Arkansas Professional Athletes

Andrew Benintendi Is Carrying the White Sox

It's been a week worth circling for Arkansas fans — and for Chicago's long-suffering faithful. Andrew Benintendi turned in one of his best stretches of the season, delivering clutch hits in multiple White Sox wins and reminding everyone why the Razorbacks produce legitimate big-league contributors.

The week opened on Sunday, Aug. 23, when Benintendi's RBI single helped Chicago edge the New York Mets 2-1 in a tightly contested affair. He wasn't done. In the team's 2-1 walkoff win over New York, it was his RBI double in the eighth inning that put the White Sox on the board before Tristan Peters sealed it in the ninth with a solo home run. Then came Saturday, Aug. 29 — the signature moment of the stretch. Benintendi launched a home run, drove in two and crossed the plate twice, going 3-for-the-game and lifting his average to .252 in a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.

In a lineup that hasn't had many consistent offensive weapons, Benintendi is functioning as the White Sox's most dangerous bat right now. For Arkansas alums, the DH from Fayetteville is a reminder that the Hogs' offensive pipeline has real MLB teeth.

Hagen Smith: The Quiet Shutdown Arm

While Benintendi was making noise at the plate, fellow Razorback Hagen Smith was quietly becoming one of the more reliable relievers on Chicago's staff. The lefty appeared in three games during the Aug. 23–29 window and looked sharp in all of them.

Smith opened the week with two strong innings against the Mets on Aug. 23, striking out three and keeping his ERA at 1.13. He followed that with 1.2 innings against the Rangers on Tuesday, fanning one and ticking his ERA down to 0.93. By Saturday against the Twins, he'd tossed another 1.1 innings, struck out two, and watched his ERA settle at a gleaming 0.82 — one of the more impressive marks in any MLB bullpen at this stage of the season.

Over the week, Smith logged 5.0 innings across three appearances, struck out six, and allowed essentially nothing of consequence. For a White Sox club that has had its share of bullpen struggles, Smith is a legitimate bright spot — and for Razorback fans, he's proof that Arkansas's pitching tradition continues to translate at the highest level.

Around the Diamond

Elsewhere in the alumni landscape, James McCann was productive behind the plate for the Arizona Diamondbacks, going 2-for-the-game with an RBI and a run scored in a 9-5 win over the Giants on Aug. 29. The veteran catcher is hitting .296 on the season, still one of the better backstops in the NL. Ryne Stanek continued his workhorse bullpen role for the St. Louis Cardinals, logging two appearances during the week — though his ERA sits at 4.42, a figure he'll want to chip away at down the stretch.

The headline, though, belongs to the White Sox's Razorback tandem. Benintendi at the plate, Smith on the mound — Arkansas fans following the South Side this week had plenty to cheer about.

The Chicago White Sox have two Arkansas Razorbacks making their case during a pivotal stretch of the season — and the combination of a veteran bat catching fire and a young arm turning heads is giving Chicagoland a reason to care about Fayetteville.

Benintendi Heats Up at the Plate

Andrew Benintendi has quietly strung together one of his better stretches of the summer, going hit-safe in at least three consecutive games heading into the weekend. The veteran DH went 1-for-the-night with two RBI on Thursday against Cincinnati, added a hit and a run Friday against Detroit, then turned in his best showing of the stretch Saturday — going 2-for-the-game with an RBI and a run scored to push his average to .248. It's not a scorched-earth hot streak, but it's consistent, timely production from a professional hitter who knows what October pressure looks like. For a White Sox team fighting for positioning, Benintendi's ability to string together multi-hit efforts and drive in runs against AL Central competition is exactly the kind of floor a lineup needs in August.

Smith Is the Name to Know

While Benintendi provides the experience, left-hander Hagen Smith is providing the intrigue. The former Razorback has been flagged by FanSided as one of six prospects capable of meaningfully altering the postseason race — a distinction that puts him in elite company among this year's MLB call-up class. Smith backed up the billing on the mound this week, striking out three batters across two innings of work Sunday against the Guardians, then whiffing three more in a single inning Wednesday against the Reds. Six strikeouts across three innings of high-leverage action is not a small sample to dismiss. For a pitching staff navigating a playoff push, a southpaw who misses bats at that clip is a genuine weapon — and Smith appears to be embracing the moment rather than shrinking from it.

The Bigger Picture

Two Razorbacks, one roster, one goal. That's the story in Chicago right now. Benintendi brings the track record and the professional at-bats; Smith brings the electric stuff and the prospect shine. Together they represent something Arkansas fans don't get to see often enough — former Hogs operating in the same MLB environment, pushing in the same direction at the same time.

The rest of the alumni ledger across the league was quieter. Ryne Stanek made two appearances out of the Cardinals bullpen, allowing one earned run across two innings while his ERA ticked up slightly to 4.56. James McCann remained one of the steadier quiet stories of the summer, hitting .292-.304 across his appearances this week for Arizona. Christian Franklin continues to work through a tough stretch with the Orioles, posting a .118-.143 average range across his outings — still searching for the consistency that defined his college days in Fayetteville.

But this week belonged to Chicago. Smith and Benintendi are writing the most compelling Arkansas alumni chapter in baseball right now, and if the White Sox are going to make noise in the AL playoff picture, both Hogs will have a hand in it.

Two former Razorbacks made noise across the majors this week, with Andrew Benintendi and James McCann both swinging hot bats at opposite ends of the country.

Benintendi Joins a White Sox Blowout

The week's most emphatic Arkansas moment came Sunday, Aug. 2, when Benintendi went deep as part of Chicago's 9-1 demolition of Tampa Bay. He finished the game 1-for-1 with a home run, an RBI, and a run scored — contributing to a dominant outing that also featured Miguel Vargas going yard and Everson Pereira driving in four runs. Anthony Kay locked it down on the mound with 6.1 shutout innings, making it as clean a win as the White Sox could ask for.

Benintendi kept producing throughout the week. He picked up hits in each of his next three tracked games — Aug. 5, 6, and 8 against the Red Sox and Guardians — bumping his average to .248 by Saturday. It's been a quietly consistent stretch for the veteran DH.

McCann Catches Fire in Arizona

Meanwhile, James McCann has been one of the hotter bats in the Diamondbacks lineup over the past week. The Arkansas backstop hit .319 as recently as Wednesday, Aug. 5, when he went 1-for-the-game with a home run and two RBIs in Arizona's 4-8 loss to the Padres. He had previously gone 2-for-the-game with an RBI on Tuesday, Aug. 4, in Arizona's 5-1 win over the Padres — the kind of back-to-back production that keeps a catcher in the lineup regardless of the final score.

By Thursday, McCann's average had settled at .306 as the D-backs continued their series with San Diego. In the week's most eye-catching team result, he delivered three hits and two RBIs in Arizona's wild 12-8 win over the Cleveland Guardians, a game that also featured Geraldo Perdomo's four-hit, three-RBI explosion. McCann's multi-hit contributions have made him a reliable presence in what's been a productive Arizona lineup.

Around the Rest of the Razorback Roster

Ryne Stanek had a mixed week out of the Cardinals bullpen. He worked a clean inning on Sunday, Aug. 2 against the Blue Jays, then punched out two batters in a scoreless frame on Wednesday against the Yankees. A rough outing Monday — three earned runs in just a third of an inning — pushed his ERA up to 4.74 before he bounced back with a brief appearance Saturday. He closed the week with a 4.57 ERA.

Christian Franklin saw action multiple times across the week for the Orioles but struggled to find consistent production, posting a .125 average in the tracked games. The former Arkansas outfielder will need a turnaround stretch to secure his footing on the roster.

The bigger picture: two Razorbacks — Benintendi and McCann — reminded anyone who needed reminding that Fayetteville keeps churning out big-league contributors. The question now is whether both can carry this form into the final stretch of the season.