August 22, 2017 - All Mississippi Baseball

minor matters

It’s safe to assume Hunter Renfroe is on a mission to get back to the big leagues, and he is certainly off to a good start. Renfroe, the Mississippi State product from Crystal Springs, went 3-for-5 with a double and a triple Monday in his first game with Triple-A El Paso. The rookie outfielder was sent down by San Diego after hitting .230 with 20 home runs and 125 strikeouts through 111 games. … Ex-Petal High star Anthony Alford is on a similar mission. Alford, who got a brief call-up with Toronto in May, doubled, homered and stole a base Monday for Double-A New Hampshire. Alford is hitting .371 over his last 10 games and .322 for the season, with five homers, 23 RBIs and 15 bags. … Bobby Bradley, the former Harrison Central star and a top Cleveland prospect, also had a day: a double, a homer and four RBIs for Double-A Akron. Bradley, a lefty-hitting first baseman, has hit at a .389 clip over his last 10 games, raising his average to .246 with 21 homers and 82 RBIs. Not yet on the Indians’ 40-man roster, the 21-year-old Bradley may be a year away from the big leagues. … Ole Miss alum J.B. Woodman, a Toronto prospect in just his second pro season, went 2-for-5 with two doubles on Monday for Class A Lansing and is hitting .342 over his last 10 games. He’s at .255 with six homers and 42 RBIs this season.

that’s the ticket

Five years after he was drafted 20th overall out of Mississippi State, Chris Stratton is starting to look the part of a first-round pick. Stratton threw six shutout innings for the San Francisco Giants in a 2-0 win over Milwaukee on Monday and notched his second straight win over a contending club. The right-hander from Tupelo, who turns 27 today, beat Washington in his previous start, working 6 2/3 scoreless innings in that game. Overall, he has a 3.98 ERA in seven appearances (four starts) and is 2-2 with a save, which he worked four innings to achieve. Reports indicate the Giants haven’t settled on a role for Stratton, who pitched solely out of the bullpen in seven appearances in 2016. “Any opportunities that come my way, I’ll be ready for anything. If they send me back to the pen, I’ll still do the same thing: try to get out there and put up zeroes,” he told The (San Jose) Mercury News. Oddly enough, Monday’s star turn came five years to the day after Stratton was hit in the head by a batted ball during batting practice while in A-ball. He suffered a concussion that curtailed his rookie season. He progressed incrementally through the Giants’ system thereafter, reaching Triple-A in 2015 and getting his first big league look last year. His minor league numbers are 38-34, 4.07, working almost exclusively as a starter.