Baseball Mailbag: Would a position switch put Ole Miss' best nine together?

Ole Miss finally got on the field after two straight gamedays were affected by weather, and the Rebels beat Arkansas State, 15-3 , in a marathon Wednesday at Swayze Field. There are several storylines and some question marks, as Ole Miss heads to the Big Easy this weekend for three games, weather permitting, with Tulane.

Let's get to your questions in this edition of the mailbag.

An overabundance of alcohol-throwing questions awaited me this week on the heels of State officials having figurative coronaries when a few students threw beer up in the air one time during the debut of Dudy Noble Field.

And, no, it's not being wasteful to throw said beer. It's the beer version of an emotional hedge. Anyone would pour out cheap, bad beer for his or her team of choice to hit a home run. So that's all this is, and it's kind of fun for the kids -- and it's probably refreshing in the warmer months.

Watery beer can either be thrown up or thrown up in the air. May as well do something with it that can be marketed.

The Peacocks broke a 77-game losing streak with a blowout win over Iona in seven innings last season and followed it up with an 8-7 win over Sienna in the season finale. St. Peter's is all kind of awful at baseball but they did find a way to go 2-22 on the road last season as opposed to 0-16 at home so there's that.

It's baseball, and you'd think the 'Cocks would find a few wins, but Sienna isn't on the schedule this time, and I doubt they take two of three from Iona. I'll go under and say another losing streak is on deck.

Schools can typically succeed at non-revenue sports if they really put an emphasis on said sport, but the Oregon State thing defies logic. It's relatively in the middle of nowhere, and it rains all the time. Not exactly conducive to winning baseball. But Pat Casey is a hell of a coach, and he found a way to build a monster in the northern part of the Pac 12.

It's also a testament of patience or dumb luck on the part of the Oregon State athletic department. Oregon State went a combined 54-90 in the conference during Casey's fifth through ninth seasons in Corvallis. The best year during that stretch was 11-13, yet he kept his job and then rolled off three straight Omaha appearances and two national titles. Go figure.

No, but it did contribute to Will Ethridge's blister that's keeping him out of the rotation this weekend. Ethridge exited the game in the sixth inning of his start against Wright State because of the blister, and he's shut down because of the potential lingering effects of the ailment.

Already blister prone, the moisture did Ethridge no favors and contributed to the issue. Blisters have to be waited out, so there's no hurried timetable. You need him healthy in SEC play, and the debt may be limited appearances the first four weeks of the season.

The rain also caused Ole Miss to not get the appropriate pitchers work on the weekend. Mother Nature isn't an Ole Miss fan currently. On a positive note, Ethridge feels better, and there wasn't any pain when pressure was applied to the area on Wednesday.

Other than bullpen arm, I don't think there's a defined role. It's been a significant fall for the sophomore after he was player who emerged the most deep into the season. Fowler was a bit of a hero late in 2018, but he struggled in the summer and fall and was just OK during preseason intrasquads.

The talent is there, but much like with Greer Holston, other players have passed him and secured early-season niches. He needs innings because Mike Bianco can't give up on him, but it's a noted absence compared to what was expected when last season ended. He was good Wednesday, throwing nine strikes in a 13-pitch scoreless inning.

I was going to be creative here, but it's pitching wins. The fact that it's standard for them to go in previews defies logic. An inflated winning percentage says pitchers go fairly deep in games and play on a good team, but it's a misleading stat in many cases. Bad offenses punish good pitchers with the stat, and relievers pile up wins by blowing saves.

The runner up is RBIs. I still believe in the value of batting average and other basic stats, but RBIs come with opportunities and say nothing about percentages or quality at-bats. Even runs scored give you more of an accurate look compared to RBIs.

One game -- unless you lose to an absolute RPI bomb -- won't affect metrics to any noted value, but speaking relatively, playing Wright State and winning would likely be better than whatever Ole Mis does to make up that game.

The options for teams to play in a make-up game are limited because there's a 56-game maximum. So you have to find another team missing a game from the slate. And out of those options it has to be someone who can travel in the midweek. Wright State was No. 69 in RPI last year and will probably be in a similar situation in 2019. Adding a top 100 win is better than not playing at all. Plus I hate when teams are missing a game from the schedule. I'm OCD when it comes to writing in records.

During Gunnar Hoglund's career he will definitely get some at-bats, but I don't think it's this season. There are a lot of offensive options and plenty of different players who need plate appearances to figure out roles. So he may get a few swings, but it won't be a regular thing until later in his career.

I've resisted agreeing with this for weeks because Anthony Servideo at second base gives Ole Miss the best defensive middle infield in the league, and that's an important tool in the bag. Also, I believe in Tim Elko's talent and the need to figure out the outfield from an offensive standpoint.

However, if Ole Miss played one game this week that actually decided something and you aren't worried about development or working toward the best lineup down the road, I think Servideo in center and Jacob Adams at second base would be the way to go.

Servideo is the best center fielder on the team, per the players, and Adams has experience at second base and is completely fine there. The bigger deal, though, is Adams just keeps getting on base. He had two hits Saturday and finished 2018 with the third highest on-base percentage among Ole Miss regulars. On the flip side, Elko seems to be pressing and is 0-for-11 to start the season.

1. Ryan Olenek is seven doubles away from reaching the career top 10 in the category in school history and 20 away from Brad Henderson's record mark. Olenek had 17 in 2017 and 18 in 2018, so it's fair to think the senior will make a run at the record sometime in late May, especially if Ole Miss goes on a postseason run. Also, Henry, Ryan has been wearing your bracelet for a long time. That has to give him a little extra power.

2. Tyler Keenan has two home runs in three games, so the pace is quite good. However I'll say he falls just short. We'll go with 14 or 15 home runs and a lot of doubles to go with it. Keenan and Dillard will feed off each other and make runs at All-America honors.

3. Jerrion Ealy, Carl Gindl and Josh Hall would make for quite the quick outfield. While we're playing the what-ifs, John Rhys Plumlee could technically be in that mix, as well. I still think the odds are good Ealy doesn't play college baseball, but it's much better to have the lottery ticket than watch some other program eye the MLB Draft with intrigue.