Former Arkansas standout Andrew Benintendi earns first MLB All-Star selection
With the MLB All-Star game next week, members of the rosters for the 2022 game had begun to be announced. The latest to earn the honor was Kansas City Royal left fielder and former Arkansas Razorback Andrew Benintendi.
This will be the first All-Star appearance for the Cincinnati, Ohio native. Benintendi has had a terrific start to his seven year MLB career since being drafted seventh overall in the 2015 MLB Draft. He won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and won the 2021 AL Golden Glove in Kansas City.
The MLB named him an All-Star with career highs in BA and OBP in 2022. Benintendi also has solid paces in hits along with zero errors committed this season.
The former Razorbacks spent two seasons in Fayetteville. He accomplished about as much as a player could in the SEC while with Arkansas. Benintendi led the nation in home runs and the SEC in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage, on‐base percentage, and walks. The coaches named him SEC Player of the Year in 2015. Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball named him their National Player of the Year. He was voted as a consensus First Team All-American that season.
Benintendi will be one of the AL League’s reserves in the Midsummer Classic. The game will be held on Tuesday, July 19th at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Arkansas pitcher Heston Tole announced transfer commitment to Texas
On Tuesday, Arkansas pitcher Heston Tole announced that he is transferring out of the CWS final four squad to the Texas Longhorns.
“Huge thank you to everyone in Arkansas for the past two years,” Tole tweeted. “I will be transferring to the University of Texas for the rest of my college career. @TexasBaseball Let’s get to work.”
The right-handed pitcher threw in 10 games for the Razorbacks this season. Tole didn’t play past May after a bad outing versus Missouri State in a midweek series. He battled injury early in the season and as head coach Dave Van Horn put it, he struggled with his fastball command. He ended up posting a 3.77 ERA.
As a freshman, Tole had a 2.25 ERA with 20 strikeouts and two walks. Opposing batters posted a .195 in the games he pitched with no home runs allowed.
The Wichita Falls, Texas native now heads back to the Lone Star State for another go. Two of his teammates, RHP Gabriel Starks and catcher Max Soliz Jr., also hit the transfer portal this week. Soliz’s transfer leaves the Razorbacks without a catcher on the roster. The Hogs have more than 10 freshman pitchers coming in with the 2022 class, so the loss of Tole may not be felt until the two teams meet on the diamond next.
The Longhorns have not been immune to the post-season portal rush. Sophomore first baseman Gavin Kash, the perceived heir apparent to the position after Ivan Melendez, entered the portal on Monday, per InsideTexas’ Joseph Cook. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Joshua Stewart also recently announced a transfer to in-state rival Texas A&M.