OXFORD — Five Ole Miss baseball players heard their names called Wednesday on the final day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft.
David Parkinson (12th round, eighth pick — Philadelphia Phillies), Tate Blackman (13th round, 12th pick — Chicago White Sox), Colby Bortles (22nd round, 20th pick — Detroit Tigers), Brady Feigl (35th round, 10th pick — Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), and Kyle Watson (37th round, 13th pick — Pittsburgh Pirates) were drafted Wednesday afternoon.
For the 14th consecutive year, at least four Rebels were selected in the draft. Under coach Mike Bianco (17 seasons), 99 Diamond Rebels have been drafted. Throughout Ole Miss history, 166 Rebels have been chosen since the first MLB draft in 1965.
Parkinson has spent the past two seasons in a Rebel uniform after transferring from Florence-Darlington Technical School. He began his Ole Miss career in the bullpen but earned a spot in the weekend rotation midway through the 2016 season.
This season, Parkinson was the only Rebel to start in the rotation all 14 weekends. He logged 77 innings and tallied 76 strikeouts, both team highs. The southpaw also went 6-3 with a 3.39 ERA.
Blackman is a .287 career hitter and hit over .300 in 2016 and 2017. He had 159 hits and scored 112 runs, including 48 extra-base hits (30 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs).
One of only two seniors on the 2017 roster and the only Rebel left from the 2014 College World Series team, Bortles finished his career by earning second-team All-SEC honors. Starting 55 games, the third baseman led the Rebels with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs.
A two-time team captain, the Oviedo, Florida, native played in 213 games throughout his career and started 184 of them. With career 153 RBI, he ranks 10th all-time in Ole Miss history.
Feigl has been an important piece to the pitching staff since bouncing back from Tommy John surgery in 2015. In the past two seasons, he has made 43 appearances primarily out of the bullpen. The Chesterfield, Missouri, native has averaged nearly one strikeout per inning with 93 through 93 2/3 innings.
This season, Feigl pitched 53 innings in 17 outings, including six starts. He spent time in the weekend rotation at the start of the year before landing in the bullpen.
Watson has played in 157 games the past three seasons. The Southaven native has started 73 games and has seen action at six positions on the field (all three outfield positions, second base, third base, shortstop).
In 2017, Watson primarily came off the bench as he played in 50 games and made 18 starts.
Bortles is the lone draftee without any NCAA eligibility left, meaning the four others can choose to return to Ole Miss or to sign with the club that drafted them.
n Southern Mississippi has two
selected: At Hattiesburg, Dylan Burdeaux, the Conference USA Player of the Year, earned a 20th-round selection by the Detroit Tigers (605th pick), while Hayden Roberts was taken in the 34th round by the Colorado Rockies (1,016th pick).
Burdeaux, who finished his four-year career with the program this spring, played first base in his final season after playing in right field in his first three campaigns.
The West Monroe, Louisiana, native finished his Golden Eagle career seventh in games played (231), first in at bats (960), third in hits (298), eighth in runs (181), fourth in singles (207), tied for third in doubles (57), 10th in RBIs (162), and eighth in stolen bases (44).
As a senior, Burdeaux batted .337 with a team-best 24 doubles, 12 home runs and team bests of 67 runs and 69 RBIs as the team’s leadoff hitter.
Roberts, a right-hander from Irvington, Alabama, just completed his second season with the program as a junior.
Used in both a starting and relief role, Roberts posted a 5-2 record with a 4.30 ERA and one save. He appeared in 20 games and made 10 starts. He struck out 86 in 73 1/3 innings and walked 27. Opponents hit .259 against him this season.
Third baseman/pitcher Taylor Braley (sixth round/Miami Marlins) and left-handed pitcher Kirk McCarty (seventh round/Cleveland Indians) also were drafted.
n Alabama has two players
drafted: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Garrett Suchey (26th round, Kansas City Royals) and Chandler Taylor (27th round, Minnesota Twins) were taken on the final day of the three-day event.
Suchey, who was selected with the 780th pick, was Alabama’s go-to pitcher in a tight situation. The right-hander finished his junior campaign as the team leader in innings (73 2/3) and strikeouts (70) while maintaining a team-low 3.18 ERA. Suchey finished with a 2-7 record and three saves in 23 relief outings and one start.
Taylor, who was taken with the 796th pick, was a two-year starter at Alabama. He batted .278 (107-for-385) with 25 home runs, 67 RBIs, and 67 runs scored in his two seasons. His efforts earned him postseason all-conference recognition each year, including All-SEC Freshman Team honors in 2016 followed by a second-team All-SEC selection in 2017.
Both undergraduate players have remaining eligibility and are able to return to the University to continue their careers at Alabama if they elect to not sign a professional contract. The final date to sign a professional contract is July 15.
Alabama has had 148 players drafted since the draft’s inception in 1966. Alabama has had at least one player taken for 39-straight years dating back to 1979, and 46 of the 52 MLB drafts overall. In the last eight years, the Crimson Tide has had 40 players selected and 75 over the last 18 drafts dating back to 2000.
n EMCC’s Miller, Ragan selected: At Scooba, East Mississippi Community College’s Vijay Miller and Marcus Ragan were selected during Wednesday’s portion of the Major League Baseball Draft in the 14th and 15th rounds, respectively, by the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox.
A two-sport standout from Itawamba Agricultural High School and a freshman quarterback on last year’s Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJC) State championship team, Miller was the 408th pick as a right-handed pitcher. Ragan, a center fielder out of Warren Central High, followed a round later as the 461st selection.
EMCC has had four MLB draft picks in the last four years.
After passing for 599 yards and six touchdowns along with rushing for a team-high nine touchdowns as EMCC’s backup quarterback last fall, Miller was 5-0 with a 3.97 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings.
Having signed with Little Rock, Ragan was named MACJC All-MACJC First Team after putting together a career year by hitting a club-high .395 with 27 extra-base hits and 25 stolen bases. Along with a team-high 13 doubles and hitting six home runs, his league-leading eight triples ranked tied for fourth nationally.
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