tagging up

Brandon Woodruff, described as “angry (and) effective” by an mlb.com writer, got his groove back for Milwaukee on Thursday. The ex-Mississippi State standout threw five shutout innings to beat St. Louis. It was a nice bounce-back effort from the big right-hander, who was whipped by the Chicago Cubs (and George County High alum Justin Steele) in his first start of 2022 last week. One week into the new MLB season, Woodruff’s former State teammate, Hunter Renfroe, new to the Brewers’ roster this year, is scuffling along with a .160 average. Former Bulldogs star Adam Frazier, who also changed teams in the off-season (San Diego to Seattle), is hitting just .133. Corey Dickerson, the ex-Meridian Community College standout, is batting .125 for his new club, St. Louis. He wasn’t in the lineup Thursday against Woodruff. On the flip side, East Central CC product Tim Anderson is off to a sizzling start for the Chicago White Sox, batting .471 with a homer, four RBIs and three runs. He missed the first two games of the campaign while serving a suspension from 2021. His ChiSox teammate Kendall Graveman, an MSU alum new to Chicago this season, has not allowed an earned run in 4 2/3 innings. Nathaniel Lowe, another Bulldogs alum, is hitting .348 for Texas with six RBIs. And while defending World Series champion Atlanta is wobbling along at 3-5, ex-DeSoto Central star Austin Riley has been steady at .286 with two homers and five RBIs. P.S. MSU alum Brent Rooker, traded from Minnesota to San Diego just before the season opened, already has hit two homers for Triple-A El Paso in the Padres’ system. … Former Columbia High standout Ti’Quan Forbes recently signed a minor league deal with Arizona; he was previously in the White Sox’s system.