Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco typically announces his week-one rotation during the Rebels’ annual media day event, so Tuesday is the likely public declaration of which talented-but-inexperienced arms join veteran Brady Bramlett in the weekend rotation to begin the season.
Bramlett is guaranteed to have a spot after he held up well for most of last season occupying the Saturday role in the starting lineup. The right-hander’s velocity has held up well during intrasquads, and the “heavy fastball” allowed him to have success in 2015.
However, other than Bramlett, the rotation will feature two pitchers seeing their first opportunities in an Ole Miss uniform. It’s inarguable the Rebels have upgraded their pitching talent from last season, as the measurables verify that.
Junior college transfers Chad Smith, Sean Johnson and David Parkinson have been mentioned most often as weekend candidates, along with true freshman James McArthur, who has had to overcome a foot injury. Johnson threw one inning against William & Mary last season, but that hardly counts as noteworthy Southeastern Conference experience.
It’s likely those players will compete for rotation spots as the season progresses — regardless of which two join Bramlett this weekend.
Ole Miss returns seven position starters from last season and is expected to be improved offensively. The bullpen should feature a strong one-two backend combination of Wyatt Short and Will Stokes, leaving just the rotation to be determined.
During Bianco’s time in Oxford, 13 pitchers have started at least half of the SEC weekends during their first seasons of action in an Ole Miss uniform. It’s a decent guess that number will jump to 15 this season — joining 2006, 2003 and 2002 as years when multiple first-year players logged at least five SEC starts. In 2006, it was three first-year pitchers who helped guide Ole Miss to a host position, SEC Tournament title and super regional berth.
The question mark for the Rebels is how long will it take for the newcomers to acclimate fully to SEC competition. There are examples of immediate success, and others required a transition year before success came in waves in following seasons. Check out the list below for a look at the 13 players during Bianco’s era that fit that criteria. Redshirts count on the list as long as there weren’t any previous SEC innings before the SEC starter year. Only SEC appearances are weighted.
Due to multiple NCAA rule changes regarding bat and ball specifications, the numbers aren't apples to apples across the different eras. To somewhat make up for that, I’ll assign a number to each pitcher’s season from 1-10 with the higher the number the more successful the season. However, it's far from an exact science. I’m factoring in team around the pitchers and the numbers. As with most everything I write, win-loss record for pitchers doesn’t factor in greatly. Also, I list Pete Montrenes, but he transferred directly from quality innings at Southern California. There was no void of Division I experience with him.
2015 - Will Stokes
Stokes is the only current Rebel on the list, as he was solid out of the bullpen but struggled mightily as a starter last season. Bianco admitted the decision rushed Stokes faster than was fair, but it seemed necessary as Ole Miss couldn’t find a stable presence after Christian Trent and Bramlett in the rotation. Stokes should excel this season out of the bullpen, but he has a 9.59 ERA in SEC play last season, with opponents hitting .340 against him. He started six times and had one win. Rating: 2
2014 - Christian Trent
Trent originally signed with LSU before heading to Delgado, so he’s a bit of an asterisk, but his play was terrific, as he was the mentally toughest pitcher on Ole Miss’ third place College World Series team. He had a 1.84 ERA in SEC games and dominated win-or-go-home games in the super regional against ULL and in Omaha against Texas Tech. He didn’t lose a conference game for the SEC West champions. Rating: 10
2011 - Austin Wright
Wright signed with Arkansas out of high school but went to Chipola College instead. He went in the 23rd round to the Red Sox in the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft and started on Sundays for an Ole Miss team that went 13-17 in SEC play. Wright averaged fewer than five innings per SEC outing with a 5.79 ERA. He only walked 16 in 46 innings and opponents hit .293, but Ole Miss struggled in different phases and never put a streak together. His highlight was an eight-inning shutout at Tennessee. Rating: 5
2008 - Drew Pomeranz
The next two seasons would be brilliant, and Pomeranz is the overwhelming favorite for the best outing in Swayze Field history, but the freshman year had some lumps and some impressive starts. He went 3-3 in eight SEC starts with 50 strikeouts and 21 walks. He gave up just more than a hit per inning. He flashed his future normal self wth a seven-inning, five-hit shutout against No. 6 Vanderbilt. Rating: 6
2007 - Nathan Baker
Baker claimed Freshman All-America honors with a 3-1 record in six SEC starts, as he helped Ole Miss to a host spot, teaming up with Will Kline and Lane Lynn in the rotation. Opponents hit .270 and he averaged five innings per start. The notable start was a two-run, 5.1 innings start at LSU that allowed Ole Miss to avoid a sweep. The offense excelled for Baker at times, but he avoided big innings most of the time and emerged at a critical time. Rating: 7
2006 - Lance Lynn
Lynn started all 10 SEC weekends and went 4-2 during his freshman season. He walked too many with 35 free passes in 52 innings, but he struck out nearly one per inning. Toughness was a Lynn attribute throughout his career, and he even had it as a freshman. Like Pomeranz two years later, there were signs of what was to come, and he pitched well during an offensive era. He clinched the Oxford regional with a seven-inning performance in a win over Tulane. Rating: 8
2006 - Craig Rodriguez
Rodriguez signed with Ole Miss out of Pearl River Community College, and he started seven SEC games and was the starter in the SEC championship game win against Vanderbilt. It was one of Bianco’s best coaching jobs, as he pieced together a very inexperienced rotation and had the Rebels a few innings from Omaha. Rodriguez’s memorable outing was a 1-0 compete game loss at South Carolina. He was excellent, but Mike Cisco threw a shutout. He was able to pile innings and walked only 11 in 54.2 innings. Rating: 5
2006 - Brett Bukvich
Bukvich was a very productive pitcher during his four years, finishing fourth on the school career wins list. His best statistical season was 9-3 in 2009, but he had moments as a freshman in 2006. Bukvich beat LSU in the SEC Tournament and had a 5.12 ERA in 45.2 innings. He struck out 34 and walked 13 with opponents hitting .308 against him. The Rebels went on a huge run in the middle of the season and got valuable innings from the three newcomers. That lack of inexperience eventually played a role against Miami in the super regional. Rating: 5
2003 - Mark Holliman
This is the most interesting stat line of the group. Holliman, who was Ole Miss’ ace for three seasons and eventually advanced to Triple-A, only had a 1-5 record in nine SEC starts, but his stats were very impressive for that bat era. He did walk 33 in 52.1 innings but had a 4.64 ERA and opponents only hit .213 off him. The talent was incredibly evident but needed refinement. Rating: 5
2003 - Eric Fowler
The other freshman to start at least half of SEC games in 2003, Fowler went 3-1 with a 4.89 ERA in 35 innings. He struck out 28, walked eight and opponents hit .313 off the right-hander. The 47 hits made for a lot of base runners and contributed to the issues when they happened. Fowler was a major contributor in the other seasons that Ole Miss hosted regionals. Rating: 6
2002 - Alan Horne
Horne turned down a seven-figure contract out of high school to show up at Ole Miss. He pitched one full season in Oxford before an arm injury derailed his career. He went JUCO and then finished his collegiate career at Florida. In that season in Oxford, he finished 5-2 in SEC games with a 5.29 ERA. As is a theme with a lot of first-year starters, the walks were high with 34 compared to 27 strikeouts. Opponents hit only .230. Rating: 7
2002 - J.R. Pickens
Pickens joined Horne as a first-year starter and also began all 10 SEC weekends. He threw a team-high 61 SEC innings with 42 strikeouts, 21 walks and a .289 BAA. He signed with Ole Miss out of Blinn Community College. His complete game was a 9-3 win over LSU in Oxford. That Ole Miss team got up to No. 6 nationally before faltering down the stretch and missing NCAA Tournament play. Rating: 8
2001 - Pete Montrenes
From a stats standpoint, this might be the most impressive contact numbers, as Montrenes, who transferred from USC (which somewhat negates the first-year scenario), led the SEC in batting average against .223 in league games and threw 77 innings in 10 starts. Counting non-league games, he had 10 wins and more than 100 strikeouts. He was huge addition that keyed a postseason appearance in Bianco’s first year. Rating: 9