Monthly Archives: July 2012

It has been a good week for the All-Mississippi rotation. (Note: When Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz was recalled by Colorado on Sunday, there were five starting pitchers with Mississippi college connections in the big leagues.) Pomeranz did not allow an earned run in six innings on Sunday but took the loss in a 2-0 defeat against San Diego. Now 0-3 with a 3.72 ERA, he goes again tonight against Washington and Stephen Strasburg. On Thursday night, UM product Lance Lynn of St. Louis celebrated his All-Star selection with six shutout innings vs. Colorado and gained his 11th win. On July 4th, Philadelphia cracked open a vintage Cliff Lee, and the Meridian Community College alumnus delivered his first win of the season (in his 14th start) with eight strong innings against the New York Mets. Also on Wednesday, ex-Mississippi State star Paul Maholm, pitching for the woeful Chicago Cubs, beat Atlanta for the second time this season, yielding just one run in six innings. The only major smudge on the ledger came from Holmes CC product Roy Oswalt, who was rocked by the White Sox for nine earned runs in 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday in his third start for Texas. P.S. Former MSU star Jonathan Papelbon, beaten up by the Mets on Thursday night, is in a funk all of a sudden. In his last five appearances, the Phillies closer has allowed six runs and blown two saves. … UM alum Alex Presley is on the 7-day disabled list with Pittsburgh after suffering a concussion diving for a ball on Tuesday. Presley is hitting .244 with six homers for Clint Hurdle’s first-place Pirates.

Couple of interesting moves by the Atlanta organization today. Left-hander Luis Avilan, who was in the Mississippi Braves’ rotation as recently as Tuesday, has been promoted twice since. He was bumped up to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday to make room on the M-Braves roster for Ben Sheets, then shipped to the big leagues today, becoming the 66th former M-Brave to advance to The Show. He takes the spot there of ex-M-Braves standout Jonny Venters, who has gone on the disabled list. Avilan, from Venezuela, was 3-6 with a 3.23 ERA this year after going 5-8, 4.57 in 2011 as a starter and reliever. Also, the Braves released M-Braves outfielder Cory Harrilchak, once considered a player of promise. The lefty-swinging Harrilchak hit .266 with seven homers, 56 RBIs and 10 steals with Mississippi in 2011 but was batting just .179 with no homers in 140 at-bats this season. His spot will be taken by Jordan Parraz, a veteran minor league outfielder who was batting .305 at Gwinnett before an injury setback. He had been rehabbing in Florida.

Deunte Heath, a right-hander out of Tennessee who pitched for the Mississippi Braves in 2008 and ’09, has been called up by the Chicago White Sox. Heath is the 65th M-Braves alumnus to advance to The Show. Heath was drafted by Atlanta in 2006 and released in 2010 after a brush with the law during spring training. He signed with the White Sox and pitched for Birmingham in the Southern League in 2010. … Also back in the bigs are ex-M-Braves Mauro Gomez (Boston) and Gorkys Hernandez (Pittsburgh). Not so fortunate was Matt Young, who was designated for assignment by Detroit, though he could remain with the Tigers’ Triple-A club if he clears waivers.

OPS, which stands for on-base percentage plus slugging average, is a somewhat obscure statistic that the casual fan doesn’t often cite when discussing a player or team. In the case of the Mississippi Braves, it’s a telling number. The M-Braves, who are last in the Southern League South standings at 4-9 after finishing last in the first half, are last in the league in OPS with a .654. Basically, they aren’t getting on base enough and they aren’t getting the big hits that generate runs. Not surprisingly, they are ninth (of 10 teams) in scoring (316 runs), as well as last in home runs (23) and last in total bases (914). The starting pitching, which should get a boost from former big leaguer Ben Sheets, has been very good. Each of the five current starters has an of 3.65 or less. The bullpen has been shaky at times, with just 14 saves (last in the SL) and 19 holds (eighth), but it’s not a glaring weakness. It comes back to offense. The lineup the M-Braves trotted out in Tuesday’s win at Mobile had a grand total of seven homers, four of those by Joe Leonard. The players who were inexperienced at the Double-A level to start the season — and there were many — can no longer use that excuse. Yes, there have been roster changes since the launch. The loss (to promotion) of Andrelton Simmons and (to injury) of Evan Gattis, a true long-ball threat, have hurt. But others, such as Phillip Gosselin (.252) and Christian Bethancourt (.254) need to step up; that’s part of the game. Joey Terdoslavich, a prospect sent down from Triple-A, is batting .297 but has just one homer in 24 games. Tim Smith, brought in to add some left-handed pop, has one homer in 26 games. Ian Gac, who has seven homers, hasn’t hit consistently and rarely plays now that Terdoslavich is occupying first base. Todd Cunningham, now the club’s leadoff batter, can get on: .307 average, .349 on-base percentage. But he has scored just 33 runs in 69 games. It’s a maddening situation. Sheets gets the call tonight when the M-Braves play Jackson (Tenn.) at Trustmark Park, where the run-starved home boys were swept in their last series. There will be fireworks after the game. The M-Braves need some during the game. Question is, are they packing any?

There was nothing humorous about Roy Oswalt’s pitching line tonight — he gave up 13 hits and nine earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in taking a loss for Texas — but a Chicago White Sox radio announcer did manage a witty comment about Oswalt’s struggles. During the first inning, in which the right-hander from Weir allowed three home runs, a double off the wall and a deep fly out, the broadcaster (courtesy of XM radio) said: “They’re going to have to drag the warning track after this inning.” Oswalt pitched well enough to win his first two starts for the Rangers, but tonight’s was a disaster. He yielded four runs in the first and three more in the second. His ERA for the year jumped to 7.79. Oh, and Texas lost the game 19-2.

Bobby Wahl, the ace of Ole Miss’ staff as a sophomore this past season, has continued to pitch well this summer with Team USA. The right-hander threw two scoreless innings in Monday night’s Prospect Classic (an intrasquad game of sorts) in Cary, N.C., and has a 0.00 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings overall. Wahl went 7-4 with a 2.55 ERA for the Rebels in 2012 after working out of the bullpen his first season in Oxford. P.S. Taylorsville native Billy Hamilton stole his 100th base of the season on Monday night for Class A Bakersfield. The Cincinnati Reds prospect has now hit the century mark two years in a row.

The luster is off the Philadelphia Phillies this season, but that didn’t keep Jonathan Papelbon from making the All-Star Game for the fifth time in his young MLB career. The Mississippi State product, in his seventh full year and first with the Phillies, has 18 saves for a last-place club (36-45) that may be in real trouble in the competitive National League East. Papelbon, who came up with Boston, signed a $50 million free agent contract with Philadelphia in the off-season. Philly fans can be nasty, but they’d be hard-pressed to find fault with Papelbon’s results. He has blown only one save while posting a 3.03 ERA with 37 strikeouts and just seven walks in 29 2/3 innings. Those are star-worthy stats. Former Mississippi Braves closer Craig Kimbrel (23 saves, 1.50 ERA for Atlanta) was an obvious choice for his second All-Star berth, and Ole Miss product Lance Lynn (10-4, 3.62 for St. Louis) and M-Braves alum Matt Harrison (11-3, 3.16 for Texas) are deserving first-timers. P.S. Props to ex-M-Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who was named the NL rookie of the month for June after batting .333 with three home runs and 14 RBIs while also shining on defense.

July 4th is always a big draw at Trustmark Park. Today, it just got a little more compelling. Right-hander Ben Sheets, a four-time All-Star, has signed with Atlanta and will start for the Mississippi Braves against the Jackson (Tenn.) Generals on Wednesday night. Atlanta hopes Sheets might bolster its rotation at some point this summer. Sheets, 33, who last pitched in the majors in 2010 with Oakland, has 90 big league wins on his ledger and a sub-4.00 career ERA despite a history of injuries. He started the 2006 season opener at the TeePee on a rehab assignment with Milwaukee.

Witnessed first-hand the hottest game ever at Atlanta’s Turner Field (or Fulton County Stadium, for that matter) on Saturday. It was actually a pretty cool experience. Saw eight former Mississippi Braves contribute in the 7-5 win over first-place Washington and ace Stephen Strasburg. Scuffling Mike Minor got a much-needed win. Martin Prado and Jason Heyward had big hits, and the amazing Andrelton Simmons had three of the Braves’ nine total. Craig Kimbrel was sensational as usual in notching his 23rd save. Brandon’s Tyler Moore played well for Washington, getting an RBI infield hit and drawing a walk. P.S. Lance Lynn, the former Ole Miss standout, once looked like a lock for the All-Star Game. Now, after three straight rocky outings, not so much. The St. Louis right-hander gave up four first-inning runs (and six all told) on Saturday in a loss against Pittsburgh and has yielded 17 runs in his last 15 1/3 innings. He has lost two straight decisions to slip to 10-4 with a 3.62 ERA. … Zack Cozart, another UM product, ended San Francisco’s shutout streak at four games with a leadoff home run against Matt Cain on Friday night, sparking a 5-1 Cincinnati win. Then he doubled and scored a run in a 2-1 victory on Saturday. Cozart, who’s had some cold snaps, is at .249 for the year but has eight homers and 44 runs for the first-place Reds.