Hitting them where they ain't...a probable strategy

Last year, the Rebels were led by Cody Overbeck as he mashed his way to a .356 average leading the team in home runs and RBIs. Solid contributors like Fuller Smith and Michael Guerrero(obviously incredibly solid in SEC tournament games) made up for a line-up that was fairly mediocre with the exception of Logan Power and Jordan Henry. 

Power and Henry return but three of the top five batting average leaders have departed for greener pastures. Power has been a rock of consistency starting in 126 games over the last two seasons while racking up 20 roundtrippers and 102 RBIs. 

Henry came out of the gates like a freight train his freshman year, but cooled off considerably during his second year batting only .292 after a .376 freshman season. As very old men in Mississippi would say, he's as "fast as a hiccup" and will continue to do Baltimore chops to leg out singles this year. 

Matt Smith had surgery in the offseason after he crushed 14 home runs and struck out 80 times in only 226 plate appearances. Unfortunately, the surgery wasn't on his eyesight, so he could very well have a high strike out rate. Smith's newly constructed UCL should hopefully have him back into form this season. I want to see him in action before I rush to any judgments. 

Evan Button returns after a season ending injury limited him to only 13 games last year. Button along with Zach Miller should be more solid up the middle than Tim Ferguson was as he clumsily led the team in errors in 2008. Button and Ferguson are about even when it comes to hitting, so if Button can overcome his injury, he'll be the starter at short. Miller was nothing to write home about last year but could be back to his Freshman All-American form after a tough second year.

Brett Basham is back as one of the best defensive catchers in the SEC and possibly the nation. He's not a fantastic hitter and really struggled late in the 2008 season most likely because he was catching 18 innings a day. With the depth by newcomer Taylor Hightower, Basham should have a chance to rest his legs during the week for the weekend series.

Twins Mike and Matt Snyder from Virginia have been touted as players that will contribute immediately. The Snyders or Logan Williams could be handling the hot corner based on who gets the hot bat during the season. 

Jeremy Travis showed flashes last year that he can flat out hit the ball. His defensive skills don't compare to Power and Henry, but he should suffice in left unless Michael Hubbard has improved his power to accompany his speed.

Our starting defensive line-up, not batting order:

C: Brett Basham, R

1B: Matt Smith, R

2B: Zach Miller, R

SS: Evan Button, L

3B: Logan Williams, R

CF: Logan Power, R

RF: Jordan Henry, R

LF: Jeremy Travis, R

DH: Matt Snyder, L

Ole Miss baseball: We've missed you...a little bit

The grass at Swayze is getting that near Spring green hue to it even though temperatures aren't quite right for sitting leisurely in the stands. Baseball is very nearly here, but let's not forget the shortcomings of last year's team before we look at next year.

With Lance Lynn and Cody Satterwhite as our 1-2 punch on the weekends, there should have been a good chance to make it to Omaha. These guys had been with the program for a couple years and were going to lead us to the promised land. Unfortunately, there just weren't enough bats in the line-up last year along with Satterwhite's pitching inconsistencies that settled the Rebels into an uncomfortable situation, making it to the Coral Gables regional against one of the strongest college baseball programs- the Miami Hurricanes. We won't relive all of the gory details, but with the return of Scott Bittle, I have a feeling that fans are thinking this could be a strong team yet again. That feeling is raw common sense.

Let's take a gander at pitching first.

Bittle was awarded the best player in the state award last year by Cellular South. He's got a pitch called "The Thing" and has been the closer for the past two years with a few spot starts from time to time. Bittle's finishing pitch drops as it approaches the plate and bears strong resemblance to Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn's "Decimator." When the ball is in his hands late in the game, early in the game or at any point, I'm confident he'll get the outs needed to keep Ole Miss in the game.

Along with the Bittler comes Drew Pomeranz, one of the great freshmen from last year's team who struck out over 80 in 70 innings while only walking 30. Pomeranz took over in mid-season for Satterwhite in the weekend rotation and went through some freshmen growing pains. He got a DUI during the offseason, but as Mark Wright proved, you can still have a decent college career and move on to obscurity. Pomeranz should be the Friday starter in my opinion to give him a great chance to prove his worth, develop his stuff and prepare for next season when he'll be the go-to guy.

Phillip Irwin hasn't gotten a lot of pub, not only because he's only got about 35 innings to his credit at Ole Miss, but they aren't really fantastic innings either. He was used mainly in relief roles last year but did have a couple starts and should compete for a weekend role if he's improved in the offseason. 

Aaron "Erik the Red" Barrett and Kyle Barbeck are two new faces to the Rebel pitching staff that will get playing time early on. Barrett is a juco transfer that was drafted in the 20th round by the Minnesota Twins. He's going to be looking to improve his draft stock in one year and will push for PT. Barbeck is a freshman southpaw from Missouri who had a Maddux like ERA through high school. He could be one of our pitchers who grabs a mid-week start against teams like Central Arkansas or Belmont. 

Brett Bukvich and Nathan Baker will battle it out for a weekend spot as well as two names who Rebel fans should be fairly familiar with. I'm not crazy about either one, but I'd feel better about having Baker on the mound as Bukvich might have a Tommy Baumgardner-like senior year. 

Weekend rotation we'd like to see:

Friday: Drew Pomeranz- L, Soph.

Saturday: Nathan Baker- L, Jr.

Sunday: Aaron Barrett- R, Jr.

Next up: A look at the other end of the frame- hitting. 

P.S. We won't necessarily miss Cody Overbeck.

Less than two weeks until baseball...

Just to get your jimmies jamming, I'll be breaking down this year's team this weekend. 

This video really summarizes one of the great moments from the past few years. I really thought we were headed to Omaha when this occurred. I was sitting by my future wife about a six pack into the game when a thunderous clap came booming from the bat of Mark Wright.