Rippee Writes: MLB Draft reaction, golf update, Open Championship picks

Ole Miss returns its entire lineup in 2022, Magnolia State golf update, and Open Championship picks

Jul 14, 2021

A happy Wednesday to you all. We have a new podcast out with John Wells, better known as John the Beer Snob. Wells is a Little Rock-based beer expert who I met while interning at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2017. We talked about what makes a good beer, the evolution of craft beer, the explosion of the microbrew scene and more. Check that out here or anywhere you get podcasts.

We’ve got our usual golf update, some MLB Draft thoughts and more. Let’s go.

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Trio of Rebels drafted, Elko not among them

Ole Miss had three players taken in the shortened, 20-round MLB Draft. I covered Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy in Monday’s newsletter. The third was Taylor Broadway, who was selected in the sixth round by the Chicago White Sox. The slot value of that selection is $261,000. I am guessing this is a senior leverage sign in which Chicago will have the luxury of low-balling Broadway because of his inability to return to school. That doesn’t diminish the accomplishment, it’s just worth pointing out. I don’t really know how Broadway projects as a pro. The Sox appeared to be making a run on pitching in the early rounds. Broadway is 24 years old. He has the velocity and stuff to make a quick initial ascent through Chicago’s farm system, but what is the ceiling? It’ll be interesting to see where he is within their system 18 months from now.

The biggest news was that Tim Elko was not selected and quickly announced his return to Ole Miss. This means the entire lineup will be back in 2022. The Rebels will have the best offense (on paper) in the SEC and have an argument for best in the sport. But what does that actually do to their collective ceiling next year? I think with Elko’s return this team, right now at least, is a backend host at best, somewhere in the 13-16 seed range.

While I obviously believe a hitter of Elko’s caliber certainly lifts the Rebels’ potential peak and makes them better, I struggle with the current state of the team’s pitching staff. The only feasible option on Friday nights is Derek Diamond, and that’s if he is able to avoid elbow surgery. Diamond’s summer assignment was shut down last week due elbow soreness. Ole Miss is presumably counting on junior college transfer John Gaddis to become its Saturday starter and then have Drew McDaniel or someone else fill the third slot. That’s not exactly a terrifying rotation and there isn’t a lockdown bullpen to supplement it. There’s always a chance one of the newcomers, whether it be a freshmen or one of the incoming junior college pitchers, becomes what Doug Nikhazy was to the 2019 team (or somewhere in the neighborhood of it), but that’s not something you want to bank on. Some would argue the pitching won’t matter as long as it isn’t disastrous and that this lineup can bash its way to hosting and through the postseason. But didn’t they sort of do that last year with a first and second round pick in the rotation for most of the season?

I don’t think the Rebels are done adding in the transfer portal, and there’s still a lot to be sorted out before February, but this team has major flaws as currently constructed. If nothing else, they’ll be a compelling storyline — a group with a ridiculous offense and a litany of question marks on the mound.

Gonzalez named D1 Freshman of the year

Ole Miss freshman shortstop Jacob Gonzalez was named D1 Baseball’s most outstanding freshman on Monday. The California native hit .355 with a 1.004 OPS in his first year of collegiate baseball. Analysis: he is really good and could potentially put up stupid numbers next year.

D1Baseball @d1baseball

D1Baseball Freshman of the Year ⚾ 🇺🇸 Jacob Gonzalez from @OleMissBSB hit .355/.443/.561 with 16 doubles, 12 homers and 55 RBIs, while walking (38) more than he struck out (34) and playing strong defense at shortstop. Full Freshman All-America Teams: 🔗 d1ba.se/3r2mwKV

Magnolia State golf update

Big things are happening for Mississippians this week. While there are no Mississippians in the Open Championship, there will be one teeing it up on the PGA Tour. All times are CT.

The PGA Tour’s alternate site event is in Kentucky this week for the Barbasol Championship. One Mississippian is in the field.

Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley will tee it up on Tour this week. Riley tees off at 8:35 a.m. tomorrow and 1:35 Friday afternoon. This is really where he should already be. Riley won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 before the COVID shutdown, and the pandemic-induced wraparound season delayed his imminent graduation to the PGA Tour. From a math standpoint, he technically locked up his PGA Tour card about six weeks ago, though it’s been a virtual certainty for over a year now that he’d get it. Riley’s had a remarkably quick ascent in professional golf.

The Korn Ferry Tour is in Springfield, Illinois, for the Memorial Health Championship at Panther Creek Country Club. Four of the usual five Mississippians are in the field.

Brandon native and Ole Miss alum Jonathan Randolph tees off at 7:45 Thursday morning and 1:00 on Friday. Randolph was in the final group last Saturday at the event in Colorado and just two off the lead after 36 holes, but shot a costly 76 and sputtered to a T-15 finish. This has sort of been his issue this season. Randolph has been unable to put four rounds together. Par is not your friend at most of these Korn Ferry setups and anything over par on the weekend is crushing. Opportunity is scarce on this tour and when you put yourself in contention, you had best seize the moment. A win would’ve been career altering and a top-five finish would have carried significant weight. Instead, he moved up just five spots to 95th in the standings. Randolph needs to get inside the top 75 to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, a three-week stretch of tournaments that awards 25 additional PGA Tour cards to players that did not finish the regular season inside the top 25. There are positives to be taken from last week, but at the end of the day, it still feels like a missed opportunity.

Olive Branch native and Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry tees off at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday and 1:30 on Friday afternoon. Thornberry moved up two spots to 52nd in the standings after a T-30 finish last week in Colorado. He’s firmly in position to qualify for the finals and is within striking distance to sneak inside the top 25 with a win or a couple top five finishes.

Tupelo native and Mizzou alum Hayden Buckley tees off at 12:20 on Thursday and 7:05 Friday morning. Buckley missed the cut in Colorado last week. He sits at 35th in the standings, in large part due to his February win in Florida. Buckley needs a strong finish over these final few weeks to slip inside the top 25 and earn his Tour card.

Fulton native and Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey tees off at 12:20 tomorrow and 7:05 on Friday (he and Buckley are in separate groups off split tees). Ramey took the week off last week after his win in Maine. He’s had one hell of a month, between locking up his Tour card and then winning six days after that. I have a story on Ramey coming out later this week. His run of consistency over the last 18 months is insane. He’s PGA Tour bound and can just enjoy the ride over these next few weeks.

Annandale had a U.S. Amateur qualifier on Monday

Here are the results. Mississippi State’s Benjamin Nelson qualified. Ole Miss golfer Jack Gnam appears to have missed out of the final spot in a playoff, but will be an alternate, if my math is correct.

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The Open Championship begins tomorrow

This is my favorite event of the year, which I know sounds like some hipster golf take. I don’t really have any deep reason as to why, other than that I enjoy links golf and find it fun to watch the best players in the world get challenged in ways they don’t see any other time of the year. The fact that it comes on TV incredibly early in the morning and the coverage is wall-to-wall is a pretty cool aspect of it too. I look forward to the course set up, seeing shots that break the shot tracer and British dudes saying “level par”. How could we not be in good hands with this man running the show?