​Happy Friday, everyone. We’ll kick things off with a bit of baseball chatter. The MLB Draft opens tomorrow, and shortstop Justin Lebron is poised to become Alabama’s first top-15 pick in 35 years. Keith Law has Lebron mocked to the Arizona Diamondbacks at pick 15, while ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel believes the Angels will grab him at 12. Lebron’s predecessor has reached the majors, and he delivered a standout performance yesterday. Jarvis went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and a double in Atlanta’s 10-5 victory over the Pirates on Thursday. His two-run, 397-foot blast off Cam Sanders in the fourth extended the Braves’ lead to 5-2 and marked his first big-league home run. Since being recalled from Triple-A in early July, Jarvis has owned regular time at shortstop. He’s gone 6-for-19 over five games after posting a .313/.406/.461 line with six homers in 348 minor-league plate appearances this season. Jarvis didn’t just contribute at the plate, either.
The question around Jim has been whether he could be an everyday, serviceable hitter at the majors. His glove and athleticism are elite, and he has earned a genuine chance to prove he can stick in the lineup.
Shifting to football, Katie Windham observes that year three has treated Alabama’s head coaches well. Since 1989, starting with Billy Curry, every Crimson Tide head coach has logged at least 10 wins in his third season. Sometimes those 10-win campaigns fueled national championships that year or the next, and other times they built a foundation of expectations that the coach would struggle to meet in the following year. Reaching double-digit victories this season remains a baseline expectation for DeBoer in 2026. The real question is how far beyond that he can go. Will he resemble Saban or Gene Stallings in winning a national title in Year 3? Or will he resemble Ray Perkins or Mike DuBose, where a strong third season only raises the bar for Year 4? Ten wins isn’t quite what it used to be, but the trend is still worth watching.
In other news, Dre Kirkpatrick is the latest entry in the “50 players” series. He has been suspended for the remainder of the season but has since rejoined the team. The exact legal resolution remains unclear, and his case and charges are no longer listed in the online court records. Kirkpatrick was back at Alabama for spring practice and now moves toward his junior season, where he will contribute to what could be one of the best secondaries in the country. “Yeah, he faced consequences for what he did and the things he’s gone through,” Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama’s second spring practice. “There are still pieces of that he’s addressing with the team—there are consequences he must handle. He met those requirements and has a great attitude about him. He loves football. He needs to rebuild trust with his teammates every day. He’ll do the things, not just on the field but off it as well, to meet the standard our program expects.”