Tag Archives: American Association

21 Sep

reaping rewards

Blaze Jordan finished the 2023 season in the Double-A Eastern League, but the former DeSoto Central High masher left his mark in the High-Class A South Atlantic League. Jordan was named the third baseman on milb.com’s SAL All-Star team. Rated the No. 12 prospect in Boston’s organization, Jordan hit .324 (.533 slug) with 12 homers and 55 RBIs in 73 games for High-A Greenville, helping the Drive win a first-half division title before his promotion to Double-A Portland on July 14. The Drive won the league championship on Tuesday. Jordan, at age 20 the youngest player on Portland’s roster, batted .254 with six homers and 31 RBIs for the Sea Dogs. A Portland teammate recently said this about Jordan in an milb.com piece: “He’s one of those guys that will roll out of bed and just hit .300, just rake, his first swing of the day is just a backside missile at 107 mph. It’s unbelievable.” A 6 feet 2, 220 pounds, power is Jordan’s best tool; he has 36 homers in 270 pro games. P.S. A couple more Mississippians got to celebrate minor league championships on Wednesday. Decatur native and ex-Ole Miss standout Kemp Alderman helped Jupiter, a Miami affiliate, win the Low-A Florida State League pennant, beating Clearwater 7-4 in the deciding game. Alderman, a second-round draftee this year and the Marlins’ No. 9 prospect, batted .313 in the playoffs and .205 with a homer and 15 RBIs for the season. He went 0-for-2 with three walks, a run and an RBI in Wednesday’s game. Mississippi State alum Christian MacLeod, a third-year pro, partied with the Cedar Rapids Kernels after the Minnesota affiliate won the High-A Midwest League title. MacLeod, a lefty, went 5-2 with a 4.13 ERA this season. … MSU product Jacob Robson went 1-for-4 with two RBIs as Kansas City beat Chicago 7-6 on Wednesday to claim the independent American Association’s Wolff Cup. Robson hit .250 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs for the Monarchs this season and hit three bombs in the postseason. Ex-MSU standout Gavin Collins, who didn’t play in the clincher, batted .314 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs for KC. The Monarchs’ first-base coach is Greenville native and former MLB All-Star Frank White.

16 Sep

here and there

Mashing three home runs, including Wes Clarke’s 26th of the year, Biloxi pounded Montgomery 9-2 on Friday night at MGM Park to stay alive in the fight for the second-half title in the Southern League South. The Double-A Shuckers, a Milwaukee farm club, must win the last two games against the Biscuits to make the postseason for the first time since 2019. … South Panola High product Emaarion Boyd went 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base as Clearwater beat Lakeland 2-1 to reach the championship series in the Low-Class A Florida State League. The Threshers, a Philadelphia affiliate, will play Jupiter (Miami) for the league title. Ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman is a starting outfielder for Jupiter. … Former Mississippi College standout Blaine Crim smacked homers No. 19 and 20 and ex-Mississippi State standout Justin Foscue added his 16th as Triple-A Round Rock (Texas) beat Las Vegas 7-3 in a matchup of Pacific Coast League division leaders. Crim and Foscue combined for six RBIs. … MSU alum Zac Houston, 28, now in his seventh minor league season, got a win in relief for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees), striking out four Buffalo batters in two scoreless innings. Houston, who has a 4.62 ERA, is averaging 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings for the RailRiders. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has a 3.17 career ERA while averaging 13.7 punchouts per nine. … The independent American Association’s Wolff Cup Finals begin tonight with the Kansas City Monarchs — featuring MSU alums Jacob Robson and Gavin Collins — taking on Chicago Dogs. … In MLB, former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner went 2-for-2 with an RBI to help Minnesota beat the Chicago White Sox 10-2 and reduce its magic number to 7 for clinching the American League Central crown. … Ex-George County High standout Justin Steele suffered a rare rocky outing (six runs on two homers in six innings) as the Cubs fell at Arizona 6-4. Steele is 16-4 with a 2.73. The Cubs are clinging to the second wild card in the National League, with the Diamondbacks and three other clubs in hot pursuit. … MSU products Jordan Westburg and Adam Frazier were a combined 0-for-5 with three strikeouts as Baltimore lost to visiting Tampa Bay 7-1 and fell into a tie for first place with the Rays in the AL East.

09 Sep

playoffs? yes, playoffs

Jacob Robson, Mississippi State alum and onetime big leaguer, homered and drove in two runs to spark Kansas City to a series-clinching 4-0 win Friday night against Sioux Falls in the Wolff Cup opening round, aka the independent American Association playoffs. Robson and fellow former Bulldogs standout Gavin Collins combined for three RBIs in KC’s 9-1 win in the series opener on Wednesday. The Monarchs advance to the semifinals, where they’ll face Sioux City, which eliminated Fargo-Moorhead, in a best-of-3 series beginning Monday. Former Itawamba Community College star Delvin Zinn went 2-for-7 with a couple of RBIs for Sioux City in its opening series. Ole Miss alum Parker Caracci pitched for Sioux City in that series. Robson — who got seven at-bats with Detroit in 2021 — hit .250 with 10 homers, 31 RBIs and 23 steals for the Monarchs this season, and Collins batted .315 with 10 bombs and 41 RBIs. Former Delta State star Dalton Moats went 5-3 with a 4.61 ERA for KC but is not currently active. Zinn, who swiped 92 bases in six seasons in the Chicago Cubs’ system, got 29 bags for Sioux City this year despite hitting just .211. … Former Columbia High star Ti’Quan Forbes, after a brief foray into the Mexican League, is back with New Jersey in the independent Frontier League, which started its postseason on Thursday. Forbes’ Jackals won their playoff opener and play Game 2 in the best-of-3 division series today against Quebec. Forbes, a longtime minor leaguer, batted .298 with 17 homers, 45 RBIs and 16 bags for New Jersey. P.S. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate based in Grand Chute, are celebrating Bratoberfest tonight and giving away a bobblehead of Mississippian Tim Dillard shooting the team’s Bratzooka, which he did at a game last year. Ex-big leaguer Dillard, a Saltillo High and ICC alum, is now a Brewers broadcaster following an 18-year pro career that ended in 2020.

15 Aug

under the radar

It’s tough to get much attention in the American Association, an independent league of mostly Midwest teams with odd nicknames. Gavin Collins deserves a little love. The Mississippi State alum has banged out 16 hits over his last 10 games for the Kansas City Monarchs, a .381 clip that has boosted his average to .314. Playing catcher and some third base, Collins, 28, has 10 homers and 41 RBIs for a team that leads the AA’s West Division with a 46-33 record. Collins may also have found it difficult to get much attention while at MSU, where, in his junior year of 2016, his teammates included Brent Rooker, Nathaniel Lowe, Dakota Hudson, Ethan Small, Konnor Pilkington and Jake Mangum. Collins hit .302 for a 44-win team that reached a Super Regional, and he was a 13th-round pick by Cleveland in the 2016 draft. He spent six years in the Indians/Guardians’ minor league system, batting .246 overall and reaching the Triple-A level. He became a free agent at the end of the 2022 season, signed with Tampa Bay and went to the Rays’ spring training camp before being released at the end of March. He then signed with the Monarchs, who also suit up ex-Bulldogs standout Jacob Robson, Delta State product Dalton Moats and Chris Herrmann — another catcher, one who spent eight years in the big leagues and currently leads the team in average, homers and RBIs. P.S. With Ozzie Albies on the injured list, Atlanta reportedly has called up former Mississippi Braves star Vaughn Grissom from Triple-A Gwinnett, probably as the backup to Nicky Lopez at second base. Grissom, a righty hitter, is hitting .327 with six homers and 50 RBIs. The Braves’ other infield option at Gwinnett was ex-M-Braves star Braden Shewmake, a lefty hitter and better fielder than Grissom who is batting .229 with 13 homers, 57 RBIs and 20 steals. That’s some kinda system depth. … Also back in The Show is former M-Braves infielder Johan Camargo, recently signed and called up Monday by San Francisco. Camargo spent 10 years in the Atlanta system and was in Pearl in 2016.

07 Jun

kc connection

There is a strong Mississippi flavor on the roster of the Kansas City Monarchs, who play in the independent American Association. Former Mississippi State standout Gavin Collins is the team’s regular catcher and is batting .362, ranking among the league leaders heading into a game today. Collins, a six-year minor leaguer, was in Tampa Bay’s big league camp this spring. Outfielder Jacob Robson, another ex-Bulldogs star and onetime big leaguer, has four homers and nine RBIs. He played for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Both Collins and Robson went deep in a Tuesday loss to Lincoln. On the bump, the Monarchs have Delta State product Dalton Moats, a lefty who is 2-2 with a 6.63 ERA, and former Mississippi Braves right-hander Patrick Weigel, who has some MLB time. Longtime major league star Frank White, a Greenville native who won a World Series with the Royals, is the first-base coach for the Monarchs. The team, which has a 14-9 record entering play today, used to be known as the T-Bones but adopted the old Negro Leagues moniker a couple of years ago. They play at Legends Field, not far from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

18 Jun

whatever happened to …

Jacob Lindgren, the former Mississippi State star, is pitching for the Kansas City Monarchs in the independent American Association. The 29-year-old left-hander has a 2.25 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 16 innings out of the bullpen. Lindgren zipped up to the big leagues in 2015, one year after being drafted by the New York Yankees, but was knocked off course by numerous injuries. His seven MLB appearances seven years ago are all he has made.
Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi Community College product, has been on the injured list (a common theme here) all season at Triple-A Durham in Tampa Bay’s system. The lefty, 29, made seven appearances for the Rays in 2021 and has a 5.22 career ERA in 65 MLB games.
Aaron Barrett, the veteran pro from Ole Miss, is pitching (15.00-plus ERA) for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Philadelphia chain. Barrett, 34, has a 4.01 career ERA in the big leagues and won a ring with the 2019 Washington Nationals.
Jonathan Holder, ex-MSU standout, has been on the injured list all year at Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs’ system. The 29-year-old right-hander pitched in just two minor league games in 2021. He has a 4.38 career ERA in MLB, last appearing in 2020 with the Yankees.
Jacob Waguespack, Ole Miss alum, is in Japan, where the 28-year-old righty is 1-3, 4.54 ERA, in seven games for Orix of the Japan Pacific League. He has 27 games (5.08 ERA) on his MLB resume, all with Toronto in 2019-20.
Cody Carroll, the former Southern Miss star, has worked in 12 games (9.00 ERA) for Triple-A Sacramento in San Francisco’s system. Carroll, 29, made 18 big league appearances with Baltimore from 2018-20.
James McArthur, an Ole Miss product who made the Phillies’ 40-man roster in the off-season, is 2-6, 5.00, for Double-A Reading in his second tour at that level.
J.T. Ginn, the former second-round pick out of State, is on the injured list at Double-A Midland, having made only five appearances (6.48 ERA) for the Oakland affiliate. Ginn was traded from the New York Mets to the A’s for Chris Bassitt during spring training.
Cole Gordon, ex-MSU standout, is on the injured list with the Mets’ Triple-A Syracuse club; he has pitched just two innings in 2022. The right-hander has a 3.51 ERA over three minor league seasons.
Jared Johnson, an Atlanta draftee out of Smithville High in 2019, has been on the injured list all season at Low-A Augusta. He posted a 2-6 record, 5.16 ERA, in 15 games in the low minors last year.

27 Aug

worth noting

Lance Lynn came in second in the American League Cy Young race in a poll of mlb.com experts. The former Ole Miss standout is 10-3 with a league-best 2.20 ERA for the first-place Chicago White Sox. Mississippi State product Brandon Woodruff (8-7, 2.38 for first-place Milwaukee) got one first-place vote in the National League voting but finished outside the top five overall. … Boston placed Crystal Springs native Hunter Renfroe on the bereavement list on Thursday. It isn’t clear when Renfroe – batting .258 with 25 homers and 77 RBIs – will return to the team. … After the cancellation of the current homestand because of COVID-19 protocols, the Mississippi Braves have only one homestand remaining: Sept. 7-12 against Montgomery. The M-Braves are 58-39, best record in the Double-A South, with 18 total regular season games left. They visit Biloxi next week. … Keep an eye on former Biloxi High standout Colt Keith, a fast-rising prospect (currently No. 12) in Detroit’s system. The state’s 2019 player of the year after moving to the Coast from Arizona, Keith was a fifth-round draft pick in 2020. A lefty-hitting third baseman, he has played at three levels in his pro debut season. He was batting .320 (.436 on-base percentage) in Low-A ball when the Tigers bumped him up to High-A West Michigan on Monday. … Ex-Ole Miss star Errol Robinson is now playing for Sioux City of the independent American Association. Robinson, drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, was with Cincinnati’s Double-A Chattanooga club (and hitting .213) when he was released earlier this month. Robinson reached Triple-A with the Dodgers and started this year with the Reds’ Triple-A team. … Millsaps College recently broke ground on a 6,000 square foot facility for indoor hitting, pitching and fielding practice. Also as part of the $1.8 million project, space in the existing Hall Activities Center will be converted into a 1,000 square foot player lounge. “This project is an important step in the upgrade of our baseball facilities,” Jim Page, coach of the NCAA Division III Majors since 1989, said in a school release.

02 Aug

good old summertime

The NJCAA National Team, which includes five MACJC alums, begins play in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., on Saturday against the San Diego, CA Force. Pitchers Shemar Page of Pearl River Community College and Tyler Spring of Jones County, catcher Tucker Childers of Northeast and outfielders Brandon Parker of Mississippi Gulf Coast and Brant Blaylock of Northwest are on the NJCAA team roster. Hinds coach Sam Temple is on the coaching staff. Parker, from Saucier and West Harrison High, was the NJCAA Division II player of the year as a freshman. … Southern Miss All-American Matt Wallner is hitting .250 with four homers, 11 RBIs and four steals in 80 at-bats for Falmouth in the Cape Cod League, which concludes its regular season today. Falmouth has clinched a playoff berth. Wallner, who did not make the final cut for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, has had a streaky tour in the CCBL. He had a seven-game hit streak that included three homers in mid-July. He is 6-for-13 with three RBIs over his last four games. … The Hattiesburg Black Sox, champions of the Mississippi Baseball Congress state tournament, are participating in the inaugural Bluegrass World Series in Louisville, Ky. The six-day, eight-team tournament, created by the owners of the minor league Louisville Bats, includes various amateur and semi-pro teams, most notably the Louisville Stars, a collection of former major leaguers. Managed by Johnny Bench, the Stars’ listed roster includes, along with Chipper Jones, Tim Hudson and Johnny Damon, former Holmes Community College star Roy Oswalt and Mississippi State alum Jonathan Papelbon. The Black Sox played the Stars on Wednesday; they lost 15-2. … The North Delta Dealers are the 2018 Cotton States League champions; they beat HillCountry 6-2 in the summer league’s title game in New Albany on Sunday. Collin McPherson, a Freed-Hardeman alum, homered, scored three times and pitched six innings for the Dealers. Northwest Mississippi CC’s Hunter White had a hit and scored twice and Southaven’s John Wesley Ray had two hits and an RBI for the Dealers. … Chad Girodo, ex-Mississippi State star and onetime big leaguer, is pitching for the Chicago Dogs of the independent American Association. (The Dogs’ bench coach is Jackson native Stan Cliburn.) Girodo was released from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization in June. Through 10 games with the Dogs, the 27-year-old lefty has a 3.17 ERA.

22 May

he’s got numbers

Rafael Palmeiro went yard on Monday. At age 53. The former Mississippi State star, now playing for an independent league team in Texas, hit his first home run in an actual game since 2005, his last big league season. The blast came in his third game with the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association and came against right-hander Trey McNutt, who was born three years after Palmeiro debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1986.
Here’s some random Palmeiro home run numbers:
569 – Career MLB homers, 13th on the all-time list.
47 – Season-high in big league homers.
0 – Home run crowns in MLB.
21 – Age when he hit his first MLB bomb, on Sept. 9, 1986, at Wrigley Field against Kevin Gross.
38 – Age when he hit his 500th MLB homer, on May 11, 2003, at The Ballpark in Arlington against David Elder.
40 – Age when he hit his last MLB homer, on July 30, 2005, at Camden Yards against Jose Contreras.
4 – Postseason homers, all with Baltimore.
28 – Career minor league homers.
67 – Career college home runs, in three seasons in Starkville.
29 – Season-high in college homers, in 1984.

27 Jul

off the beaten path

One of the hottest hitters in the independent Atlantic League is Fred Lewis, the former Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star. The 34-year-old Lewis is hitting .389 over his last 10 games and is up to .264 for the year. Playing for Jackson native Stan Cliburn’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Lewis has three homers, 30 RBIs, 42 runs, six steals and a league-best six triples in 77 games. Lewis played parts of seven years (2006-12) in the majors, hitting .266. … Gulf Coast CC product Roy Corcoran, 35, has 17 saves and three wins (despite a 5.11 ERA) in 35 games for Aguascalientes in the Mexican League. The last of his 82 MLB games came in 2009 with Seattle. … Former Mississippi State standout Luis Pollorena is 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA for the Laredo Lemurs of the indy American Association. Pollorena, a 5-foot-8 lefty who won 17 games over three seasons at State, spent the previous two years in the Texas Rangers’ organization. … Ole Miss’ Errol Robinson rapped out three hits on Sunday to boost his average to .314 for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League. He is among the league leaders with 20 runs. … Also in the Cape on Sunday, Reid Humphreys of MSU blasted his fourth homer of the summer for Bourne. Humphreys is batting .239 with 11 RBIs. … Southern Miss’ Dylan Burdeaux hit a pair of homers on Saturday in the New England Collegiate League, giving him six for the season. His USM and Ocean State teammate Chuckie Robinson also has six homers, tied for fourth in the league behind another teammate, Tim Lynch, who has nine, which equals the league-best. … Delta State’s Will Robertson is hitting .479 with a homer, 13 RBIs and 24 runs in 18 games for the Tippah Tribe in the Cotton States League.