Hagen Smith, Arkansas Eye College World Series Run To Cap Historic Year
Image credit: Hagen Smith (Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)
Hagen Smith has crafted a strong case as the best pitcher in Arkansas history. The junior lefthander this season was named SEC pitcher of the year, broke the program’s all-time strikeouts record and goes into the NCAA Tournament leading the nation in ERA. He’s also on track to become the highest drafted pitcher in program history, likely slotting somewhere in the top 10 picks.
Coach Dave Van Horn is quick to point out that Smith’s college career is not over. The Razorbacks are the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and have their sights set on a run to the College World Series, starting this weekend in Fayetteville. There’s still time for Smith to further bolster his college resume. He is expected this weekend to start Saturday in what Arkansas hopes will be a winner’s bracket game against either Louisiana Tech or Kansas State.
No matter how many more times Smith toes the rubber in an Arkansas uniform–his long hair and dirty blonde mustache cutting a unique profile on the mound–it’s already clear what he’s meant to the Razorbacks.
“It’s been great having him with the program,” Van Horn said. “He’s been a starter, a closer, a middle guy — a little bit of everything and he’s good at all of it.
“He’s meant a lot to our program the last three years. He’s been right in the middle of everything good we’ve done.”
Smith this season is 9-1, 1.48 with 154 strikeouts in 79 innings. He is two strikeouts away from breaking David Walling’s single-season program record, which has stood since 1999. His ERA is half a run better than anyone else in the nation and ranks fifth in the Arkansas record book.
Scouts are also debating whether Smith or Wake Forest righthander Chase Burns, the ACC pitcher of the year, is the best pitcher in the draft class. No matter whether Burns or Smith gets picked first in July, Smith will become the highest drafted pitcher in program history, easily surpassing Nick Schmidt, who went 23rd overall in 2007.
Smith isn’t worried about any of that. He’s simply trying to help the Razorbacks keep playing as long as possible and make a run at the College World Series.
“I just try to leave everything on the field, no outside noises,” he said. “Just winning each game, especially as a team, just trying to win each game. If I’m not playing, just go out and try to support my guys.”
That approach matches Smith’s overall personality, which pitching coach Matt Hobbs describes as the perfect mixture.
“When he’s on the mound, it’s like a predator,” Hobbs said. “When he’s off the mound, it’s a very levelheaded, calm, cool, collected, rational, great kid.
“When he’s on the mound he’s just different.”
Smith has been a fixture in the Arkansas pitching staff for the last three years. He will leave his mark all over the record book when his career ends. His path to this point dates back to July 6, 2019, when he was a rising junior in high school. On that day, Hobbs and hitting coach/recruiting coordinator Nate Thompson were in suburban Atlanta at a high school tournament. The Razorbacks assistants were at the game to watch a shortstop on the other team, but they couldn’t help but be impressed by Smith, who was committed to Oklahoma State at the time. He threw three scoreless innings, and they filed his name away in case his recruitment ever reopened.
Smith later decommitted and Arkansas jumped in whole hog. Hobbs was so convicted by what he had seen that he didn’t back off even when Smith was injured and underwent Tommy John surgery a few months later.
Smith committed to Arkansas and returned from surgery as good as ever. As a senior at Bullard High in East Texas, he went 11-0, 0.19 and threw seven no-hitters. As that spectacular spring unfolded, Hobbs was sure Arkansas would lose Smith to the draft. But after his fourth no-hitter, Hobbs talked to a scout who was at the game. That conversation started to make Hobbs believe the Razorbacks had a chance.
“Well, it’s only 91 [mph] and the slider was just ok and it looks like his delivery’s not great,” the scout said.
“I was like, ‘Wow, they might let this kid get to school,’” Hobbs remembered thinking.
Smith did, in fact, make it to Fayetteville. And from the time he hit campus that summer, it was clear how much potential he brought. Hobbs and Van Horn watched his first bullpen in the player development center and came away with the same thought.
“We both look at each other and we’re like Friday guy right now, this year,” Hobbs said. “He ended up being the Saturday guy behind [senior Parker] Noland. But it was very obvious from day 1 that this guy is different from the rest.”
Smith has consistently improved over the last three years. He went 7-2, 4.66 with 90 strikeouts and 46 walks in 77.1 innings as a freshman. As a sophomore, he was 8-2, 3.64 with 109 strikeouts and 42 walks in 71.2 innings. In each of his first two seasons in Fayetteville, he mostly was used as a starter, but he also pitched out of the bullpen for stretches. No matter what role the Razorbacks needed him in, he was ready to take the ball.
This spring, he came into the season as Arkansas’ ace and then took a further step forward, establishing himself as unquestionably one of the very best pitchers in the country. He’s seen his strikeout rate rise from 13.69 per nine innings to 17.54 (which would be a Division I record) while simultaneously cutting his walk rate from 5.27 per nine innings to 3.42.
Smith’s consistency has been a hallmark this spring. He had a poor outing on Opening Day against James Madison, giving up a home run and two walks in one inning. Arkansas got him out of the game after he threw 42 pitches.
But the very next week on the big stage of Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, against Oregon State and All-American Travis Bazzana, Smith authored one of the best pitching performances of the season. He struck out 17 batters and held the Beavers to three hits and walk in six scoreless innings.
Any doubts that existed coming out of Opening Weekend had instantly been answered against a powerful lineup. It was also the first of 11 quality starts this season for Smith, who has nearly every week turned in six strong innings and double-digit strikeouts.
The Razorbacks have kept him on a tight leash–he hasn’t thrown more than 105 pitches and he’s hit 100 pitches just three times–which has limited some of his late-game exposure. But with the results Arkansas this season has gotten out of Smith, it’s a hard to argue with the approach.
“I’ve watched a lot of baseball games, watched a lot of pitchers, had a lot of pitchers, but Hagen is really good,” Van Horn said. “You know, it’s just hard to come out and be good every outing. He’s become such a pitcher now.”
Smith has always had the raw tools needed to develop–that’s what Hobbs and Thompson saw when he was a high school underclassman–and he’s put in the work required to improve. As a freshman, his stuff was pretty average (by the standards of a professional prospect). His fastball averaged about 91 mph and his slider maxed out at 83 mph with mediocre RPM. Over the last two years, he’s added four mph to his average fastball velocity and now reaches the upper 90s. His average slider velocity, meanwhile, is more than what he peaked at as a freshman. Both pitches have changed shape as well, helping them to become plus offerings.
Smith has gotten stronger in that time (he’s now listed at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, 25 pounds heavier than he was in 2021), and while that helps account for the velocity increase, time in the weight room doesn’t explain the other ways in which his pure stuff has improved.
“Bigger and stronger doesn’t change the shape of your heater,” Hobbs said. “A realization of ‘this needs to get better’ changes the shape of your heater. Your vertical approach angle doesn’t change because you get older. It changes because the way you throw the baseball is different.
“A lot of it was he just realized, ‘I’m not going to get away with that, that needs to get better. If I do X, Y and Z, I’m going to get all of these a little bit better.’ He raised his slot, he got stronger, he got deeper into his legs, so it lowered his approach. All of these things that he did changed the profile from deceptive lefty to huge stuff with massive deception.
“That’s not the finished product, but if he can do that in two years, what’s he going to do between age 21 and 24? We’re getting a good version, obviously. We’re very excited about the version we’re getting, certainly. But this isn’t close to the best of him, that’s way down the road.”
Smith has showed an impressive ability to make changes and adjustments. Last summer, while he was pitching with the Collegiate National Team, he was looking for ways to improve his changeup, which has long been a clear third pitch for him. He said he was picking the brain of just about everyone on staff about changeups.
While Team USA was playing Japan, Thomas Eager, the Stanford pitching coach who was serving in that role for the national team, was talking with his counterparts from Japan. Eager got some tips on how to teach a splitter. He brought those to Smith, who incorporated a split grip to his changeup.
“He was telling me how they throw it and it kind of clicked in my head,” Smith said. “I have to think fastball on my off-speed, not like changeup. The splitter really helped me a lot.”
The changeup is still Smith’s third-best offering, but he’s felt more confident in the pitch this season and is throwing it more often, especially against righthanded hitters.
As Smith advances in baseball, he’ll need to continue to improve his changeup and his command within the strike zone needs further refinement. But, as Hobbs said, if this is what Smith can do now at 20 years old (he doesn’t turn 21 until August), it shows the kind of strides he can make over the next 3-5 years as he reaches his prime.
It’s easy to dream on Smith, considering the starting point. But the Razorbacks don’t need to dream.
“He’s very level-headed, very mature,” Van Horn said this spring during an on-air interview on ESPN2 while Smith was pitching. “He’s the best I’ve ever had, probably.”
