Ole Miss active in portal pitching market, but Rebels hoping pair of pitchers step up to boost 2024 rotation

Ole Miss baseball has reeled in two pitchers from the NCAA Transfer Portal this off-season. The Rebels are also hoping for some draft luck and expect back both their best starter (Hunter Elliott) and reliever (Josh Mallitz) at some point next season.

But Ole Miss — which bottomed out in its title defense last season, finishing with the first losing record since 1997 — is most hoping for year-two step-ups from a pair of freshmen to buoy their rotation woes. 

Ole Miss committed SELA right-hander Connor Spencer this week and Arkansas State RHP Kyler Carmack earlier this month. Elliott — the left-handed Ole Miss staff ace — is “doing great” in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, according to long-time Rebel pitching coach Carl Lafferty. He underwent the procedure last month, and the recovery timeline is usually 12-18 months. 

Mallitz, who went under the knife for the procedure last November, is expected back earlier. Lafferty said this week the Rebels “fully expect him to be healthy at the beginning of next spring and ready to pitch” for the 2024 season.

“He’s been really working his tail off,” Lafferty said. 

RELATED: Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott and Josh Mallitz continue working back from season-ending injuries

But Quinn and Saunier could solve myriad issues on their own. 

Ole Miss now-famously won 10 of 11 postseason games last summer to claim the program’s first-ever national championship. The title defense, however, was a bust. The Rebel offense had its own set of issues, but the fatal flaw for head coach Mike Bianco’s Rebels turned out to be a pitching staff sorely lacking. 

Ole Miss finished second to last in the SEC in team ERA. The Rebels won all of six league games as a result.

“I think the sky’s the limit with both of them,” Lafferty said of Quinn and Saunier. “More so this year, if you look at offense around the country, it was up. ERA was up around the country. Walks were up. Literally offense itself was up, not just in the SEC, but around college baseball.

“The exciting thing about those two guys is they’re obviously super talented, they got a ton of experience this past year, and I think you’re just going to continue to see them grow. Our fans watched Thomas Dillard and Grae Kessinger come in the league and struggle offensively. I think hit .200 and then become great players.”

Quinn and Saunier, like Dillard and Kessinger, were highly-touted signees asked to step into major roles immediately. 

While hitters, they, too, struggled in their debut seasons. But they bounced back to have all-time-great careers. Both went on to become high-round MLB Draft selections, too. Kessinger was recently promoted to the majors with the Houston Astros.

Quinn appeared in 17 games last season. He spent a good chuck of the year in bullpen, which the Ole Miss coaches have since admitted was an error. But he eventually made 12 starts, which were tied for second-most on the team. He finished third in ERA (6.83), opposing batting average (.281), strikeouts (63) and innings pitched (55.1). 

Saunier was the most high-profile signee to make it campus from a 2022 Ole Miss class ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America. Jackson Ferris and Roman Anthony each committed to the Rebels as Top 15 prospects. However, they both signed as second-rounders with the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, respectively.

Saunier was taken by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round (No. 599) last summer.

He opted against signing and instead stuck with Ole Miss and showed up in 12 games. He was named to the opening weekend rotation, but later shifted to a reliever role as he better got his feet underneath him. 

Saunier went on to make the second-most starts on the team. He finished with a 6.84 ERA, but most of the ERA damage was done in the season’s opening months. Saunier was named SEC Freshman of the Week following starts against Mississippi State and Georgia in the final weeks of April. 

He had 52 strikeouts in his 46 total innings.

“I really feel like those two kids have all the potential in the world to be (top-of-the-rotation) types of arms moving forward in our program,” Lafferty said. “And there are other guys — Sam Tookoian and a number of young guys. Brayden Jones was a kid that I thought really started to take a step forward. He’s got a great arm who we have huge expectations for next year.”

Lafferty has reason for such belief in the potential of his young arms. Gunnar Hoglund struggled as a freshman but ended up as one of the most talented and accomplished pitchers in school history. He was a first-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays. He’s now a member of the Oakland A’s.

“I think there’s some exciting guys, who, after one year of experience, are going to really be ready to take a step forward next year,” Lafferty said.