“I think he was the greatest fit for Ole Miss baseball. I think having Joel there, he’ll bring a great, great showing of pitching. He will be the missing tool that they need.”
That's high praise from an arm who led the Ole Miss Rebels to a historic finish in 2022. Dylan DeLucia was named the College World Series MVP that season as Ole Miss claimed its first national championship in program history, pushing through a field that included a complete game shutout from the righty against Arkansas that sent the Rebels to the finals against Oklahoma.
It was after this mountaintop experience that DeLucia was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians in the sixth round of the MLB Draft, and that led him to work with Joel Mangrum. After serving in the Guardians organization for years (four as the Minor League pitching coordinator), Mangrum was officially announced as the Rebels' new pitching coach on Thursday, ushering in a new era for Ole Miss baseball.
DeLucia sat down with Ole Miss On SI to discuss what Mangrum can bring to the table in Oxford, and his high praise continued as he raved about his former mentors, both Mangrum and Rebels head coach Mike Bianco. The former Rebel stated that Mangrum teaches using analytics and pitching plots, showing pitchers how they can best utilize their arsenal and the strike zone to retire hitters.
"I think, honestly, he's great," DeLucia said. "I was talking to Coach B about it a little bit too, but I think he's great because he has that edge to him like Coach B does, but he also has that new [information]...Your pitching plot is what makes up your pitches. If you have a bad pitching plot, then analytically, you're not going to have very good success on the mound.
"Joel teaches a lot about that, how to make a better pitch. He's the best guy I think I've seen with teaching the analytics and also still keeping that 'dog' in someone. Just go out there and compete, at the end of the day."
According to DeLucia, Mangrum has a skill in using analytics to show where a pitcher's "stuff plays," such as getting weak contact with a certain pitch in a certain part of the zone. The relationship between baseball and analytics is ever-evolving, but this data has proven useful to DeLucia in his early professional days.
"He's a guru when he comes to that," DeLucia said.
But college ball and the professional levels are different, right? In some senses, yes, but DeLucia came from the SEC, and he sees a lot of similarities between the two. In short, he believes Mangrum's approach to analytics will translate well for Ole Miss' pitching staff.
"He can break it down and tell you exactly what you need to do," DeLucia said. "When you look at SEC and pro ball, I think they're honestly the same. SEC is the top-of-the-top. I think Joel going to [Ole Miss] will only benefit because he's getting them at such a younger age.
"At pro ball, you're getting the guys who are kind of almost fine-tooled, unless it's a high school guy. A younger guy, you need to teach him. They need to grow, learn how to pitch. That's where Joel comes in. You give him a younger, college-level kid, I think he will excel in that."
Mangrum is a native of Brandon, Mississippi, and he had some college coaching experience before joining the Guardians organization, making stops with Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Austin Peay, Milligan College, and Hinds Community College. Maybe it's the college background or Southern flair, but DeLucia sees some similarities between Mangrum and Bianco, from a personality standpoint.
"I love Joel, personally," DeLucia said. "He has that 'Mississippi' to him. Down-to-earth, chill. I thought of him a little like Coach B, honestly. He'll crack a joke once in a while, but when it's time to be serious, he's serious, and there's no beating around the bush. He'll tell you what you need to do, and 'Hey, if you're messing up, you're messing up.'
"I think he's a great fit. I think [Bianco] teaches the old school, and that's how I've always been taught. That's why I love Coach B and how he teaches. I think Joel is an old school guy who can bring the new school data and technology to it. Those two are kind of similar in the way they are and the way they represent themselves."
As far as DeLucia himself is concerned, he's been on the rehab road following a surgery last June. He threw in spring training a year ago before experiencing elbow soreness and went through two months of rehab before a tear was recognized. On Saturday, he took another step in that process and threw about 30 pitches to live hitters, reaching 94 MPH on the radar gun.
His first rehab game will come next Friday, and if everything goes according to plan, he expects to make his first real start in "three-to-four weeks."
"Honestly, right now, I'm trying to get that competitiveness back in me," DeLucia said. "The last game I threw in, really, was the College World Series. Trying to get that feeling and swagger back is the hardest thing right now, but I feel great."
