Ole Miss baseball weighing Friday options with Elliott shelved and two weeks of fall ball in the books

Ole Miss baseball isn’t factoring in ace left-hander Hunter Elliott as the Rebels build out their lineup and rotation in preparation for the 2024 season. 

The Rebels don’t really have a choice.

Still, Ole Miss over the weekend wrapped its second full week of fall intrasquad practices, and its trio of returning weekend starters (Xavier Rivas, Grayson Saunier and JT Quinn) were each sharp once again.

Each has a sub-2.00 ERA through two fall outings.

The Rebels have three more scrimmages this week: Thursday and Friday at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. CT. All scrimmages and exhibitions, held at Swayze Field, are free and open to the public. This week will be the final tune-up before Ole Miss’ first fall exhibition against Jacksonville State October 14.

“I think it works much better if you assume he’s not going to be able to pitch and try to structure the roster in that way,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement recently said of Elliott, in an exclusive interview with the Ole Miss Spirit. 

“That’s kind of the way we’re going, I think.”

Elliott, at last check, was scheduled for a follow-up doctor’s visit this month.

Elliott in February was shelved after his first start of the season — the team’s season opener — with a UCL sprain. He attempted a comeback in April, but a short outing against LSU resulted in Ole Miss shutting him down for good. Elliott in May underwent Tommy John surgery, which typically comes with a 12-month recovery period.

Bullpen ace Josh Mallitz is on track in his own Tommy John recovery to rejoin the team in time for the 2024 season. Mallitz, however, isn’t going through fall practices. 

Ole Miss won its first-ever national championship in 2022. However, the follow-up defense ended in disaster. The Rebels finished 25-29 (6-24 SEC) overall. They open next season with a four-game set at Hawaii February 16-18. The teams will play a double-header that Saturday.

“Quinn was up to 97 or 98 (with his fastball). He looks special,” Clement said. “Last year, his calling card was the breaking ball, and it was still really good, in the mid-80s, but it’s real velocity (now). I don’t know that he threw any, or very many, pitches under 95 miles per hour. It looked for real.

“Saunier was really good, too. We had a good recruiting class and really good portal on the mound. But the way to be great is to develop your guys that came in as freshmen. 

“They’ve been through the fire and have a tons of innings under their belt. You can just tell — maturity physically, but even more than that, just going out on the mound and pitching. They’ve been through it.”

Elliott is certainly around the team, even if he can’t yet participate in any of the action.

Actually, Clement said Elliott “looks normal,” in that he’s no longer wearing a brace on his throwing arm. 

Even still, and for now, he’s relegated strictly to dugout cheerleader. But as with everything else, he’s embracing that role, too. Elliott recently declared Duke transfer third baseman Andrew Fischer the “most jacked guy on the team” on social media. Fischer proved Elliott right with a 436-foot home run in Friday’s scrimmage.

Fischer last season was a freshman All-American. He set Duke’s freshman home-run record. Fischer had four hits on the weekend, all for extra bases. Three went for home runs, while the other was a double.

“Andrew’s super talented and one of the prizes of the transfer portal that we got. Excited that he’s gotten off to a good start,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “He’s not only done that in the intrasquad games, but you can just see his actions day-in and day-out in practice and the leadership he’s brought. 

“That’s rare for a new guy, in your first month on campus, to not just fit in and be comfortable, but to get off to a great start (and) show leadership qualities. To check a lot of boxes of the player that you hope they’re going to become.”

Veteran Xavier Rivas is, at least currently, the leader in the clubhouse to start in Elliott’s place on Friday nights.

Rivas, a left-hander, transferred in last July as a one-time Division ll All-American. He was considered an MLB Draft risk. However, Rivas went undrafted over 20 rounds in the summer.

Rivas appeared and started in 14 games last season. He was 5-5 with with a 6.35 ERA. Rivas led Ole Miss in strikeouts (89), wins, opposing batting average (.248), innings pitched (68.0), and starts.

“The way he handles himself, he’s a really good student, engineering major. He’s a guy who has a tremendous work ethic,” Bianco said. “He’s a guy who enjoys the game. When you see him around, when he’s not honing his craft, he’s out shagging balls and running around the outfield. He’s smiling. 

“He’s very comfortable in his own skin, but he’s also focused when he’s doing his work, whether it’s doing drill work or in the weight room. That’s a good example for the younger guys of what you aspire to be.”