Monthly Archives: March 2021

03 Mar

kudos to jucos

Jarrod Dyson, a 50th-round draft pick – yes, 50th — by Kansas City in 2006, is returning to his original team. The former Southwest Mississippi Community College star from McComb has agreed to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract with the Royals, per reports. The 2021 season will be Dyson’s 12th in the big leagues. The speedy outfielder, 36, who won a ring with the Royals in 2015, is a .246 career hitter with 256 stolen bases and good defensive skills. He last played in KC in 2016 and split last season between Pittsburgh and the Chicago White Sox. … When he officially joins the Royals, Dyson will be the fourth state junior college product on an MLB 40-man roster. Corey Dickerson, Tim Anderson and Cody Reed are the others. The state’s jucos have produced a healthy list of big leaguers over the years, the most accomplished of which is arguably Roy Oswalt, a Holmes CC alum who won 163 big league games, second-most all-time among Mississippi natives. If you were choosing an all-time MLB team of state juco alums, Oswalt would have to be the No. 1 pitcher. Dyson, Meridian CC’s Dickerson and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC’s Matt Lawton would be the outfielders. Meridian alums Paul Phillips (catcher), Tyler Moore (first base) and Jason Smith (second base) would join East Central CC’s Anderson (shortstop) and Northwest CC’s Bill Selby (third base) in the infield. Marcus Thames, another ECCC alum, would be the DH. On the bench: MGCCC’s Fred Lewis and Joey Butler, Itawamba CC’s Desmond Jennings, Pearl River CC’s Wendell Magee, Copiah-Lincoln CC’s Nook Logan and Delta CC’s Bobby Etheridge. Cliff Lee (MCC), Greg Hibbard (MGCCC), Tony Sipp (MGCCC), Chad Bradford (Hinds), Reed (NWCC), Mike Smith (Utica) and Mike DeJean (Delta) would fill out a solid pitching staff. P.S. Mississippi-connected players who have recently joined big league camps include ex-Mississippi State star J.T. Ginn (New York Mets), Ole Miss product Cooper Johnson (Detroit) and UM alum Errol Robinson (Cincinnati). Ginn, a second-round pick in 2020, is coming back from Tommy John surgery.

02 Mar

back with a bang

Anthony Alford, Brent Rooker and Bobby Bradley, each making a comeback of sorts, belted home runs in their spring training debuts on Monday. Alford, the former Petal High star, and Mississippi State product Rooker went yard in their first at-bat, while ex-Harrison Central standout Bradley waited until his second. Alford, whose 2020 season was ended by a broken elbow, was in Pittsburgh’s lineup as the DH and took Toronto’s Robbie Ray deep. Alford, expected to be the Pirates’ center fielder, reportedly is still building strength in his throwing arm. He played in just five games for the Bucs last summer after they claimed him on waivers from the Blue Jays. Rooker debuted in 2020 with Minnesota but played in only seven games (.316, one homer) before suffering a broken forearm when hit by a pitch. The big outfielder homered Monday off Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow (on a 98-mph pitch) and later added a sac fly. Rooker is trying to make the Twins’ roster as a reserve. Bradley, who made his MLB debut in 2019, did not play in 2020 and wasn’t at Cleveland’s alternate site for the summer. Contending for the Indians’ first base job, the lefty-swinging slugger mashed a homer off Kansas City’s Jake Kalish.

01 Mar

play ball

Nice start for Austin Riley in Atlanta’s spring training opener against Tampa Bay. The former DeSoto Central High standout, playing third base and batting third, went 2-for-3 with an RBI. The Braves are counting on Riley to produce at third base with more consistency in his third MLB season. He hit .239 with eight homers last year and had a big bomb in the postseason. His career numbers are .232 and 26. “The thing that is encouraging about Austin is all the way through, since he’s been a pro, he’s made adjustments and figured things out,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters last week. “He’s gotten better every year.” … Ole Miss product Chris Ellis, in camp as a non-roster invitee, started that game for Tampa Bay and pitched a scoreless frame. Other spring debuts of note by Mississippians in the majors: Mitch Moreland got a hit in his first at-bat in an Oakland uniform. Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-2 in his first Boston appearance. Billy Hamilton, in the Cleveland lineup as the DH, went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run. Tim Anderson went 1-for-3 for the Chicago White Sox, and JaCoby Jones put up a 1-for-3 for Detroit. Jacob Lindgren registered two strikeouts in an inning of work for the White Sox. Ethan Small worked a clean inning and got a hold for Milwaukee. Grae Kessinger went 1-for-1 for Houston. Jacob Waguespack had a tough day for Toronto, yielding two home runs against the New York Yankees.