Monthly Archives: August 2013

There is speculation out there that Tyler Moore may be back in Washington soon. The former Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State standout has been raking at Triple-A Syracuse of late. He was named the International League player of the week for last week and is currently hitting .312 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs in 36 games. In sporadic play with the Nationals this season, he batted just .151 with three homers. Washington’s season has skidded off the rails, and the Nats brass might want to see what Moore can do with regular at-bats. … Meridian CC product Corey Dickerson, now with Colorado, swatted his second homer on Thursday. Keep an eye on him. … Former Ole Miss star Alex Presley has six hits, three runs and two RBIs since returning to Pittsburgh late last month. He is batting .281 in 26 games overall for the Pirates, who have hit the 70-win plateau and moved 4 games ahead of second-place St. Louis in the National League Central. … Cleveland’s playoff hopes took a serious hit this week when the Indians were swept in four games at home by Detroit, the first-place team in the American League Central. The Indians are now 7 games behind. No one felt worse about this development than Mickey Callaway, the former Ole Miss pitcher who is in his first campaign as the Tribe’s pitching coach. Cleveland’s pitching has been fairly solid this season, but against Detroit, the Indians suffered a blown save on Monday, saw their ace (Justin Masterson) get roughed up on Tuesday, dropped a 6-5 game in 14 innings on Wednesday and were mashed 10-3 on Thursday. … Ex-Rebels standout Chris Coghlan, on the disabled list (calf injury) with Miami since June, is expected to begin some rehab work soon in the low minors. Reports say Coghlan, the NL rookie of the year in 2009 as an outfielder, could return to The Show in September as a third baseman. … Starkville native Julio Borbon was outrighted to Triple-A Iowa by the Chicago Cubs earlier this week.

After hammering away in Triple-A for most of the last three seasons, Pascagoula’s Joey Butler is now anxiously awaiting his first swing as a major leaguer. Butler, a product of ’Goula High and UNO, was called up by Texas on Monday in the wake of Nelson Cruz’s suspension. Butler, 27, called the unexpected promotion “a humbling experience.” He was batting .290 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs at Round Rock. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-handed hitting outfielder, who didn’t play against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night, is a career .290 hitter with 70 homers in six minor league seasons. The Rangers drafted him in the 15th round in 2008.

Tampa Bay figures to miss Desmond Jennings, the ex-Itawamba Community College star who has gone to the disabled list with a broken finger. Jennings, the Rays’ center fielder and leadoff batter, is hitting .258 with 11 homers, 40 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and 69 runs in 104 games. He was injured while sliding on Saturday. He’ll be out at least 15 days at a time when the Rays are in hot pursuit of first-place Boston in the American League East, with third-place Baltimore breathing down their necks. In other injury news, Weir High and Holmes CC alum Roy Oswalt had a setback (cramp) in a simulated game on Saturday and his return to Colorado’s rotation is on hold. Oswalt, 0-4 with a 7.64 ERA for the Rockies, injured his left hamstring on July 7 and went on the DL. P.S. Props to former Mississippi Braves pitcher Brett Oberholtzer, who has thrown 14 scoreless innings in his two starts for Houston. He beat Boston on Monday.

Hunter Renfroe, the first pick from Mississippi in this year’s MLB draft, is batting .286 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 22 games for San Diego’s short-season Class A Eugene club. Renfroe, from Crystal Springs and Mississippi State, is slugging .516. … Last year’s top pick from the state, D.J. Davis out of Stone County High, is hitting .255 with four homers, 19 RBIs, seven triples and nine steals for rookie-level Bluefield in the Toronto organization. … Connor Barron of Sumrall, the first Mississippian picked in 2011, is at Southern Miss. He is currently playing summer ball in the Texas Collegiate League and batting .253 with six homers and 25 RBIs in 43 games. … The first pick out of the Magnolia State in 2010 was Drew Pomeranz, the ex-Ole Miss standout who is currently on the disabled list with an 0-4, 8.10 ledger for Colorado this season. … First-place Atlanta has won nine straight games, best current streak in MLB, and will seek to extend the run today against Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia ace out of Meridian Community College who is 10-4, 3.05. … Props to Tommy La Stella of the Mississippi Braves, who is now first in the club record book with a 21-game hit streak. With La Stella’s help on Saturday, the M-Braves won at Huntsville 6-5 and are now 22-18 (2½ games out of first place) in the second half of the Southern League season.

It has been a largely forgettable season for Minnesota, which has languished near the bottom of the American League Central much of the time, and for former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, who has had to battle to keep a job in his second big league tour with the Twins. In that context, a game like Friday night’s becomes all the more exhilarating. Dozier knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning — his first career walk-off hit — as the Twins (46-60) stopped a four-game skid with a 4-3 win over Houston. Dozier, who went 3-for-7 and extended his hitting streak to nine games, had quite the night. He doubled in the eighth inning and scored to tie it at 2-2. In the ninth, after the Astros had gone back in front 3-2, he drove in the tying run. Then came the big hit in the 13th. “A confidence booster,” Dozier told The Associated Press. Dozier, who was moved from shortstop to second base this season, is hitting just .236, though he does have nine home runs. There could be changes in Minnesota in the off-season; manager Ron Gardenhire, the former Jackson Mets shortstop, may be on the way out if the club doesn’t perk up. Dozier, a .298 career hitter in the minors, may need a strong finish to secure his spot for 2014.

Amory native and former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland smacked his 15th home run for Texas on Thursday and holds a comfortable lead in the unofficial Mississippi Home Run Derby for 2013. Moreland, in 94 games, has matched his homer total from 2012 even though he is batting only .243 for the Rangers. His primary challengers in this faux competition figured to be Ole Miss product Seth Smith and MSU alum Tyler Moore, but neither has put up power numbers like last year. Smith (14 bombs in 2012) has six homers in 87 games for Oakland. Moore (10 homers in 156 at-bats in 2012) hasn’t gotten much opportunity with Washington and has just three homers in 42 games/106 ABs. He is currently at Triple-A Syracuse, where he is hitting .306 with six homers. Ex-Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings is No. 2 on the Mississippi power chart, with 11 homers for Tampa Bay. He’s got pop (13 homers in 2012) but is considered more of a speed guy and often bats leadoff. Somewhat surprising is the power displayed by Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier, who has hit nine homers in 91 games for Minnesota. Ex-UM star Zack Cozart belted 15 home runs for Cincinnati last year and, with eight in 99 games this year, could reach that number again. P.S. MSU alum Jonathan Papelbon, seemingly unhappy with the situation in Philadelphia, has blown six saves since June 1 and has an ERA of 2.59 after Thursday’s blown save/loss against San Francisco. … Meridian CC product Cliff Lee — still a Phillie — is going to miss another start today because of a neck problem. … Zeke Spruill started for Arizona on Thursday, running to eight the number of former Mississippi Braves pitchers who have started games for MLB clubs other than Atlanta in 2013.

The hottest team in baseball, by numbers, is the Kansas City Royals, managed by former Jackson Mets catcher Ned Yost. The Royals have won eight straight to reach 53-51, 7 games out in the American League Central with plenty of games left. Southwest Mississippi Community College product Jarrod Dyson has helped, with six hits and four steals in his last six games. And ex-Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman still hasn’t allowed an earned run out of the KC bullpen. … Former JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle has seen his Pittsburgh Pirates take four straight from St. Louis in their National League Central showdown. The Bucs are 65-42 and lead the Cardinals by 2½ games. … In keeping with this theme, Texas has won three straight games with walk-off homers and crept within 4 games of Oakland in the AL West. Texas’ hitting coach, coincidentally, is ex-JaxMets star Dave Magadan. … No team had a better July than Tampa Bay, which went 21-5 and is second in the AL East at 64-44, a half-game back of Boston. Some credit there should go to former Jackson Generals pitching coach Jim Hickey, who won a Texas League ring in 1996. Over the previous five seasons, all under Hickey, the Rays have a 3.74 ERA. They’re at 3.76 this year, fifth in the AL. Last year, this club posted a remarkable 3.19 ERA with a .228 opponents batting average (lowest in the DH era) and an AL-best strikeout total. Their pitching has made them perennial playoff contenders in a tough division. … Kudos should also go to Atlanta’s pitching coach, former JaxMets hurler Roger McDowell. The Braves have weathered all kinds of injuries to their staff (and position players, as well) and bolted to an 11-game lead in the NL East. Atlanta, fueled by so many ex-Mississippi Braves stars, look like the best team in the league right now. P.S. Reports say former Generals standout Lance Berkman, on the DL with Texas, may retire. … Former M-Braves lefty Brett Oberholtzer threw seven shutout innings Wednesday for Houston against Baltimore and got his first career win. … The Chicago Cubs’ trade of outfielder Alfonso Soriano may open up more playing time for Starkville native Julio Borbon, who is batting just .194 but is 7-for-8 on stolen bases.