Arkansas’ Stovall inks MLB deal with Cincinnati

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Peyton Stovall’s career as an Arkansas baseball player is over with, but his one as a Cincinnati Red is just beginning.

It was announced Monday by MLB.com reporter Jim Callis that fourth-round pick Stovall had signed with the Reds for $625,000, which was over the slot value of $618,000.

Stovall, a second baseman who was the 117th overall pick, was one of eight Razorbacks selected in the three-day Major League Baseball Draft last week.

He flew to Arizona on Saturday to begin his professional career with Reds rookie ball team in Goodyear.

“It’s a lifelong dream of mine and I’m super thankful to be in this position,” Stovall told the Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate.

Stovall had a team-high .340 batting average this past season with 9 home runs and 38 RBIs.

During his Razorback career, Stovall averaged .300 while hitting 20 home runs and had 100 RBIs in 550 at bats across three seasons.

Stovall credits his Haughton (La.) High School head coach Glenn Maynor for setting him up with success at Arkansas.

“He’s awesome, he’s old school,” Stovall said of his prep coach. “He’s tough love and I respond to that well when it comes to coaching. They’re going to be on you a lot (at the next levels), they want to make you better, so playing under him was great for me.”

The Red have a Low-A team (Daytona Tortugas) in the Florida State League and High_A squad (Dayton Dragons) that competes in the Midwest League in Ohio.

It’s Double-A affiliate (Chattanooga Lookouts) plays in the Southern League in Tennessee and the Triple-A team (Louisville Bats) is a member of the International League in Kentucky.

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Razorback ace pitcher Hagen Smith, who was taken fifth overall in the draft by the Chicago White Sox, has not signed yet, but his slot value is $7.76 million.

The top three selections have all signed with top pick Travis Bazzana (Cleveland, $8.95 million), No. 2 Chase Burns (Cincinnati, $9.25 million) and No. 3 Charlie Condon (Colorado, $9.25 million) all inking deals.

Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz was the 4th pick overall by Oakland has also not signed his deal as of yet.

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Arkansas players taken on the second day of the draft were seventh-round pitcher selection Mason Molina (Milwaukee), a trio of ninth round picks in third baseman Jared Sprague-Lott (Oakland), catcher Hudson White (Boston) and first baseman Ben McLaughlin (Arizona).

Razorback pitchers Jake Faherty (11th round by Miami) and Brady Tygart (12th round by Boston) were chosen on the third and final day of the event.

The draftees have until Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. CST to sign deals with their MLB teams.

The Los Angeles Angles inked undrafted Razorback pitcher Stone Hewlett to a free agent deal on Wednesday.

Hewlett, who transferred from Kansas to Arkansas for his final college season, was 1-0 with a 3.84 ERA in 23 appearances for the Razorbacks last season.

A left-handed relief specialist, Hewlett pitched 13 innings while fanning 23, allowing 6 hits and 8 walks and holding batters to a .143 average.

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The Razorbacks had two of their signees taken in the draft in Omaha (Neb.) Millard West shortstop Tyson Lewis and outfielder Eli Lovich (6-4, 175) of Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley West.

Lewis was taken by Cincinnati in the second round with the 51st overall pick ($1.8 million slot value) while the Chicago Cubs chose Lovich in the 11th round with the 332nd selection.

Lewis acknowledged that he was planning on signing with Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns, the Reds’ first round draftee and second overall pick, already inking a $9.2 million deal.

The Cubs hope to swap sign Lovich per Dan Kantrovich, Chicago’s Vice President of Scouting.

“I don’t want to get too far out in front of myself because we still have to go through the physical process,” Kantrovitz said on the latest Cubs Weekly Podcast. “He was committed to Arkansas, which is a top tier SEC school. So it’s gonna be a significant buyout – that’s probably a fair expectation.”

“He had options so at that point, it just comes down to did we save enough? Did we have enough money going into Day 3 to buy him out of Arkansas? And I think the answer is yes.”

Lovich, the younger brother of former Arkansas oufielder Ross Lovich and current Missouri first baseman Jackson Lovich, was named the Kansas Prep Baseball Player of the Year.

Photo by John D. James