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Rice Baseball: 2020 MLB Owls update – August 20

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The 2020 MLB season is in full swing and Rice baseball alums are having great years. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Jon Duplantier is in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ player pool but is currently rehabbing. There hasn’t been a clear indication yet as to when he might rejoin the team. Here are updates on the three former Rice baseball alums currently active.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

It took Rendon a while to get going, but once he was on, the balls went flying off his bat. From August 10 to August 16, a span of six games, Rendon launched five home runs and tallied seven RBI. His OPS during that stretch was an unbelievable 1.738. Somehow the Angels managed to go 2-4 during those games, but his work with the bat was not to blame.

Through August 20, Rendon is hitting .289 with 10 extra-base hits, 20 walks and 18 strikeouts. His OPS is 1.028.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

It’s been a phenomenal start to the 2920 season for Tyler Duffey, and his rapid ascent has not gone unnoticed. National outlets are picking up his feel-good story, including The Athletic ($) who published an excellent feature on the former Rice baseball hurler’s journey up til now.

The story is worth reading, but this quote from manager Rocco Baldelli sums it up quite nicely:

“He went out there and made incredible adjustments … and turned himself into one of the best relievers in the game.”

This week, Duffey gave up his first run in his tenth inning of work.

Through August 20, Duffey has a 0.90 ERA with a .500 WHIP. He’s averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Brock Holt – Milwaukee Brewers

Widely regarded as the kind of guy you want to have in your clubhouse, Holt seems to be making the best of a tough start at the plate. So far this season there have been snippets of him lifting up his teammates and having a good laugh in the midst of the challenging first few weeks.

For one, here’s his reaction after grounding into a double play this past week.

Through August 20, Holt has three hits in 27 at bats. He has three walks and nine strikeouts.

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Rice Football: Breaking down the impact of the Tyrae Thornton transfer

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Rice Football starting corner Tyrae Thornton has entered the Transfer Portal. How will his absence impact the Owls in 2020 and beyond?

It’s been an unusual offseason in more ways than one for Rice football, but unexpected attrition has not been a problem for the Owls so far. Rice lost linebacker Anthony Ekpe to transfer, but his starting job had already been overtaken by Kenneth Orji. Like there is with every team, the roster went through a bit more churn, but on the whole, Rice wasn’t losing anyone they hadn’t previously anticipated losing.

Then starting corner Tyrae Thornton entered the Transfer Portal this week. Prior to Thornton’s decision, the most notable departure of the summer was the loss of scout team quarterback Parker Towns. He was omitted from the preseason roster released in early August. Thornton was expected to line up opposite Tre’shon Devones. Now Rice will have to adjust.

The Depth Chart Impact

Corner and the interior of the defensive line were thin spots on the roster prior to Thornton’s announcement. Planning for a two-deep without him is doable, but the margin for error (or injury) beyond that is dicey.

Andrew Bird stands to benefit with the largest increase in playing time right away. His size (6-foot-1, 181 pounds) sets him apart from the rest of the unit. He also has the benefit of being one of the more experienced returners.

I also think Jason White is going to get some more time on the outside. He started against Southern Miss last year and held his own. Don’t let his smaller stature (5-foot-8, 158 pounds) fool you. He’ll be in the mix and could have a slight edge in coverage over Bird. This would be an excellent battle to watch in fall camp had Rice started it yet.

Being able to utilize Blaze Alldredge more in coverage will be another added wrinkle to keep an eye on. Beyond those more seasoned commodities, Rice could turn to a freshman for key minutes.

Devones proved he was the most talented man for the job and won a starting job midway through last season. I wouldn’t bet against the younger contingent with guys like Sean Fresch, Lamont Narcisse and Jordan Dunbar. We’ll learn a lot about how this position will play out if/when fall camp begins.

The Roster Impact

The continuity Rice football had built this season cannot be understated. Southern Miss saw five players opt out of the 2020 season this week. Defensive end Jacques Turner, linebacker Racheem Boothe and receiver Jaylond Adams will all not play this season. Turner and Boothe have entered the Transfer Portal.

FAU, Western Kentucky, Marshall have all lost expected starting quarterback during the offseason. A slew of other programs have seen marquee players leave for one reason or another.

It’s foolish to write off the departure of Thornton as “no big deal”. Losing a starting-caliber player at any position this close to the start of the season is a tough pill to swallow.

For better or worse, it sets Rice up to hit the restart at the position a year in advance. A redshirt junior, Thornton wasn’t going to be in the long term plans for this defense. He very well might have kept the starting job had he returned next season as well, but there’s no promises he would have held off the wave of incoming players.

At best, Thornton’s absence allows for an early transition and Rice is forced only to deal with the growing pains of a younger player. At worst, the Owls’ secondary will be exposed from a weak link uncovered in the final weeks before the games begin. I lean closer toward the former.

The loss is real, but Rice is going to be okay in the long run, particularly if the season is delayed or canceled and Thronton’s replacements get an extended audition and practice in the scheme with the first team.

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Rice Baseball: 2020 Summer Ball mid-August Update

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players are participating in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here’s the latest on those Owls.

Summer seasons are winding down. Once everything is set in stone we’ll put together a quick wrap up piece with some notes from the summer as a whole. From what I can tell, the only league still in action with Rice baseball players that are posting stats is the Premier League in Texas. The final games in that league are set for next weekend.

Hitters

The updated stats from the Premier league we did get included further impressive numbers from the incoming Owls. It was a huge week for Nathan Becker, who kept his summer average above .400. Becker went 4-for-10 in three games, striking out once and hitting a double.

Also in action were Cullen Hannigan, Dominic Cox, Eric Benitez and Guy Garibay. All four of those saw their averages dip this week. Garibay is still slugging a comfortable .614.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

Ben Content through his 20th scoreless inning of the summer this week. He did not allow a hit in three frames this week, striking out three and walking one. He hasn’t announced his future destination after entering the transfer portal prior to the summer.

Meanwhile, Brandon Deskins faced two batters this week, and struck out both. AC Plum got roughed up a bit in the final appearance of his summer season, taking his only loss in nine appearances.

Pitching Stats

We’ll be back next week with some end of summer thoughts on the Owls as a whole. Many have wrapped up their seasons. Only a handful of stat lines are expected to change.

*All stats as of Aug 15 taken from league and team websites. Not all participating players have complete stats and some have no official stats listed at all.

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Rice Football: 2021 Safety Marcus Williams commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has added another piece to their future secondary, picking up a commitment from safety Marcus Williams.

Two weeks after adding their first safety commit, the 2021 Rice Football recruiting classed doubled their depth at the position. Joshua Williams committed on the last day of July. The newest addition is Hoover, Alabama safety Marcus Williams (unrelated).

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Williams picked Rice over several in-state schools like South Alabama and Troy and more than a dozen other offers. The Owls beat out Kansas and fellow Conference USA schools like Middle Tennessee and Charlotte for his services. He also held offers from Arkansas State, Harvard and Navy.

The addition of Williams will help solidify a 2021 defense that already includes seven commitments. Rice now has a pair of commitments on the defensive line, two at safety and three at linebacker. The offense has four commitments. The class as a whole ranks fourth in Conference USA and 92nd nationally.

If current trends hold, this class is on track to challenge the 2020 class as the highest rated in program history. Neither Marcus or Joshua Williams has been rated by 247 Sports at this time.

More: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Tracker

Williams can do a lot of different things on the field and was dominant from the outside linebacker position. His athleticism combined with his comfortability in space makes him an ideal candidate for the Viper safety spot in the Rice defense.

A quick look at his highlights below will give you a flavor for how many things the Owls will be able to do with Williams when he suits up in Blue and Gray. He can attack the ballcarrier and position himself for the big play in coverage. His surehandedness in the open field is something no collegiate defense should take for granted.

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College Football and COVID-19: Mid-August Roundup

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This week has brought plenty of updates as to the status of the upcoming college football season amid a pandemic. Here are a few highlights.

I can barely keep up with the fast-paced news cycles in college football. The end of July was hard to process. The first two weeks of August have been equally agonizing. If it feels like a lot is going on, that’s because it is.

For reference, you can check out the late-July edition here and the early August edition here. Here’s the latest.

Rice football delays its season

Rice football was the second Conference USA program to make a significant change in their upcoming schedule. After Old Dominion canceled its season, Rice opted to delay its season, postponing games against Houston and Army in early September, tentatively planning to start their season on September 26. The Owls are looking for opportunities to reschedule both of those canceled games.

Major cancelations

At the time of this publication, 54 FBS programs have canceled their 2020 fall seasons. Many hope to play in the spring, and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm has already put together a rather complete plan as to how to make that happen.

Here are the conferences/teams who won’t’ be playing this fall:

  • MAC
  • Big Ten
  • Pac-12
  • Mountain West
  • UConn
  • UMass
  • Old Dominion
  • New Mexico State

We now have more bowl spots available than teams planning to play in the fall.

FCS calls it mostly quits, but not quite

By the time Thursday afternoon had come and gone, the last of the FCS conferences had put an end to their league schedules. Several were allowing their teams to pursue non-conference games, ostensibly in search of the payday to help stave off the remaining costs associated with the forgone season. That left a dozen or so matchups between FBS and FCS teams on the schedule, including the revised Rice football season opener vs Lamar.

NCAA cancels fall championships

With members schools dropping left and right, it seemed like only a matter of time before this went official: the NCAA has canceled fall championships. The largest caveat, and its a big one, is FBS football. That’s the only fall sport that doesn’t fall under the NCAA Championship umbrella. For the time being, a College Football Playoff is still in the cards.

Last but not least … good news?

Progress on a cheaper COVID-19 test with results in the span of a few hours could be on the horizon. For as little as $10 per person, programs could test all personnel on a regular basis and get same-day results. Accurate and rapid testing isn’t the only problem facing college football right now, but solving this issue would be huge for the sports community.

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