Doug Nikhazy is making moves.
Nikhazy is a left-handed pitcher and one of the most accomplished in Ole Miss baseball history. He was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Nikhazy quickly moved through the system. The 24-year-old Nikhazy — in his third professional season — was first placed in High-A Lake County. He had a 3.17 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 11 starts for the Double-A Akron RubberDucks this season.
He was promoted to AAA Columbus on Tuesday — now only a single step removed from MLB. Nikhazy will debut on Thursday.
“I’ve been in the dugout with plenty of big-leaguers,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement told the Ole Miss Spirit last month. “He’s the best college pitcher I’ve been around.
“I would downsize our house and give up half my salary, safely, to have him back. Send our kids to public school. Never eat out. Save all my money for Doug Nikhazy to come back. He can have my office.”
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Nikhazy struck out nearly 26 percent of the batters he faced for the RubberDucks.
What’s seemingly been most important for his advancement, though, is the reduction in walk rate.
Nikhazy has cut his percentage from 15.4 over 26 appearances (22 starts) last season to 10.1 in 2024. He was an MiLB Pitcher of the Week in April. Nikhazy worked 6.1 innings against Hartford on Friday. He struck out five, walked three and gave up a run on one hit.
“The hitters get more talented the higher you go,” Nikhazy told the Ole Miss Spirit last week. Joel Mangrum is Nikhazy’s former minor-league pitching coach. Mangrum was hired in the same capacity at Ole Miss two weeks ago.
Nikhazy continued, “They do a really good job of game-planning for hitters. (I want to be) less one-dimensional in my plan of attack. You’ve just got to continue to try to be dominant and throw in ways that are harder (with) pitches moving more. I know that started for me when I was in college, but that pursuit never stops.”
Nikhazy and Gunnar Hoglund became the first pair of Ole Miss pitchers drafted in the first two rounds of a single draft in program history.
Nikhazy had eight double-digit strikeout games as a senior. He finished with 142 total Ks — the second-most ever by a Rebel. Lance Lynn, who’s in his 13th season in the majors, had 146 in 2007. Drew Pomeranz is third (139 in 2019), while Will Kline is fourth (134 in 2007).
Nikhazy was just the fourth-ever Rebel (and first pure pitcher) twice named an All-American.
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