Dave Van Horn reveals the summer plans for Brady Tygart

After a season in which he was named a Freshman All-American, Arkansas pitcher Brady Tygart hit some setbacks during the 2023 campaign. A sprained UCL limited him to just 10 games on the season.

Tygart appeared in four contests before suffering the sprained UCL in a game against Illinois State on March 1. He wouldn’t appear again until April 28.

This summer Tygart received an invitation to play for Team USA but will not take it up as he focuses on rest and recovery.

“Just kind of resting. We were really trying to take it easy with him there at the end of the season for the most part, keeping an eye on him and just don’t want to aggravate anything,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Just want him to heal up and be ready to go in the fall. So yeah, he didn’t go.”

Tygart finished the 2023 season with a 3-1 record and a 3.20 ERA. He pitched 25.1 innings and gave up 11 runs (nine earned) on 15 hits, while striking out 31 and walking eight. He surrendered four home runs.

That came one year after Brady Tygart boasted 51 strikeouts in 37.2 innings of work, pitching mainly from the bullpen.

Arkansas dealt with injuries all season long

The Brady Tygart injury was far from the only one for Arkansas baseball this season. The Hogs lost a handful of major impact players.

Even before going into NCAA Regional play this year, Arkansas had lost top reliever Dylan Carter for the season due to a tear in his UCL. The Razorbacks had also lost starting pitcher Jaxon Wiggins due to Tommy John surgery. Then reliever Koty Frank also suffered a torn lat muscle and was lost for the year.

Those injuries, along with the Brady Tygart situation, caused Arkansas to simply run out of pitching when it mattered most in the postseason.

Still, the team didn’t make excuses. And Arkansas still found a way to win the SEC title, sharing the league crown with Florida.

“It’s just been that way all year,” Van Horn said. “It’s like, they don’t believe just because one guy gets hurt we’re going to struggle, or not be a good team. We’ve just got a lot of good people on this team. They work hard, and when they’ve got their chance, they’ve done a great job.”

If there’s a silver lining to it all, this year’s injury-riddled season could create more experienced roster depth for next year’s squad.

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