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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – July 11

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The 2021 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon ended the first half of the season on the injured list, his third time receiving that designation this season, this time with a hamstring strain keeping him sidelined. He’s expected to be ready after the break

Through the All-Star Break, Rendon is hitting .240 with 19 extra-base hits, 29 walks and 41 strikeouts. His OPS is .712 and he’s collected 34 RBI.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt had a five-game hitting streak interrupted on Saturday. During that run he hit his second home run of the season and collected three RBI.

Through the All-Star Break, Holt is hitting .219 with 11 extra-base hits, 17 walks and 28 strikeouts. His OPS is .620 and he’s collected 15 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey was called upon three times this week, earning a pair of holds and striking out two in 2.1 innings pitched, including two score-less, hit-less outings against the Tigers over the weekend.

Through the All-Star Break, Duffey has a 3.85 ERA with a 1.277 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge only made one appearance since July 4, but it was a good one. He pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief against the Astros, striking out one while retiring all four batters he faced in the big road win. He earned the decision as well, giving him three wins on the year.

Through the All-Star Break, Luetge has a 3.24 ERA with a 1.116 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Seattle Mariners

Chargois toed the rubber twice this week, working a pair of scoreless frames with just one baserunner permitted via hit in the seven hitters he faced.

Through the All-Star Break, Chargois has a 2.59 ERA with a 0.863 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – July 4

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The 2021 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon has started to heat up over the last couple of weeks, including four hits (including the no-doubt home run below) across three games against the Orioles.

Rendon left Sunday’s game with hamstring tightness but is expected to avoid the injured list.

Through July 4, Rendon is hitting .240 with 19 extra-base hits, 29 walks and 41 strikeouts. His OPS is .712 and he’s collected 34 RBI.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt strung together a couple of good games in the Rangers’ holiday weekend series against the Mariners. He collected a two-RBI (below) on Friday and followed up with a 2-for-3 day on Sunday.

Through July 4, Holt is hitting .222 with 10 extra-base hits, 17 walks and 26 strikeouts. His OPS is .625 and he’s collected 14 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey worked a combined two scoreless innings this week, retiring six of the seven batters he faced with one strikeout, one walk and no hits allowed in the process.

Through July 4, Duffey has a 3.45 ERA with a 1.39 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge was thrown the wolves this week, inheriting six total runners in four relief appearances. Five of the six scored. Those outings ballooned Luetge’s ERA after a seven-game stint in which he did not allow an earned run.

Through July 4, Luetge has a 3.46 ERA with a 1.152 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Seattle Mariners

Chargois battled through 1.2 innings of relief work this week, allowing one run on two separate occasions, but doing enough to help the Mariners win both games.

Through July 4, Chargois has a 2.82 ERA with a 0.896 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

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NIL and Rice Athletics: Owls embrace new opportunities

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Name, Imagine and Likeness, or NIL as it’s referenced often in short, has swept across the country. What is it? And how does it impact Rice Athletics?

Effective July 1, NIL legislation in states across the country went into effect with additional guidance from the NCAA serving as a backdrop. As soon as the clock strike midnight, student athletes began to announce new ventures aimed at making a profit using their Name, Imagine and Likeness.

In a nutshell, new NIL policy allows athletes to make money off their own likeness. Much in the same way a Chemistry student could use knowledge from his or her studies to run a tutoring business on the side, now college athletes can monetize themselves in similar ways. Some have launched new businesses. Others have posted branded content on their social media pages. We touched on it briefly in this week’s episode of The Roost Podcast.

How does this impact Rice Athletics?

According to Texas State law, Rice athletes are now free to enter into these types of agreements insofar as they do not overlap with official team activities (practices, class, games, etc.), involve Rice branding or property, or serve as endorsements for drugs, alcohol, gambling or other elicit businesses. And most importantly, no athlete can receive compensation for their performance on the field.

Student athletes must disclose potential agreements to the compliance staff, with opportunities exceeding $5,000 requiring approval from the Athletic Director. So far, we’ve seen several take advantage of their newfound rights.

NIL and Rice Athletes

A whole host of Owls have signed up to offer personalized coaching on Vevole which describes itself as “a video coaching platform that powers personal achievement through accessible coaching.” Individual coaches can select their own rates. Current and former Rice affiliated coaches include:

  • Michael Whitehead, Golf
  • Kel Bordwine, Baseball
  • Justin Collins, Baseball
  • Benjamin Content, Baseball
  • Alex DeLeon, Baseball
  • Carly Graham, Volleyball
  • Anthonio Cruz, Baseball
  • Jimmy Comerota, Baseball
  • Connor Teykl, Baseball
  • Tamir Jackson, Basketball
  • Blair Lewis, Baseball
  • Noah Hutchins, Basketball

Others have announced partnerships with Yoke Gaming, a service that allows fans to “compete face-to-face” with their favorite athletes in online video games. Current Rice football players Khalan Griffin and Plae Wyatt have both posted announcements regarding their involvement on Instagram.

Current Rice basketball guard Quincy Olivari announced a partnership with Go Puff, a delivery service for food and drinks.

The most creative use of the new rules belongs to Rice offensive lineman Nick Wagman.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MiLB Owls end of June update

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While several Rice Baseball alums are producing at the highest level, others are working their way up the ladder. Here’s the latest on the MiLB Owls.

Triple-A

Jon Duplantier (Diamondbacks) made two appearances with the Reno Aces before called back up to the big leagues, where he stayed for a couple of weeks, making four appearances, before being placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained middle finger. He hasn’t made an appearance at either level since. Collectively, Duplantier had a 13.15 ERA with the Diamondbacks before he was sent down. Duplantier’s teammate, Kevin McCanna, remains on the injured list. He has yet to make an appearance this year.

Jordan Stephens (Indians) has been a steady hand out of the pen. He allowed three runs in his first relief outing of the season, rebounding nicely with a 1.42 ERA in his 10 subsequent appearances. He holds a season ERA of 3.38 and is averaging 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

At the plate, Tristan Gray (Rays) has been picking up steam. He tallied seven hits and four RBI over a six-game series with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp this week. He’s hitting .212 for the season with five extra-base hits. His OPS is .646 and he’s collected eight RBI.

Double-A

Recently named the No. 3 hottest pitching prospect in baseball by Baseball America, Glen Otto (Yankees). That’s the kind of thing that happens when you have outings like this:

Otto has a 3.96 ERA this season. He’s struck out 83 batters in 52.1 innings pitched and owns a .958 WHIP.

Ford Proctor (Rays) has gotten off to a slow start. He’s hitting .168 this season in 38 games, well below his career .295 average. He’s still found a way to get on base, drawing 28 walks, lifting him to a .333 on-base percentage

More: Check out the most recent MLB Owls Pro Update

Ricky Salinas (Indians) made the jump to Double-A this month. Salinas has made six appearances since the jump. He has a 4.30 ERA in those outings, striking out 36 batters across 29.1 innings.

Single-A

Matt Canterino (Twins) hasn’t appeared in a game since the end of May, currently residing on the injured list. Before he stepped off the rubber, Cantero was dealing, striking out 35 of the 68 batters he faced, posting a staggering 17.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Evan Kravetz (Reds, High-A) joined his former teammate on the injured list in mid-June. Prior to that, Kravetz had started his season with a 1.64 ERA across six games, striking out 33 batters in 22 innings, averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s only allowed 10 hits.

More: Check out the most recent summer ball update

Dane Myers (Tigers, Low-A) is on his third team of the season, starting the year in Low-A before making the jump to Double-A and moving back to High-A. Across all three leagues, he’s hitting .283 in 75 plate appearances, collecting six extra-base hits. He has a .867 OPS.

Trei Cruz (Tigers, High-A) has started to get going after a slow start to his pro career. He held a .105 average after his first 17 games but has since raised it to .164, currently riding a four-game hitting streak. His first triple of the season helped jump-start the rally.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 Summer Ball – June 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.

First a quick note on rosters. I’ve tracked down all players that I could find with listed statistics, but I know there are others playing ball this summer. If you come across information on anyone else associated with Rice baseball playing summer ball, please send it my way. You can leave it in the comments or send it to me some other way. Thanks!

Hitters

There’s been no slowing down the pair of Owls currently laying the wood in the Valley Baseball League. Austin Bulman is third in the league with a .386 average across 17 games, only one spot above his teammate, Nathan Becker, who is fourth with a .368 average.

Bulman’s done his damage with the long ball while Becker has churned out more singles (17) than games played (16). Guy Garibay isn’t far behind them in the California League, keeping his average near the .300 mark in the early portions of the season.

Four of the seven Rice hitters have an average of .294 or better through 10+ games. That’s an encouraging development from where things stood last summer when it was essential just Garibay and Becker showing any sort of consistency at the plate.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

We saw flashes from freshman Matthew Linskey in limited innings with the Owls this spring. He’s kept that going into the summer, coming out of the gates with three impressive showings for the Walnut Creek Crawdads of the California League. He’s allowed one hit over 8.1 innings, a staggering line.

Dalton Wood and Jared Planks also had positive debuts. Apart from Linskey, nobody has worked that many innings in the young season, so there’s plenty of time for each to progress as the season marches on.

Pitching Stats

*All stats as of July 23 taken from league and team websites.

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