Monthly Archives: September 2019

There was a Mississippi-flavored subplot to the New York Mets-Philadelphia Phillies series this weekend, a battle of wild card contenders at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets are managed by ex-Ole Miss pitcher Mickey Callaway, the second-year skipper who made his bones as a pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians. The Phillies’ pitching coach is ex-Mississippi State hurler Chris Young, who replaced the popular Rick Kranitz (now in Atlanta) during the off-season. Both Callaway and Young have been on a hot seat this season as their clubs have struggled to meet expectations. Callaway’s Mets, who climbed back into postseason contention with a midseason surge, roughed up Phillies pitching in taking the first two games of the series, 11-5 and 6-3. Young’s Phillies won Game 3 on Sunday 5-2 behind the pitching of Zach Eflin and Hector Neris. The Mets’ often leaky bullpen faltered again. Pitching also has been a sore spot for the Phils, whose staff ERA is much higher than in 2018 and who’ve yielded more home runs than all but five MLB teams. The Phillies reportedly elevated Young from an assistant position to the head coaching job because they didn’t want to lose him to another team. A star at State from 2000-02, he was drafted by Colorado and pitched six years in the minors before turning to scouting and then coaching. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to both Callaway and Young after this season, especially if both of their teams miss the playoffs. P.S. Former State standout Kendall Graveman pitched three solid innings Sunday in a Triple-A rehab assignment for the Chicago Cubs. Out since last summer following Tommy John surgery, Graveman signed as a free agent with the Cubs in the off-season with the expectation that he’d probably be out all of 2019. The 28-year-old right-hander is 23-29 with a 4.38 ERA in his big league career, most of that spent in Oakland.

Hunter Renfroe took much of the fun out of the All-Mississippi Home Run Derby competition this season when he blasted 23 homers from May through July to reach the 30 mark. In this season of amazing long ball feats, the ex-Mississippi State star from Crystal Springs looked like a good bet to top Brian Dozier’s 42, the record for bombs in a single season by a Mississippi native. Alas, Renfroe hit just one homer in August while batting a miserable .185. Dozier, the Southern Miss alum from Fulton, is a distant second in the 2019 derby race with 19 homers, though he did show some life with four in August. McComb native Corey Dickerson hit five homers in an outstanding month for Philadelphia, but he has just nine on the year, having missed a big chunk of time with an injury. Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central High product, is third on the derby list with 17 homers; he missed much of August with an injury and hit only one homer during the month. Amory’s Mitch Moreland also has battled injuries in 2019; he has 14 homers but only one since the All-Star break. East Central Community College alum Tim Anderson had a productive August, including three homers, and has 14 on the season. Even if he doesn’t turn up the power in September, Renfroe’s lead in the derby looks safe. P.S. MSU product Nate Lowe has been recalled to the majors by Tampa Bay, and former Ole Miss standout Mike Mayers is back up with St. Louis. JaCoby Jones, the Richton High product, was moved to the 60-day Injured List by Detroit; he had previously been pronounced out for the season with a broken wrist.