Mike Christensen, Author at All Mississippi Baseball

20 Nov

mlb roster moves

A handful of Mississippi college products were added to major league 40-man rosters on Tuesday, most notably former Mississippi State star Jake Mangum, who has toiled in Triple-A the past three years with three different organizations. Outfielder Mangum, a .296 hitter over his five minor league seasons, was selected by Tampa Bay. (The Rays traded starting center fielder Jose Siri to the New York Mets for a pitcher on Tuesday.) MSU product Eric Cerantola made Kansas City’s 40-man protected roster and ex-Ole Miss stars Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy were added by Oakland and Cleveland, respectively. All three are pitchers who reached the Triple-A level this season. They’ll go to big league camp next spring, seeking to make the active roster for the 2025 season. … Atlanta added 2024 Mississippi Braves pitcher Rolddy Munoz and Milwaukee selected Logan Henderson, who pitched in Biloxi this past season. (As noted by mlb.com: Players signed at age 18 or younger must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 or older have to be protected within four seasons. The Rule 5 draft is next month.) P.S. A total of 26 Mississippians (native or school alum) appeared in major league games in 2024, with J.T. Ginn, Will Warren, Hurston Waldrep, Justin Foscue and Colt Keith making their MLB debuts. Keith, a Biloxi High alum who played for Detroit this year, was a Silver Slugger finalist at second base.

18 Nov

totally random

Today’s subject: Ike Pearson. Context is of the utmost importance when considering the career of Pearson, a Grenada native who pitched in six big league seasons between 1939-48. The right-hander’s record was 13-50, his career ERA 4.83. Not so good. But note that in his prime years — 1939-42 — he had the misfortune to pitch for a Philadelphia Phillies club that finished last in the National League each season. Pearson had a promising debut, throwing 3 1/3 shutout innings against the defending league champion Chicago Cubs on June 6, 1939. He finished that year 2-13 with a 5.76 ERA. In 1941, on a Phillies team that went 43-111-1 — one of the worst teams of all-time — Pearson did a creditable job. He won four games. He saved six others, ranking fourth in the league. His ERA of 3.57 was best on the staff. He made 10 starts and finished 30 games, which led the NL. He also led the league in hit batsmen with eight. Pearson served in the Marine Corps from 1943-45, returning to baseball in ’46 to pitch in five games for the Phils, still a losing team. He finished his MLB career in 1948 with the Chicago White Sox, going 2-3, 4.92, for yet another last-place team. An alumnus of Ole Miss and Mississippi Delta Community College, Pearson died in 1995.

15 Nov

hardware pickers

Kudos to Garrett Crochet on winning the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award on Thursday. The Ocean Springs native, now with the Chicago White Sox, joins a rather select group of Mississippians (native or school alum) to have claimed one of MLB’s individual awards. (Yes, MLB gives out quite a few of them.) Crochet missed all of the 2022 season and most of 2023 following elbow surgery. The tall left-hander bounced back this year to go 6-12 (for an awful team) with a 3.58 ERA while averaging 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings. He also made the All-Star Game. Two other Mississippians have won the comeback award: Meridian Community College alum Cliff Lee in 2008 — the same year he won the AL Cy Young — and Vicksburg native Dmitri Young in 2007. Three Mississippians also have won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, which went to Shohei Ohtani this year. Vicksburg’s Ellis Burks got it in 2002, ex-Mississippi State star Rafael Palmeiro in 1999 and Grenada native Dave Parker in 1989 and ’90. No Mississippian has won the Hank Aaron Award for best overall hitter in each league or the Reliever of the Year Award. Mississippi products have won a handful of Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards over the years, including ex-MSU star Brent Rooker taking the AL award at DH this year. … The “major” individual awards will be handed out next week: Rookie of the Year on Monday, Manager of the Year on Tuesday, Cy Young on Wednesday and MVP on Thursday. Mississippi has produced winners in each of those categories. Former Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan was the National League’s ROY in 2009, and Columbus native Sam Jethroe won the award in 1950. Former MSU star Buck Showalter is a four-time winner of the top manager award, each time with a different club, the most recent with the New York Mets in 2022. Lee is the state’s lone Cy Young winner, taking the honor in 2008 when he went 22-3 for Cleveland, and Parker is the only MVP winner, picking up the award in 1978, when he won the second of his two batting titles with Pittsburgh. (Adopted Mississippian Dizzy Dean, who was born in Arkansas, won the NL MVP in 1934 with St. Louis.) Of note: MSU product Will Clark was second (to Jackson Mets alum Kevin Mitchell) in the NL MVP voting in 1989, and Starkville native Hughie Critz was second (to St. Louis’ Bob O’Farrell) back in 1926. Weir’s Roy Oswalt was second (to Albert Pujols) in the NL rookie of the year voting in 2001.

14 Nov

shopping season

Three Mississippi products, all right-handed pitchers, made USA Today’s shopping list of major league free agents, though none is deemed to be highly coveted. Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull is ranked No. 49 on the list of the top 120, ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn is No. 75 and former Mississippi State standout Kendall Graveman is No. 89. Turnbull, 32, posted a 2.65 ERA in an injury-shortened season with Philadelphia, with whom he signed a one-year deal for $2 million last off-season. Lynn, 37 and reportedly considering retirement, had a 3.84 ERA in 23 starts with St. Louis, where he was also on a one-year deal ($11 million). Lynn has 143 career wins — and 2,000-plus career innings. Graveman, 34, missed all of 2024 following shoulder surgery last off-season. He has a career ERA of 3.95 and was an effective middle reliever during Houston’s playoff run in 2023. Adam Frazier, the MSU alum cut loose by Kansas City last month, is also on the market; the versatile 32-year-old batted just .202 for the Royals in 2024. He has played for five teams over the past four seasons. … Onetime big league pitchers Konnor Pilkington, a State alum, and Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, are minor league free agents, as are ex-MSU standout Hunter Stovall, Madison Central product Regi Grace and ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star Brandon Parker.

12 Nov

ring the bell

It’ll come as no surprise if Brent Rooker is awarded the Silver Slugger at DH in the American League. The former Mississippi State star hit .293 with 39 homers, 112 RBIs, 82 runs, 26 doubles, 11 steals, a .927 OPS and a 5.6 WAR for the (no longer Oakland) Athletics. All of those numbers were easily career-highs for the fifth-year big leaguer. He was tied for fourth in the AL in homers and ranked third in RBIs. No other Mississippian (native or school alum) came close to Rooker’s production this season, making Rooker a slam-dunk choice for the Cool Papa Bell Award. Other winners of the Bell — given here for the best performance by a Mississippian in MLB — include Justin Steele, Austin Riley, Tim Anderson, Corey Dickerson, Mitch Moreland, Brian Dozier, Desmond Jennings, Lance Lynn, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Chris Coghlan. For the record, Rooker made $750,000 this past season; he is due for a big jump in salary arbitration. P.S. Vicksburg native Dmitri Young was a guest on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show today and did an engaging interview ranging from his baseball card collection to his rising star nephew Quentin to his first MLB game against studio host Al Leiter. Young hit 171 homers in a 13-year big league career. … Jared Johnson, who powered Class 1A Smithville High to a state championship back in 2019, has been traded by Atlanta to the A’s for infielder Nick Allen. Johnson, 23, posted a 2.60 ERA as a reliever at High-Class A Rome in 2024 and has a 3.98 over his five minor league campaigns. The 6-foot-2 right-hander has 225 strikeouts in 183 1/3 career innings. Allen is a good defensive shortstop who hasn’t hit in limited big league time. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Jackson Chourio, now with Milwaukee, was named a finalist for National League rookie of the year. He hit .275 with 21 homers and 22 steals. … Shuckers alum Brice Turang, a Gold Glove winner at second base, won the NL’s Platinum Glove as the best overall defensive player in the league. Turang was a first-round pick by Milwaukee in 2018 and played for the Double-A Shuckers in 2021. He posted a .989 fielding percentage with just seven errors at second base in 2024. He had 379 assists and a hand in 78 double plays. He led all major league players with 22 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024 per mlb.com and all NL fielders in Baseball Reference’s Defensive Wins Above Replacement stat. … Louisville native Marcus Thames apparently will be retained as hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox, who recently named Will Venable as their manager for 2025. The ChiSox went 41-121 last season, worst record in modern MLB history. … Brett Wellman, son of former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman, has been named manager of the Down East Bird Dawgs, who’ll join the Mississippi Mud Monsters as an expansion team in the independent Frontier League next year. Brett Wellman, a bullpen catcher for the M-Braves when his dad was manager, played three years in the Toronto system.

08 Nov

odds and ends

Former Ole Miss standouts Derek Diamond and Kemp Alderman made the National League roster for Saturday’s Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game (7 p.m., MLB Network), though Alderman will not participate. Right-hander Diamond, a 2022 draftee by Pittsburgh, has a 2.45 ERA in seven AFL games; he pitched at the High-Class A level this past season. Alderman, a Miami prospect drafted in 2023, is second in the league with six homers but is not currently active. The list of Mississippians who have participated in the AFL’s showcase game en route to the big leagues over the years includes Austin Riley, Hunter Renfroe, Colt Keith, Brian Dozier, Chris Stratton, Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart, Anthony Alford and Braxton Lee. … Also on Saturday, Ole Miss product Tim Elko will suit up for Team USA in the opener of the World Baseball Premier 12 Tournament in Mexico. The U.S. plays Puerto Rico. Elko had been playing in the AFL following a strong season in Double-A and Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox. Mississippi Braves alum Drake Baldwin, a touted catching prospect, is also on the Team USA roster. … Former Mississippi State stars Brent Rooker and Jordan Westburg along with Biloxi High alum Colt Keith are among the American League finalists for Silver Slugger Awards, honoring the top hitters at each position in each league. The winners will be announced on Tuesday. Rooker, who hit 39 home runs this year with the Athletics, is a finalist at DH; Westburg, a 2024 All-Star with Baltimore, is up for the award as a utility player; and Keith, who batted .260 as a rookie with Detroit, is one of three candidates at second base. Other finalists include former M-Braves Freddie Freeman (first base, Los Angeles Dodgers), William Contreras (catcher, Milwaukee) and Shea Langeliers (catcher, A’s). … Cooper Pratt, the former Mississippi prep player of the year at Magnolia Heights, won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove award at shortstop, one of just nine honorees from all of the minors. The second-year pro made only eight errors in 338 chances at two levels of A-ball in Milwaukee’s system. The Brewers’ No. 2-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline, he also batted .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals. … Former Madison Central standout Regi Grace was among the 500-plus players who became minor league free agents this week. Grace, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, was 1-4 with a 4.19 ERA in 31 games at the Double-A level in Minnesota’s system. Drafted by the Twins in 2018, Grace has a 3.94 career ERA. Onetime big league pitchers Konnor Pilkington, a Mississippi State alum, and Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, also hit the market, as did ex-MSU standout Hunter Stovall. Stovall, 28, is a .277 career hitter who spent the last two seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A team. … Former Biloxi Shuckers Sal Frelick, Milwaukee’s right fielder, and Brice Turang, Brewers second baseman, won 2024 Gold Gloves in the National League, while Mississippi Braves alum Dylan Moore, who played six different positions for Seattle, picked one up as a utility player in the American League. All three were first-time winners. … Dave Parker, the Grenada native and seven-time MLB All-Star, is up for the National Baseball Hall of Fame again as part of the Classic Baseball Era ballot. The electees will be announced Dec. 8. MLB Network’s Dan Plesac, who played with Parker in Milwaukee, says “The Cobra” should be in the Hall, calling him a “marvelous teammate” who was “full of life” and “brought energy to the clubhouse.” Over a 19-year career (1973-91), Parker batted .290 with 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs, 154 stolen bases and 143 outfield assists. Parker “knew he was good,” Plesac said in a recent broadcast, “and he was good.”

04 Nov

run it back

Before we get too deep into the Hot Stove season, take a look back at a few highlights from Mississippians in the majors in 2024:
April 1 — Jordan Westburg (Mississippi State alum) hits his first MLB walk-off homer for Baltimore.
April 7 — Justin Foscue (MSU) gets an RBI hit in his second MLB at-bat for Texas.
April 19 — Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central High) starts a game with six no-hit innings for Philadelphia.
May 4 — Brent Rooker (MSU) hits two homers in one inning for Oakland.
May 4 — Nathaniel Lowe (MSU) notches a four-hit, two-RBI, two-run game for Texas.
May 17 — Nick Fortes (Ole Miss) goes 3-for-4 with a homer and catches a third straight shutout for Miami.
May 24 — Colt Keith (Biloxi High) blasts his first big league homer for Detroit.
May 31 — Dakota Hudson (MSU) yields one run in seven innings to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for Colorado.
June 13 — Garrett Crochet (Ocean Springs) fans 13 over seven innings for the Chicago White Sox.
June 21 — Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) gets his first walk-off knock for Miami.
July 5 — Justin Steele (Lucedale) throws a two-hitter for his first win of 2024 with the Cubs.
July 8 — Matt Wallner (Southern Miss) hits a 116.7 mph home run for Minnesota.
July 13 — Rooker hits a 452-foot homer for Oakland.
July 16 — Crochet throws a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game.
July 23 — Lance Lynn (Ole Miss) registers his 2,000th career strikeout for St. Louis.
July 29 — Wallner notches 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his pitching debut for Minnesota.
Aug. 1 — Austin Riley (DeSoto Central High) hits career homer No. 150 for Atlanta.
Aug. 21 — J.T. Ginn (MSU) throws two hitless innings in his MLB debut for Oakland.
Aug. 23 — Hunter Renfroe (MSU) gets his 500th career RBI for Kansas City.
Aug. 24 — Rooker reaches the 30-homer mark for the second straight year with Oakland.
Sept. 13 — Adam Frazier (MSU) homers in his return to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park for Kansas City.
Sept. 26 — Ginn starts the last game at Oakland Coliseum; Rooker and Lowe also play.

01 Nov

halloween hauls

Three Mississippi college alums went to the bump on Halloween in the Arizona Fall League. Houston Harding cleaned up. The other two, Jackson Fristoe and Dylan DeLucia, came away with the proverbial bagful of rocks. Left-hander Harding, a Coldwater native and ex-Mississippi State standout, pitched four innings — with a 13-1 lead — for Mesa on Thursday night, allowing just one hit and no runs in a 17-4 victory against Salt River. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Los Angeles Angels in 2021, Harding, now 26, reached Triple-A this season; he has a 4.41 career ERA in the minors. Over three appearances (seven innings) in the AFL, he has posted a 3.86. … The starting pitcher for Salt River was Fristoe, who got just two outs before departing. He yielded five hits (one homer), two walks and seven runs (five earned) and is now 0-2, 11.37, in four AFL starts. Fristoe was a 12th-round draft pick by the New York Yankees in 2022; he pitched in A-ball this summer. … DeLucia, a hero on Ole Miss’ 2022 College World Series winner, worked three innings in relief for Suprise on Thursday and gave up four hits, three walks and four runs (three earned) in a win against Peoria. He has a 11.12 ERA in four AFL outings. A sixth-rounder by Cleveland in 2022, DeLucia, because of arm issues, did not make his pro debut until this season, working in 13 games (2.55 ERA) at three levels of the low minors. P.S. Big leaguers Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), Kendall Graveman (MSU), Adam Frazier (MSU) and Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central High) hit the free agent market on Thursday. Ex-State stars Hunter Renfroe and Chris Stratton exercised contract options to remain with Kansas City, at least for the time being.

31 Oct

a memory evoked

Los Angeles rallied from a five-run deficit Wednesday night to win Game 5 — and the World Series — evoking a painful memory for Atlanta fans but no doubt a thrilling one for Hattiesburg native Charlie Hayes. According to baseballreference.com, the only other time a team has squandered a lead of five runs or more after five innings and lost a Series game was in Game 4 in 1996. The Braves, up 2-1 in the Series, led 6-0 after five innings but fell to the New York Yankees 8-6 in 10 at old Fulton County Stadium. Hayes played a role in the rally. He had an RBI hit in the three-run sixth and another knock in the eighth, when Jim Leyritz’s three-run homer off Mark Wohlers crushed the soul of Braves fans and tied the score 6-6. Hayes also reached on an error that scored the final run in New York’s two-run 10th. The former Forrest County AHS star went 3-for-5 in Game 4 — his only hits in the six-game Series — and three days later at Yankee Stadium caught the foul pop that closed out the Yankees’ championship. A midseason pick-up by the Yankees in ’96, Hayes played 14 years all told in the big leagues (1998-2001), batting .262 with 144 homers and winning the one ring. P.S. Dodgers first baseman and Mississippi Braves alum Freddie Freeman, 6-for-20 with four homers and 12 RBIs against the Yankees, was named the MVP of the 2024 Fall Classic, becoming the first Mississippi-connected player to win that award. No native or college alum has done so. … In the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday, Ole Miss product Tim Elko went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer (his fourth), four RBIs and three runs for Glendale. The Chicago White Sox prospect is hitting .267 in the AFL.

29 Oct

riding the wave

David Mershon was the 532nd pick in the MLB draft back in July. So far, that looks like a steal for the Los Angeles Angels. Mershon, an All-SEC shortstop at Mississippi State this year, is excelling in the Arizona Fall League after a productive start to his pro career this summer at the Double-A level. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound Mershon went 2-for-3 with two walks, a triple, an RBI and two runs for Mesa on Monday. The 21-year-old South Carolina native is batting .250 with a .451 on-base percentage, ranking second in walks (13) in the star-studded AFL. He has two triples, seven RBIs, 10 runs and four stolen bases in 13 games as one of just two 2024 draftees originally assigned to the AFL. Mershon hit .347 at State this season with six homers and 27 steals. The Angels nabbed him as a sophomore-eligible and promptly sent him to Double-A Rocket City, where he answered the challenge with a hit in his first pro game. He batted .254 (.326 OBP) with five bags in 29 games overall in the Southern League. … Ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman (a Miami prospect) is batting .306 with six homers in nine games for Peoria in the AFL, and UM alum Tim Elko (Chicago White Sox) has three homers and a .225 average in 10 games for Glendale. P.S. Postseason flashback: Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe’s 94.9 mph outfield assist in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series remains the hardest throw for an outfield assist in the Fall Classic since such stat-tracking began in 2015. Los Angeles’ Teoscar Hernandez made a 93.9 mph throw — third on the list — to nab New York’s Giancarlo Stanton at the plate on Monday night. Renfroe, playing for Tampa Bay in 2020, registered two assists in Game 4 of the 2020 Series against the Dodgers, cutting down runners at second and third base. He also homered in that game, which the Rays won before ultimately dropping the series.