11 Jul

down memory lane

There are 12 — count ’em, 12 — players in Seattle for tonight’s MLB All-Star Game who did minor league time with one of Mississippi’s two Double-A clubs. Four will not participate for various reasons, but there are three in the National League starting lineup: Ronald Acuna, Freddie Freeman and Orlando Arcia. On the bench for the NL are Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies and in the bullpen Craig Kimbrel, Josh Hader and Corbin Burnes. Selected for the game but sitting this one out are Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder, Dansby Swanson and Devin Williams. Acuna, Arcia, Riley, Albies, Strider and Elder are among the eight Atlanta players named to the NL team.
Here’s a quick trip down the Mississippi memory lane: Freeman, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, arrived in Mississippi — along with Jason Heyward — on July 4, 2009. Bugged by some injury issues, he hit .248 with two homers and 24 RBIs in 41 games for the M-Braves. Acuna’s stint in Pearl was a bit more spectacular: He homered on the first pitch he saw at Trustmark Park in 2017 and hit eight more in 57 games, batting .326 and swiping 14 bases. Arcia was Milwaukee’s No. 1 prospect when he played in Biloxi in 2015; he spent the entire year with the Shuckers and hit .307. Riley, the former DeSoto Central High star, played parts of two years (2017 and ’18) with the M-Braves and hit over .300 with 14 homers in 75 games all told. Albies arrived in Pearl in 2016 (as a shortstop) and in 82 games hit .321 with four homers and 33 RBIs. Swanson, now with the Chicago Cubs, came up midway through the 2016 season, took over at shortstop and batted .261 with eight homers in 81 games for the M-Braves before Atlanta called him up that August. Strider and Elder both pitched for the ’21 M-Braves, who won the league championship. Strider went 3-7 with a 4.71 ERA but fanned 94 batters in 63 innings. Elder was 7-1 with a 3.21. Kimbrel, now with Philadelphia, blew through Pearl late in the 2009 season, going 6-for-6 in save opps with an 0.77 ERA in 12 games. Hader, now with San Diego, pitched for Biloxi — as a starter — in 2015 and ’16; in the latter season, he posted an 0.95 ERA in 11 games. Burnes, a Milwaukee starter, went 3-3, 2.10, for the Shuckers in 2017, and Williams, now the Brewers’ closer, toiled in Biloxi in 2019, going 7-2 with four saves and a 2.36 ERA in 31 appearances.
P.S. In addition to Riley, two other Magnolia State school alums are in Seattle. Brent Rooker, who has 16 homers for Oakland, is Mississippi State’s 12th All-Star selection. Lucedale native and George County High product Justin Steele, 9-2, 2.56 ERA, for the Cubs, was strongly considered for the starting job that went to Zac Gallen. The only Mississippi native to start an All-Star Game is Claude Passeau, who did so in 1946 while with the Cubs. He took the loss at Fenway Park. Passeau, born in Waynesboro, is buried in Lucedale.

02 Jul

short but sweet?

Dakota Hudson, the former Mississippi State ace, was back in the big leagues on Saturday and looked as if he belongs. Recalled from Triple-A by St. Louis as the 27th man for a doubleheader, Hudson retired eight of the nine batters he faced in a scoreless relief outing in Game 2 against the New York Yankees. Whether Hudson might have earned a longer stay with the last-place Cardinals remains to be seen. The former first-round draft pick was sent to the minors in spring training and has been inconsistent at Memphis, posting a 5-4 record with a 6.00 ERA and missing a month with a neck injury. Hudson went 32-17, 3.61, for the Cards from 2018-22 following his first call-up. After missing most of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery, he was 8-7, 4.45, in 26 starts in ’22. His velocity reportedly was down this spring, and he lost his bid for a rotation spot. Note: The Cardinals lost Game 2 of the twinbill 6-2 as starter Matthew Liberatore (1-3, 5.68 ERA) allowed three early runs and ex-State star Chris Stratton, who replaced Hudson in the eighth inning, yielded three runs in the ninth. Stratton’s ERA rose to 4.73. P.S. An impressive display of power and speed carried the Mississippi Braves to an 11-5 win at Biloxi on Saturday. The Double-A M-Braves (2-2 in the second half) hit five homers and stole eight bases. Jesse Franklin V — Atlanta’s No. 13 prospect — hit three bombs and now has nine in 35 games. Prospects Tyler Tolve and Luke Waddell also went deep. Justin Dean stole a club-record four bags and now has 19 in 41 games for Mississippi.

28 Jun

a clean start (sorta)

The do-over starts tonight for the Mississippi Braves, who play Biloxi at MGM Park. With the start of the second half of the Southern League season, the team’s record is wiped clean. Considering that the M-Braves finished last in the South Division at 33-35, that’s a good thing. The Shuckers went 34-35, so the do-over is welcome there, too. Unfortunately for many of the M-Braves players, their individual numbers will follow them into the second half. But perhaps they’ll feel like they’re getting a fresh start, a feeling Alan Rangel — tonight’s starting pitcher — would welcome. The right-hander is 1-7 with a 4.91 ERA. He’s better than those numbers. The Mexico native, 25, is on his third tour with the Double-A M-Braves. He was the winning pitcher in the deciding game of the 2021 Double-A South championship series. He made it to Triple-A in 2022 and, for a brief time last September, was in the big leagues, though he never got into a game. He’ll make his 13th start of 2023 tonight against Biloxi, hoping to notch his first win since May 14. He’ll also be hoping that the M-Braves’ bats perk up against the Shuckers’ Carlos F. Rodriguez, 4-2, 3.02. After making a long climb to get over .500, the M-Braves finished the first half with a whimper, losing their last three and scoring a total of four runs. They’ve had two days off to recharge. Drew Lugbauer, batting .271 with 12 homers, is expected back in the lineup after a stint on the injured list. Landon Stephens, despite a .220 average, has emerged as a power threat with 13 homers. But the top Atlanta prospects on the roster have scuffled: Jesse Franklin V is at .214, Cal Conley at .221 and Tyler Tolve at .247. The M-Braves are next-to-last in the league in runs, first in ERA. In the first half, that was not a winning formula. As of right now, they are 0-0.

23 Jun

seattle star power

The Major League All-Star Game in Seattle may have an old home week feel for Atlanta Braves players. The amazing Ronald Acuna already has made the National League squad — the fourth selection for the former Mississippi Braves star — as the top vote-getter in Phase One of the balloting. Six other Braves, including three more former M-Braves and one Biloxi Shuckers alum, made the cut for Phase 2 of the voting, which opens Monday. Plus, former Atlanta and M-Braves standout Freddie Freeman, now playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is also a finalist. Austin Riley, ex-DeSoto Central High star and a 2022 All-Star, is a finalist at third base. Ozzie Albies — who leads the NL in RBIs — is among the last two candidates at second base; Michael Harris II, reigning rookie of the year and currently swinging a torrid bat, is among the four outfield finalists; and ex-Shucker Orlando Arcia, having a breakout season, is in the running at shortstop. Atlanta pitchers, most notably former M-Braves Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder, could also be picked for the NL team. Atlanta has the best record in the league and is routinely packing Truist Park. … Phase 2 of the voting will be available exclusively online at mlb.com and on team sites. The voting process ends June 29. The game is July 11 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.

22 Jun

gimme some glovin’

In one of the many great scenes in the movie “Moneyball,” the Scott Hatteberg character tells Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s GM, he’s never played first base. “It’s not that hard, Scott,” says Beane. “Tell him, Wash.” To which Ron Washington, the A’s infield coach, replies: “It’s incredibly hard.” Mississippi can proudly boast of two college players who mastered that underrated position this past season, both of whom anchored the infield for championship clubs: William Carey University’s Jake Lycette and East Central Community College’s Ramie Harrison. They are among the six state college products who received ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove honors on Wednesday. Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall, who was error-free in 2023 while also winning 12 games, was named to the NCAA Division I Gold Glove team. He is the first Golden Eagles player to earn this award. Lycette, a former Northwest Rankin High star, made the NAIA team; he handled 412 chances without a boot for the SSAC regular season champions who reached the NAIA World Series. Harrison, a Neshoba Central product, made one error in 308 chances, a .997 fielding percentage, for state champion and NJCAA Division II World Series participant ECCC. Pearl River CC pitcher Luke Lyon, an Oak Grove alum, and second baseman Blaise Breerwood, out of Poplarville High, also made the juco D-II team, as did Southwest CC outfielder Jerod Williams, a Gulfport High product who did not commit an error in 2023. P.S. Tonight is Southern Miss Night at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, where the Mississippi Braves will host Birmingham at 6:35. Scheduled to appear in pregame ceremonies are retired coach Scott Berry and players Dustin Dickerson and Nick Monistere, who prepped at Northwest Rankin. Basketball coach Jay Ladner is also on the guest list. Fans in USM gear can get a $5 ticket. … The M-Braves, winding down the first half of the Southern League season, are 32-32 after a 7-2 win Wednesday in which Scott Blewett threw six shutout innings and Justin Dean celebrated his return from Triple-A with an inside-the-park home run.

20 Jun

that time of year

June is a time for celebration in the minor leagues. A bunch of teams will clinch half-season titles — and postseason berths — this week with the first half ending on Sunday. It’s unlikely there will be a celebration at Trustmark Park, where the Double-A Mississippi Braves begin a six-game homestand vs. Birmingham. The M-Braves are in third place at 31-31 and facing a 5.5 game deficit in the Southern League South, which Pensacola leads with a 37-26 mark. There is an anniversary to celebrate in central Mississippi, however. Thirty years ago this month — on June 10, 1993, to be exact — the Jackson Generals clinched the first-half title in the Texas League East and did so in movie-script fashion. Ray Montgomery hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Gens a 6-4 win against Shreveport at Smith-Wills Stadium. That team, a Houston Astros affiliate, would go on to win the TL pennant, the fourth for the Double-A franchise in a 13-year span. Shreveport held a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the ninth with closer — and former General — Richie Simon on the mound. Former Murrah High star Fletcher Thompson led off with a walk. He took second on a wild pitch and went to third on the fourth hit of the game by Brian Hunter. The crowd of 2,218 was engaged. Roberto Petagine, who would go on to win league MVP honors, drove in the tying run with a grounder up the middle that forced Hunter at second base. Up came Montgomery, who drove a 1-1 slider over the left-field wall for just his second homer of the season. The Generals celebrated on the field and again later in the clubhouse. The win reduced their magic number for clinching the title to 1, and when Arkansas lost at Tulsa a short time later, the title was secured. Winning in the minors doesn’t matter? “That’s bull,” Montgomery, who would reach the big leagues and is now the Los Angeles Angels’ bench coach, said after the game. “(The Astros) want to bring you along slowly, but they want you to win. We want to win.” P.S. The M-Braves are coming in hot. They won their last series at Pensacola, belting four homers in the finale, to reach .500 for the first time since mid-April and have won 22 of their last 35.

12 Jun

here and there

Southern Miss, which plays Tennessee today in Hattiesburg for a trip to the College World Series, isn’t just a Mississippi-based team. It’s a Mississippi-fueled team. Twenty Magnolia State natives dot the roster, including regulars Dustin Dickerson, Slade Wilks, Nick Monistere, Carson Paetow and Tate Parker. Today’s probable starter, Nikko Mazza, is also a state product. Incidentally, USM’s 2009 team, the only one to make it to Omaha, also featured 20 Mississippi natives, most notably Brian Dozier, future big league star. … Also vying for a CWS trip today is Stanford, playing a Game 3 at home against Texas. Former Madison Central standout Braden Montgomery, an All–Pac-12 selection this year, is 4-for-9 with a walk and pair of runs in that Super Regional. … Former USM pitcher Hurston Waldrep, now at Florida, already has booked a trip to the CWS; he was brilliant (eight shutout innings, 13 strikeouts) in the Gators’ clincher vs. South Carolina on Saturday. … Twice on their just-completed homestand the Mississippi Braves took the field with a chance to reach .500 for the first time since mid-April. Twice they lost. Biloxi, which got five shutout innings from rehabbing big leaguer Wade Miley, beat the M-Braves 5-4 Sunday at Trustmark Park, dropping the home team to 27-29. The M-Braves started the season 3-2 but then went on an eight-game skid and have been fighting their way back ever since. … Mississippi native — and former M-Braves radio voice — Ben Ingram will do the TV play-by-play on Bally Sports South for Atlanta’s three-game series at Detroit. Ingram is moving over from the radio booth for this short road trip. … Congrats to Crystal Springs native Hunter Renfroe, who became a first-time father last week. The veteran outfielder out of Mississippi State returned to the Los Angeles Angels’ lineup on Saturday. … Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College product, got a (needed?) day off Sunday as the Chicago White Sox lost to Miami 6-5. Anderson went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and made a critical ninth-inning error that led to three unearned runs in the White Sox’s 5-1 loss to the Marlins on Saturday. Anderson, a 2022 All-Star, is hitting .263 with no home runs and has five errors in 46 games at shortstop with a minus-4 Defensive Runs Saved stat (per FanGraphs). BTW, former MSU star Kendall Graveman blew the save for the White Sox in Sunday’s loss; they are reeling again at 29-38. … MSU alum Brent Rooker hit his 13th homer for Oakland on Sunday as the woeful A’s (17-50) completed a three-game sweep at Milwaukee. After a prolonged cold spell, Rooker has six hits (two homers) in his last 19 at-bats.

06 Jun

eye on …

Javier Valdes is one of the three catchers on the Mississippi Braves’ roster. He’s not the one on Atlanta’s Top 30 prospects list, but he is the leading hitter — at .302 — on the active roster. The M-Braves take a 24-26 record into tonight’s Southern League series opener (6:35) against rival Biloxi at Trustmark Park. The M-Braves’ slumbering bats perked up a bit during a series at Birmingham, where they won four of six and scored 36 runs. Valdes was one of the hotter hitters on that trip, going 4-for-11 with a homer and three RBIs. He has six homers, 13 RBIs and 15 runs in 29 games while sharing catching duties with Tyler Tolve (the Braves’ No. 29 prospect who is batting .170) and veteran Arden Pabst (.143). Valdes, 24, a Miami native, was a 21st-round draft pick out of Florida International in 2019. He batted .263 with 11 homers at High-Class A Rome a year ago and earned a late promotion to Mississippi, where he hit .231. Atlanta’s system is a little thin in the catching department, so Valdes’ stepped-up performance this season has no doubt been a welcome sight. Valdes is in tonight’s lineup, batting seventh as the DH, against Biloxi, which comes in with a 26-25 record. The Shuckers’ roster is loaded with top Milwaukee prospects, including outfielder Jackson Chourio, the No. 2 prospect in all of the minors. He is batting .253 with eight homers, 32 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Biloxi leads the season series 5-4. P.S. Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. The veteran outfielder stole two bases and scored two runs in three games for the Chicago White Sox before suffering a hamstring injury.

29 May

top of the heap

The ride has been anything but smooth for Milwaukee, but the Brewers have reached Memorial Day — a traditional benchmark — in first place in the National League Central. They beat San Francisco 7-5 on Sunday to snap a three-game skid and move to 28-25, 1.5 games up on Pittsburgh in a weak division. Devin Williams and William Contreras — two of several Mississippi connections on the Milwaukee roster — were key figures in Sunday’s win. The remarkable Williams, a former Biloxi Shuckers star, got the last four outs for the save; he is 8-for-8 with an 0.54 ERA. Catcher Contreras, a former Mississippi Braves standout and a 2022 All-Star for Atlanta before being traded, contributed a two-run homer and an RBI single; he is batting .250 with five bombs and 16 RBIs. The Brewers have nine players from their opening day roster on the injured list, including ace Brandon Woodruff, the Mississippi State product, and promising rookie Garrett Mitchell, a Shuckers alum. The team has wobbled through a 10-15 May but still sits atop the division. “We keep grinding through it,” Williams told mlb.com. (Ex-State star Ethan Small was sent back to Triple-A after a rocky outing in his 2023 debut.) … For the record, there is a Mississippi thread running through all of the six teams currently in first place in the big leagues. In Tampa Bay, there is former M-Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt, a highly rated prospect when he passed through Pearl a decade ago. He has taken a winding path to Tampa. In Minnesota, ex-Southern Miss star Matt Wallner was recently recalled from the minors and might be sticking around, having gone 7-for-11 with a homer, four RBIs and two walks in his last four games. In Texas, MSU product Nathaniel Lowe continues to rake for the power-packed Rangers: .273, five homers, 29 RBIs. In Los Angeles (Chavez Ravine branch), there is a trio of former M-Braves: the irrepressible Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward and Evan Phillips (an unsung bullpen piece who has seven saves and a 1.77 ERA). And in Atlanta, the bulk of the club is M-Braves alums: Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Max Fried, Michael Harris II, Charlie Morton, Austin Riley, Spencer Strider, et al. And Orlando Arcia was on the first Biloxi club back in 2015. DeSoto Central High grad Riley hit his 10th homer in Sunday’s win against Philadelphia and is batting .357 over his last seven games. P.S. Shout-out to Scott Berry and Southern Miss, which won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship on Sunday, getting big homers from Dustin Dickerson, Danny Lynch and Slade Wilks and lockdown relief work from Justin Storm. Denied an NCAA regional host bid despite their 41-17 record (and 19-2 finishing kick), the Golden Eagles await the announcement today of their regional destination. Baton Rouge? Tuscaloosa? Fayetteville? … East Central Community College was eliminated from the NJCAA Division II World Series after an 11-10 loss to Frederick (Md.) CC in Enid, Okla. The Warriors won both the MACCC title and the Region 23 crown en route to the World Series.

27 May

one of eight

Craig Kimbrel vs. Ronald Acuna. This was must-watch TV — for baseball fans, for Atlanta Braves fans and especially for longtime followers of the Mississippi Braves. On a 3-2 pitch with a runner on base and two down in the ninth inning, Kimbrel (M-Braves 2009) retired Acuna (M-Braves 2017) on a ground ball to third, preserving a 6-4 Philadelphia win Friday night at Truist Park. It was Kimbrel’s 400th career save, making the right-hander one of only eight pitchers to reach that milestone. “Just happy; just a lot of things,” Kimbrel said in an mlb.com story. Kimbrel came through Mississippi 14 years ago and was virtually unhittable in his brief stay. He was 6-for-6 in saves with a 0.77 ERA in 12 games. He was in Atlanta the next year (2010) and recorded the first of his 186 saves for the Braves that season. He has bounced around in recent years, running hot and cold. He has a 5.68 ERA this season but is 6-for-6 in save opps. There was nothing cheap about Friday’s save. Acuna, one of the best hitters to come through Pearl, is having a monster season — .323, 11 homers, 27 RBIs — and one swing could have tied it. Kimbrel joins former Jackson Generals star Billy Wagner in the 400-plus club. Wagner had 422. Interestingly enough, there are seven Mississippi-connected closers in the top 23 on the all-time saves list. Jonathan Papelbon (Mississippi State) sits 11th at 368, Jeff Reardon (Jackson Mets) 12th at 367, Randy Myers (JaxMets) 14th at 347, Todd Jones (Generals) 22nd at 319, and Rick Aguilera (JaxMets) 23rd at 318. A bit further down are former MSU stars Bobby Thigpen (201) and Jeff Brantley (172). Former Biloxi Shuckers standout Josh Hader, currently with San Diego, is rising at 145, still a long way from 400. P.S. Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn won again for the Chicago White Sox on Friday and is 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in his last three starts. He is 4-5 overall. … George County High product Justin Steele is 0-2 and has yielded 10 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings in his last three starts, taking an L Friday when the Chicago Cubs lost to Cincinnati 9-0. He is 6-2 on the year. … Ex-MSU ace Ethan Small made his 2023 debut for Milwaukee and gave up five runs in three innings in mop-up duty in a 15-1 loss to San Francisco. Small had a 2.33 ERA at Triple-A Nashville.