re: **OFFICIAL 2022 ARKANSAS RAZORBACK BASEBALL SEASON THREAD - 3rd Place CWS**

Arkansas righthanded pitcher Peyton Pallette, a projected Friday night starter for the No. 2 team in the country, and a premier prospect, will miss the 2022 season because of a UCL tear that will require Tommy John surgery.

Pallette has had scares with injuries over the past year, and now, it has become a reality. Late last season, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder, left a game against Florida with an elbow injury. His body language wasn’t good, and it was feared then that not only would he be out for the season, it could be an injury that could sideline him for the long term. However, shortly after, the Hogs announced that tests were clear, and that Pallette wouldn’t be required to have surgery. Pallette ended the ’21 season with a 4.02 ERA in 56 innings of work, along with 67 strikeouts and 20 walks, while teams hit .237 against him.

The talented righty, who was ranked No. 13 in the initial D1Baseball College Top 100 Prospects list, put together a solid fall and was terrific in a bullpen session our staff witnessed. He was 93-94 mph with his fastball and his 80-81 mph big-time curveball had spin rates around 3000. He appeared ready to roll and to put together a strong 2022 campaign.

This week, though, Pallette’s injury woes resurfaced, and this time, it’s a tear that will require him to miss the entire ’22 campaign for the Hogs.

As the projected Friday night starter for this team, it’s abundantly clear that losing Pallette hurts. He reminded me a lot of Walker Buehler during his time at Vanderbilt, and there’s zero doubt he was about to put together a season to remember. But now the Hogs must move forward without one of their supremely talented pitchers.

Where do they go from here?

For starters, this puts much more of a load on Jaxon Wiggins’ back. Wiggins was Arkansas’ projected No. 2 starting pitcher. And from a pure talent standpoint, he might just be the best of the bunch. However, Wiggins, despite having an electric arm with a fastball into the upper-90s, was erratic at times as a young pitcher last season. This past fall, he was 93-97 mph with his fastball, showed a cutter at 86-89 mph that could be an out pitch and attacked hitters with a power curveball and an upper-80s changeup.

He can be a front-line ace.

Outside of Wiggins, the loss of Pallette makes it much more imperative that some other guys rise to the occasion. Freshman lefthanded pitcher Hagen Smith is ultra-talented with a fastball into the mid-90s, along with a good slider and changeup, but his role now becomes even more important as he shifts up in the rotation order. Veteran righthander Connor Noland was slated to be the midweek starter, but he will likely now move into the weekend rotation. The good news for the Hogs is that Noland has rotation experience — even as a Friday night guy. You also could see a guy like freshman righty Nick Moten get into the starting mix. Moten was anywhere from 92-95 mph with his fastball in the fall with a promising 83-85 mph slider and upper-80s changeup.

Anytime you’re competing for a national championship, you want a full stable of horses, especially one as talented as Pallette. But even without the elite righty, the Hogs have plenty of weapons pitching-wise to weather the storm.

- D1 Baseball