FAYETTEVILLE — Reminders of covid-19’s impact on the upcoming college baseball season were visible all around Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday, the first day of preseason team practice.
Team personnel wore face coverings in the dugouts, pitchers not scheduled to throw sat in chair-back seats around the stadium to distance themselves from those who were playing, and signs posted at entries informed the public that Arkansas’ practices are closed due to the virus this year, a deviation from a longstanding open-door policy.
On the field was a roster full of Razorbacks who a year ago did not expect to be playing college baseball in 2021, but who were shut out of last year’s MLB Draft that was shortened to five rounds.