Surprise At The Plate
One area we saw significant improvement in 2018 was at the plate and it is expected the same players who found success last season will also see the same success this spring. Returning from last season is senior OF Ryan Olenek who was drafted in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants but elected to return to Oxford. Olenek started 61 games and hit .350 at the plate striking out only 17 times in 237 at bats.
Senior Chase Cockrell returns after a very successful 2018 season which saw Cockrell hit .317 at the plate. Cockrell played in 54 games in 2018 starting 52 games at DH for the Rebels. Cockrell belted 9 home runs and had a .539 slugging percentage. Senior Jacob Adams who started 48 games in 2018 at 2nd base returns. Adams hit .257 in 2018 with 3 home runs.
Michael Fitzsimmons will likely see much success in 2019. Last season Fitzsimmons was clutch at the plate off the bench hitting .440 with 3 HRs and 4 doubles. Fitzsimmons also had an incredible .960 slugging percentage.
Junior Sluggers
Junior Cole Zabowski is another player who had a terrific season in 2018 hitting .300 with 10 HRs while slugging at a .440 percentage. Zabowski started 58 games with most of his starts coming at 1st base. Zabowski was also a 2018 Rawlings ABCA Gold Glove Award Finalist.
Naturally another junior to watch is Thomas Dillard. Dillard produced the ‘swing’ and finished the season with 13 HRs while hitting a very solid .310 at the plate and slating 59 RBI with 67 runs scored. In addition, Dillard also had .439 slugging percentage and a 1.002 on base percentage. Dillard also led the Rebels in stolen bases at 17 of 20 attempts.
Another junior we are excited to see back in action is Grae Kessinger. Kessinger made noticeable improvements at the plate in 2018 hitting .300 with 8 homeruns. Kessinger also proved to be very valuable to the Rebels in the field making 62 starts at shortstop in 2018. Ole Miss baseball fans can be sure Kessinger will have another great season in 2019.
Junior catcher Cooper Johnson returns in 2019 and with the departure of Nick Fortes will likely see an expanded role behind the plate. Johnson appeared in 26 games in 2018 making 20 starts. 19 of the starts came behind the plate while 1 start was at designated hitter. Johnson hit .235 with 2 homeruns while knocking in 11 RBI.