Monthly Archives: July 2022

24 Jul

a few atta boys

Austin Riley: The former DeSoto Central High star went 3-for-4 with his 28th home run, extending his hitting streak to 15 games, as Atlanta beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-2 on Saturday to pull within a half-game of the New York Mets in the National League East. “Hey, we’re coming for ’em,” Riley said with a grin in a postgame interview.
Brandon Woodruff: The Wheeler High and Mississippi State alum allowed one run on four hits with eight punchouts in six innings as NL Central leader Milwaukee beat Colorado 9-4. Woodruff is 8-3 with a 3.73 ERA.
Hunter Renfroe: The ex-State star from Crystal Springs homered for the second straight game, drove in three runs and scored twice in the Brewers’ win at toasty, enclosed American Family Field. “Good gosh it was hot, but we pulled it out. It was fun,” said Renfroe, who has 15 bombs on the season.
Lance Lynn: The Ole Miss product threw six shutout innings for the Chicago White Sox, yielding three hits and fanning six in a 5-4 win against Cleveland in an American League Central clash. Alas, Lynn got no decision because the bullpen blew a lead the ChiSox held when he departed.
Konnor Pilkington: The rookie from Pascagoula by way of MSU, facing off against Lynn in Game 2 of a twinbill, went five innings and allowed two runs, trimming his ERA to 4.17 in 12 games for the Guardians this season. He also got no decision.

23 Jul

a little rivalry

There’s a rivalry within the rivalry set for Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field tonight, a garnish to the main dish. When Cleveland takes on the White Sox in Game 2 of doubleheader between the American League Central foes, Mississippi State alum Konnor Pilkington will oppose Ole Miss product Lance Lynn as the starting pitchers. Talk about your studies in contrast. Pilkington is a rookie, 24, a left-hander making his 12th major league appearance with the Guardians. The White Sox’s Lynn is 33, a right-hander who has been in pro ball since 2008 and has pitched in 295 big league games, making two All-Star Game appearances and winning a World Series ring. Pilkington, who has been up-and-down from Triple-A all season with Cleveland, has a 4.02 career minor league ERA and has pitched relatively well for the Guardians: 1-2, 4.24. He went five innings against Chicago his last time out, on July 12, and allowed three earned runs in a loss. Lynn had knee surgery in the spring and has struggled at times since coming back. He is 1-3, 7.50, in seven starts. He has allowed 19 runs in his last three starts, eight in four innings in a loss against Cleveland on July 11. Normally a beast on the bump, Lynn is averaging just a shade over five innings per start. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss star Gunnar Hoglund, the 19th overall pick in the 2021 draft by Toronto, made his pro debut today with Oakland’s Arizona Complex League club. Hoglund, who had Tommy John surgery last year, worked two innings, allowing a hit and an unearned run with five strikeouts. The A’s acquired Hoglund from the Blue Jays in the Matt Chapman trade this spring.

23 Jul

now that’s clutch

On the brink of a fourth straight loss, one strike away from defeat at their home park Friday night, the Milwaukee Brewers were jolted to life by a 447-foot, game-tying home run off the bat of Hunter Renfroe. The ex-Mississippi State star’s 14th homer of the year — and first in over a month — came in the 10th inning and enabled the Brewers to play on against Colorado, ultimately winning 6-5 in 13 on Luis Urias’ walk-off single. “Obviously, we want to win any way possible, but this really helps the camaraderie in the clubhouse,” Renfroe said in an mlb.com story. Things didn’t look good before Renfroe smashed a 2-2 slider from Robert Stephenson high over the left-field wall at American Family Field to tie the score at 5-5 with two down in the 10th. “If you’ve got a chip, you’ve got a chance,” a Brewers broadcaster said as Renfroe rounded the bases. The Brewers opened up a 1 1/2 game lead over St. Louis in the National League Central. Renfroe, who missed a couple weeks with a hamstring injury, is batting .247 with 31 RBIs in his first season with Milwaukee after a career year in Boston in 2021. … Elsewhere in MLB, George County High alum Justin Steele allowed a first-pitch homer to Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber but nary another run in five innings as he picked up the win in the Chicago Cubs’ 15-2 blowout of the host Phillies. Steele is 4-6. … Former Ole Miss standout Nick Fortes drove in three runs in Miami’s 8-1 win at Pittsburgh that ended a three-game scoreless streak for the Marlins (see previous post). The drought reached a franchise record-tying 37 innings before it ended. P.S. Minor matters: Former Ole Miss star Errol Robinson signed a minor league contract with St. Louis on Friday and was assigned to Double-A Springfield. Robinson was playing for Sussex County in the independent Frontier League, batting .312 with 22 stolen bases. Originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, Robinson was a minor league Rule 5 pick by Cincinnati in 2020 and reached Triple-A last season before being released. He was batting .176 at Louisville and .254 for his pro career. … Ole Miss product Tyler Keenan has been promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in Toronto’s system. The power-hitting third baseman was drafted by Seattle in 2020 and traded earlier this season. He was batting .300 in 15 games at High-A Vancouver, where he had spent time on the injured list. … Ex-Southern Miss star Reed Trimble came off a brief rehab assignment and was sent to Low-A Delmarva by Baltimore. He was 2-for-4 in Friday’s game. The 2021 draftee hit .200 in A-ball last season and had been on the IL since the start of this year. … MSU product J.T. Ginn pitched three innings (no earned runs) on a rehab assignment for Oakland’s Arizona Complex League team. He was 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA at Double-A Midland when he was hurt. Ginn was acquired by the A’s in a spring trade with the New York Mets.

22 Jul

drought conditions

It isn’t Marcus Thames’ fault, of course. But the Louisville native and ex-East Central Community College star is the Miami Marlins’ hitting coach, so he no doubt will come under scrutiny over the team’s recent offensive malaise. The Marlins were shut out for the third straight game on Thursday, losing at home to Texas 8-0, their fourth straight loss. The Marlins (43-49) haven’t scored in their last 34 innings. They haven’t hit a home run in nine straight games. They rank 22nd in MLB in batting (.237) and 24th in runs (371). This is Thames’ first year with Miami, which simply isn’t a very good team. A longtime big leaguer, Thames spent four years as the New York Yankees’ hitting coach. Loaded with talent, the Yankees were winners every year. But in 2021 they had problems with situational hitting and didn’t score a lot. They also didn’t win a World Series, a drought that goes back to 2009. Championships are the standard in the Bronx. Thames, very popular with the players, was axed along with several other coaches. Hired by the Marlins, he joined a team that won just 67 games in 2021. They’ve got some good, young pitching, but they didn’t hit last year and they’re not hitting this year. Now, they have fallen into an awful scoreless drought. This isn’t Thames’ fault. But he is the hitting coach.

21 Jul

odds and ends

A way-too-early mock draft for 2023 by MLB Pipeline has Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez going second overall to Cincinnati and former Southern Miss pitcher Hurston Waldrep ninth to the Los Angeles Angels. Waldrep reportedly has transferred to Florida. … Former Petal High star and ex-big leaguer Anthony Alford, who turned 28 on Wednesday, is batting .244 with four homers and 17 RBIs for the KT Wiz in the Korean Baseball Organization. Alford, who has played in 102 MLB games, had four at-bats with Pittsburgh this season. … Oddly coincidental: Mississippi natives Nook Logan and Craig Tatum debuted in the big leagues on this date five years apart. Logan, a Copiah-Lincoln Community College product from Natchez, went 1-for-3 in his first game for Detroit in 2004, while Hattiesburg native Tatum, a Mississippi State alum, was 0-for-2 for Cincinnati in 2009. Logan was one of three Mississippians, along with Dmitri Young and Marcus Thames, who started for the Tigers on July 21, 2004, against Kansas City. Logan hit .268 with 56 steals in 321 games over four MLB campaigns. Tatum hit .223 over parts of three seasons. … The Double-A Mississippi Braves, off to a 14-4 start in the second half of the Southern League season, return to the field on Friday at Montgomery. The M-Braves have won six straight. The Biloxi Shuckers (6-12) return on Friday against Pensacola at MGM Park. … The state semi-pro tournament is slated for this weekend at Mississippi College’s Frierson Field. The venerable Hattiesburg Black Sox are the presumptive favorites. … The Triple-A Nashville Sounds are having a Tim Dillard Bobblehead Night on July 29 and will retire the former pitcher’s number in a pregame ceremony. Dillard, a Saltillo High and Itawamba Community College alum, pitched with the Sounds for parts of nine seasons and spent parts of four years in the big leagues with Milwaukee. … On July 30, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will formally induct ex-Delta State star Barry Lyons and Ole Miss product David Dellucci, both former major leaguers, as part of its Class of 2022.

19 Jul

it’s a wrap

Major League clubs found a deep pool of talent in Mississippi this year, selecting 23 players from the state over the 20 rounds of the three-day draft. The picks ranged from Mississippi State pitcher Landon Sims at No. 34 overall to Arizona to Meridian Community College outfielder Ke’Shun Collier at No. 593 in Round 20 to the Chicago Cubs. National champion Ole Miss saw seven players drafted, the first being pitcher Derek Diamond in the sixth round to Pittsburgh. Seven MSU players also were picked, including the first position player from the state to go off the board, catcher Logan Tanner at overall pick No. 55 in Round 2 to Cincinnati. Five Southern Miss players were drafted, all pitchers, topped by Dalton Rogers, third round to Boston. William Carey’s Chris Williams Jr., an outfielder, was picked in the 18th round by Detroit. South Panola outfielder Emaarion Boyd went in the 11th round to Philadelphia and Tishomingo County shortstop Spence Coffman in the 19th round to San Diego as the only high school players selected. No state SWAC school players were picked.

19 Jul

all-star nuggets

The last time Dodger Stadium hosted an All-Star Game, Grenada native Dave Parker started in right field for the National League, which won 4-2 to take a 32-18-1 lead in the series. That was 1980 — and, my, how things have changed. The American League takes a 46-43-2 lead into tonight’s game. … Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) will start at shortstop for the AL and Austin Riley (DeSoto Central High) will come off the bench for the Nationals in tonight’s game, but they won’t be the only Mississippians to take the field in Los Angeles. Brookhaven native Lance Barksdale, a veteran MLB umpire, will work first base in his second All-Star Game assignment. … Riley is one of five former Mississippi Braves on the NL’s active roster, joining Ronald Acuna, William Contreras, Dansby Swanson (all with Atlanta) and Freddie Freeman (now the Dodgers). Max Fried was named to the team but will not pitch. Brian Snitker, the M-Braves’ first manager in 2005, will run the NL squad. Former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams of Milwaukee also is on the NL roster. … Acuna, who will start in right field and bat leadoff, hit a 472-foot bomb completely out of Dodger Stadium — a very rare feat — during Monday’s Home Run Derby. … Venerable Dodger Stadium, which formally opened in 1962, underwent a $100 million renovation in 2019-20 under the direction of Jackson native Janet Marie Smith, the club’s Senior Vice President of Planning and Development. The All-Star Game was to have been played there in 2020 but was rescheduled to this year. Smith, a Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer, called her work “less of a renovation … than it is a reimagining of how these buildings come together.” A new plaza beyond center field makes it a more fan-friendly, fan-accessible facility. … Thirty years ago, in the 1992 All-Star Game at San Diego, former Mississippi State star Will Clark hit his only home run in six All-Star appearances. Clark, then with San Francisco, took former Jackson Mets pitcher Rick Aguilera deep for a three-run homer in the eighth inning of the AL’s 13-6 victory. Clark went 5-for-13 in All-Star Games. … Twenty years ago, in the 2002 Midsummer Classic at Milwaukee, Jackson Generals alum Freddy Garcia, then with Seattle, got the last six outs for the AL (in innings 10 and 11) in the infamous 7-7 tie that created such an inexplicable uproar. Former Gens star Lance Berkman, with Houston at the time, drove in two runs for the NL. … William and Willson Contreras are the latest brother act in the All-Star Game, a list that includes Pascagoula native Harry Walker and brother Dixie (born in Alabama) in 1947. Harry Walker started in center field and led off for the NL, with Dixie playing right and hitting second. Harry, who won a World Series with St. Louis in 1946, was traded to Philadelphia early in ’47, made the All-Star Game for the second time and went on to win the NL batting title. … Trivia time: Who was the first Mississippi native to make an All-Star Game? Ellisville’s Buddy Myer of the Washington Senators was on the AL roster for the 1935 game — the third one played — but he didn’t get on the field.

18 Jul

full steam ahead

Tuning up for his first MLB All-Star Game start in a huge series at Minnesota, Tim Anderson went 6-for-19 with a homer, three RBIs and seven runs as the Chicago White Sox took three of four from the first-place Twins. Anderson, the former East Central Community College star, knocked in the first two runs of Sunday’s 11-0 win, which moved the third-place ChiSox to 46-46 and within 3 games of Minnesota in the American League Central. Anderson will take a .310 average, six homers, 24 RBIs, 11 steals and some good vibes into Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where he’ll be the first White Sox shortstop to start the game since 1970. Anderson made the 2021 Midsummer Classic, his first trip, as a replacement. Anderson was drafted 17th overall in 2013, the highest a state juco player has ever been selected, and has lived up to expectations, batting .288 over seven seasons and winning a batting title in 2019. P.S. Mississippi State pitcher Landon Sims was the 34th overall pick by Arizona in Sunday night’s MLB draft, and Bulldogs catcher Logan Tanner went 55th overall to Cincinnati. Rounds 3-10 will be held today. … MSU’s Kellum Clark has been picked as a reserve for the Cape Cod League All-Star Game, set for July 23. Clark is batting .264 with six RBIs and 10 runs for Wareham in the college summer league. The former Brandon High standout hit .257 with 14 homers for the Bulldogs in 2022.

17 Jul

draft watch

There are always surprises in the MLB draft, which begins today (6 p.m., MLB Network/ESPN). It would be a bit of a surprise if a player from Mississippi is picked in the first round. A sampling of mock drafts (Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Sporting News) turns up just one instance of a state player pegged in the top 30: Baseball America has Mississippi State pitcher Landon Sims going 28th to Houston. Sims, the closer on the national title team in 2021, had Tommy John surgery this spring, creating questions about his status as a first-rounder. BA rated Sims No. 22 among draft prospects. MLB Pipeline placed Sims No. 44 among its Top 250 draft prospects, three spots behind Bulldogs catcher Logan Tanner. Bradley Loftin, a lefty pitcher at DeSoto Central High, is No. 77; Northeast Mississippi Community College righty Colby Holcombe No. 134; Ole Miss catcher Hayden Dunhurst No. 155; MSU outfielder Brad Cumbest No. 173; Jackson Academy outfielder Dakota Jordan No. 177; Madison Central catcher Ross Highfill No. 197; and South Panola outfielder Emaarion Boyd No. 245. Baseball America ranks Tanner No. 68, Dunhurst No. 139 and Holcombe No. 154. No state high school players made BA’s Top 200, though the magazine did rank four state schools in its final Top 50 for 2022: No. 2 Sumrall, No. 5 Northwest Rankin, No. 21 Jackson Prep and No. 33 Madison-Ridgeland Academy. Day 1 of the draft includes the first two rounds plus supplemental picks, a total of 80. The 20-round draft runs through Monday and Tuesday. P.S. Twelve players from state schools were drafted in 2021, including two first-rounders (MSU’s Will Bednar, No. 14, and UM’s Gunnar Hoglund, No. 19). Hoglund, like Sims this year, was coming off arm surgery. … Two Jackson State players made the list of HBCU draft prospects compiled by blackcollegenines.com. Right-hander Nik Gallatas and infielder Ty Hill are joined on that list by Grambling State right-hander Shemar Page, a former Pearl River CC star from Laurel, and Southern U. outfielder O’Neill Burgos, a Brookhaven Academy and Jones College alum. Page, also a hitter at Grambling, was the SWAC pitcher of the year. … A recent mlb.com feature focused on the small number of top three overall draft picks who failed to reach the major leagues. On that list are former MSU pitcher B.J. Wallace, No. 3 by Montreal in 1992, and Oak Park High third baseman Ted Nicholson, No. 3 by the Chicago White Sox in 1969. Wallace had injury issues, while Nicholson’s career may have been short-circuited by military duty.

17 Jul

saturday in the park

At Trustmark Park in Pearl, Vaughn Grissom kept raking and Drew Lugbauer slugged another home run for the red-hot Double-A Mississippi Braves. Grissom, Atlanta’s No. 4 prospect, hit a two-run triple to the gap in right-center and Lugbauer added his 20th homer — high off the batter’s eye in dead center field — to help the M-Braves (13-4) to a 6-2 win over Rocket City. In five games in Pearl, Grissom is batting .500 (11-for-22) with a homer and five RBIs. He hit .312 with 11 homers at High-A Rome before being promoted.
At Nationals Park in Washington, newly minted All-Star Austin Riley hit his 27th homer for Atlanta and fellow All-Star and M-Braves alum Max Fried won his 10th game as the Braves beat the Nats 6-3. Ex-DeSoto Central High standout Riley is batting .284, slugging .577 and has 61 RBIs and 54 runs in 91 games. Fried went seven innings to move to 10-3 with a 2.84 ERA.
At Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Matt Wallner, the ex-Southern Miss star, hit a two-run homer in the All-Star Futures Game. M-Braves pitcher Jared Shuster yielded a home run in to his former M-Braves batterymate Shea Langeliers, now in Oakland’s system. Langeliers was named the game’s MVP. Wallner, recently promoted to Triple-A in the Minnesota system, hit 21 homers in Double-A this season.
At SRP Park in North Augusta, S.C., Brandon Parker, the Saucier native and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product, hit his seventh homer for Low-A Augusta in Atlanta’s system and boosted his average to .282 (.333 in July) with a two-hit game. Parker hit .185 at Augusta in 2021.
P.S. Kudos to Team USA and Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco for a bronze medal finish in an international tournament in The Netherlands. Ole Miss’ Jacob Gonzalez hit .250 with a homer and four RBIs, Rebels teammate Hunter Elliott posted a 1.31 ERA in two games and Southern Miss’ Tanner Hall won his lone start. … Former Biloxi Shuckers standout Devin Williams, now a set-up reliever in Milwaukee, reportedly has been added to the National League All-Star team. Fellow Shuckers alum Josh Hader, the Brewers’ closer, was picked but elected not to participate.