Parham: Let's talk about Tywone Malone

I’ll admit my interest piqued with the second one.

I scanned Twitter around 1:30 p.m. Saturday and saw Tywone Malone hit his second home run of the day during Ole Miss’ middle intrasquad of the weekend. Less than an hour later, my mind started debating the playing time topic when the two-sport athlete launched his third home run of the game.

12: 59 p.m. - 454 feet, 112 MPH exit velocity

1:37 p.m. - 371 feet, 107 MPH

2:28 p.m. 430 feet, 113 MPB

Malone also added a single off the bat at 112 MPH. Kemp Alderman, who undisputedly has the most power on the team, had a game-high 115 MPH exit velocity. Malone had the next four highest numbers. There no doubt it was a hell of a day.

What it actually means is a more complicated question. The sophomore was a blue-chip football recruit who wanted to play baseball, too, and chose the Rebels as much because of baseball recruiting coordinator Carl Lafferty’s pitch as he did the football side of things. Ole Miss put together the best plan for his two-sport pursuit, and that includes complete baseball participation in the spring.

Malone, a defensive lineman, has played 106 snaps in two seasons on the football field. He has 13 tackles and two sacks.

Football fans often wonder if baseball hurts his football development and I’m sure to some extent, even if it’s a small one, but it’s a moot point. He’s in Oxford as much to play baseball as he is to play football. He’s doing what he wants to do, and I applaud him for that.

Between subscribers and friends, the question has come to me often since that power barrage Saturday: Can Malone have a meaningful role with Ole Miss baseball this season?

It was just one intrasquad, but it was enough for everyone to examine things more closely. The odds are against him, but so were the odds of four hits of 107 MPH or more on Saturday.

Last season, the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder hit .444 with two home runs in nine at-bats, though the best team he faced was VCU or Southeast Missouri. He didn’t have a Southeastern Conference at-bat, and most plate appearances were in mop-up time.

It doesn’t mean anything is impossible, but to this point it mostly proves what we already knew. He’s a capable Division I hitter, but it’s unknown if he can hit in the SEC consistently.

“He certainly can play college baseball,” a Southland Conference coach told me when Malone signed with Ole Miss. “He would be really good in the Sun Belt. We just don’t know what he looks like with a lot of reps.”

Malone lost two years of high school baseball — one because of the pandemic and one with an ACL injury. Weather also restricted him in New Jersey. Between that and football taking up his fall, he simply hasn’t gotten a lot of swings compared to a typical college baseball player.

Will Furniss, a leader for the designated hitter role this spring, has likely taken more live at-bats in a year than Malone has in five years. The other candidates for at-bats are talented and have lived and breathed nothing but baseball.

The raw power can’t be taught, and I expect Ole Miss to challenge him more with breaking balls leading up to opening day. The hits came off fastballs on Saturday, while he worked the count effectively a couple times, he struggled with pitch recognition on the offspeed. That could simply be a lack of at-bats thing or it could be a bigger issue. The swing from a fundamental level is at a Division I level.

Intrasquads are about pitchers working on things and getting into game shape as much as trying to get their teammates out with specific pitches, but even in a small sample size it’s likely time to get a crash course on where things stand with Malone.

Feed him full of sliders and curve and changeups and see what happens. There’s no reason to push him if he’s not ready, but you need to know if there is a place for him.

To a man, the baseball program loves having Malone on the team. His personality is a positive for the clubhouse, and he emits true joy when he’s there. He’s doing exactly what he wanted to do and appreciating it along the way.

The Rebels knew he was a net positive no matter what he contributed. Now it’s time to see if there’s a role at the plate. It is an incomplete, and it’s very stiff competition. But, to Malone’s credit, he’s at least made it a question.