FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fans are not only ready for the weather to warm up, but for one of its teams to finally warm to the task. In frigid conditions, the Razorbacks played its first scrimmage. The Gray team, comprised of most of the projected starters, won 4-1 in a 5 1/2 inning contest.
The play-by-play of the first scrimmage is more or less obsolete, but two new faces that did not appear much throughout fall ball introduced themselves with authority.
Rocco Peppi, who took just 12 at-bats in the fall because of a tweaked back, hit the first homer of spring practice, a two-run homer into the left field bullpen.
“He’s bought into what we are trying to do here a little bit,” coach Dave Van Horn said. “Went down and hit a tough pitch. It was a really good piece of hitting.”
Home run metrics from spring scrimmage № 1:
Peppi: 364 ft / 97 mph
Fraser: 375 ft / 106 mph pic.twitter.com/om8i7KRCsC— Arkansas Baseball Player Development (@HogsPlayerDev) January 24, 2025
Peppi also got the start at first base, a position that the Hogs are desperate for a frontrunner to emerge as a starter. Peppi has not recorded an official game at first base across three years in 188 games, both during his time at Long Beach State and during summer ball. On the other team, career outfielder Kendall Diggs started at first base.
On the other side of the scorecard, Aiden Jimenez, who wasn’t even expected to throw a singular pitch for Arkansas. The transfer from Oregon State is less than a full calendar year removed from Tommy John Surgery. He made his debut in the fourth inning, striking out three of the four batters he faced and also gave up a solo homer.
“Kid is an incredible worker,” Van Horn said. “He’s no even 12 months out of Tommy John. He’s got good stuff. We knew a couple of months ago that he was going to be ready for this season.
Jimenez was on track to compete for a starting rotation spot at perennial powerhouse Oregon State before being sidelined, Van Horn spoke glowingly about his arsenal.
“[He gets] downhill,” Van Horn said. He made one mistake and it got hammered, but other than that, he was really good. He’s got a wipeout breaking ball. Fastball has a lot of natural tunnel sink on it.”
Arkansas has two more scrimmages this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m Saturday and 12:35 p.m. Sunday. Both are expected to last approximately six innings and are free and open to the public.
• Recruiting Rundown: Hogs’ latest activity with offers, visits
• LIVE UPDATES: Razorbacks embark on 2025 season with first scrimmage
• Razorbacks more valuable, per report, than program’s recent performance
• Which direction Razorbacks going in final SEC roll call this year?
• Robots may not be made for coaching, at least in this manner
• Subscribe and follow us on YouTube
• Follow HogsSI on X and Facebook
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
