Cincinnati grabs Stovall in 4th round as five Razorbacks taken Tuesday in MLB Draft

BY DUDLEY E, DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – The Cincinnati Reds selected Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall on Monday in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft with the 117th overall pick as five Arkansas players had their names called on the second day of the event.

Stovall’s selection was followed by Milwaukee taking pitcher Mason Molina in the 7th round with the 215th pick.

Jared Sprague-Lott was the first of three Razorbacks taken in the ninth round as the third baseman went 256th overall to the Oakland A’s while Boston took catcher Hudson White at 267 and Ben McLauglin was selected at 284 by Arizona.

Razorback pitcher Hagen Smith, drafted fifth overall by the Chicago White Sox on Sunday night, was the first Arkansas player taken with his slot value at $7.76 million

The slot vaule for Stovall’s pick is $618,000 while Molina’s is $257,400, Sprague-Lott’s $201,300, White’s $194,600 and McLaughlin comes in at $187,600.

Arkansas pitcher Brady Tygart and outfielder Kendall Diggs – both who ended the season injured – have not been selected through the first 10 rounds. Rounds 11-20 will finish up the draft beginning Tuesday at 1 p.m. on MLB.com.

Stovall led the Razorbacks in hitting the season with a .340 batting average with 9 home runs and 38 RBIs and also had team-highs of 63 hits, 12 doubles, .535 slugging percentage and a .409 on base percentage.

“It’s going to mean the world to me,” Stovall told the Shreveport-Bossier Advocate. “I’ve grown up my whole entire life wanting to be a professional baseball player. I’ve worked so hard for that ever since I could walk.

“At the same time, when you sign that contract, that’s when the real work starts. Just when you think you’re getting to the finish line, it’s just starting again. You have to keep having that same drive and that same mentality of, ‘Nobody’s going to outwork you.’”

A former Haughton, La., prep standout, Stovall missed the first part of the season due to a foot injury suffered in a preseason scrimmage, but came back and led the Razorbacks in hits (39) and doubles (9) in SEC action.

Stovall, a two-year captain, was named a third-team ABCA/Rawlings All-American and a second-team All-SEC selection.

As a freshman, Stovall played in 52 games with 51 starts for Arkansas with 48 of those at first base and three at second base.

He hit .295 in 2022 with 6 homers, 31 RBIs and a had a 5-hit game in the College World Series, the first time that had happen since North Carolina’s Dustin Ackley did so in 2009.

Stovall tied catcher Michael Turner with a team-high 21 hits in the Razorbacks’ 2022 post season while hitting .360 and having 10 of those in the College World Series.

He started 38 games at second base as a sophomore before a season-ending injury and hit .253 with 5 home runs and 31 RBIs.

The Reds had earlier taken Arkansas shortstop signee Tyson Lewis in the second round with the 51st pick of the event. with his slot value being $1.8 million.

Not other Arkansas high school or junior college signees or transfer portal additions have been taken to this point.

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Molina, a transfer from Texas Tech, was 4-2 with a 4.47 ERA this past season in 15 appearances, 13 of them starts.

He had 81 strikeouts and walked 36 in 58 1/3 innings while allowing 29 runs.

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Sprague-Lott hit. 290 with 9 homers and 28 RBis while White surged own the stretch and finished with an average of .297 with 8 home runs and 33 RBis.

White, a transfer from Texas Tech, was the leading hitter for the Razorbacks in SEC acton with a .330 average and also had 5 of his blasts and 16 RBIs in league action.

Photo by John D. James

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