October 1, 2018 - All Mississippi Baseball

stealing the show

Javier Baez may be an MVP candidate, but the shortstop who most looked the part in today’s tiebreaker game at Wrigley Field was Orlando Arcia. Biloxi Shuckers fans will remember him. The former Shuckers star went 4-for-4 and scored twice as Milwaukee beat Chicago 3-1 to claim the National League Central title. For Arcia, it was the kind of performance Brewers fans – and brass — had thought they’d see more of. Arcia, 24, had a poor season in 2018, batting just .227 and spending time in the minors, but he was a full-fledged star as he rose through Milwaukee’s system. He batted .307 with eight homers, 69 RBIs and 25 steals on a good Biloxi team in 2015. He played in the All-Star Futures Game that summer. He was a Triple-A Pacific Coast League All-Star in 2016 and made his big league debut that year. Arcia hit .277 with 15 homers and 14 bags as the Brewers’ regular shortstop in 2017 but started so poorly this year that he went to the minors for much of June and July. It’s October now, and he looks like he belongs in The Show.

when september ends

If it was his last act as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, it was very cool. Former Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton was removed mid-game in Sunday’s season finale and paused on his way off the field to hand his jersey and cap to young fans sitting near the Reds’ dugout. “It gave me chills when I gave it to them walking off the field. It was great,” Hamilton told mlb.com. Hamilton figures to be the subject of trade speculation – again — as the Reds go into rebuild mode this off-season. He finished his fifth full MLB season with a .236 average (.299 on-base percentage), 74 runs and 34 steals (a career-low) in 153 games. Hamilton is a stellar defensive center fielder, but his hitting remains a concern. He is 28 and a year away from free agency. P.S. The curtain fell on the season for several other Mississippians on Sunday, including Spencer Turnbull and JaCoby Jones with Detroit, Dakota Hudson and Mike Mayers with St. Louis and Chris Stratton with San Francisco. All were on the losing end of games that were very meaningful for their postseason-bound opponents. Turnbull, the ex-Madison Central standout, battled Milwaukee into the sixth inning, yielding four runs while drawing rave comments about his stuff from MLB Network analysts. Mississippi State alum Stratton was one of several Giants pitchers roughed up by the Los Angeles Dodgers in their blowout win. … A number of notable Mississippians weren’t on active rosters for Sunday’s finales. Zack Cozart, Jarrod Dyson and Kendall Graveman finished the year on the disabled list. So did Bobby Wahl, who was up for just a few days with the New York Mets. Jacob Lindgren spent the entire year on Atlanta’s DL. David Goforth spent the season in the minors. Alex Presley, T.J. House and Chad Girodo were released during the season without making an MLB appearance. Veteran Chris Coghlan signed late with the Chicago Cubs and didn’t get a call-up. Free agents Seth Smith and Tyler Moore never got a job at all.