Monthly Archives: September 2015

08 Sep

first steps

Austin Riley was the first Mississippian picked in this year’s MLB draft, going higher than projected as a supplemental first-rounder to Atlanta. His performance as a rookie pro makes Braves brass look pretty sharp. The DeSoto Central High product, a third baseman, batted .304 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs over 60 games at two levels; he hit .351 with five homers at Danville. Austin’s debut was easily the best among Mississippians drafted this June. LeDarious Clark, after a spectacular start (see previous posts), faded in rookie ball for Texas. The former East Mississippi Community College standout finished at .276 with eight homers, 24 RBIs and 29 steals, still not a bad first step on what is a long road to the big leagues. Other good starts from 2015 draftees: Southern Miss alum Cody Carroll put up a 1.75 ERA with three saves in rookie ball for the New York Yankees; ex-Ole Miss star Scott Weathersby went 3-1 with a 2.48 in low Class A for Houston; and Northwest Mississippi CC product Dalton Dulin went 4-for-5 in his last game to finish at .273 with 27 runs in short season A-ball for Washington. The second Mississippian drafted, right-hander Jacob Taylor from Pearl River CC, made just one appearance in Pittsburgh’s system, then had Tommy John surgery. Among those who had a tough time on the field, Melvin Rodriguez, the SWAC player of the year from Jackson State, hit .200 with no homers in short season A-ball with Washington; ex-UM slugger Sikes Orvis hit .231 with four homers in 42 games in rookie ball with the Chicago White Sox; and former USM standout James McMahon, the 2015 Ferriss Trophy winner, had a 6.44 ERA at the rookie level for Colorado. P.S. Former Vancleave High star Colin Bray started his pro career in 2013 after Arizona made him a sixth-round pick out of an Alabama junior college. His older brother and fellow VHS alum Tyler was signed a year later by St. Louis, which drafted him in the 23rd round out of Louisiana-Monroe. The Bray brothers, whose father Scott played minor league ball, both were in the Class A Midwest League this summer and crossed paths in a series at Peoria, Ill., in late May/early June. On June 1, with family and friends in the ballpark, Tyler, a pitcher for Peoria, worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning but did not face Colin, who started in right field for Kane County. Colin, 22, had a good full season in the MWL, batting .308 with 52 RBIs, 78 runs and 27 stolen bases. Tyler, 23, had his moments, as well, going 2-2 with two saves and a 4.97 ERA in 24 games after being promoted to Peoria. Perhaps the brothers will hook up again someday, maybe in the big leagues.

08 Sep

worth noting

In three starts against the Chicago Cubs this season, Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn is 0-3 and has yielded 12 runs in 14 1/3 innings. The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander, 11-6 against everybody else, lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the Cubbies on Monday, giving up seven hits, two walks and six runs in a 9-0 loss. Lynn was pitching on nine days rest. … Former Pillow Academy (and LSU) star Louis Coleman was back in the big leagues on Monday, working a clean inning for Kansas City. It was the first MLB appearance of the year for Coleman, who had eight wins, nine saves and a 1.69 ERA at Triple-A Omaha. His career ERA with the Royals is 3.23 over parts of five seasons. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, the big league steals leader with 54, is expected to be activated today by Cincinnati. He has been out since Aug. 19 with a shoulder injury. Hamilton went 3-for-11 with four runs in a three-game rehab assignment with Double-A Pensacola. … Former Mississippi State standout Jacob Lindgren’s season officially ended when the New York Yankees put the lefty reliever on the 60-day disabled list. Lindgren had elbow surgery in mid-June; he had a 5.14 ERA in seven games as a rookie for the Yankees. … The Double-A Mississippi Braves, who missed the Southern League postseason, finished 69-67 overall and 36-32 in the second half, a game back of Pensacola. Emerson Landoni was the top hitter among players on the final roster with a .297 average. Kevin Ahrens had nine homers and 64 RBIs, Matt Lipka 16 steals. Mallex Smith, promoted at midseason, hit .340 with 23 steals in 57 games. Greg Ross led the team in wins with seven and in ERA (among SL qualifiers) with a 3.99. Tyler Jones posted 16 saves. … Biloxi will host Pensacola on Thursday and Friday in the first two games of the SL South Division best-of-5 series. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson led the SL (and all of Double-A) with 49 stolen bases.

07 Sep

three’s company

Brian Dozier, the ex-Southern Miss star, hit his 27th home run and scored his 92nd run for Minnesota, which lost to Houston 8-5 on Sunday. Dozier is batting .242 with 69 RBIs and 10 steals. Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi Community College product, hit a home run, his second, and got an infield hit in Kansas City’s 7-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Dyson is batting .258 with 27 runs and 23 steals. Chris Coghlan, the former Ole Miss standout, went 1-for-4 with a run in the Chicago Cubs’ 6-4 win over Arizona, a game most notable for Kris Bryant’s 495-foot homer. Coghlan is hitting .247 with 15 homers, 36 RBIs, 53 runs and 11 stolen bases. There is a common thread for these three players other than their Mississippi connection. Each one is filling the stat sheet for a team that was not forecast to contend in 2015 but is doing so. The Royals and Cubs appear to be postseason locks, and the Twins are hanging around in the jumbled American League wild card race. There are three compelling MLB series starting today, and all three of the aforementioned players, plus a couple more Mississippians, will be involved. Dyson’s Royals host Dozier’s Twins; Coghlan’s Cubs visit St. Louis, where today they’ll face UM product Lance Lynn (11-8, 2.80 ERA), who’ll make his first start since hurting his ankle on Aug. 29; and Washington, with Mississippi State alum Tyler Moore back on duty, hosts the New York Mets. P.S. The Mississippi Braves were eliminated from Southern League postseason contention on Sunday when they lost at Jacksonville and Pensacola beat Mobile.

06 Sep

eleven

In recognition of the Atlanta Braves’ 11 straight losses, here are some significant contributions made on Saturday by 11 former Mississippi Braves no longer playing for Atlanta:

1. Alex Wood threw seven shutout innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2-0 win against San Diego.
2. Gregor Blanco went 2-for-4 with a home run for San Francisco in a 7-3 win over Colorado.
3. Charlie Morton allowed one earned run in six innings for Pittsburgh in a 4-1 loss to St. Louis.
4. Yunel Escobar scored one of Washington’s runs in the Nationals’ 8-2 drubbing of the Braves.
5. Chasen Shreve threw a scoreless inning for the New York Yankees.
6. Randall Delgado threw a scoreless inning for Arizona.
7. Jeff Francoeur went 1-for-4 with a run for Philadelphia.
8. Martin Prado had a hit for Miami.
9. Evan Gattis got a hit for Houston.
10. Erik Cordier worked two scoreless innings for the Marlins.
11. Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 1-for-3 for the Diamondbacks.

Note that Jason Heyward went 0-for-4 for St. Louis, which has the best record in baseball; Brian McCann went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter for the Yankees; Jesus Sucre didn’t have a hit but was behind the plate for Felix Hernandez’s 16th win for Seattle; and J.J. Hoover, who has a 2.14 ERA for Cincinnati, allowed a run and took a loss, his first of 2015. Among those who didn’t play were Craig Kimbrel, Tommy LaStella, Sean Gilmartin, Kris Medlen, Luis Avilan, Jose Peraza and Phil Gosselin.

05 Sep

pulling a fast one

A wild card has been thrown into the mix in the battle between Mississippi and Pensacola for the Southern League South second-half championship. Guy named Billy Hamilton. The Taylorsville High product and current MLB stolen base leader will be in the Blue Wahoos’ lineup tonight against Mobile for the first of what is expected to be a three-game rehab assignment. Pensacola, which won a 15-inning game on Friday night, leads the M-Braves by a half-game with three to play. The M-Braves are finishing up at Jacksonville. Hamilton played for Pensacola, Cincinnati’s Double-A club, in 2012, when he set the all-time professional stolen base record. His injury last month was a shoulder; there’s nothing wrong with his legs.

04 Sep

that’s gotta hurt

It’ll be interesting to see how the Mississippi Braves bounce back from Thursday’s jolting defeat. First place in the Southern League South was in their grasp, but the M-Braves could not hold it, fumbling away a four-run lead in the 10th inning at Jacksonville. With four games left in the regular season, the M-Braves (35-30) remain a half-game back of first-place Pensacola, which also lost on Thursday. The second-half champ will play first-half winner Biloxi in the division series. The M-Braves showed some grit against the Suns. Lucas Sims threw seven strong innings. Rio Ruiz hit a home run. Kevin Ahrens’ two-out hit in the ninth tied the score 2-2. Big hits by Matt Lipka and Emerson Landoni helped the M-Braves bolt ahead 6-2 in the top of the 10th. Tyler Jones, who has a team-best 16 saves and entered with a sub-3.00 ERA, was summoned to close it out. Two walks, two hits and two runs later, he was out of the game. Jorge Reyes came on, fell behind 2-0 to SL All-Star David Adams and then surrendered a game-ending three-run homer. Ouch. Game 2 of the five-game series is tonight. P.S. Former Mississippi State star Tyler Moore returned from the disabled list and went 1-for-2 as Washington, chasing an MLB postseason berth, demolished Atlanta 15-1. Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson is 3-for-9 in two Triple-A rehab games and could return to Colorado’s active roster soon. Ex-Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton, on the DL with a shoulder injury, is throwing and may start a rehab assignment this weekend for Cincinnati.

03 Sep

opportune moments

One-run lead in the ninth on the road against the best team in the National League. It was the kind of situation Washington had in mind for Jonathan Papelbon when it traded for the high-priced closer in late July. The former Mississippi State standout came through, despite allowing two hits, and the Nationals notched a 4-3 win Wednesday night against St. Louis. Problem is for the Nats, that kind of situation hasn’t come along often enough. It was just the sixth save opportunity for Papelbon since he joined the club on July 28. Washington went 12-17 in August while the New York Mets went 20-8 and blew past them in the NL East. The Nationals have perked up a bit of late but even after Wednesday’s win are 6.5 games behind the Mets in the division. Papelbon, 23-for-23 in saves for the year, allowed a leadoff single to ex-Mississippi Braves star Jason Heyward, and a one-out hit put runners at the corners. Papelbon got a strikeout and a ground out to end it and was effusive afterward. “(The Cardinals) are the best team in baseball right now. It pretty much shows that we could play with anybody out there,” he told mlb.com. Perhaps, but they’ve got a lot of work to do. Baseball Prospectus puts the Nationals’ current chances of making the postseason at 8.2 percent. … Another ex-Bulldogs star, Mitch Moreland, also came through in a big game. He drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning single as surging Texas won at San Diego 5-4. The Rangers, winners of nine of their last 12, are just 2 games behind Houston in the American League West and lead Minnesota by a game in the battle for the second wild card. Moreland is batting .286 with 18 homers and 68 RBIs. P.S. Tim Anderson, the Chicago White Sox prospect from East Central Community College, was named to the Southern League’s postseason All-Star team as the utility player. Anderson, who hit .312 with 49 steals for Birmingham, also won the hustle award. He was beaten out at shortstop by Biloxi’s Orlando Arcia (.308). Shuckers right-hander Jorge Lopez (12-5, 2.29 ERA) also made the team. No M-Braves were selected.

02 Sep

a look ahead

With the Mississippi Braves’ final homestand of 2015 concluded, and no surety that a postseason berth is forthcoming, it’s a good time to ponder what the M-Braves’ 2016 roster might look like. (Keep in mind that Atlanta GM John Hart is a constant threat to make more trades that will impact the Double-A club.) Current position players likely to return to Pearl include third baseman Rio Ruiz, outfielder Sean Godfrey and infielders Levi Hyams and Eric Garcia. Late-season roster additions Zack Bird, Mauricio Cabrera, John Gant and Lucas Sims could well be back on the pitching staff. On the high Class A Carolina roster, Connor Lien’s stats stand out. An outfielder, he was batting .286 with seven homers, 43 RBIs and 32 stolen bases through August. Other Mudcats bucking for promotion include shortstop Johan Camargo (Atlanta’s No. 22 prospect in the most recent rankings by mlb.com), third baseman Carlos Franco (nine homers), outfielder Dustin Peterson (.258, eight homers), catcher Joseph Odom (seven homers) and first baseman Jacob Schrader (268, 15 homers, 59 RBIs). Starting pitchers Brandon Barker (8-5, 3.00 ERA), Blair Walters (2.93) and Seth Webster (8-7, 2.75) have good numbers, as does reliever Justin Jackson (three wins, four saves, 2.28). The 2016 campaign, the M-Braves’ 12th in Pearl, begins on April 7, with Pensacola visiting Trustmark Park. Mississippi will host the Southern League All-Star Game for the second time on June 21. P.S. It’s not likely that outfielder Mycal Jones will be back, but who expected he’d return for a sixth tour in 2015? Jones, a fourth-round pick by Atlanta out of Miami-Dade College in 2009, has worn an M-Braves uniform for at least part of every season since 2010. He has played in 362 games for the Double-A club, with 306 hits, a .247 average, 16 homers, 121 RBIs and 144 steals. … The M-Braves averaged an announced 3,190 per game in attendance for 68 dates this season. That ranks seventh in the Southern League and is up marginally from 2014 (3,152). … Sims, Cabrera, Lien, Camargo, Odom and current M-Braves pitcher Andrew Thurman have been assigned by Atlanta to the Arizona Fall League. … Seven Biloxi Shuckers/Milwaukee prospects are headed to the AFL: pitchers Jacob Barnes, Josh Hader, Adrian Houser and Damien Magnifico, infielder Yadiel Rivera and outfielders Brett Phillips and Michael Reed.

02 Sep

random numbers

7 – Outfield assists for Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi Community College product who got another on Tuesday for Kansas City in just his 61st game.
5 – Triples for Seth Smith, the Ole Miss alum who legged one out for Seattle; he now has 31 career triples and 20 career stolen bases.
20 – Home runs this season, at two levels of the minors, by Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State star who went deep for Triple-A El Paso (San Diego system).
8 – Number of Mississippians (natives or college alums) currently on the MLB disabled list.
3 – Mississippians in the minors assigned to the initial rosters for the Arizona Fall League: State alum Adam Frazier (Pittsburgh system), Ole Miss product Stuart Turner (Minnesota) and ex-Richton High star JaCoby Jones (Detroit).
50 – Runs for Chris Coghlan, the ex-Ole Miss standout who scored one in the Chicago Cubs’ 5-4 win over Cincinnati.
68 – RBIs by Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss star who picked up a couple for Minnesota and is three shy of his career-high.
3 – Home runs allowed, in 10 big league appearances, by David Goforth, the UM product who gave up a pair for Milwaukee against Pittsburgh.
9 – Hits in big league games by former Mississippi Braves no longer playing for Atlanta; included were homers by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Phil Gosselin of Arizona.
3 – Hits by former M-Braves currently playing for Atlanta, two by Freddie Freeman, the other by Daniel Castro. The Braves lost to Miami 7-1, their 14th loss in 15 games.
38 — Wins, vs. 57 losses, for Dan Jennings, the USM and William Carey alum who took over as Miami manager in mid-May. Reports are that Jennings will return to GM duties in 2016.

01 Sep

career thoughts

Brent Leach’s 11th season in pro ball ended last week when he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers. Injury had limited the Flowood native to six appearances for Triple-A Colorado Springs. Leach turns 33 in November and last pitched in the big leagues in 2009, when he worked in 38 games as a lefty specialist for the Los Angeles Dodgers. If his career is over, it was quite the odyssey, taking him from Brandon High to Southern Miss, Delta State and minor and major league parks all over the country. His MLB debut came in Dodger Stadium; he got the last three outs in a game won by Clayton Kershaw. Leach pitched in Japan in 2011 – after the tsunami — and spent some time in 2012 with the Double-A Mississippi Braves, pitching at Trustmark Park, not far from where he grew up. In 308 minor league games, Leach has 35 wins, 25 saves and a 3.67 ERA. He was undefeated — 2-0 — as a big leaguer. If he is ready to call it a career, he can also call it a good one.