Former Rebel Doug Nikhazy Set to Make MLB Debut With Cleveland Guardians Saturday

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Former Ole Miss All-American pitcher Doug Nikhazy will complete his journey to the big leagues on Saturday as he is set to make his Major League Baseball debut with the Cleveland Guardians.

Officially MLB #DougDay … Doug Nikhazy makes his Big League Debut today. Will start for Cleveland against the Red Sox. First pitch expected around 5:10 pm ct pic.twitter.com/aGaaoJBipO

— Land Shark Nation™ (@LandSharkNation) April 26, 2025

Nikhazy will start game two of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox in Cleveland on Saturday night. First pitch is set for 5:10 p.m. CT.

Nikhazy will be the first Rebel to make their MLB debut since Grae Kessinger in 2023 and the 54^th to debut all-time. He is the Guardians’ No. 21 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and made four starts at Triple-A before being called up.

Nikhazy was a two-time All-American at Ole Miss and became just the third Rebel ever to be named a unanimous All-American in 2021. He had a career record of 24-6 with one save in his freshman season. Over 204.2 career innings, Nikhazy posted a 2.81 ERA with 259 strikeouts, the fifth-most in program history.

In 2021, the left-hander became just the fourth Rebel all-time to have a 10-win, 100-strikeout season, finishing 12-2 with 142 punchouts. His 12 wins are still to this day a single-season program record and his 142 strikeouts were just four short of Lance Lynn’s record.

During his freshman season in 2019, Nikhazy set the single-season freshman record for strikeouts with 86. That record was later broken by Hunter Elliott in 2022.

NIkhazy was drafted in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft by Cleveland.