Rippee Writes: Tuesday Scoop
Shohei Ohtani appreciation, more spring game thoughts, plus some hoops
Happy Tuesday to all. We’ve got a new podcast coming tomorrow with LBs Greg in another edition of grill corner. If you have culinary-related questions, please send them my way. Greg is essentially Emeril Legasse with a microphone and a mild interest in horse racing.
A random assortment of topics to dive into today. Let’s go.
Ohtani doing things no one has in a century
Angels two-way phenomenon Shohei Ohtani became the first player in a century last night to take the mound in a Major League game while also leading the league in home runs. The last guy to do it was someone called Babe Ruth.
That seems pretty good. The most incredible part to me about what Ohtani is doing is by far on the mound. Seeing what Big League pitchers do every single day to prepare to pitch in a game that night, and watching what they go through and how hard they train for years to even make it to The Show is remarkable in its own right, and this guy is doing it while spending his other four days in-between starts smashing dingers. That is sort of mind-boggling. Ohtani boasts a 3.29 ERA with a 1.39 whip in three starts this season. He’s not going to win a Cy Young or anything, though I might argue he could win one if he only pitched, but those are serviceable numbers for any club for a guy on the back end of a rotation. If you haven’t watched this man play baseball, you should. There is also something funny and fitting about the sport that struggles to market its players more than any other major North American league having two of its most transcendent stars (Trout, Ohtani) on the same club in Los Angeles’ B-team market. At the risk of this turning into a ‘how to fix baseball’ segment (I’ll let the unoriginal radio hosts across the country handle that), I’ll just stop here and urge you to appreciate the greatness of baseball’s most unique talent.
Grove Bowl numbers:
Take these with a grain of salt, but here are a couple Grove Bowl numbers that stood out to me after looking at the box score again. Also, shoutout to Kyle Campbell (actually, if Kyle reads this, I meant Brad Sheffield) and the Ole Miss media relations for charting stats in a spring game. I mean that genuinely too. That’s probably not easy to do in a controlled scrimmage setting and it’s useful to look at. Anyways, let’s take a peek.
Braylon Sanders 4 receptions, 135 yards and a touchdown. Ole Miss needs Sanders to stay on the field this fall. He is a dynamic deep threat that will open up other parts of the field. The only thing that’s held Sanders back to this point in his career is availability.
Matt Corral 12-19 208 yards and two touchdowns. No interceptions is probably what should catch your eye here. I think finally having some form of stability around him will quell some of Corral’s turnover issues.
The Blue team defense picked off the Red team four times. DeAntre Prince, Jon Haynes, M.J. Daniels and Tysheem Johnson all had interceptions. Those are all guys to look out for in watching to see how this secondary takes shape in the fall. Do I dare say the Rebels have depth on the back end? There are certainly a lot of bodies available, if nothing else. It’s a small but good sign for a group that has struggled the last two seasons.
DeSanto Rollins had two sacks. He is a defensive lineman. That makes this noteworthy on its own.
Anyway, take what you wish from those. That is what I cherry-picked as interesting from Saturday’s box score.
The 16 oz. prime strip for $10 is still on for all subscribers and Greg says any fish in the freezer is $2 off. Thanks for subscribing and go enjoy. LB’s is the best place to get meat.
Mini Tour Vet Monday qualifies at the Valspar
This is Michael Visacki. He turned pro seven years ago and has grinded on the mini-tours through some closes missed in qualifying school over the years. On Monday, he got into a playoff at the Valspar’s Monday qualifier and made it through to earn his first-ever start on the PGA Tour.
As I have mentioned before, Monday qualifiers are essentially 150 dudes going out to compete for anywhere from 1-4 tournament spots. It’s an incredibly difficult way to break into any level of professional golf, but then again, so is playing the mini tours. Visacki’s most stable status currently is on the West Florida Golf Tour. If you’ve never heard of it, that is precisely the point. He had 107 yards out in the playoff and needed to get up-and-down to realize a dream. He did just that. Somone’s life changes in this sport nearly every week. I hope he plays well this week. Who knows where it could go from here.
Kermit Davis talks roster reshaping
Here’s Kermit Davis talking about yet again reshaping his roster to try to build a team that can get back to the NCAA Tournament. Time will tell in terms of grading this offseason and how the staff did on evaluations, but I found some of his comments regarding balancing the transfer market while still developing high school kids interesting.
The NFL Draft begins on Thursday
I will probably have more thoughts tomorrow, but Ole Miss should have a couple of guys taken. The question is whether or not the program will boast a day one selection. Obviously, the bet here is on Elijah Moore and if he is able to sneak into the first round in what is a loaded wide receiver draft class. I am no draft expert, but in other years, it seems like Moore might be a slam dunk first-rounder. I still believe he is but I am biased from having watched him play every weekend for three years.
Here’s a mock draft that has Moore going late in the first round to the Green Bay Packers. That would be fascinating. The Titans seem heavily interested in Moore as well. Moore and A.J. Brown in the same offense would be pretty neat as well.
SkyBox just put their NFL Draft wagering guide on the website. You should go check that out and then buy a package and profit off America’s favorite off-season event. These guys are all over NASCAR, golf, MLB and the NBA. They’ve got a package that suits your interests and price range. If you’re into wagering, you’re missing out on money by not using SkyBox. It is that simple. Check out their packages here. Use the promo code “Rippee” for 20 percent off any purchase.
On the Horizon:
Grill Corner with Greg. Send me your grilling, smoking, cooking-related questions. Greg will give you a great answer I promise.
South Carolina series preview
Some NFL Draft stuff tomorrow
Magnolia State Golf update
That is all from me today. Thanks for reading and subscribing. Forward to your friends and tell them to join the fun. Back with more soon. Have a good Tuesday.