When JB Middleton went toe-to-toe against the national champs, Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander knew he had his ace.
After a rough freshman season in which Middleton posted an 8.68 ERA and dealt with a foot injury, the then-sophomore right-hander pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed one earned run against Tennessee in the Knoxville Regional.
It was only Middleton’s third college start, but he kept the Golden Eagles in the game against the Volunteers, who went on to win the College World Series. The performance foretold the pitcher Middleton became in 2025 en route to the Rockies picking him in the second round of the MLB draft.
“That game made me go, ‘This dude needs to be in our rotation next year,’” Ostrander recalled. “That was a really good team in a really hostile environment, and he wasn’t scared at all. He stared them in the face. He threw three fastballs past (one of their best hitters).
“It was moments like that that really caught my eye. The guy the year before would’ve been too timid; he wouldn’t have believed. It was a stepping-stone moment for him.”
Middleton emerged as the Golden Eagles’ Friday night starter this spring, going 10-1 with a 2.31 ERA over 16 starts. That jump was enough to convince the Rockies to draft him at No. 45 overall last Sunday.
He represents the franchise’s latest roll of the dice on a college pitcher high in the draft. Colorado expects him to emerge as a No. 2 or No. 3 starter when he gets to Coors Field, but recent history indicates that’s easier said than done.
The Rockies haven’t had a second-round starting pitcher make a significant impact in the majors since taking Aaron Cook at No. 70 overall in 1997. The club has hit on several notable position players in the round, however, including third baseman Ryan McMahon in 2013, third baseman Nolan Arenado in 2009 and outfielder Charlie Blackmon in 2008.
Taking a broader view, the Rockies have drafted 12 college pitchers in the first or second round since 2015. None of those picks have established themselves as pillars in the rotation, though 2023 No. 9 overall pick Chase Dollander debuted this season and there is hope he can break that drought.
Either way, Middleton will need to defy the franchise’s recent misses — after making a big leap in his final college season.
That jump from an underwhelming freshman campaign to being one of the top-rated college pitchers in the draft two years later wouldn’t have been possible without the mechanical adjustments he made following his junior season.
Rather than return to the Cape Cod League where he played the prior summer, Middleton hung around Hattiesburg. He and the Southern Miss coaches worked to refine his delivery, including making him more upright, less rotational, and increasing the extension on his pitches. Those adjustments were made over the course of more than a month via towel drills, box drills and other repetitive movements to go along with his work in flatgrounds and bullpens.
“I was all out of whack before that,” Middleton said. “I had a big step (to start my windup), I would get all off-balance, and could just never find any rhythm with it. … That’s why it was the best decision that we made for my career for me to stay around that summer.”
With the adjustments, Middleton increased the late break on all his pitches and upped his strike percentage, too. Ostrander said the right-hander went from about a 58% strike thrower to the range of 67% to 70% this season. Middleton had 25 walks in 37 1/3 innings as a sophomore, then had 25 walks again as a junior, this time in 105 1/3 innings.
Middleton had a few signature outings this season that underscored his leap. He threw seven innings of two-run ball with 10 strikeouts against Old Dominion on March 14, baffled South Alabama with a one-hitter and 12 strikeouts in eight innings on March 28, and again registered 12 Ks in eight innings of one-run ball against Georgia State on April 17.
“After I got past those first three or four weeks of the season, I felt like I took off and never looked back,” Middleton said.
Middleton’s mid-90s fastball suddenly had increased top-side carry, his changeup faded harder than before and his cutter and slider also improved. That earned him serious attention from the Rockies and other clubs, with hordes of scouts attending his games this season.
Colorado knew of Middleton since he pitched at tiny Benton Academy in Yazoo City, Miss., and the club’s senior director of scouting operations Marc Gustafson took note of his drastic improvement since his prep days.
Considering Middleton’s high workload at Southern Miss, it’s unlikely the Rockies will debut him in the minors this season. Middleton officially signed on Sunday at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale for $2.07 million, just under the slot value of the pick ($2.17 million).
The fact that Middleton stands at 6-foot, shorter than a prototypical right-handed big-league starter, didn’t matter to the Rockies.
“Sometimes you just have to throw away all that (talk about height) and just know that good is good,” Gustafson said. “There’s been some guys in the history of the game who are a little bit shorter in stature, but tougher in guts, and he’s got it. It’s a nice blend of stuff and repeatability.”
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