No Tiger All-Stars, But Draft Picks Aplenty

Tuesday night was the MLB All-Star game, and for the first time in a while (thanks to Mad Mighty Max’s years of service), no former Missouri Tigers were represented.

To the (sad) graphic!

However, the Major League Baseball Draft has also been on-going the last few days, and the Tigers were winners there, getting their most draft picks since 2019 (when the draft was still 40 rounds).

Let’s see who heard their name called, shall we?

Spencer Miles, RHP (Jr, Columbia, Mo.)

• Round 4 to the San Francisco Giants (announced Monday)
• 2022 Stats: 6.20 ERA | 1.62 WHIP. | 13 APP | 5-5 RECORD | 69.2 IP | 67 K | .321 Opp BA

Torin Montgomery, IB (Jr, Kirkland, Wash.)

• Round 14 to Florida Marlins
• Drafted in 35th round of 2019 MLB Draft by then-Miami Marlins
• 2022 Stats: .365 BA (.374 in SEC) | 1.009 OPS | 44 R | 66 H | 12 2B | 7 HR | 21 BB | 49 RBI | .547 SLG% | 81 AB

Josh Day, SS (Sr, Natchez, Miss.)

• Round 15 to Arizona Diamondbacks
• Announced decision to grad transfer/declare for draft in last month
• 2022 stats: .340 BA | .943 OPS | 50 R | 29 RBI | 67 H | 10 2B | 7 HR | 23 MHG | .508 SLG% | 193 AB

Some extra info on Day, who recently spoke to ABC17’s Chanel Porter.

Nathan Landry, LHP (Jr, Victoriaville, Quebec)

• Round 15 to Boston Red Sox
• 2022 Stats: 3.67 ERA | 0.91 WHIP | 15 APP | 4-2 RECORD | 1 SAVE | 41.2 IP | .200 OPP BA

Drew Garrett, RHP (Sr, Columbia, Mo.)

• Round 19 to Philadelphia Phillies
• Before Mizzou, played at Johnson County CC
• 2022 Stats: 9.64 ERA | 4 APP | 4.2 IP | 6 K | .278 Opp BA

Jackson Lovich, SS (incoming Fr, Overland Park, KS)

• Round 19 to New York Mets
• Missouri commit, previously committed to University of Cincinnati
• Brother of current Tiger sophomore, Ross Lovich
• 2022 regular season HS stats: .403 BA | .792 SLG% | 15 XBH | 29 H | 6 HR

What I could find on the younger Lovich

Rock M commenter and resident baseball guru, Trripleplay, says there’s also a chance Luke Mann could see himself signing a free agent contract now that the draft has been condensed to 20 rounds. We’ll keep an eye out and report should anything change with Mann or… ahem.. Sam Horn.

On to the Links! Good luck, fellas!

I believe a new CBA might make being a minor leaguer not as terrible anymore as it was previously?

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate’s new piece was about Barry’s Boys: The Remaining Offensive Players from the Odom Era.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The new Rock M Roundtablers focused on the talented crop of wide receivers, while Matthew Smith talked with some of the Tigers’ current wrestlers for a great interview

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More Links:

Football

• Drink and his shoe collection, as opposed to his snarky-ish comments, drew the most attention at SEC Media Days this year. From SECSports.com:

It was quite the compliment. Greg Sankey didn’t just advise everyone at the College Football Hall of Fame late Monday afternoon to peep the sweet Jordan-brand sneakers on the feet of Eliah Drinkwitz. As impressive as that pair was, Sankey wanted everyone in the room to know that the Missouri coach’s shoe game stands out in quantity as well as quality.

“Eliah is the owner of the largest Jordan shoe collection of any FBS head coach,” Sankey said. “We may have network programming around that.”

• Blake Toppmeyer (via USA Today Network) wrote about why he believes Greg Sankey when he says the SEC isn’t too eager to expand more.
• Matt Stahl (Col Tribune) looked at how Mizzou can break out of mediocrity and into winning ways in 2022 as well as the games the players identified will be a measuring stick for the Tigers this season.
• Chris Kwiecinski (Col Tribune) detailed what ESPN’s analysts said Mizzou football needs to be successful in 2022,
• Blair Kerkhoff (KC Star) wrote about Mizzou’s third DC in three years, hoping it will be the charm, while also looking at each of the Tigers’ three QB choices.
• Mitchell Forde (PM) wrote about the revamped Tiger defense, which is eager to prove themselves
• Sean Williams (PM) looked at version 3.0 of the Tigers’ perfect 2023 class.

Hoops

• PowerMizzou finished up the last of their Summer Sessions for a while (they’re still waiting to hear from Isiaih Mosley and one other player— I can’t recall, sorry), but here’s the latest: Major Majak | Jackson Francois | Kaleb Brown | Noah Carter.
• Have a great time, Coach! Also, cool that former longtime WBB assistant Ashleen Bracey is also included in this lineup.

• Well, this is the cutest. (I don’t know why Josh didn’t want to share this adorable-ness in his Links, lol)

Other Mizzou Sports

• A bat signal from Larissa? Could it be…. New coach Jeff Cottrill’s daughter Julia joining him from Oklahoma State? I guess we’ll see… but that would be amazing!

• Looks like everyone has a bat signal these days, huh? Mizzou Gymnastics coach Shannon Welker sounded his own on Tuesday afternoon. What would it be regarding? A new Tiger tumbler? Or a new member of the coaching staff? Who’s to know?

It was a new coach! Welker and MUTigers.com announced the hiring of Whitney Snowden, a former Michigan State Spartan assistant coach. From the MUTigers.com press release:

Over her three seasons at Michigan State, Snowden helped the Spartans to their first postseason berth since 2016. The Spartans also finished second in the 2022 Big Ten Championships, their best performance since 2006.

In 2022, Michigan State went on a record-breaking campaign. Snowden, who oversaw development on vault and floor, helped the Spartans to a new high of 49.4 on vault and 49.675 on floor. As a program Michigan State finished ninth in the country, the best finish in Spartan history. Snowden was named 2022 WCGA Region 4 Assistant Coach of the Year and a member of the 2022 WCGA Coaching Staff of the Year.

• More changes in the athletic department, according to Dave Matter. I’ve met her replacement (Rachel Blunt) several times now through the NIL meetings I’ve been to and she’s great, but Reesman has been there SO LONG. Disappointing. A former Tiger WBB player weighed in on Matter’s announcement:

Mizzou in the Pros/Former Tigers

• In Sunday’s 85-75 loss to the Atlanta Dream, Sophie C played 32 minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-9 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-2 FT), with 9 REB (6 def), 2 AST, 2 TO, and 4 PF. She was -15 in the loss. Side note: Miss you, BG. Hope you’ll be home soon.
• Tilly!!! Back to the CEBL, I presume?

• Enjoy these highlights of the Alumni Game (I also posted a bunch on my twitter, fwiw)

• Former Tigers Mitchell Smith and Jordan Barnett were a part of The Basketball Tournament this weekend. Barnett, in his 28 minutes, had 4 points, 1 AST, 12 REB (9 def), and a BLK. Smith, in his 19 minutes, had 5 points, 2 AST and 7 REB (4 def). Smith currently plays overseas in Germany (maybe?) while... I’m not entirely sure what Barnett is doing.

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