Five Ole Miss baseball players heard their names called this past week in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. Pitchers Mike Mayers and Bobby Wahl along with Stuart Turner were all taken in the first five rounds of the draft, while pitchers Brett Huber and Tanner Bailey were taken in the 31st and 32nd rounds, respectively. Turner was the first to see his name come off the board when the Minnesota Twins selected him with the 78th overall pick. Next was Mayers who went 98th to the St. Louis Cardinals, followed by Wahl who went 161st to the Oakland Athletics. While those three will part ways, Huber and Bailey will continue to be teammates after both were selected by the Detroit Tigers.
Wahl, Turner and Mayers, all juniors, have an opportunity to return to Ole Miss for their senior seasons, while Huber and Bailey will take the leap to the majors after recently completing their senior seasons.
Although most believed all five would be drafted, it was the order that was suprising. After going 10-0 and posting a 2.03 ERA in his 16 starts this season, Wahl was projected to be a first round draft pick. However, he fell to the fifth round.
“First off I want to thank the Oakland Athletics for drafting me and taking a chance on me,” Wahl said. “It didn’t really go as I planned, but that’s part of the draft that you have to learn from. Nothing is ever really set in stone. You truly never know when your name is going to be called. (Thursday) night I waited for my name, and it didn’t happen. I had a good feeling that it would be called (Friday), I just didn’t know when.”
For many baseball players, becoming a professional is a dream, but for these five the dream has become a reality.
“It’s an exciting time, to be drafted by such a great organization and still have the dream that I’ve had since I can remember growing up,” Mayers said. “This has always been my dream. To be 21 years old and still have this dream is a great experience and I’m blessed to be where I am.”
Turner had the same sort of feelings about being drafted.
“I’ve been a baseball player my whole life. You always dream of playing professional ball and playing big league ball,” Turner said. “It’s just a stepping stone and definitely one of the stops along the way. Hopefully it opens this path up for the future. Just looking forward to getting back to work and continuing down the road. The ultimate goal isn’t accomplished yet.”
Turner, who is a finalist for the Johnny Bench award, which is given to the best catcher in college baseball, and who also led the Rebels offensively this season, is one of the biggest question marks for Ole Miss with whether or not he will return next season. Wahl is also right along with him.
“Of course I’ve thought about it,” Wahl said about returning to Ole Miss. “No matter what would have happened I would have thought about it, even if I’d have gone in the top 10 picks. Ole Miss is a special place, a place I’ve called home. Obviously I’m thinking about it, but I’m in a win-win situation here with the Athletics. It’s a great organization. I have to wait and see.”
After spending the past few years together in the Rebel bullpen, Huber and Bailey will continue on together in the majors as teammates. Huber, the all-time saves leader at Ole Miss, said it was a great opportunity to continue to play with Bailey.
“Right when I texted (Tanner), he called me and said ‘We’re going to be teammates.’ It was really cool,” Huber said. “He deserves it just as much as I do. We both love to play baseball, and we’re going to keep playing the game we both love.”
Although the five have achieved many individual milestones, they give lots of credit to Rebel head coach Mike Bianco for helping them along the way.
“Coach Bianco definitely gets you ready for the next level and life in general,” Mayers said. “He plays a huge role in all our players growing up and becoming men. I definitely grew up and it was kind of under his wing. I can’t thank him enough for that. My maturity level and my knowledge about the game, a lot of credit goes to him.”
