May 3, 2021 - All Mississippi Baseball

m-braves roster

Among the catchers who have passed through Mississippi on their way to the big leagues are Brian McCann, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Evan Gattis, Willians Astudillo, Alex Jackson and William Contreras. Shea Langeliers is almost certain to join that list in the near future. The Atlanta Braves’ No. 3-rated prospect (by MLB Pipeline) is one of the many noteworthy names on the Double-A Mississippi Braves’ roster, which was announced today. The M-Braves open the 2021 season on Tuesday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Other Top 30 prospects on the roster are shortstop Braden Shewmake (No. 4), outfielder Trey Harris (No. 14), pitcher Victor Vodnik (No. 15), first baseman/outfielder Greyson Jenista (No. 19), third baseman C.J. Alexander (No. 20) and outfielder Justin Dean (No. 26). Shewmake, Harris, Alexander and Jenista all spent time with the M-Braves in 2019, when minor league teams last played. Langeliers was a first-round pick out of Baylor in 2019. His arm is said to be his best tool; he hit .255 with two homers and 34 RBIs in 54 games in A-ball in 2019. He was a non-roster invitee to Atlanta’s big league camp this spring, as were Shewmake, Harris and Alexander. P.S. Former Mississippi State star Ethan Small, the Milwaukee Brewers’ first-round pick in 2019, is on the Biloxi roster. Lefty Small is rated the No. 4 prospect in the Milwaukee system by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.

numbers of note

540 – Strikeouts by Mississippi State’s pitching staff this season, most in the nation. The Bulldogs (32-10) punched out 37 in their three-game sweep of Texas A&M over the weekend.
31 – Wins by Ole Miss this season, marking the 23rd straight year (excluding the shortened 2020 season) that the Rebels have posted at least 30 wins. They swept South Carolina over the weekend.
30 – Runs scored by Southern Miss in taking the last three games of a four-game set at Rice. The Golden Eagles improved to 29-14 and 16-7 in C-USA, second in the West.
21 – Wins, against no defeats, for Jackson State in SWAC play this season. The Tigers have one series left, at home against winless Mississippi Valley State next weekend.
20 – Wins, against 16 losses, this season for Belhaven heading into this week’s ASC Tournament in Marshall, Texas. Ace Brett Sanchez has nine of those wins and just one loss.
20 – Wins, against eight losses, for MUW, which is ranked No. 2 in the USCAA poll and awaiting word of an invite to the postseason.
9 – Current losing streak for Alcorn State, which finished the regular season at 6-18, 6-16 SWAC.
9 – Straight wins for William Carey, which will take a 30-10 record into the SSAC Tournament in Mobile, Ala., this week. The Crusaders are the fifth seed and play 4-seed Mobile on Wednesday.
7 – Blue Mountain’s seed in the SSAC Tournament; the Toppers (14-18) get 2-seed Faulkner in the first round on Wednesday.
5 – Delta State’s seed in this week’s GSC Tournament in Oxford, Ala. The Statesmen (24-15) took two of three from Mississippi College over the weekend. MC didn’t make the tourney field.