Cincinnati grabs Diamond Hog Peyton Stovall in the fourth round of 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.

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.

The slot value for his pick is $618,00 and Stovall joins Razorback pitcher Hagen Smith, drafted fifth overall by the Chicago White Sox, as Arkansas players taken to this point.

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

Photo by John D. James