Mike Bianco Has High Praise For New Ole Miss Pitching Coach Joel Mangrum
Ole Miss baseball head coach Mike Bianco raved about pitching coach Joel Mangrum on Tuesday.
For the first time in over two decades, Mike Bianco is not handling pitching staff duties for the Ole Miss Rebels. Instead, he is simply operating as the head coach while new staff addition Joel Mangrum takes over the arms on the hill.
Mangrum came on board at Ole Miss over the summer after spending multiple stints at the college and professional levels working on pitcher development. During the Rebels’ baseball media day on Tuesday, Bianco had nothing but praise for what Mangrum brings to the table for his pitching staff, especially on individual interaction.
“He’s able to be with them so much more which is great and refreshing where they get a lot more one-on-one time,” Bianco said.
But what went into the decision to hire Mangrum specifically? There were multiple different directions the Rebels could have gone, but they had a few key qualities in mind that they wanted to find in their new pitching coach besides just someone to call pitches on game days.
“We wanted to hire somebody who was at the top of technology, development, somebody from professional baseball,” Bianco said. “Not just a minor league pitching coach–not throwing stones at those guys–but somebody at an upper level who is used to dealing with a lot of technology because we wanted to be cutting edge.
“We also wanted someone with a college background. A lot of pro guys, they don’t have to develop them for years. You draft a kid out of Oxford High School at 18 years old, he doesn’t have to make it to the big leagues for five years. We need him to develop in five months. … Joel’s background in college before professional baseball lends itself to that.”
Bianco did confirm that Mangrum will handle pitch-calling duties during games for Ole Miss this season, a role that Bianco held previously. The head coach also announced what his starting rotation would be this weekend as the Rebels open their season in Arlington, going with LHP Hunter Elliott, RHP Riley Maddox and RHP Mason Nichols in the first three games of the year.
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