Monday was potentially a big night for Ole Miss baseball.
I say potentially because one of the reasons baseball recruiting isn’t a draw from an entertainment standpoint is with the best prospects it could all mean nothing because of the MLB Draft. Two-sport players also bring some possible complications to the situation, as you know, so we’ll sort it all out here.
The first thing on Monday night was the commitment of two-sport athlete John Rhys Plumlee from Oak Grove. He officially visited two weekends ago and met with both the baseball and football staffs during the trip. Russell Johnson and Chad Simmons have you all caught up on the football side, so this is a look at the baseball side.
Plumlee is ranked seventh in the state, and the outfielder has a higher upside than that. He wasn’t a big showcase attendee, and Perfect Game will often lean toward the players participating in its events. Such is life. Perfect Game has three articles in its system mentioning Plumlee. Derek Diamond, who we will get to in a second, has 19 in the PG system.
Plumlee, listed at 6-0, 185 pound, played for the East Coast Sox in the World Wood Bat Association 17U and made All-Tournament team going 10-for-24 in 30 plate appearances with an 1.125 OPS. I don’t think he’s an offense-first prospect, but that’s a good sign of potential in a pretty dang good event. One caveat is it’s a HUGE tournament and around 100 kids or more made All-Tournament on the hitting side.
As you know by his football ability, he can really run and he tracks well in the outfield. The arm is good. He was throwing 81 MPH from the outfield as a 16 year old. And there’s projection there because he can definitely get stronger.
The two caveats with Plumlee: Does the football situation cause a time issue where he has to choose a sport eventually, specially if he’s a quarterback and does the Draft bring a dollar amount that makes him consider a college football-pro baseball deal?
On the first one, there’s no evidence that’s an issue or the programs wouldn’t make every accommodation. I’m simply throwing it out there as a thought that came in my head. If Plumlee blows up into the starting quarterback, that’s a weird schedule to try to do 100 percent baseball, too, when it’s already picking and choosing on certain dates.
It takes a special kid to accomplish it, and from people who know him he has that reputation. I’m rooting for him because it would be fun to see it. You have to hit a lot on your own and really be dedicated.
On the second one, I reported about a month ago that a couple scouts called Plumlee a prime candidate to offer the college football-pro baseball deal. He’s currently projected somewhere in the middle of the top 10 rounds. There’s a lot of upside from a pro standpoint to try to throw a few hundred thousand at him and lock him up from the baseball side. But I don’t think he can be bought cheaply without a strong commitment. He wants to play both sports in college. It’s a serious goal. A club would likely have to overpay to get serious about that, and then I”m not sure what good that is for them on the other side. While in a vacuum he’s a good option for it, his makeup and desire to be in college baseball aren’t a good fit for it. We won’t know until June either way. It’s simply my job to relay what I’m hearing from the scout side. Another nice thing: Plumlee is on football scholarship and costs baseball exactly $0.
I just noticed this is a really good year in Mississippi high school baseball from a D1 signee standpoint. At minimum 24 players signed or will sign with D1 schools.
Diamond, who is the No. 24 player nationally and No. 2 player in California, also committed to Ole Miss last night. The Rebels had his last official visit two weekends ago and won his commitment over LSU, TCU, Virginia and Wake Forest.
The former Stanford commit opened it all back up after the Cardinal didn’t accept him into school. Diamond has good grades — 4.0 GPA, 27 ACT — but Stanford doesn’t give baseball players preferential admission. Talk about a tough job.
Diamond comes from a really athletic family. His dad played football at Southern Illinois and his mom was a college swimmer at Illinois State.
The thing with him is going to be the MLB Draft, obviously, but this isn’t some Ty Hensley or Gavin Cecchini situation. He’s not begging to go pro, and he’s right-handed. Fastball max velocity — at least on record (I’ll dig up something more accurate) — is 93 which is dang good but not going to get you picked in the first round alone.
He’s a high-volatility prospect who could blow up or slowly slide down a little and send him to Oxford. That’s the kind of lottery ticket you want instead of Bobby Witt or someone like that.
One article I read on PG has Diamond as the No. 3 two-way player in the country. His bat is good enough for a smaller scholarship, but the arm is the ticket. He’s also a 6.71 runner.
I had been hearing a ton about LSU with him, but then he announced on Monday. When we look back down the road, that could be quite the couple hours for Ole Miss. The Rebels are now No. 6 nationally for the 2019 class.
I say potentially because one of the reasons baseball recruiting isn’t a draw from an entertainment standpoint is with the best prospects it could all mean nothing because of the MLB Draft. Two-sport players also bring some possible complications to the situation, as you know, so we’ll sort it all out here.
The first thing on Monday night was the commitment of two-sport athlete John Rhys Plumlee from Oak Grove. He officially visited two weekends ago and met with both the baseball and football staffs during the trip. Russell Johnson and Chad Simmons have you all caught up on the football side, so this is a look at the baseball side.
Plumlee is ranked seventh in the state, and the outfielder has a higher upside than that. He wasn’t a big showcase attendee, and Perfect Game will often lean toward the players participating in its events. Such is life. Perfect Game has three articles in its system mentioning Plumlee. Derek Diamond, who we will get to in a second, has 19 in the PG system.
Plumlee, listed at 6-0, 185 pound, played for the East Coast Sox in the World Wood Bat Association 17U and made All-Tournament team going 10-for-24 in 30 plate appearances with an 1.125 OPS. I don’t think he’s an offense-first prospect, but that’s a good sign of potential in a pretty dang good event. One caveat is it’s a HUGE tournament and around 100 kids or more made All-Tournament on the hitting side.
As you know by his football ability, he can really run and he tracks well in the outfield. The arm is good. He was throwing 81 MPH from the outfield as a 16 year old. And there’s projection there because he can definitely get stronger.
The two caveats with Plumlee: Does the football situation cause a time issue where he has to choose a sport eventually, specially if he’s a quarterback and does the Draft bring a dollar amount that makes him consider a college football-pro baseball deal?
On the first one, there’s no evidence that’s an issue or the programs wouldn’t make every accommodation. I’m simply throwing it out there as a thought that came in my head. If Plumlee blows up into the starting quarterback, that’s a weird schedule to try to do 100 percent baseball, too, when it’s already picking and choosing on certain dates.
It takes a special kid to accomplish it, and from people who know him he has that reputation. I’m rooting for him because it would be fun to see it. You have to hit a lot on your own and really be dedicated.
On the second one, I reported about a month ago that a couple scouts called Plumlee a prime candidate to offer the college football-pro baseball deal. He’s currently projected somewhere in the middle of the top 10 rounds. There’s a lot of upside from a pro standpoint to try to throw a few hundred thousand at him and lock him up from the baseball side. But I don’t think he can be bought cheaply without a strong commitment. He wants to play both sports in college. It’s a serious goal. A club would likely have to overpay to get serious about that, and then I”m not sure what good that is for them on the other side. While in a vacuum he’s a good option for it, his makeup and desire to be in college baseball aren’t a good fit for it. We won’t know until June either way. It’s simply my job to relay what I’m hearing from the scout side. Another nice thing: Plumlee is on football scholarship and costs baseball exactly $0.
I just noticed this is a really good year in Mississippi high school baseball from a D1 signee standpoint. At minimum 24 players signed or will sign with D1 schools.
Diamond, who is the No. 24 player nationally and No. 2 player in California, also committed to Ole Miss last night. The Rebels had his last official visit two weekends ago and won his commitment over LSU, TCU, Virginia and Wake Forest.
The former Stanford commit opened it all back up after the Cardinal didn’t accept him into school. Diamond has good grades — 4.0 GPA, 27 ACT — but Stanford doesn’t give baseball players preferential admission. Talk about a tough job.
Diamond comes from a really athletic family. His dad played football at Southern Illinois and his mom was a college swimmer at Illinois State.
The thing with him is going to be the MLB Draft, obviously, but this isn’t some Ty Hensley or Gavin Cecchini situation. He’s not begging to go pro, and he’s right-handed. Fastball max velocity — at least on record (I’ll dig up something more accurate) — is 93 which is dang good but not going to get you picked in the first round alone.
He’s a high-volatility prospect who could blow up or slowly slide down a little and send him to Oxford. That’s the kind of lottery ticket you want instead of Bobby Witt or someone like that.
One article I read on PG has Diamond as the No. 3 two-way player in the country. His bat is good enough for a smaller scholarship, but the arm is the ticket. He’s also a 6.71 runner.
I had been hearing a ton about LSU with him, but then he announced on Monday. When we look back down the road, that could be quite the couple hours for Ole Miss. The Rebels are now No. 6 nationally for the 2019 class.
