Monthly Archives: June 2023

23 Jun

there’s a sizzle in cincy

The Atlanta Braves are coming to town this weekend, and Cincinnati — if not all of baseball — is abuzz with anticipation. “You can’t get a ticket, I’ll tell you that,” Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley, the former Mississippi State star, said in a phone interview. “That’s how maddening it is.”
The fresh-faced Reds, picked to finish at the bottom of the National League’s Central Division, enter the weekend series at Great American Ballpark in first place. They’ve won 11 games in a row, one win shy of a record set in 1957. Atlanta, which has the best record in the league, has won eight straight.
“The Braves are the ultimate test,” said Brantley, who brings a keen perspective to what is happening in the Queen City, one of baseball’s great towns, home of a venerable franchise that has won five World Series and featured the legendary Big Red Machine in the early 1970s.
Brantley pitched for the Reds in the mid-1990s and was on the ’95 club that reached the NL Championship Series, losing to the Braves. He has been on the broadcast team since 2007, covering a club that reached the postseason in 2010, ’12 and ’13. He has also seen the team — and the city — endure seven losing seasons in the past nine, including a 62-100 pratfall last year that followed a roster purge.
“I’ve been here a long time,” Brantley said. “I’ve seen the ups followed by the downs, and it gets old. Fans get frustrated.”
But the ’23 Reds have rekindled their enthusiasm — and not just by winning but by how they are winning. “We’ve got a bunch of young kids playing like bandits, playing with their hair on fire,” Brantley said. “That’s attractive to this city. Cincinnati is the birthplace of Pete Rose. Fans see guys playing like he did, they’ll come out in droves.”
Brantley said the feeling around the team in spring training was that they’d be improved from last year’s disaster, but the lead would come from young starting pitchers Graham Ashcraft, Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene. “That hasn’t happened,” Brantley said. “They’re all on the injured list. And yet, all these kids, position players, have taken off.”
The influx of young talent includes T.J. Friedl and Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz, who was just called up at age 21 and has generated a lot of chatter around the game with his jaw-dropping power and speed. “But the kid that’s been the firestarter lately is Matt McLain, the No. 1 pick from UCLA a couple years ago,” Brantley said. “He’s about my size, five-eight. The way he plays the game is incredible to watch. He flies around like he has nothing to lose.”
The team’s chemistry is evident in the clubhouse, Brantley said, with many of the young players taking their cue from second baseman Jonathan India, NL rookie of the year in 2021. “He hasn’t been here long, but longer than most of them. They look to him,” Brantley said.
He believes this run is sustainable, though the true tell will come in late August. “The young guys haven’t played that duration of baseball,” he said. Solidifying the starting rotation, sort of a patchwork of late, also will be key.
For now, the Reds are just riding the wave, and it’s a massive one.
Brantley said the atmosphere reminds him a little of the mid-’90s, when the team of Larkin and Gant and Sanders was creating roars at Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field. “We had a bunch of veterans on that team, and we were pretty good,” he said. “But we didn’t win 11 in a row.”

23 Jun

seattle star power

The Major League All-Star Game in Seattle may have an old home week feel for Atlanta Braves players. The amazing Ronald Acuna already has made the National League squad — the fourth selection for the former Mississippi Braves star — as the top vote-getter in Phase One of the balloting. Six other Braves, including three more former M-Braves and one Biloxi Shuckers alum, made the cut for Phase 2 of the voting, which opens Monday. Plus, former Atlanta and M-Braves standout Freddie Freeman, now playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is also a finalist. Austin Riley, ex-DeSoto Central High star and a 2022 All-Star, is a finalist at third base. Ozzie Albies — who leads the NL in RBIs — is among the last two candidates at second base; Michael Harris II, reigning rookie of the year and currently swinging a torrid bat, is among the four outfield finalists; and ex-Shucker Orlando Arcia, having a breakout season, is in the running at shortstop. Atlanta pitchers, most notably former M-Braves Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder, could also be picked for the NL team. Atlanta has the best record in the league and is routinely packing Truist Park. … Phase 2 of the voting will be available exclusively online at mlb.com and on team sites. The voting process ends June 29. The game is July 11 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.

22 Jun

gimme some glovin’

In one of the many great scenes in the movie “Moneyball,” the Scott Hatteberg character tells Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s GM, he’s never played first base. “It’s not that hard, Scott,” says Beane. “Tell him, Wash.” To which Ron Washington, the A’s infield coach, replies: “It’s incredibly hard.” Mississippi can proudly boast of two college players who mastered that underrated position this past season, both of whom anchored the infield for championship clubs: William Carey University’s Jake Lycette and East Central Community College’s Ramie Harrison. They are among the six state college products who received ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove honors on Wednesday. Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall, who was error-free in 2023 while also winning 12 games, was named to the NCAA Division I Gold Glove team. He is the first Golden Eagles player to earn this award. Lycette, a former Northwest Rankin High star, made the NAIA team; he handled 412 chances without a boot for the SSAC regular season champions who reached the NAIA World Series. Harrison, a Neshoba Central product, made one error in 308 chances, a .997 fielding percentage, for state champion and NJCAA Division II World Series participant ECCC. Pearl River CC pitcher Luke Lyon, an Oak Grove alum, and second baseman Blaise Breerwood, out of Poplarville High, also made the juco D-II team, as did Southwest CC outfielder Jerod Williams, a Gulfport High product who did not commit an error in 2023. P.S. Tonight is Southern Miss Night at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, where the Mississippi Braves will host Birmingham at 6:35. Scheduled to appear in pregame ceremonies are retired coach Scott Berry and players Dustin Dickerson and Nick Monistere, who prepped at Northwest Rankin. Basketball coach Jay Ladner is also on the guest list. Fans in USM gear can get a $5 ticket. … The M-Braves, winding down the first half of the Southern League season, are 32-32 after a 7-2 win Wednesday in which Scott Blewett threw six shutout innings and Justin Dean celebrated his return from Triple-A with an inside-the-park home run.

21 Jun

tag team

A couple of old college rivals teamed up Tuesday to spark Memphis to a win over Iowa in the Triple-A International League. Ex-Mississippi State star Dakota Hudson, a first-round pick by St. Louis in 2016, threw five strong innings and ex-Ole Miss star Errol Robinson, a sixth-rounder by the Los Angeles Dodgers in ’16, went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run as the Cardinals’ top farm club won 8-5 over the Chicago Cubs’ top affiliate. Hudson, recently back from the injured list, improved to 4-4 with his third win this month. He allowed seven hits, two walks and two runs while fanning eight. The 28-year-old right-hander has had some rocky outings among his 10 starts and his 5.57 ERA reflects as much. Hudson is 32-17 with a 3.61 in major league work for St. Louis, but he was sent to the minors during spring training, reportedly because his velocity was down. Robinson, playing mostly third base for the Redbirds, is riding a five-game hit streak during which he is 8-for-15 with five RBIs and five runs. On the year, he is batting .233 in 36 games. He has bounced around during his seven pro seasons, including a stint in independent ball, but has yet to make an MLB appearance. He signed with St. Louis last July and put up some decent numbers in Double-A. P.S. Blaze Jordan, the DeSoto Central High product, leads the High-Class A South Atlantic League in batting at .322 and has a 10-game hitting streak. The Boston Red Sox prospect is batting .355 in June. He has 10 homers and 47 RBIs for Greenville. … Former Ole Miss standout Tim Elko leads the Low-A Carolina League in homers with 15 for Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox). He has a .298 average and 52 RBIs. (Why is he still in this league?) … South Panola High alum Emaarion Boyd continues to pace the Low-A Florida State League in steals with 36 in 45 games at Clearwater (Philadelphia). The 2022 draftee is batting .270.

20 Jun

that time of year

June is a time for celebration in the minor leagues. A bunch of teams will clinch half-season titles — and postseason berths — this week with the first half ending on Sunday. It’s unlikely there will be a celebration at Trustmark Park, where the Double-A Mississippi Braves begin a six-game homestand vs. Birmingham. The M-Braves are in third place at 31-31 and facing a 5.5 game deficit in the Southern League South, which Pensacola leads with a 37-26 mark. There is an anniversary to celebrate in central Mississippi, however. Thirty years ago this month — on June 10, 1993, to be exact — the Jackson Generals clinched the first-half title in the Texas League East and did so in movie-script fashion. Ray Montgomery hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Gens a 6-4 win against Shreveport at Smith-Wills Stadium. That team, a Houston Astros affiliate, would go on to win the TL pennant, the fourth for the Double-A franchise in a 13-year span. Shreveport held a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the ninth with closer — and former General — Richie Simon on the mound. Former Murrah High star Fletcher Thompson led off with a walk. He took second on a wild pitch and went to third on the fourth hit of the game by Brian Hunter. The crowd of 2,218 was engaged. Roberto Petagine, who would go on to win league MVP honors, drove in the tying run with a grounder up the middle that forced Hunter at second base. Up came Montgomery, who drove a 1-1 slider over the left-field wall for just his second homer of the season. The Generals celebrated on the field and again later in the clubhouse. The win reduced their magic number for clinching the title to 1, and when Arkansas lost at Tulsa a short time later, the title was secured. Winning in the minors doesn’t matter? “That’s bull,” Montgomery, who would reach the big leagues and is now the Los Angeles Angels’ bench coach, said after the game. “(The Astros) want to bring you along slowly, but they want you to win. We want to win.” P.S. The M-Braves are coming in hot. They won their last series at Pensacola, belting four homers in the finale, to reach .500 for the first time since mid-April and have won 22 of their last 35.

20 Jun

eye on …

A lot of eyes will be on Kemp Alderman today and Wednesday. The Ole Miss alum from Decatur is in Phoenix for the MLB Draft Combine, and the outfielder was identified before workouts even began as a player to watch by MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. “I think he’s going to put on quite a show at the combine,” Callis said Monday in a TV interview on MLB Network. “I think he’ll establish once again while he’s there that he hits the ball as hard as anybody in this draft.” The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Alderman put up a .376 average, 19 homers, 61 RBIs, a .440 on-base average and a .709 slug this past season at Ole Miss. He won the Ferriss Trophy as the best college player in the state. “He hits as hard and as far anybody I’ve ever seen,” Rebels coach Mike Bianco said at the Ferriss ceremony last month. Alderman hit 25 homers over three seasons at Newton County Academy, where he was team MVP his last three years. He went undrafted out of high school and played sparingly as a freshman at UM in 2021. “To his credit, he went to work,” Bianco said. “He kept getting better and better.” He hit .286 with 11 homers on the 2022 national title team and then erupted for one of the best seasons in school history in 2023. Alderman, the No. 62 draft prospect on MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings, is one of eight Mississippi college products invited to the combine, in just its third year. Also on the list: shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, the highest-rated draft prospect in the state, catcher Calvin Harris and pitcher Jack Dougherty from Ole Miss; Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall and outfielder Matthew Etzel; and Mississippi State outfielder Colton Ledbetter and pitcher Cade Smith. Batting practice, infield/outfield drills and bullpen sessions begin today; MLB Network will televise portions of the workouts.

19 Jun

college stuff

After winning 320 games and guiding four teams into the NCAA Tournament at Southeastern Louisiana, Matt Riser will tackle a new challenge at Memphis. The Picayune native and former Pearl River Community College standout was announced as the Tigers’ new coach on Sunday. Riser spent 15 years at SLU, the Hammond-based school that plays in the Southland Conference. Memphis plays in the American Athletic Conference. Riser was an All-State player at PRCC in 2003 and ’04, batting .376 as a sophomore on the Wildcats’ state title team. He finished his playing career at Tulane and began his coaching career as an assistant at SLU. Memphis finished 29-28 in 2023 under first-year coach Kerrick Jackson, who moved on to Missouri. Memphis had not had a winning full season since 2017. The current roster includes a handful of Mississippi connections, notably Dalton Kendrick (Hernando), who had 12 saves in 2023. … In the College World Series, Hurston Waldrep — former Southern Miss pitcher — got the win for Florida against Oral Roberts in a winners bracket game on Sunday. Waldrep worked six innings and allowed a lone run with 12 strikeouts in the Gators’ 5-4 victory. Today in Omaha, Madison Central alum Braden Montgomery and the Stanford Cardinal meet Tennessee in an elimination game. Montgomery, a DH/pitcher, was 0-for-2 with a walk in a loss to Wake Forest on Saturday. Ex-DeSoto Central star Kyle Booker is a reserve outfielder on Tennessee’s roster; he hit .236 in 28 games this season. … There are seven Mississippi college alumni on the rosters for the inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic. Jackson State’s Ty Hill — a Ferriss Trophy finalist this year — is joined by teammates Jatavis Melton, Jesse Caver and Erik Gonzalez. Narvin Booker and Victor Figueroa from Mississippi Valley State and Kewan Braziel from Alcorn State are also among the invitees for the event, which was initiated by Ken Griffey, Jr. Two squads will play a game on July 7 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, site of MLB’s All-Star Game on July 11. P.S. Justin Parker, previously at South Carolina, will be hired as Mississippi State’s new pitching coach, according to various reports.

19 Jun

punching ’em out

There was no joy in Seattle for Lance Lynn and the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, but a record-tying effort deserves some bit of fanfare. Ole Miss alum Lynn struck out 16 batters, matching a franchise mark set in 1954. “My stuff was good,” Lynn told mlb.com, “but we lost. It doesn’t matter how many you strike out if you don’t win the game.” The White Sox’s 5-1 loss dropped their record to 31-42. Lynn is 4-8 with a 6.51 ERA. But Sunday’s outing was one of his best in a tough year. He threw 114 pitches over seven innings, allowed four hits, two walks and three runs. Lynn has 1,817 career punchouts, third-most — for the time being — among Mississippians in MLB history. Now in his 12th big league season, the burly right-hander struck out 246 batters in 2019, most by a Mississippian in a single season. On the career chart, Weir’s Roy Oswalt finished with 1,852 and Meridian Community College alum Cliff Lee got 1,824. Ex-Ole Miss star Jeff Fassero had 1,104, Greenwood native and Mississippi State product Paul Maholm 984 and Leakesville native Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell 918. Baseball Reference credits Negro Leagues star and Hall of Famer Bill Foster, an Alcorn State alumnus who grew up in Rodney, with 922; he likely had more than that. P.S. Former Ole Miss standout Nick Fortes went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run as Miami beat Washington to climb 10 games over .500 for the first time in 12 years. The Marlins are 41-31, 5 games back of Atlanta in the National League East. Fortes is batting .243 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 47 games as Miami’s catcher; the team reportedly likes his work behind the plate.

18 Jun

nice comebacks

In his first outing in 17 days, after an impatient stay on the injured list, Justin Steele carved up the Baltimore Orioles for the better part of five innings Saturday and earned his seventh win of the year for the Chicago Cubs. “Good to be back on the saddle,” the ex-George County High star said on Twitter. Indeed. Steele went on the IL on May 31 with left forearm tightness. He said in an mlb.com article that the tightness subsided quickly and he felt fine during the IL stint, eager to get back on the bump. “I was never worried about it,” he said. At Wrigley Field on MLB Network on Saturday, he blanked the Orioles for 4 2/3 innings before an Adley Rutschman homer tied the score at 2-2. Steele got the last out of the fifth, the Cubs went ahead in the bottom half and held on for a 3-2 win. Steele, who threw 74 pitches, improved to 7-2 with a 2.71 ERA, third-best in the National League. … Kansas City rallied from a late 8-2 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9 on Saturday, saving Ole Miss alum Mike Mayers from another humbling defeat. Mayers, making his sixth appearance and second start since being brought up from Triple-A, allowed six runs (three homers) in five-plus innings. Mayers is 1-2 with a 6.15 ERA. The veteran right-hander, who signed as a minor league free agent with the Royals in the off-season, has allowed 16 runs in his last three appearances and took L’s in the previous two. His roster status might be shaky. P.S. Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College standout, left the White Sox’s game with a shoulder injury. Dropped from the top spot in the order to No. 2, he was 0-for-1 with a walk before his exit. His replacement in the lineup, rookie Zach Remillard, went 3-for-3 and drove in the winning run in Chicago’s 4-3, 11-inning victory over Seattle.

17 Jun

all about runs

Austin Riley had a quiet night at the plate on Friday for Atlanta. Or did he? The former DeSoto Central High standout got one hit, a bloop single to right, in four plate appearances. But he also drew two walks and scored two runs, both on Travis d’Arnaud home runs in the Braves’ 8-1 win against Colorado. Riley is second among Mississippians in the majors in runs with 41. Runs isn’t one of the Triple Crown categories, though it is arguably as important — if not more so — than average, homers and RBIs. So much of the buzz around Ronald Acuna is over his long-distance homers and stolen bases. Hardly mentioned is the fact that the former Mississippi Braves star leads all of baseball in runs with 61. Isn’t scoring runs what it’s all about? Nathaniel Lowe, the Mississippi State product having a big year for Texas, is the leading scorer among Mississippians (natives and school alums) in MLB with 46 runs. The first-place Rangers lead MLB in scoring with 419. MSU alums Adam Frazier (Baltimore) and Hunter Renfroe (Los Angeles Angels) have scored 33 apiece, and ex-Bulldogs slugger Brent Rooker (Oakland) has crossed the plate 29 times. In the minors, State alum Jordan Westburg has scored 54 times for Baltimore’s Triple-A Norfolk club; the hot prospect is batting .292 with 17 homers and 52 RBIs. Behind Westburg is MSU product Justin Foscue with 44 runs at Triple-A Round Rock (Texas system), followed by Biloxi High alum Colt Keith (41, Double-A Erie, Detroit system) and ex-Mississippi College standout Blaine Crim (40, Round Rock). Former Ole Miss star Tim Elko has scored 37 times at Low-Class A Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox), same number UM product Grae Kessinger put up at Triple-A Sugar Land before Houston summoned him to the big leagues. He has one hit so far but is still looking for his first big league run. P.S. Ex-George County High standout Justin Steele is slated to come off the injured list and start for the Chicago Cubs today against Baltimore at Wrigley Field. Steele, who hasn’t pitched this month, is 6-2 with a 2.65 ERA. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton accepted an assignment to Triple-A Charlotte by the White Sox. The veteran big leaguer, just off the IL and off the ChiSox’s 40-man roster, did not play Friday night.