All Hogs

Highly Touted Razorbacks Beginning First Year as Teammates

Smith, Benintendi share Arkansas history as they join forces with rebuilding White Sox

Bob Stephens

Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Hagen Smith was the fifth pick in the Major League draft in 2024. He's the No. 2 left-handed pitching prospect in baseball.
Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Hagen Smith was the fifth pick in the Major League draft in 2024. He's the No. 2 left-handed pitching prospect in baseball. / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
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Two of the greatest players in Razorback history are now teammates for the first time and will surely swap a few stories from their years on Arkansas' campus in Fayetteville.

Their careers at Arkansas didn't overlap but both left their mark on the program before becoming two of the most coveted draft picks in school history.

On Monday, Hagen Smith and Andrew Benintendi will both don the uniform of the Chicago White Sox as the first full-squad workout of spring training begins for the team.

Chicago White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi hits a walk off RBI single in the tenth inning against the Los Angeles Angels
Chicago White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi hits a walk off RBI single in the tenth inning against the Los Angeles Angels in Chicago on Sept. 25. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Smith is the third-highest pick among all Razorback baseball greats, going to the ChiSox in the fifth round of last year's draft. The overpowering southpaw was the 2024 Pitcher of the Year in college baseball.

Benintendi was the seventh pick in the 2015 draft, taken in the first round by the Boston Red Sox. The sweet-swinging lefty won four national Player of the Year awards, including the Golden Spikes Award.

Both Smith and Benintendi played for Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn, who is entering his 23rd season as the Hogs' head man.

Benintendi is beginning his 10th season in the major leagues, having played 34 games with the Red Sox the year after being drafted. He'll be a veteran presence for a rebuilding White Sox team.

Although pitchers and hitters mostly hang with their own kind, especially during practice, Benintendi will likely seek out his younger teammate and offer Smith whatever advice he seeks.

Benintendi is slated to hit fifth and play left field virtually every day for the White Sox. He enjoyed a strong second half and seemed to recapture the swing that made him an All-Star with the Red Sox.

Razorbacks' highest 5 MLB draft picks:
• No. 1 overall: Jeff King, 3B, 1986, Pirates
• No. 2: Heston Kjerstad, OF, 2020, Orioles
• No. 5: Hagen Smith, SP, 2024, White Sox
• No. 6: Kevin McReynolds, OF, 1981, Padres
• No. 7: Andrew Benintendi, OF, 2015, Red Sox

Smith's future is bright and the White Sox list him as their No. 2 prospect. He is the No. 30 prospect in all of Major League Baseball and rated the second-best left-handed hurler, just behind his teammate.

Smith was one of 24 minor leaguers invited to join the White Sox big league training camp. He'll likely begin the season at High-A Winston Salem, where he threw in three games last summer, followed by an expected promotion to Double-A Birmingham.

Some say the White Sox will fast track their prized prospect and he could reach the big leagues by late summer. Smith and Chicago's No. 1 prospect Noah Schultz are being groomed to throw in a 5-man rotation.

Schultz was the 26th pick as a high schooler in the 2022 draft. He'll likely join the big club this season while Smith might only get a September call-up.

The White Sox won the American League Central Division in 2021 with a 93-69 record but lost in the first round of the playoffs, 3-1 games to one to the Houston Astros.

Since then, the ChiSox have been in free fall. They were second in the Central at 81-81 in 2022, went 61-101 in '23 and set an MLB record for losses in a season with a 41-121 mark last year.

With several top prospects, including Smith, the future is promising for Chicago's South Side team. Benintendi hopes the young pitchers excel quickly so he can be a major part of the team's seemingly impending success.

HOGS FEED:

• Freshman pitcher Wiggins impresses in debut for Razorbacks

• Casino exec positive about Arkansas NIL despite turbulent day

• Calipari addresses Hogs' NCAA Tournament hopes after Aggies loss

• Fragile replaces fearless as Hogs let big one slip away

• Razorbacks own worst enemy in frustrating loss at Texas A&M

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Bob Stephens
BOB STEPHENS

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