Monthly Archives: August 2020

10 Aug

pitched battles

Seven Mississippi products went to the bump across the major leagues on Sunday, and each one of them did a commendable job. But the best in show nod goes to Spencer Turnbull, the former Madison Central High standout who went seven innings, allowing a single run, to beat Pittsburgh and improve to 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA for Detroit. Turnbull’s manager and catcher and the opposing manager all lauded his performance, but the big right-hander, nicknamed the Red Bull, didn’t feel like his command was very good. He was observed talking to himself on the mound at various stages. “I think that’s a big testament to the mental side of the game that I’ve worked on really hard, being able to find a way to get the job done,” Turnbull, in his third season, said in an mlb.com story. The seven innings matched his career-best. He allowed just five hits and two walks while fanning four in the 2-1 victory. The Tigers, a ghastly 47-114 in 2019, are a surprising 8-5. Turnbull was 3-17 last year and lost 13 straight decisions down the stretch. … Lance Lynn, the ex-Ole Miss star, also picked up a win Sunday – the 100th of his career – but the Texas ace lasted only five innings (109 pitches) while battling a squeezed strike zone against the Los Angeles Angels. Lynn gave up two runs – on a homer by Mississippi Braves alum Tommy LaStella – after having yielded only one run over his first three starts. He struck out six, a season-low; he’s fourth in MLB with 30. He is now 2-0, 1.16. Mississippi State product Brandon Woodruff also labored a bit in his start for Milwaukee, throwing 91 pitches in four innings but allowing just two runs. He got a no-decision in a Brewers win over Cincinnati and is 1-1, 2.53 on the year. Elsewhere: Ex-State star Chris Stratton fanned six of the 12 batters he faced and gave up one run in a relief effort for Pittsburgh. Jonathan Holder, another former Bulldog, threw 1 2/3 scoreless for the New York Yankees; Ole Miss product Mike Mayers – making his eighth appearance — yielded an unearned run in an inning of work for the Angels; and Northwest Mississippi Community College product Cody Reed tossed a scoreless 2/3 for the Reds. P.S. Kendall Graveman, the former State standout now with Seattle, reportedly will miss “significant time” with a neck injury that sent him to the injured list last week following his second start. He is coming back from 2018 Tommy John surgery. … No doubt itching for his next start is Dakota Hudson, the former State ace now with St. Louis. Because of positive COVID-19 tests within the team, the Cardinals haven’t played since July 29. Hudson pitched on July 26 and took a loss against Pittsburgh, allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings. It’s unclear when St. Louis will play again.

09 Aug

one fine day

As we watch for the next Mississippian to break through in the big leagues, it’s worth noting that a great debut really isn’t much of a predictor about a player’s career. Some superstars had forgettable first games, and plenty of short-term journeymen started off with a bang. Take the case of Meredith “Mo” Sanford, the former Starkville High star who had an MLB debut that made jaws drop back in 1991. Sanford was a 6-foot-6, 220-pound right-hander whose potential in high school was intriguing enough that a Rolling Stone writer, looking for the “next big thing,” visited Starkville and did a feature for the magazine in the spring of 1984. “I’m not telling you this kid can throw a baseball through a car wash without getting it wet,” a scout told the Rolling Stone writer. “He’s still kind of raw. He’s big and he throws hard and he just turned seventeen and he’s going to get better and who the hell really knows?” Sanford threw hard enough to get drafted in the third round in ’84 by the New York Yankees. He opted instead for a scholarship to Alabama, where he labored rather unspectacularly for four years. He was drafted as a senior in 1988 by Cincinnati in Round 32. Under the tutelage of pro instructors, Sanford pitched well in the minors, advanced quickly and on Aug. 9, 1991, got the call to the majors. He started against San Diego, and in the bottom of the first inning he struck out, in succession, Bip Roberts, Tony Fernandez and Tony Gwynn. He wound up going seven innings, allowing two hits and a lone, unearned run in the Reds’ 5-1 victory. He punched out eight, walked one. Unfortunately, Sanford never quite bottled that lightning again, finishing 2-4 with a 4.81 ERA in 27 games spread over three seasons with three different clubs. His last MLB appearance came with Minnesota in 1995, a forgettable outing (three runs in 2/3 of an inning) against Milwaukee. He pitched in various pro leagues for five more years, chasing the magic of Aug. 9, 1991.

07 Aug

fun with figures

JaCoby Jones, who has not played a game since Sunday, was tied for the major league lead in OPS – that abstruse stat everyone seems so in love with these days – with a 1.212 entering Friday’s action. The former Mr. Baseball from Richton High had a .419 on-base percentage and a .793 slugging percentage for a Detroit club that, because of COVID-19 issues, had been idle for four days before taking on Pittsburgh Friday night. Jones, in his fifth MLB season, is a career .216 hitter (.663 career OPS) but made some swing adjustments in 2019 that seem to be paying dividends. He is batting .379 with three homers and seven RBIs. … Lance Lynn, the ex-Ole Miss star, was leading MLB in ERA with a 0.49 through 18 1/3 innings over three starts for Texas. He is 1-0 for a 3-8 team. His next start is slated for Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels. … Jarrod Dyson, the McComb native and Southwest Mississippi Community College product, has the green light to steal whenever he’s on base for Pittsburgh. Problem is, the 35-year-old Dyson hasn’t been on much. He is 2-for-26 (.077). But he showed what he can do with his wheels on Thursday, drawing a walk, stealing second and third base and scoring – his first run of 2020 — on a ground out. Said Pirates manager Derek Shelton: “I tell him all the time he’s one of the oldest guys in baseball, and one of the things about it is his speed has not deteriorated. We knew that coming in.” … What in the world is wrong with Craig Kimbrel? The ex-Mississippi Braves standout has allowed seven runs on six hits (two homers), five walks and an HBP in 2 2/3 innings over four games for the Chicago Cubs. He has two strikeouts. He recorded 346 saves and a 2.15 ERA over his first 10 MLB years. … On this date in 1978, Columbus native Red Barber and Mel Allen become the first recipients of the Ford C. Frick Broadcasting Award. They were selected by the National Baseball Hall of Fame voters to receive the honor recognizing excellence among broadcasters. P.S. The Hattiesburg Black Sox semi-pro team bowed out of the National Baseball Congress World Series on Thursday night with a 5-4 loss to the Hutchinson Monarchs. Hinds CC alum Pablo Lanzarote homered for the third straight game, and Jackson State’s Jaylyn Williams had three hits and an RBI. Former Delta State star Tre Hobbs started and took the loss for the Sox, who trailed 5-0 after five innings. Williams and J.T. Hall, the 36-year-old Southwest Mississippi CC alum and ex-minor leaguer, both hit .385 over the club’s three games in Kansas.

07 Aug

throw like bo

Funny the things you run across while looking for other things. On this date in 2017, Carlos Moncrief, a former Hillcrest Christian star who had a proverbial cup of coffee in the major leagues, unleashed a couple of throws that had Joe Maddon gushing with a bold comparison. “That’s Bo Jackson-arm stuff right there,” the then-Chicago Cubs manager said. Moncrief, playing for San Francisco, made a one-hop heave from deep right field to home plate at AT&T (now Oracle) Park. The throw, estimated at 307 feet, just missed nailing Javy Baez, who had circled the bases for an inside-the-park homer after the ball he hit took a crazy carom. Moncrief also made a no-hop throw from right-center to third base in the same game, keeping a runner from advancing. (Yes, there is video of both.) Moncrief, who was released out of the Mexican League in 2019, was a two-way standout at Hillcrest and Chipola (Fla.) Junior College and began his pro career in 2008 as a pitcher in Cleveland’s system. He moved to the outfield, started putting up numbers and finally earned a call-up to the majors in July 2017. He got into 28 games that season, his only MLB stint. He had 38 at-bats, eight hits, five RBIs and four runs. And those two remarkable throws. Joe Maddon no doubt still remembers.

06 Aug

cuts like a knife

Former George County High standout Justin Steele’s major league debut will have to wait. Added to the Chicago Cubs’ 30-man active roster on Sunday, the left-hander – drafted in 2014 — was sent back to the alternate camp today, when rosters were cut to 28. Also shipped out was Ole Miss product Jacob Waguespack, who had not allowed an earned run in three relief appearances for Toronto. Former Ole Miss star Bobby Wahl and Southern Miss alumnus Cody Carroll had previously been sent out by Milwaukee and Baltimore, respectively. Also missing from Opening Day rosters: East Central Community College product Tim Anderson, the 2019 American League batting champ, is on the injured list (groin injury) for the Chicago White Sox, where he was joined this week by Mississippi State alum Kendall Graveman (neck), who scuffled in his first two starts for Seattle this season as he returns from 2018 Tommy John surgery. In other news: Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton made his New York Mets debut on Wednesday, going 0-for-4 as the center fielder. … Former Mississippi Braves catcher Joe Odom made his big league debut for Seattle on July 28, then went back to the alternate camp on Aug. 2. … Southern Miss’ Chandler Best finished 2-2 with a 1.99 ERA for the Acadiana Cane Cutters, a Texas Collegiate League team that featured several Mississippi connections. A rising sophomore left-hander, Best ranked second in the college summer league with 33 strikeouts. Fellow USM pitcher Mathew Adams had a 5.78 ERA in 12 appearances; Ole Miss’ Drew McDaniel a 7.36 in five games; and Belhaven’s Reed Vincent a 4.62 in eight games. Trace Henry, a former Jones Junior College star from Mooreville, was one of the league’s top hitters at .341. USM’s Billy Garrity hit .213 in limited at-bats. … Ole Miss’ Gunnar Hoglund, a right-hander with mid-90s stuff, is rated the No. 14 draft prospect for 2021 by MLB Pipeline. He was a first-round supplemental pick out of a Florida high school in 2018. … The Hattiesburg Black Sox rebounded from a tough loss to win their second game in the National Baseball Congress World Series, the double-elimination event in Kansas. The Black Sox, the state’s semi-pro champs, play the Hutchinson Monarchs tonight. Pablo Lanzarote, a former Hinds Community College star, homered for the second straight game to help the Black Sox beat the Denver Cougars 9-4. Marcus Ragan, an East Mississippi CC alum, and Jamal Washington drove in two runs each for Hattiesburg, and Austin Sanders, another Hinds CC product, picked up the win.

05 Aug

all the young dudes

Mike Soroka is done for the year, and the loss of their ace is another blow to the Atlanta Braves’ starting pitching. Cole Hamels is down, Felix Hernandez is out and Mike Foltynewicz is dazed and confused in the Gwinnett camp. But it’s not necessarily panic time. It’s more like step-up time. The Braves have spent several years acquiring and grooming young arms. Let the kids pitch. Their prospect charts are filled with them, five ranking in the current top 10, per MLB Pipeline. Mississippi Braves fans have seen their work. Soroka came through Trustmark Park in 2017 and was outstanding. Max Fried (2017-18) and Sean Newcomb (2016) flashed their potential in Pearl, as well, and have had success on the big stage. Fried looks capable of being a No. 1. Newcomb had that look, too, as a starter in 2018. It’s time for some others to get their shot, meet the moment and pump up the Atlanta rotation, which appears to be the club’s only possible weak link. Touki Toussaint, the presumptive No. 3 starter now, was frequently dominant in his two stints (2017-18) with the M-Braves. No reason he can’t recapture that stuff. Kyle Wright, who filled the fifth starter spot last week, is the team’s No. 4 prospect, and he looked the part in Pearl in 2018. There is also Bryse Wilson, the No. 6 prospect and a 2018 M-Braves standout, and lefty Tucker Davidson, the No. 10 prospect who posted a 2.03 ERA for the Double-A club in 2019. Kyle Muller, another lefty and the No. 8 prospect, put up a 3.14 ERA for the M-Braves last season. And then there’s Ian Anderson, the much-ballyhooed No. 3 prospect who went 7-5, 2.68 in Pearl last summer. Anderson and Muller aren’t on the 40-man roster but are in the alternate camp in Gwinnett. Surely there are some breakout warriors among that group of young dudes.

05 Aug

buffalo hunting

Buffalo, N.Y., where the Toronto Blue Jays plan to play home games at Sahlen Field this season, has a rich baseball history, and a native Mississippian occupies a prominent place in it. The city actually hosted a major league club, the Bisons, from 1879-85 and has had a minor league team of the same name practically ever since. It has been Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate since 2013. From 1924-60, the Bisons played at Offermann Stadium, which was torn down in 1962. At the site now is a commemorative plaque that makes particular mention of a home run hit at the ballpark by Luke Easter, the Jonestown native and onetime big leaguer. “Luke Easter … did on July 14, 1957, what no other player, major, minor, semipro or Negro League, had been able to do. He hit a low, outside pitch delivered by Bob Kuzava of the Columbus Jets 550 feet over the scoreboard in center field,” wrote Joseph Overfield in a SABR article. Easter, who became in 1949 the first black Mississippian to play in the major leagues, was in his 40s when he played in Buffalo from 1956-58. A fan favorite, he hit 113 home runs during those three seasons. Overfield writes that Easter’s scoreboard-clearing homer wasn’t even the longest one he hit at Offermann: “That blow came during the same 1957 season when he caught a high, inside fast ball from Jerry Lane of the Havana Sugar Kings and pulled it directly to rightfield, across Woodlawn Avenue, over the houses and into the alley of a house on Emerson Place, the next street south.” Easter is one of only three former Bisons to have his number – 25 – retired.

04 Aug

feel good story

You kinda wanna root for Trent Grisham, even if you’re not a San Diego Padres fan. It’s kinda nice to see that the former Biloxi Shuckers star is off to a hot start in 2020. He hit his fourth home run on Monday night, helping the surprising Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4. Grisham, starting in center field for a 7-4 club, is batting .293 with seven RBIs and 11 runs. He seems to be in a good place, quite a contrast to where he was last October. You remember. Grisham, a rookie then with Milwaukee, in his first postseason game, misplayed a single in right field that allowed Washington to score the go-ahead run in the National League Wild Card Game. The Nationals won. The Brewers’ season ended. Grisham faced the media afterward and, appearing crushed, made no excuses for his error. You had to feel for him. It would be, coincidentally, his last game in a Milwaukee uniform. He was traded in November to the Padres, who were looking for a left-handed hitting outfielder and were willing to part with touted infield prospect Luis Urias to get Grisham. “He can do a lot of positive things on the baseball field,” Padres GM A.J. Preller told mlb.com at the time. Grisham, the 15th overall pick by Milwaukee in 2015, scuffled early in his pro career. He batted just .233 at Double-A Biloxi in 2018 but kept grinding. He hit .254 with 13 homers in 63 games for the Shuckers in 2019, got an All-Star nod and earned a promotion to Triple-A San Antonio, where he raked (.381, 13 homers in 34 games). He debuted for Milwaukee last Aug. 1, then found himself taking the place of the injured Christian Yelich in right field. No pressure there. Grisham, only 23, seems determined that the incident last October won’t define him. “Failing is not fun, and I like to have a lot of fun,” he told The San Diego Union-Tribune during spring training. “I play this game because I enjoy it. … That’s why I work, so when I get in the game it can be fun.” P.S. Ex-Petal High star Anthony Alford is slated for his first start of the season for Toronto tonight at Atlanta. Alford, who is 0-for-2 in 2020, has just 57 career at-bats (eight hits) since his MLB debut in 2017. He’s in left field batting ninth. DeSoto Central High product Austin Riley is starting at third base and batting sixth for the Braves. They were the top prep players in the state their senior year, Alford in 2012 and Riley in 2015.

03 Aug

high cotton

Outstanding pitching and some hot hitting from Chris Swanberg powered the DeSoto Xplorers to the Cotton States League championship in New Albany over the weekend. The Xplorers beat the HillCountry Generals 10-3 on Sunday in the title game of the college summer league, which featured 10 teams this year. Swanberg, who plays at Memphis, went 4-for-4 in the final, driving in two runs and scoring two. Zack Coon, a Blue Mountain College player, drove in three runs. Blue Mountain alums Adam Dill and Jackson Vance combined on a three-hitter for the Xplorers. In their first-round game, the Xplorers got a four-hit shutout and 14 strikeouts from Sam McMillin, and Alabama State product Austin King tossed a three-hit shutout with 13 K’s in their semifinal win. HillCountry beat the top-seeded North Delta Dealers in the semis as Eli Jackson, another Blue Mountain alum, homered and drove in five runs. … Team McCarty, managed by former Southern Miss and current pro pitcher Kirk McCarty, won the inaugural Deep South Collegiate League tournament over the weekend.

02 Aug

transaction watch

Billy Hamilton, the speedster from Taylorsville, is on the move again. The New York Mets have traded for the veteran center fielder, who had been in San Francisco’s alternate camp. Hamilton is valued for his defense and speed on the bases, a skill that has gained importance with the new extra-inning rule in MLB this season. “The guy is incredible, and he’s got tons of energy,” Mets pitcher Jared Hughes, who played with Hamilton in Cincinnati, told the New York Post. “He’s a good influence in the clubhouse. Everybody loves him.” Hamilton, a .242 career hitter with 299 steals, came up with the Reds in 2013 and spent last season with Kansas City and Atlanta. He joins fellow Mississippi native Brian Dozier (Tupelo/Fulton) on the Mets’ roster. … Former George County High standout Justin Steele, a left-hander, has been added to the Chicago Cubs’ 30-man roster. Steele, a fifth-round pick in 2014, has not pitched above Double-A. He has a 3.62 career ERA.