Razorbacks at No. 11 in D1Baseball’s Top 25 Transfer Portal Classes

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Hogs’ transfer portal class is ranked No. 11 nationally by D1Baseball.

D1Baseball’s transfer portal class rankings take into account both high-end impact and volume. In its summary of Arkansas’ transfer portal class, D1Baseball writes:

Here’s yet another group of transfers built around impact position players — are you sensing a trend here? Damian Ruiz (our No. 15 ranked position player transfer) is one of the few players in the portal who accrued more than 4.0 WAR last year (4.2). After two lackluster seasons at Houston Christian, Ruiz had a huge breakout junior year at Lamar last year, and his superb plate discipline (50 BB-27K) suggests he should be able to transition well to the SEC. Maika Niu (our No. 6 position player transfer) followed up his 15-homer spring at Marshall by winning Cape Cod League MVP honors, leading the premier wood-bat circuit with eight homers. His power is a difference maker, but he can also run and is making a nice transition from shortstop to center field. Zack Stewart is an accomplished slugger with 44 career homers over three years at Missouri State, though he also comes with lots of swing-and-miss. TJ Pompey is a 6-foot-4 third baseman who has flashed the ability to hit for average at Texas Tech, and he’s an interesting pick to click as a junior for the Hogs.

What makes this class even more intriguing is a handful of power arms with immense potential they are still learning to harness. One season after Aidan Jimenez transferred from Oregon State to Arkansas and pitched well enough to be drafted in the fifth round, right-hander James DeCremer is following that same path. DeCremer ran his fastball up to 94 mph and showed a wipeout changeup on the Cape this summer, and he looks like a very strong bet to be a key bullpen piece for the Hogs. Ethan McElvain and Jackson Kircher both run their heaters into the high 90s, and if they can take steps forward with their command, they have star potential as well.

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