Advertisement
Published Jul 8, 2024
Rebels add Louisville outfielder Isaac Humphrey
Chase Parham  •  RebelGrove
Editor
Twitter
@ChaseParham

Ole Miss continued its outfielder additions on Monday, securing a commitment from Louisville rising senior Isaac Humphrey.

The rising senior entered the transfer portal after three seasons with the Cardinals, coached by former Ole Miss assistant Dan McDonnell. Humphrey hit .310 with a career-high .977 OPS that included 10 home runs, 13 doubles and two triples.

“One last ride in Oxford,” Humphrey said when he announced his commitment on Instagram.

The Rebels have six portal commitments, three of which are recent outfielder acquisitions: Illinois’ Ryan Moerman, New Orleans’ Mitchel Sanford and Humphrey. Moerman hit 19 home runs last season, and Sanford was the Southland Player of the Year.

Sanford is the most likely draft risk out of the group.

“At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds Humphrey has the size and many of the tools needed for the next level, but his present power production limits his profile,” D1Baseball’s David Seifert said about Humphrey’s draft profile.

The other three commitments are shortstop Luke Cheng, catcher Collin Reuter and pitcher Will McCausland.

Humphrey hit .328 with a .948 OPS as a freshman and then bounced back as a junior after a sophomore season with three home runs, a .248 average and .801 OPS in 48 games.

The analytical improvement came from hitting more line drives and fly balls. In 2023, Humphrey’s batted-ball data was 44 percent ground balls, 13 percent line drives and 42 percent fly balls. This past season, his ground balls were down seven percent, and line drives were up more than five percent.

Humphrey’s strikeout rate was 14.4 percent in 2024, down from 17.4 the year before, and his walk rate fell from 17 percent to 12 percent this past year.

Humphrey was even better average-wise in 2024 in ACC play, hitting .324. He struck out 23 times in 118 conference plate appearances.

Humphrey played right field all three seasons at Louisville. He was hitting .346 with more walks than strikeouts at the end of April.

Advertisement