Ole Miss Baseball Ranked No. 4 in Baseball America's 2021 Preseason Poll

Ole Miss baseball finished the shortened 2020 season on a blistering 16-game winning streak, but it wasn't enough to land them the top spot in Baseball America's 'Never Too Early' 2021 projection.

Credit: Josh McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss baseball finished the shortened 2020 season on a blistering 16-game winning streak, but it wasn't enough to land them the top spot in Baseball America's 'Never Too Early' 2021 projection.

Baseball America ranked the Rebels No. 4 in their first, admittedly premature, rankings for the 2021 season that won't begin until nine months from now. 

It's one of the more difficult seasons to project in college baseball, maybe ever. The 2020 MLB Draft has been shortened to only five rounds amid COVID-19 economic concerns, meaning more really good college baseball players will be staying in college baseball rather than going to the professional levels. 

Additionally, all seniors who would otherwise graduate have the option to return on a one-year NCAA eligibility waiver. 

These changes benefit every college baseball team, but particularly Ole Miss. The Baseball America ranks presume that Ole Miss will lose only two of their key contributors from the 16-1 team in 2020, shortstop Anthony Servideo and third baseman Tyler Keenan. Here's their scouting report on the returning Rebels. 

The Baseball America Scouting Report: 

The Rebels will try to grab the momentum from a great start to the 2020 season and take that into the 2021 campaign. The pitching staff, led by lefthander Doug Nikhazy and righthanders Gunnar Hoglund and Derek Diamond, should be excellent. The lineup will need some tweaking after the likely departures of shortstop Anthony Servideo and third baseman Tyler Keenan, but young catalysts like infielder Peyton Chatagnier and catcher Hayden Dunhurst will help make that task a lot easier.

In addition to the large crop of likely returners, that in other years would probably turn pro, Baseball America ranks four Ole Miss incoming freshman in their national top-400 recruits, highlighted by five-tool TJ McCants. 

The Full Top-10:

1. Florida
2. Texas Tech 
3. UCLA
4. Ole Miss
5. Virginia
6. LSU
7. Vanderbilt
8. Louisville
9. Florida State
10. Oklahoma

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