Monthly Archives: March 2015

The talent in the Atlanta Braves’ farm system, which had grown a little thin in recent years, is currently rated No. 9 overall by mlb.com, which released its rankings (via MLBPipeline) this week. Several top-rated players from the rebuilt system are likely to suit up for the Double-A Mississippi Braves this season. Among those who could be with the club on April 9, opening day at Trustmark Park in Pearl, are right-hander Lucas Sims (ranked No. 4 in the Braves’ system), third baseman Rio Ruiz (No. 6), right-hander Tyrell Jenkins (No. 10), outfielder Mallex Smith (No. 16), right-hander Maurico Cabrera (No. 18), right-hander Wes Parsons (No. 19) and right-hander Andrew Thurman (No. 20). Sims, Ruiz, Jenkins, Smith and Cabrera are also in Baseball America’s list of the top 20 Braves prospects. P.S. The next former M-Braves standout to debut in Atlanta might not be second baseman Jose Peraza, the organization’s top prospect, but Cody Martin, who has made a strong bid this spring for a job in the rotation. Right-hander Martin, a seventh-round pick from Gonzaga in 2011, spent part of 2013 in Pearl, posting a 3-3 record with a 2.82 ERA in 16 appearances, most as a starter. He pitched at Triple-A Gwinnett in 2014. Despite a 26-22, 3.07 career ledger in the minors, Martin was taken off the Braves’ 40-man roster this past off-season, wasn’t claimed by another club and came to spring training as a non-roster invitee. … Atlanta released former M-Braves shortstop Tyler Pastornicky on Thursday. The onetime starter at short for the big club (before Andrelton Simmons arrived) didn’t seem to be the same player after a 2013 knee injury. … Ex-M-Braves outfielder Brandon Jones will play for the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League this season. (Anthony Lerew, the M-Braves’ opening day starter in 2005, is also on the Revolution roster.) Jones, who played 51 MLB games for the Braves from 2007-09, batted .293 with 15 homers and 74 RBIs in Pearl in 2007. He played for Sioux Falls of the indy American Association in 2014.

While Hinds Community College sits atop the NJCAA Division II poll, it was East Mississippi CC that led the pack in the MACJC standings through the first three rounds of conference play. Heading into a doubleheader today against Copiah-Lincoln in Scooba, the Lions were 6-0, the only team still unbeaten in the league. EMCC, ranked 19th in the national poll, was 12-6 overall, led by the bats of freshmen JoVaughn McNabb (.422, 12 RBIs) and Chris Pimentel (.298, three homers, 18 RBIs) and the arm of sophomore left-hander J’Daylin Jackson (5-0, 3.58 ERA). Chris Rose’s Lions also like to run. They had 33 steals through 18 games, nine by McNabb and seven by pinch-running specialist Malik Mayweather. … Hinds, No. 17 Northwest and East Central were 5-1 in league play entering the weekend. Eighth-ranked Jones County was 2-4 (but 15-7 overall).

To Hinds Community College, now ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II, up from No. 2. The Eagles are 17-1 (5-1 in the MACJC) heading into a Saturday doubleheader at Baton Rouge CC. HCC is batting .340 as a team, led by Matt Jones at .452, and has a 3.59 ERA, with closer Austin Sanders shining at 1.69 with six saves. … To Hill Denson, the Belhaven University coach, who notched his 1,000th college coaching victory on Wednesday. Denson has 532 wins at BU to go with the 468 he won at Southern Miss. He is the all-time winningest coach at both schools. He also won more than 200 games as a high school coach, claiming a state title at Callaway back in 1981. Plus, he was a pretty good college and semi-pro player before that. They really should erect a statue of Denson at Smith-Wills Stadium. … To Millsaps’ Keith Shumaker, who won Southern Athletic Association player of the week honors after batting .600 with four RBIs and six runs for the Majors last week. Millsaps, off this weekend, is 13-4 (7-2 SAA) and ranked No. 23 in NCAA Division III. … To Delta State’s Brandon Cummins, who earned Gulf South Conference player of the week honors after hitting .563 with a homer, six RBIs and eight runs last week. DSU is 5-8, 4-4 GSC with a home conference series ahead this weekend against Alabama-Huntsville. … To Bobby Halford, William Carey’s coach and a former Crusaders player, and his fellow WCU baseball alums Forrest W. Stevenson, Dan Jennings and Rickey Coleman for their induction into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. The ceremony is March 28.

Maybe spring training stats don’t mean anything. But 10-for-18 with a pair of home runs is hard to dismiss. Southern Miss product Brian Dozier has been mashing in the Grapefruit League, building on the strong season he had for Minnesota in 2014. Dozier belted 23 homers, drove in 71 runs, scored 112 and stole 21 bases. Though he hit just .242 last season, his on-base percentage was .345. “This (2015) is my fourth year (in the big leagues),” he told mlb.com, “and I’m starting to get more of an idea of what (pitchers) want to try to do to me.” If he continues to advance this year, he might just make his first All-Star Game. … Tyler Moore, the ex-Mississippi State star, is also swinging it well as he battles for a roster spot with Washington. Moore is 10-for-24 with a homer and seven RBIs. Those numbers have to mean something. … MSU alum Mitch Moreland is 4-for-15 with a homer in five games for Texas as he comes back from ankle surgery that cut short his 2014 season. … Ed Easley, another former Bulldogs star, is just 1-for-8 in his bid to win the backup catcher job in St. Louis. He got his first hit and RBI on Sunday. … Well-traveled former Ole Miss star Seth Smith is 5-for-18 with his newest club, Seattle. … Kendall Graveman, the MSU product vying for a spot in Oakland’s rotation in just his second pro season, has posted a 0.93 ERA in three games (9 2/3 innings). “This is a blast,” he told mlb.com. … Texas brought former Columbia High star Ti’Quan Forbes into its big league camp on Sunday but hasn’t put him in a game yet. The lanky shortstop, the Rangers’ second-round pick last June, hit .241 in rookie ball last season.

Aces are emerging at the state’s Big 3 NCAA Division I schools. The new baseball, with its lower seams, was aimed at helping hitters but certainly hasn’t been a problem for Southern Miss’ James McMahon. The senior out of Oak Grove High is 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA in five starts for the Golden Eagles (11-7-1). He won Sunday’s rubber game of the C-USA series against Florida International. At Mississippi State (16-6), Austin Sexton is 3-0, 2.12, and Preston Brown 3-1, 2.15, both having made five starts. Christian Trent is 3-1 with a 3.45 in his five starts for Ole Miss (10-9). And not to be overlooked is Jones County Junior College’s Daniel Goff, who is 5-0 with a 2.31. (Hinds’ Randy Bell is also 5-0, working mainly in relief.) … Delta State finally is making some noise. The Statesmen swept Union University in a Gulf South Conference series in Cleveland. DSU (5-8, 4-4) won the three games by a 27-1 total. Justin Vincent threw 5 2/3 innings in Monday’s 10-0 win, and Brandon Cummins hit a homer and drove in three runs all told.

Some of the numbers weren’t very pretty. Twenty-two strikeouts over 14 innings. Just seven hits and two walks. Two errors. But all that really matters to Ole Miss is the final score: 5-3. The win over LSU, ranked No. 1 in some polls, on Saturday night in Baton Rouge might be a springboard for the Rebels, who were just 9-8 overall and 0-1 in the SEC entering that game. Sikes Orvis, the burly first baseman with the signature moustache, had three of UM’s hits and drove in a game-tying run in the ninth and the go-ahead run in the 14th. The rubber game is today at 3 p.m., scheduled for broadcast on the SEC Network. … Mississippi State opened SEC play with a split against Alabama in Starkville. Game 3 is today. The nationally ranked Bulldogs (16-5) still haven’t played a game outside the friendly confines of Dudy Noble Field. … Southern Miss (10-7-1) will play the rubber game of its C-USA opening series today against Florida International at Taylor Park in Hattiesburg. … Jackson State (11-6, 1-3 SWAC) saw its seven-game win streak ended by Alabama A&M. They’ll play a doubleheader today in Huntsville, Ala. P.S. Former State star Adam Frazier was summoned to big league camp by Pittsburgh on Saturday and got a two-run knock in his only at-bat as the Pirates beat Boston 5-2. Frazier, a lefty-hitting shortstop, batted .252 with 42 RBIs, 62 runs and 14 steals at high Class A Bradenton in 2014, his second pro season. He hit .321 in short-season A-ball in 2013.

It is beginning to look like we’ve seen the last of Cliff Lee in the major leagues. The recurrence of elbow pain/discomfort that curtailed the Meridian Community College product’s 2014 season in Philadelphia may compel him to retire at age 36. “I don’t have any regrets,” he told mlb.com when discussing that possibility. Nor should he. Lee, who pitched at MCC in the late ’90s for current Southern Miss coach Scott Berry, has 143 career wins over 13 seasons. In seven seasons, he topped 200 innings. He went 7-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 11 postseason games and helped two teams make the World Series. He won a Cy Young award in 2008 when he went 22-3 for Cleveland. He also won the ERA title that year. He made four All-Star Games. If there were a Hall of Very Good, Lee would be a shoo-in. P.S. Paul Maholm, bidding to win both a roster spot and a job in Cincinnati’s rotation, was sharp in today’s outing against Kansas City. The lefty out of Mississippi State threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and getting seven ground ball outs. He had a 4.84 ERA in 30 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014. … Ex-State standout Kendall Graveman, vying for a spot in Oakland’s rotation, allowed one run in three innings against Cleveland today.

The magic continues for Hinds Community College, which improved to 14-0 on Sunday by sweeping Itawamba in Fulton, winning the second game of a twinbill by scoring eight runs in the seventh inning to overcome a 6-0 deficit. HCC, ranked No. 2 in NJCAA Division II on the heels of its national runner-up finish in 2014, won the opener against ICC 11-8. In Game 2, the Eagles sent 13 batters to the plate in the final frame, benefitting from two crucial Indians errors, and won 8-6. Jonathan Washam and Matt Jones lead the Eagles’ attack at .457 and .447, respectively, while Randy Bell is 4-0, Derek Martin 3-0 and Austin Sanders has six saves. …
Elsewhere, East Mississippi and Mississippi Delta also swept doubleheaders to start MACJC play. The Lions’ D’Jaylin Jackson moved to 4-0 on the year, and JoVaughn McNabb had a 3-hit, 3-RBI game. The Trojans had lost seven of eight before taking the two games from Copiah-Lincoln … Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss have gone wobbly. The nationally ranked Bulldogs have lost three of four after their 13-0 start; they blew a 6-0 lead against San Diego on Sunday as their vaunted bullpen wilted. Meanwhile, the Rebels have lost four of seven, including a 16-4 crushing at the hands of Stetson on Sunday. And the Golden Eagles lost two of three to Oakland over the weekend after beating Ole Miss last week. … Delta State was rained out of its much-anticipated series at Christian Brothers (see previous post) over the weekend. DSU (2-7) is slated for its first home game on Tuesday against Ouachita Baptist. … Mississippi College has lost nine in a row, and Belhaven and William Carey each lost best-of-3 Southern States Athletic Conference series over the weekend. … Bucking the tailspin trend, however, are Millsaps, which swept a Southern Athletic Association series vs. Hendrix, and Jackson State, which has won five straight to reach 9-5.

Questions to ponder as major league spring training sails along toward Opening Day:

What will Billy Hamilton do in his second full MLB season? The ex-Taylorsville High star was all the rage early on last year as Cincinnati’s leadoff batter, but he faded late. He wound up at .250 with 56 steals and a .292 on-base percentage. Adjustments may be necessary.

What will Corey Dickerson do for an encore? In his first full season, the Meridian Community College product batted .312 with 24 homers and 76 RBIs, taking over as the regular left fielder in Colorado. He won’t sneak up on any pitchers in 2015.

What will Brian Dozier do for an encore? The Southern Miss alumnus put up 23 homers and 21 steals and scored 112 runs for Minnesota. He no doubt would like to boost his .242 average.

How will Seth Smith adjust to yet another new team and environment? Now with Seattle, the ex-Ole Miss star will be playing for a third team in three years. Smith batted .266 with 12 homers for San Diego in 2014. Those would be good numbers in Seattle, which also plays in a pitcher’s park.

How will Chris Coghlan and his Chicago Cubs teammates handle increased expectations? The Ole Miss product, and former rookie of the year, bounced back from several injury-plagued seasons to bat .283 with nine homers. The left fielder is a veteran presence on a young team that some expect to contend in 2015 under dynamic manager Joe Maddon.

What will Tyler Moore’s role be with Washington? The Nationals are loaded, but the former Mississippi State standout certainly has the potential to contribute as a pinch hitter/bench player. A right-handed power hitter, Moore got just 91 MLB at-bats in 2014, hitting .231 with four homers. He hit .265 with 10 bombs in 167 ABs in 2013.

Will Cliff Lee and/or Jonathan Papelbon be traded by Philadelphia? Lee, a former Meridian CC star, was 4-5 with a 3.65 ERA in an injury-curtailed campaign, while MSU product Papelbon notched 39 saves for a weak team. The guess here is both will go, possibly before the end of spring training.

Can T.J. House nail down a spot in Cleveland’s rotation? The Picayune High product went 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) as a rookie in 2014. Still, the left-hander faces a lot of competition for a job on an improving Indians club.

How will Mitch Moreland bounce back from injury in Texas? A troublesome ankle that required surgery derailed the MSU alum after just 52 games. He batted .246 with two homers a year after batting .232 with 23 bombs in 147 games.

And, finally, can Ed Easley crash The Show? Former MSU catcher Easley made St. Louis’ 40-man roster in the off-season, but he faces long odds in his quest to make the big leagues for the first time. Yadier Molina, the Cardinals’ starting catcher, is one of the best in the game. No. 2 on the current depth chart is Tony Cruz, who gained experience last season. Three other catchers, including Easley, will try to snatch the backup job this spring. Most clubs only carry two catchers. Easley is entering his ninth pro season but is coming off a very good 2014, when he batted .296 with 10 homers at Triple-A Memphis.