this time with the Os?

Outfielder Heston Kjerstad made his MLB debut Tuesday after Baltimore promoted the former Arkansas star from Triple-A Norfolk.

Kjerstad, the No. 2 overall pick from Arkansas by the Orioles in 2020, made his big-league debut last year, playing in 11 games for the Birds. He started the 2024 season with the Tides and has slashed .349/.431/.744 with 10 home runs and 30 RBI in just 102 plate appearances.

On Tuesday in his debut against the Angels, Kjerstad went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the Orioles’ 7-4 loss.

The spot in the majors opened when Baltimore outfield Austin Hays was placed on IL with a calf injury. Hays was an All-Star for the Orioles in 2023, but was hitting just .111 with zero extra-base hits at the time of his injury.

Kjerstad entered the year as the No. 29 prospect in all of baseball and the fourth highest-rated prospect in the Orioles system. Despite being drafted in 2020, Kjerstad didn’t truly start his career until 2022 after a heart condition knocked him out of the entire 2021 season. A hamstring injury delayed his beginning in 2022, even, as well.

Kjerstad joins Dominic Fletcher and Andrew Benintendi as former Arkansas outfielders now in the Major Leagues.

Former Diamond Hogs ace Isaiah Campbell makes first MLB Opening-Day roster

Campbell was a stud out of the bullpen for the Mariners last year, but this is his first season to begin the year in the Bigs.

Isaiah Campbell is an Opening-Day Major Leaguer.

The former Arkansas right-hander was named to the Boston Red Sox opening day roster Thursday as teams across the league prepared for the first games of the season.

Campbell will be pitching in his second season in the Big Leagues after cracking the Seattle Mariners’ club last year. He had a 2.83 earned-run average in 28 games for the Ms out of the bullpen. Campbell was trided to Boston in November for infielder Luis Urias.

A second-round pick of the Mariners in 2019, Campbell didn’t get to pitch professionally until 2021 at age 23. He quickly shot through Seattle’s system and jumped from Double-A Arkansas in the middle of last year to the big club, where he stuck for the season.

Campbell pitched for the Diamond Hogs for four seasons, although his second season with the Razorbacks was limited to just one game because of injury. He came into his own his final season in Fayetteville in 2019, striking out 122 batters and walking just 22 in 118 1/3 innings.

Boston opens its 2024 season Thursday night incidentally against those same Mariners.

Report: Dominic Fletcher has “leg up” on starting in right field for White Sox

White Sox GM Chris Getz said Fletcher is the ChiSox most likely starter in right this year.

Dominic Fletcher, heading into his fifth professional season, is finally looking into a year of regularlity at the Major League level.

The former Diamondbacks outfielder, who played three years for Arkansas in college, was traded to the White Sox over the winter. As spring training starts in earnest this week, Fletcher appears to be the odds-on favorite to take over starting duties in right field for Chicago.

According to White Sox general manger Chris Getz, who once roamed second base for the Southsiders, Fletcher has “a leg up” in the competition for the gig. Oscar Colas and Gavin Sheets are also in the running.

Fletcher slashed .301/.350/.441 in 102 at-bats for the National League champs last year, but was blocked from regular playing time. Getz and the Sox acquired him in January for pitching prospect Cristian Mena. At the Triple-A level with Reno, Fletcher was even better with an on-base percentage at .400 and slugging .500.

If he were to win the job, Chicago would have two former Arkansas outfielders in the starting lineup. Andrew Benintendi, arguably the best player in Diamond Hogs history, is the team’s starting leftfielder.

These five Hogs are headed to the NFL combine

The last time Arkansas did not have a player taken in the NFL Draft? It was 1995.

The last time an Arkansas football player was not taken in the NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans were still the Houston Oilers in 1995.

The streak should continue in 2024, especially as five (former?) Arkansas players were invited to the 2024 NFL Draft combine this week. Offensive linemen Beaux Limmer and Brady Latham, kicker Cam Little, defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat and cornerback Dwight McGlothern will all take part in front of dozens of pro teams ahead of the April draft.

Little is the highest rated of the bunch, though that doesn’t mean he stands the best chance at being drafted. Kickers are not in high demand in the draft typically. Little, however, should be taken as he is rated the top kicker in the whole draft, per ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.

Limmer, who can play center and guard, is also rated in the top 10 at his position (in this case, center). Latham, who can also play both positions, may very well be taken nearby.

McGlothern and Jeffcoat were both transfers from elsewhere in the SEC. Jeffcoat played one season with Arkansas after arriving from Missouri, while McGlothern played two seasons in Fayetteville upon leaving LSU.

The combine will be held from Feb. 26 to March 4 and the draft itself is April 25-27.

Hogs in the Super Bowl: Every former Arkansas football player to ever make it

A lot of America is tuning in to see if Taylor Swift makes the Super Bowl. Arkansas fans are watching Dre Greenlaw.

Everyone who isn’t a Niners or Chiefs fan may be focused on Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Unless you’re from Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Dre Greenlaw and Brandon Allen were All-SEC type of players during their time playing for the Arkansas football team in the late 2010s. Before that, they were all-class type of players during their playing time for the Fayetteville High School football team in the early 2010s.

If one believes that success breeds success, it’s fits for Greenlaw and Allen, both of whom will participate in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday when their team, the San Francisco 49ers, play the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas.

That phrase, “success breeds success,” isn’t just about Greenlaw’s and Allen’s coincidental together-ness on the football field. It’s also about how Allen is now tied for the Super Bowl appearances for a former Arkansas player in history. And Greenlaw is one behind him, with Sunday’s game marking his second such.

For Allen, the third-string quarterback for the Niners, the game will be his third, but for three different teams. Both of Greenlaw’s trips to the Super Bowl have come with San Francisco. But besides them, who was the last former Razorbacks football player to play in the most famous individual game in the world?

Well, here is the complete list of former Arkansas players who have made it to the Super Bowl.

Report: Former Hogs star Daniel Gafford traded to Dallas Mavericks

El Dorado High grad and former Hogs center Daniel Gafford will finally get to play for a contender, it appears.

Daniel Gafford has played on bad basketball teams for just about the entireity of his NBA career.

Reports, however, state the former Arkansas Razorbacks center and Natural State native will finally get a shot to make the NBA postseason and play with two of the best players in the world in doing so.

Gafford was, per reports, traded from the Washington Wizards to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday for Richaun Holmes and a first-round pick. The 6-foot-10 center is expected to help Dallas defensively most, where the Mavericks rank in the bottom 10 in the NBA when it comes points-in-the-paint allowed.

Gafford can add a bit on the offensive end, as well. His 10.9 points per game are a personal best now in his sixth season. He’s shooting 69% from the floor and playing a career-high 26.5 minutes per game. The numbers all suggest the 2023-24 season is the best the El Dorado High product has put together as a pro.

Gafford was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the No. 39 pick overall, in the second round, of the 2019 NBA Draft. He was traded to the Wizards in 2021. Before turning pro, Gafford played two seasons in Fayetteville where he averaged 17 points and almost nine rebounds a game his sophomore year.

Former Hogs outfield Dominic Fletcher traded to White Sox

After raking for Arizona last year in the majors and minors, Fletcher will get an opportunity for an everyday gig with the White Sox.

Dominic Fletcher should have every opportunity to become an MLB regular in 2024.

After playing in 28 games last year and making Major League debut with the eventual National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks, Fletcher was traded over the weekend to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Christian Mena.

Fletcher impressed in his time in The Show, slashing .301/.350/.440 in 102 plate appearances. But with Arizona’s outfield solidified by Lourdes Gurriel, Alek Thomas and Corbin Carroll, playing time was hard to come by in the desert without injuries.

Fletcher, 26, will get a chance to start for Chicago this spring. He is joining an outfield in which only Luis Robert and former Diamond Hogs star Andrew Benintendi have spots locked in. Fletcher will compete with Jake DeLoach, Oscar Colas and, to a lesser extent, Gavin Sheets, who also plays first base.

With Arkansas from 2017-19, Fletcher slashed .298/.360/.497 with 42 home runs and 201 RBI while patrolling centerfield. At just 5-foot-6, his home run totals in the pros haven’t matched his collegiate statistics, but Fletcher has continued to show an ability to rack up extra-base hits throughout his four years in the Diamondbacks system.

Pitchers and catchers report for the White Sox on Valentine’s Day and the rest of the players will show up five days later. Chicago opens spring training February 23 against normal cross-town rivals the Cubs.

Watch: Ex-Arkansas and current Niners LB Dre Greenlaw celebrates Super Bowl appearance

Former Hogs linebacker Dre Greenlaw and ex-Arkansas QB Brandon Allen are both headed to their second Super Bowls.

Former Arkansas football players Dre Greenlaw and Brandon Allen will play in Super Bowl LVIII after the San Francisco 49ers rallied to beat the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.

The 49ers overcame a 24-7 halftime deficit to win 34-31. The Niners will play the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of the Super Bowl from 2020.

For Allen, the appearance will be his second in the last three years. A third-string quarterback for San Francisco this year, Allen made the Super Bowl in 2022 when he was the back-up signal-caller for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Greenlaw is also playing in his second Super Bowl. He was on that San Francisco team that lost to the Chiefs in 2020, 31-20.

Allen did not see any game action this regular season. Greenlaw started 15 games and recorded 120 tackles. He has been a starter on the 49ers defense all five of his professional years, though he was limited to three games in 2021 because of a groin injury.

This year’s Super Bowl is Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. CT and will be played in Las Vegas.

Four former Hogs remain in NFL playoffs

Either Dre Greenlaw and Brandon Allen will make it or Frank Ragnow and Dan Skipper will. The former Arkansas football players will all play for a shot at the Super Bowl.

Either Frank Ragnow and Dan Skipper will get a shot or Dre Greenlaw and Brandon Allen will.

Those four former Arkansas football players all still remain in the NFL Playoffs, their teams set to play each other in the NFC Championship on January 28.

Ragnow and Skipper are offensive linemen for the Detroit Lions. The Lions made their first NFC Championship in franchise history when they beat Tampa Bay over the weekend.

Ragnow is considered one of the best, if not the best, center in the NFL. He’s been a starter for all six of his seasons with the Lions and been named to the Pro Bowl three times.

Skipper has been a back-up tackle for the Lions for most of the last six seasons. He played in all 16 games with five starts last year and played in 11 games with one start this year.

Greenlaw has been a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers since 2019 and a starter every year. The 49ers have made the NFC title game four of the last five seasons, the same amount of time Greenlaw has been on the team.

Allen is a back-up quarterback for the Niners, as well. He did not see any time in the regular season and previously made his way to the Super Bowl with Cincinnati Bengals.

All four former Razorbacks played together in Fayetteville under coach Bret Bielema. Allen, the oldest, played from 2012-2015. Skipper joined in 2013 and played through 2016, while Ragnow and Greenlaw joined in 2015. Ragnow played two seasons before going pro whereas Greenlaw played four years at Arkansas.

Watch: Dre Greenlaw ejected for hitting Eagles head of security in the face

Greenlaw, a former Arkansas standout turned starting linebacker for San Francisco, threw the only punch in the scuffle.

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw was ejected from Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles in the third quarter after hitting a member of the Eagles’ security staff in the face.

Greenlaw, who played at Arkansas from 2015-18, slammed down Eagles wide Devonta Smith on the Eagles’ sideline after Smith made a catch to put Philadelphia inside the 49ers’ 30. Greenlaw was flagged after the tackle and a scuffle ensued. Greenlaw appeared to be attempted feigning a punch toward the secruity member’s face, but actually connected.

The security guard was later identified as Eagles head of security Dom DiSandro.

Greenlaw immediately put his hands up and when officials intervened, he pointed to the security guard as if to suggest he was the aggressor. San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner walked Greenlaw away from the sideline back toward the 49ers’.

The 49ers entered the game leading the NFC West and the Eagles, at 10-1, led the NFC East with football’s best record.

Greenlaw entered the game second on the 49ers roster in tackles, behind Warner, this season. He’s been a starter for San Francisco all five years he has been in the league.

At Arkansas, Greenlaw, a Fayetteville High graduate, was an All-SEC linebacker who regististerd 320 tackles in his four seasons.