MSU baseball adds Dubrule

Mississippi State shortstop Jordan Westburg and Bulldog second baseman Justin Foscue might be just a few weeks away from hearing their names called early in the MLB Draft. If the two highly-thought-of players elect to head to the professional ranks, MSU might have just picked up a guy that could try and step in and fill one of those departing pairs of shoes.

Graduate transfer Scott Dubrule announced on Monday he is joining the Mississippi State baseball program. Though MSU has not yet officially confirmed DuBrule has joined the team, he is expected to head to the Bulldogs after previously playing at Jacksonville University.

I would like to thank Jacksonville University for a great 4 years. Excited to announce I will be continuing my academic and baseball career at Mississippi State University #HailState pic.twitter.com/QAy5iQtm8d
— Scotty Dubrule (@ScottDubrule) May 11, 2020

Dubrule was having a monster season for Jacksonville in 2020 before the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shut down seasons across the country. Dubrule was the team leader in batting average (.426), hits (29), runs (20) and on-base percentage (.500) when the year abruptly ended.

It continued what was already a standout career for Dubrule at Jacksonville. In 2019, he was first on the team in walks (37), tied for first in triples (2), second in on-base percentage (.404), hits (71) and doubles (10), tied for third in RBI (29) and fourth on the team in batting average (.307). In 2018, Dubrule won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season batting title, hitting .350 with a league-high 76 hits.

Dubrule will now hope to cap off his career by continuing his success with the Bulldogs. He'd have to be considered an early favorite to win a starting middle infield job should Westburg and Foscue indeed head to the professional ranks. Dubrule has played primarily second base over his career, but did spend an entire season as Jacksonville's starting shortstop in 2018.

There's a long time to go before the 2021 season opener, but it certainly appears there's a chance Dubrule might be a favorite to crack the Opening Day lineup, pending what happens with Westburg and Foscue.