June 4, 2024 - All Mississippi Baseball

fast company

This is a pretty cool list. It includes a couple of current big leaguers, one former big leaguer, two current Double-A stars and two players projected as potential first-round draft picks next month. Make that three potential first-round picks, now that Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin has been named Mississippi’s Gatorade Player of the Year for 2024. It wasn’t a big surprise that Griffin won the award, given annually to the best high school player in the state. He batted .559 this season with nine homers, 39 RBs, 76 runs and 85 stolen bases and went 10-0 with a 0.72 ERA on the bump. MLB Pipeline ranks Griffin as the No. 9 prospect in the upcoming draft. In addition, Prep won the MAIS 6A championship and finished 39-4. Prep Baseball Report ranked the Patriots No. 1 in its final Mississippi poll, ahead of Sumrall, Magnolia Heights, George County and Brandon, all state champs, rounding out the top five. MaxPreps, which named Griffin its Mississippi player of the year, ranked Sumrall at No. 1, with Prep No. 2 followed by Magnolia Heights, East Webster and George County. Sumrall won the MHSAA Class 4A title and finished 35-6, led by championship series MVP Cade Clinton, Landon Hawkins and Drew Davis. … Previous Gatorade POY winners include Austin Riley (now with the Atlanta Braves), Colt Keith (Detroit Tigers), Anthony Alford (ex-big leaguer now playing in Mexico), Blaze Jordan (Double-A with Boston), J.T. Ginn (Double-A with Oakland), Dakota Jordan (Mississippi State) and Braden Montgomery (Texas A&M). Last year’s winner, Cooper Pratt of Magnolia Heights, is in A-ball in the Milwaukee system and a highly rated prospect.

time to step it up

At 29-31 and 4.5 games out of first place in the American League West, the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers are not where they want to be. Neither is Nathaniel Lowe, the Mississippi State alum who has manned first base for the club since 2021. Lowe is batting just .256 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 39 games after starting the season on the injured list with a strained oblique. He has just eight hits and no homers in his last 46 at-bats and has been sitting lately against left-handed starters. Two years ago, Lowe won a Silver Slugger (.302, 27 homers). His numbers dipped in 2023 to .262 with 17 bombs, but he won a Gold Glove and hit three homers during the team’s run to the championship. Lowe, 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in a 2-1 loss to Detroit on Monday night, figures to be in the starting lineup tonight against Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty. The Rangers have been beset by injuries this season, including the hard-luck case of ex-MSU star Justin Foscue, who got his first big league hit on April 7 and went on the injured list the next day with a dreaded oblique strain. He is currently on the 60-day IL. … Like Lowe, former DeSoto Central High standout Austin Riley is having a sub-par season for a scuffling Atlanta team that finds itself 7 games back of first-place Philadelphia in the National League East. An All-Star and Silver Slugger winner last year, Riley is hitting .234 with three homers and 19 RBIs. After sitting for 12 days with a side injury, Riley is 5-for-28 with one RBI in seven games since he returned to the lineup. He hasn’t homered since May 3. He has averaged 36 homers the past three seasons. Injuries also have been an issue for the Braves (33-24), whose streak of six straight division titles could be in real jeopardy. They begin a series at Fenway Park against Boston tonight.