The MLB Draft is close enough now that nothing feels hypothetical anymore.
Next Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia will decide exactly how different Ole Miss looks on the mound in 2027, and the truth is the picture hasn’t changed much over the last couple of weeks.
Taylor Rabe and Cade Townsend are still projected to go high. High enough that you can safely assume they won’t be back in Oxford next season.
That alone reshapes the weekend rotation.
Losing two arms who are both viewed as Top‑40 prospects in the upcoming draft is the kind of hit you don’t simply patch over with one transfer or a couple of freshmen.
Rabe’s rise up draft boards has been one of the bigger storylines of the summer. Baseball America bumped him to No. 39 last month. Townsend has stayed steady in the Top‑30 range, even landing at No. 24 on Perfect Game’s list.
MLB.com’s latest mock still has Townsend going first, slotted to Colorado at No. 37 with a nearly $2.7 million value.
Either way, both are likely gone. That’s been the expectation for the last month or two, and nothing has happened to change it.
Wil Libbert is also a draft candidate, but his situation doesn’t swing the roster the same way. He’s a good arm with real value, but the rotation questions start and end with Rabe, Townsend and the biggest unknown of all.
Hunter Elliott.
Elliott is the biggest question mark. If he’s drafted high enough, he’s gone. If he isn’t, Ole Miss suddenly has the last remaining player with a national championship ring back for another season.
It’s hard to overstate how much Elliott’s decision changes the math.
And that’s why the next week feels so important. Ole Miss can’t control what happens in Philadelphia, but it has done everything possible to prepare for the fallout.
The transfer portal additions tell the story. Kendall Hoffman from Houston. Eli Pillsbury from Jacksonville State. Mavrick Rizy from LSU. Charlie Foster from Mississippi State. Charlie Wilcox from Georgia Tech.
That’s a full rotation’s worth of arms, and every one of them has the potential to pitch meaningful innings right away. Some project as weekend starters. Some look like high‑leverage bullpen pieces.
All of them give Ole Miss options it didn’t have a month ago.
That’s the point. You don’t replace Rabe and Townsend with one guy. You replace them with depth, competition and enough upside that at least two of those arms can grow into weekend roles.
The draft will also take its swing at the high school class. Cole Prosek and Taj Marchand are still expected to go early, maybe even earlier than Townsend. Ole Miss has been bracing for that.
So here we are. One week out. The picture is clear enough to see the outlines but blurry enough that the final version could still surprise everyone.
Rabe and Townsend are gone. Libbert is a maybe. Elliott is the hinge point.
And Ole Miss has spent the last month building a safety net strong enough to handle whatever the draft throws at it.
Next weekend will tell the rest of the story.
Ole Miss Baseball 2026 Transfer Portal Tracker
Outgoing Transfers
- Noah Allen, RHP (Alabama)
- Blake Ilitch, RHP
- Brett Moseley, OF
- Brayden Randle, UTL
- Tate Sirmans, OF
Incoming Transfers
- Brady Dallimore, C (TCU)
- Blake Fields, OF/INF (Houston)
- Charlie Foster, LHP (Mississippi State)
- Jason Fultz, 3B (Clemson)
- Trey Hawsey, 1B (Louisiana Tech)
- Kendall Hoffman, RHP (Houston)
- Eli Pillsbury, LHP (Jacksonville State)
- Mavrick Rizy, RHP (LSU)
- Andrew Rogovic, RHP (Northeastern)
- Brent Stukes, RHP (USC Upstate)
- Charlie Wilcox, RHP (Georgia Tech)
