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The 2025 Ole Miss Rebel Baseball weekend rotation will be headlined by the return of Hunter Elliott

New Pitching Coach Joel Mangrum has a deep staff for his first season at Ole Miss. Headlining that is none other than Hunter Elliott, who will return to the rotation after practically two years of absence. There are plenty of other familiar names and a pair of newcomers who will all compete for a spot in the weekend rotation.

ByDrew Moore|
Jun 20, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Ole Miss Rebels starting pitcher Hunter Elliott (26) throws against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first inning at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
Jun 20, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Ole Miss Rebels starting pitcher Hunter Elliott (26) throws against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first inning at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
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We are closing in on the opening weekend of the 2025: college baseball season, now just a few weeks away. The Rebels will kick things off in Arlington, Texas, in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. It will be a great test to set the barometer for this group (A full showdown preview will be released before the games.) Before we get to the games, we need to wrap up our roster preview. 

So far, we have covered all position players. Breaking down the shortstop battle, along with what the rest of the infield could look like. We also looked at the battle for the starting catchers and the outfield. The last article was all about the new pitching coach, Joel Mangrum, and how his additions can revitalize this pitching staff. With that, I will project the weekend rotations for the Rebs.

Overall, I think projecting the three-weekend starters is pretty straightforward. The much tougher task will be sorting through the bullpen and guessing what the roles might look like. There are 4-5 guys on this roster capable of being weekend arms.

Friday - Hunter Elliott

This is the easiest spot to project. Elliott was nothing short of spectacular during his freshman season, during which he was a key piece in winning the National Championship. Unfortunately, since the College World Series, we have hardly seen Hunter pitch as an elbow injury in 2023, which eventually resulted in Tommy John, which also kept him all of 2024. Many thought his Rebel career could be over, but after being drafted in the 20th round by the LA Dodgers, the staff and collective went to work to bring Hunter back to be the ace of this staff. Lucky for us Rebel fans, we will watch a healthy Elliott take the bump at Swayze on Friday nights.

The left-hander doesn’t bring overpowering stuff. In his lone full season, he sat just in the upper 80s with the fastball. However, the reports out of fall camp are that he is up to 94-95. Now, that seems to be what he tops out at, and I would expect him to sit more than 90-92 throughout a game. He also brings a genuinely elite change-up with deceptive movement and the ability to miss barrels. The key for Hunter will be developing his slider into a lethal put-out pitch, which looks like that is on the way.

 It can’t be overstated just how valuable Mangrum will be in the development of Elliott. He makes up for all he lacks in just pure stuff tenfold in his competitiveness and ability to flat-out pitch. He will give the Rebels a great shot to win on Friday night. This fall, he allowed just five hits over 10 innings while striking out 14. In this week's intersquad scrimmage, the lefty allowed one run on two hits with 6 Ks in 3.1 IPs.

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