The Ole Miss Diamond Rebels had two more players selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft Tuesday after LHP Ryan Rolison was selected Monday. Catcher Nick Fortes and RHP Brady Feigl were drafted in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively.
Fortes was chosen in the fourth round by the Miami Marlins, and Feigl went shortly thereafter in the fifth to the Oakland Athletics.
Fortes, a junior catcher, turned in an outstanding season behind the plate as a Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist and Second-Team All-SEC player with SEC Tournament MVP honors. The Deland, Florida native hit .319 with 11 home runs, starting in all 65 games for the Rebels—the majority of which came behind the plate. The Marlins’ fourth-round selection added 11 doubles and a triple while driving in 49 runs and scoring 56 as the Rebels’ three-hole hitter.
Feigl, a 2018 team captain, finished with an 8-5 record and 4.03 ERA in 16 starts as the Rebels’ Saturday night arm. Putting in more than 91.2 innings of work, the junior out of Chesterfield, Missouri struck out 93 batters and walked 26 for a 3.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Opposing hitters batted a collective .260 off Oakland’s round-five selection this season. Feigl made a major jump on the draft charts during the season. He was chosen in the 35th round by the Los Angeles Angels in 2017.
The 2018 MLB draft comes to an end today with rounds 11-40 beginning at noon CT.
Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
