Tracking Ole Miss baseball players, signees selected in 2022 MLB Draft

Nick Suss, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·5 min read
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For Ole Miss baseball, the 2022 MLB Draft means the end of the run that brought the Rebels their first College World Series championship.

Stars and signees from Ole Miss' roster and recruiting class will be eligible for the draft, beginning Sunday at 6 p.m. CT and running for 20 rounds through Tuesday. Veteran leaders from the Rebels' championship squad such as Tim Elko, Kevin Graham, Justin Bench, Dylan DeLucia and Brandon Johnson are all draft eligible, as are top-rated signees like Jackson Ferris and Roman Anthony.

The Clarion Ledger will keep the draft tracker below active throughout the three-day draft. Follow below for information about which Ole Miss players are picked and how they'll project into Major League Baseball.

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WHAT A RIDE: This team. This Ole Miss baseball team. After ups and downs, these Rebels are national champions

Ole Miss baseball MLB Draft tracker:

  • Right-handed pitcher Derek Diamond was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 170th pick in the sixth round. Diamond started in Ole Miss' weekend rotation for three years but entered the transfer portal following the 2022 season. At his best and healthiest, Diamond features a mid-90s fastball and incredible command. But when Diamond struggles, it is usually because he throws hittable pitches and struggles to pitch deep into games.

  • The Kansas City Royals picked catcher Hayden Dunhurst in the sixth round, pick 175. A three-year starter behind the plate, Dunhurst was the Rawlings Gold Glove winner for the nation's best defender in 2021. He struggled offensively at times, especially with swings-and-misses, but features notable pull-side power and a really strong plate discipline that leads to a number of walks.

  • The Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 College World Series, right-handed pitcher Dylan DeLucia was picked in the sixth round by the Cleveland Guardians. DeLucia emerged as Ole Miss' ace down the stretch, proving his talents for pitching deep into games and throwing a huge volume of strikes. At times, DeLucia struggled allowing home runs but other than that he didn't present many or any flaws in 2022, hence the success.

  • The Royals paired Dunhurst with closer Brandon Johnson in the ninth round. The man who threw the final pitch of the Rebels' College World Series win features a mid-90s fastball and a strong slider that leads to a high strikeout rate. Johnson had pockets in the season where he struggled when Ole Miss asked him to pitch multiple innings and enter with traffic on the bases. But short of the one rough stretch in April, Johnson was one of the best relief pitchers in the SEC last season.

  • With the 311th pick in the 10th round, the Chicago White Sox picked Tim Elko, Ole Miss' captain and star first baseman. Elko set Ole Miss' single-season record for home runs with 24 in 2022 and was among the SEC's leaders in RBIs and total bases as well. Elko is a right-handed power bat who has played first and third base, but there will be questions about his hit skill given the high strikeout rate that went with his high batting average and slugging percentage.

  • Outfielder Kevin Graham was picked in the 14th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. A four-year starter who was a freshman All-American in 2019, Graham was one of the Rebels' best and most reliable players in 2022. He recovered from an April injury to bat better than .400 with runners in scoring position. His lack of a true position and the infrequency with which he walks could hold him back, but his elite bat-to-ball skills make him an interesting project.

  • Senior utility man Justin Bench went to the San Francisco Giants in the 17th round. A natural shortstop who has spent time at second base, third base and centerfield in his Ole Miss tenure, Bench is a gifted defender who has the skills to make it to a big league club as an all-around defensive replacement. He has impressive contact skills and will hit singles and doubles well, but doesn't have elite power and relies more on being hit by pitches than he does taking walks. His best path to the majors is with his versatility, but he has the speed and bat-to-ball ability to hit well in the bigs too.

Ole Miss baseball signees drafted:

  • Left-hander Jackson Ferris was picked with the No. 47 pick in the second round by the Chicago Cubs. Ferris in the top-rated player in the Rebels' signing class and one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in the draft, mixing a fastball that can hit the mid-90s with dominant curveballs and changeups to make him a well-rounded threat.

  • Outfielder Roman Anthony was picked No. 79 in the second round compensatory round. One of the top offensive prospects in the Rebels' class, Anthony was a projected potential starter in the outfield next for the Rebels but has a high chance to go pro with the Red Sox given his prodigious power skill.

  • Right-handed pitcher Grayson Saunier was picked in the 19th round by the Texas Rangers. Saunier entered the draft rated by MLB.com as the 159th best prospect in the class but fell to the 559th pick, signaling a high likelihood that Saunier can make it to campus. Perfect Game rates Saunier as the No. 126 prospect in this freshman class.

Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Where Ole Miss baseball players, signees are picked in 2022 MLB Draft