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5 key retention pieces for Arkansas baseball in 2026 transfer portal FAYETTEVILLE Arkansas baseball can still add players this offseason, but the transfer portal window closed June 30, meaning there will be no more attrition to coach Dave Van Horn's roster.
The Razorbacks had 10 players off their 2026 roster enter the portal last month.
Nine of those departures were underclassmen, with junior Colin Fisher also entering the portal.
His decision could be tied to added leverage in the 2026 MLB Draft.
A few of the transfers were high-profile recruits in the 2025 class.
The biggest names to enter the portal were Carson Brumbaugh, Landon Schaefer and Joey Lorenzini.
However, Van Horn and his staff were also able to retain a handful of young players who had similar high school pedigrees.
Here are five returning freshmen who were key retention pieces for Arkansas baseball this offseason.
Carter Rutenbar, UTIL Rutenbar played more games than any other Arkansas freshman in 2026.
He became a fixture in the lineup in late March and finished the campaign with 38 starts.
The Texas native slashed .286/.414/.395 with two homers, 30 runs and 18 RBIs.
His walk rate of .197 was second on the team.
Rutenbar's production tailed off down the stretch, but it was still an impressive debut season that provided plenty of optimism for the rest of his Arkansas career.
He will face stiff competition next spring with all of the transfers Van Horn is bringing in, but positional versatility will give Rutenbar a great chance to become a full-time starter again.
Peyton Lee, RHP Lee began the year as the Hogs' midweek starter, but the righty from Maumelle only made two garbage-time appearances across the final two months of the season.
He finished his freshman year with a 9.19 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 523 innings.
Still, there might not be a young arm in the program with a higher ceiling than Lee.
He was a true draft risk in 2025 and ranked by Perfect Game as the No.
166 overall prospect and the No.
40 right-handed pitcher in his class.
Lee's stuff is good enough to be a major contributor in the SEC.
He's pitching in the Cape Cod League this summer to try and get experience and fine-tune his control.
After a rough start to his time with the Wareham Gatemen, Lee bounced back with his finest performance of the summer earlier this week.
He pitched five scoreless innings and only gave up one hit.
Mark Brissey, RHP Brissey is in a similar position to Lee.
He began the 2026 season hoping to have a role on the Arkansas staff, and while the righty from Fayetteville got his career off to a decent start, he couldn't maintain his strong form.
Brissey struggled to get SEC hitters out and is now in the Cape Cod League looking to develop his off-speed pitches that compliment a running fastball that sits in the mid 90s.
Brissey also got off to a rough start with the Wareham Gatemen before a solid outing this week.
He allowed one earned run and struck out five across 323 innings.
Brissey finished his freshman year with an 8.27 ERA in 1613 innings.
Christian Turner, OF Turner had one of the best moments of the entire 2026 season when he hit a walk-off home run to clinch a weekend series victory over Ole Miss in mid-May.
The heroics didn't lead to sustained playing time, but Turner did make two starts in the Lawrence Regional, which were a sign of the coaching staff's trust in the Louisiana native.
Turner slashed .236/.333/.400 in 55 at-bats.
He is one of the fastest players on the roster and has solid power for his slight frame.
If he develops more power and can show it consistently at some point in his college career, he becomes a likely MLB Draft pick.
At-bats might be hard to come by for Turner in 2027.
As we mentioned with Rutenbar, there is going to be fierce competition in the Arkansas outfield.
AJ Evasco (Kansas State) and Zeb Allen (Central Arkansas) are highly-rated transfers, and Brenton Clark will return from injury after missing all of 2026.
Jordan Martin, RHP Martin played the least of this group, but he has the same type of ceiling as Lee thanks to his 6-foot-6 and 225-pound build.
He has a fastball that sat in the low 90s during the fall and it could find some added velocity in the coming years, but he also has a slider that should become a dominant off-speed pitch.
Perfect Game was higher on Martin than Lee coming out of high school.
He was the No.
75 overall prospect, the No.
15 right-handed pitcher and the No.
1 player in Missouri in the class of 2025.
In 2026, Martin did not allow a run in three innings.
He's also racking up experience in the Cape Cod League this summer with a 5.79 ERA in 423 innings for the Brewster Whitecaps.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.