Fast Five: Incoming players who could impact Ole Miss baseball immediately

With the MLB First-Year Player Draft signing deadline over, Ole Miss has its incoming class that will take the field for the first time in 2019. The class lost one member to the Draft, as Joe Gray, an outfielder from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, signed with the Brewers for the slot value of $1,113,500 after being chosen 60th overall.

Read below for details on five members of the class who can help immediately for the Rebels. Ole Miss finished 2018 with 48 wins and won the SEC West and the SEC Tournament. The Rebels lost in the finals of the Oxford Regional to Tennessee Tech.

Taylor Broadway comes to Ole Miss after two years at Tyler Junior College, as he led the Apaches to the 2017 national title and lost in the 2018 championship game. Broadway was the 2017 DIII Junior College Player of the Year.

The Ole Miss starting rotation has to be retooled, and that has been the major talking point since the season ended, as there are several incoming candidates and current team members poised to compete for those three spots. However, Broadway has the skills to take up one of the positions in the bullpen.

This past spring Broadway was 90-93 with his fastball and showed good command. He complements it with an 80-82 MPH slider that is a quality second pitch and suited for relief innings. There should be a role for Broadway if he transitions well to the level.

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Josh Hall is the nation's all-time stolen base leader, breaking the record with his 212th career steal on April 20 -- and added seven more during a doubleheader that day. He swiped 82 bags and hit .500 as a senior at Homewood (Alabama).

A 6.6-second runner in the 60-yard dash, Hall has good speed and gets great jumps with quick-twitch starts. He runs a sub-four-second home to first from the left side and has advanced instincts on the bases.

Overall offensively it may take him some time to be an everyday player at the SEC level, but he should be useful immediately because of his ability on the bases and his advanced skills in the bunt game. He's an elite bunter that can give the Rebels options late in games. Considering the players returning, Hall should have a niche as a freshman and see playing time increase in subsequent seasons.

The Pine Bluff, Arkansas, left-handed pitcher is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and was rated the No. 2 overall player in Arkansas, per Perfect Game. He sits in the low 90s and gained more than eight MPH of fastball velocity during his high school years.

A big recruiting win out of a neighboring state, Hill should join the competition for a starting pitching role -- either on the weekend or in the midweek. His profile is that as a starter during his career, and the offspeed pitches should improve rapidly.

Hill was drafted in the 39th round by the Indians, but that was because of low signability. He would have been taken early had he been open to skipping college for slot value.

Gunnar Hoglund kept Ole Miss fans clicking refresh on Friday, as the signing deadline came and went without Hoglund agreeing to terms with the Pirates after being picked 36th overall. He told the Tampa Times the night of the draft that a deal was imminent, but the sides never agreed to the final number, and he will be a Rebels for at least three seasons.

Hoglund made headlines by not walking a hitter through the first 47 innings of the season while striking out 107 during that streak. He told RebelGrove.com he had six three-balls counts with one game to go in the regular season. He's up to the mid 90s with a clean action that is very repeatable and leads to his excellent command. The offspeed pitches need tightening, but there's the path to good tunneling and a sharper breaking ball as a good secondary offering. He can throw the changeup for strikes and keep it down.

The bonus for Ole Miss is Hoglund is also a capable hitter from the left side. There's pop, and he's not going to be a detriment on the bases. I expect the Rebels to get him some early at-bats, and it would likely benefit him to spend a summer focusing on offense if his arms needs rest after next season.

Hoglund is a candidate for a starting rotation spot and will have a role as a freshman.

Zack Phillips comes to Ole Miss from Grayson College, and he has good feel for three pitches with some advanced pitchability. He turned down offers on the second day of the MLB Draft.

The rising junior was 90-92 and touched 93 in his last several appearances at Grayson, and the breaking ball is a swing-and-miss pitch that continues to get better. He's focused on improving the changeup, and that could dictate his role next season for the Rebels.

The 6-foot-2 lefty is originally from Texarkana, Texas, Phillips went 10-1 as a sophomore at Grayson, striking out 77 in 70 innings for the upper-tier JUCO program that finished the season 39-17.