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<\/p>\nArkansas lefty Hunter Dietz came into this year with 1 2\/3 total career innings as a Razorback, spread over two years and four appearances. He also pitched 11 innings on the Cape last summer, where he walked 12 batters and posted an 8.49 ERA. He wasn\u2019t exactly on my radar for the first round back in February, or even early March, but given what he\u2019s done this year and what he showed on Friday night at Baum-Walker, I\u2019d be surprised if he got out of the top half of the round.<\/p>\n
Dietz sat 94-96 mph through five innings against Mississippi, punching out the first three batters just for emphasis, with three distinct breaking pitches in a slider, cutter and curveball, varying the shapes on each. All three have whiff rates over 50 percent on the season, with the cutter at 85-88 mph the best of the three on Friday with sharp break in both planes. The slider gets a little slurvy at the lower end of its velocity range and runs into that curveball, but I think they\u2019re different pitches. He didn\u2019t throw any changeups and has barely used one this season. His first pitch in the sixth inning was 92 mph, and he couldn\u2019t land his breaking stuff, so while he battled through the inning and got up to 95 again, he allowed a homer and walked two, which makes his line score worse than he actually looked from behind the plate.<\/p>\n
Dietz has barely pitched before 2026 due to a stress fracture in his elbow that required surgery in the fall of his freshman year, with a setback costing him nearly all of his sophomore season and requiring a second operation. He\u2019s changed his delivery since then, with a little bit of a shorter stride. His arm is now later relative to his front foot landing than it was in 2023, which can lead to multiple problems, including reduced command, increased injury risk, and difficulty with breaking pitches. Dietz has no problem spinning the ball or getting on top of it enough to create vertical break, but I am concerned about the long-term outlook given the injuries he\u2019s already had.<\/p>\n
By stuff and results, Dietz is one of the top two college lefties in the class, along with Arizona State\u2019s Cole Carlon. If nothing happened before 2026, Dietz would be the top southpaw \u2014 he\u2019s outpitched Carlon and done it in a tougher conference, with equivalent or better stuff. I might still lean Carlon because of the track record and health, but I wouldn\u2019t be shocked at all to see someone take Dietz in the top 15 or so picks and try to move him up quickly to the majors while he\u2019s healthy and throwing this well.<\/p>\n
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\n Cade Townsend has a 2.42 ERA and 73 strikeouts over 52 innings. (Angelina Alcantar \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Mississippi threw 23-year-old senior Hunter Elliott \u2014 who was recently granted another year of eligibility for 2027 \u2014 on Friday night, and used their best starter, righty Cade Townsend, on Saturday. Townsend\u2019s story was similar to Dietz\u2019s: He was outstanding for five innings and started to lose it in the sixth, particularly when he turned the lineup over for the third time. He was 93-97 mph with five pitches, including a splitter, cutter, slider and curveball, with the splitter and cutter both flashing plus and the fastball effective even to lefties because he runs it in on their hands so well. The curve is kind of a get-me-over pitch that he probably uses too often, getting called strikes, but I think risking some hard contact that isn\u2019t there on the other breakers.<\/p>\n
Through 18 batters, Townsend had gone 5 2\/3 innings, allowing no runs, two hits, no walks, and striking out five, all on 82 pitches. His stuff was fine if on the lower end of his velocity range for the day, while his command was clearly dropping during the eight-pitch strikeout of No. 9 hitter T.J. Pompey. Mississippi coach Mike Bianco didn\u2019t have anyone ready to go for the third time through the order, and Arkansas went double, homer, four-pitch walk before he came to get Townsend. So again, the line score doesn\u2019t really reflect how the pitcher looked.<\/p>\n
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