Mike Christensen, Author at All Mississippi Baseball

11 Jun

out of kilter

In his first game off the injured list, Mississippi State product Jordan Westburg hit a home run for Baltimore. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the homer came in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s 5-3 loss to Detroit. The Orioles, perhaps the most disappointing team in the big leagues, had entered the opener of this series having won seven of nine. Westburg and center fielder Cedric Mullins were activated from the IL. “I think everybody in Baltimore is excited,” O’s interim manager Tony Mansolino said pregame. Detroit, with the best record (44-24) in baseball, didn’t seem to notice, building a 5-1 lead by the fifth inning. Baltimore managed just six hits. And so it goes for the O’s. They are now 26-39, dead last in the American League East. Westburg was an All-Star at third base in 2024, when he hit .264 with 18 homers and 63 RBIs. A big season was expected of him and this team, which went 91-71 in 2024 and made the playoffs. But like many of his teammates, Westburg scuffled out of the gate. When he went down with a hamstring injury on April 28, he was hitting .217. He now has five homers but just seven RBIs. His numbers are bound to improve, but the team is in such a deep hole, and its pitching in such a fix, improvement in the standings could be a tall order. … Home runs were kind of a thing for Mississippians on Tuesday. In MLB, Nathaniel Lowe hit his ninth for Washington, Matt Wallner his fifth for Minnesota and Nick Fortes his second for Miami. In the minors, Reed Trimble (Baltimore system), Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox) and Brennon McNair (Kansas City) went yard. And in the independent Frontier League, Travis Holt and Karell Paz homered for the Mississippi Mud Monsters in a road win at Joliet. P.S. He didn’t hit one out, but Konnor Griffin went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run in his High-Class A debut for Greensboro in the Pittsburgh system. Griffin, first-round pick out of Jackson Prep last summer, hit .338 with nine homers in Low-A ball and led the Florida State League in several categories before his promotion.

10 Jun

alumni meeting

Though the Mississippi-Biloxi rivalry no longer exists in the Southern League, alumni of the Double-A clubs can still clash in the National League. The first meeting of 2025 between Atlanta and Milwaukee happened on Monday night at American Family Field — and the former M-Braves won the day and the game, 7-1, snapping a dreadful seven-game losing streak. Five M-Braves alums combined for seven hits, four walks and five runs. Notably, Ronald Acuna homered for the fifth time in his 16 games; Austin Riley went 3-for-5 to raise his average to .285; and Ozzie Albies registered career hit No. 1,000. He is the all-time hits leader among Atlanta second basemen. Three ex-Shuckers were a combined 1-for-9 with a pair of walks. (Former M-Braves catcher William Contreras, now Milwaukee’s backstop, was 1-for-4 with an RBI knock.) It was a huge win — psychologically, at least — for the Braves, now 28-37 but still mired in fourth place in the NL East. The Brewers are 35-32, third in the NL Central. Game 2 of the three-game set is tonight. … The M-Braves, who played at Trustmark Park in Pearl from 2005-24, have produced more than 180 big league players. The Shuckers, based in Biloxi since 2015, have sent more than 80 players into MLB. P.S. Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum had a four-hit, two-RBI game Monday as Tampa Bay spoiled the debut of No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony by beating Boston 10-8 in 11 innings at Fenway Park. … Arizona has placed ex-MSU star Kendall Graveman back on the injured list with a hip problem. He had made nine appearances, all but his last effective ones. … Chris Stratton, another ex-Bulldogs standout, declared free agency Monday. Since being designated for assignment and then released by Kansas City on May 25, the 10-year MLB vet has: signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, been DFA’d, been outrighted to Triple-A, declared free agency, re-signed with the Dodgers, been DFA’d again, been outrighted again and declared free agency again. He made three appearances with the Dodgers during that time. … On June 10, 2019, Arizona and Philadelphia set a major league by combining for 13 homers in a game at Citizens Bank Park. The fun started when McComb native Jarrod Dyson led off with a bomb, the first of three straight by the Diamondbacks to start the game. Dyson hit only 21 homers in his 12-year career, but he’s in the home run record book.

09 Jun

in local news

At Pearl, the Mississippi Mud Monsters wrapped up a 4-1 homestand with a twinbill split Sunday against Florence (Ky.) at Trustmark Park. In the 11-2 win in Game 2, Kyle Booker homered and drove in three runs to back the strong start of Rodney Theopile. Nick Hassan went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run for the independent Mud Monsters. Booker, a former DeSoto Central High star who spent three years at Tennessee, is batting .327 with three homers and 18 RBIs on the year. He had two of the Mud-sters’ three hits in a 4-0 loss in Sunday’s opener. Mississippi is 13-14 in its inaugural Frontier League season. After a 12-game road trip, the next homestand starts June 24.
At Biloxi, the Double-A Shuckers whipped Montgomery 6-4 at Keesler Federal Park to win the Southern League series 5 games to 1. The first-place Shuckers are 35-22. Brock Wilken, a highly rated Milwaukee prospect, hit a grand slam, and former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt, another top prospect, went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run and two steals. Wilken leads the SL with 15 homers and 35 RBIs. The Shuckers are celebrating their 10th anniversary season as an SL club.
At New Albany, the college boys of the Cotton States League played a pair of doubleheaders in BNA Bank Park with league-leader Tallahatchie going 1-0-1 vs. Tippah County and North Delta taking two from Hill Country. Houston Green, an Itawamba Community College alum, drove in two runs for Tallahatchie to back the three-hit pitching of Jake Thomas and Sam Brumbaugh in their 5-1 win. The Rascals are 4-0-1. Green is 6-for-12 on the young season, and Thomas is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA. For North Delta, Eli Akins, a Delta State alum, threw a one-hitter in a 2-0 win against Hill Country after Connor Edge (ICC) tossed a three-hitter and Hayden Short knocked in three runs in the Dealers’ 10-1 victory in the opener.
P.S. Madison Central High product Spencer Turnbull has been added to Toronto’s active roster. The veteran right-hander, a recent free agent signee, had a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia before a lat injury in June ended his 2024 season. He has a 4.26 career ERA over 78 games. … Braden Montgomery, another Madison Central alum, had a four-hit game Sunday for High-Class A Winston-Salem and boosted his average there to .263. Montgomery is a highly rated prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s chain.

08 Jun

game of adjustments

Konnor Griffin, a year removed from Jackson Prep, has made a remarkably smooth transition to pro ball. Playing at the Low-Class A level, the ninth overall MLB draft pick from 2024 is batting .338 with nine home runs, 36 RBIs, 49 runs and 26 steals through 50 games for the Pittsburgh affiliate. He was 3-for-5 with an inside-the-park homer on Saturday, ripping around the bases when two outfielders had a tough time picking up his shot to the wall in right-center. He’s making this look easy, which it is not. As he moves up the minor league ladder, Griffin will encounter speed bumps. It’s inevitable. He’ll have to make adjustments. Baseball is a game of adjustments. It’s a trite phrase — but very true. Many a highly regarded Mississippi prospect has scuffled at various levels of the game. Some adjust, some can’t. Injuries can be a factor. Gunnar Hoglund, a first-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2021, made the big leagues with the A’s last month. He is 1-3 with a 6.40 ERA and on the injured list, where he has spent time before. When he returns, some adjustments will be necessary. Former Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum finally made the majors this year in his sixth pro season. He hit .311 for Tampa Bay in April, went on the IL and is just 5-for-29 since he returned. “There are good days and bad days,” he told forbes.com in a recent interview. “When you fail, don’t be too hard on yourself.” In other words, reevaluate and forge ahead. Will Bednar, a first-rounder out of State in 2021, is in Double-A with San Francisco. He has a 9.56 ERA. Landon Sims, the 34th overall pick from MSU in 2022, is making the big adjustment to Double-A in the Texas system. He has a 4.91 ERA in 20 games. Ex-Ole Miss star Jacob Gonzalez was the 15th overall pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2023. He reached Double-A in 2024 but struggled there. Back at that level this year, he appears to have figured some things out. He is batting .257 with four homers and 21 RBIs. Tough times have shadowed former Southern Miss star Reed Trimble, who has battled injuries since being drafted 65th overall in 2021. He is at Double-A in Baltimore’s system, hitting .069 in 10 games. He is at .237 in 153 minor league games. Also on the Orioles’ Chesapeake roster is Ole Miss product Anthony Servideo, a third-rounder back in 2020. He is batting .171 for his career, having reached Triple-A for a time in 2024. The game ain’t easy. But if they keep giving you a uniform, you keep grinding, looking for the right adjustments.

07 Jun

always compelling

Whenever the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees get together — as they did on Friday night — something buzzworthy is bound to happen. Flash back to June 7, 2011. At Yankee Stadium, former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, pitching for the Red Sox, nailed down his 200th career save, doing so in his 259th appearance, faster than any reliever ever. The previous record was held by none other than Yankees legend Mariano Rivera. Papelbon gave up a walk and a hit but struck out two, including Alex Rodriguez for the final out, in Boston’s 6-4 victory. Papelbon had a tremendous career. He had 13 saves in three years at MSU before Boston took him in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. He still ranks 11th on the all-time MLB saves list with 368 and holds the career record for both the Red Sox (219) and Philadelphia (123). During his occasionally tempestuous 12-year big league career, he made six All-Star Games and won a World Series with the ’07 Red Sox, closing out the clincher against Colorado. Alas, he lasted just one year (in 2022) on the Hall of Fame ballot. … Flash forward to June 6, 2025. At Yankee Stadium, former Jackson Prep star Will Warren, pitching for New York, got his first taste of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and came away a winner. Given an early lead, rookie Warren blanked Boston for four innings before yielding a homer in the fifth and three runs in a clunky sixth. Warren went 5 1/3 innings in the 9-6 victory, running his record to 4-3 with a 5.34 ERA in 13 starts. Before a crowd of 46,783, he struck out the first batter of the game and six all told and now has 75 K’s in 57 1/3 innings for the first-place Yanks. Friday’s game was the first meeting of the season between the old rivals. Stay tuned. P.S. Spencer Turnbull, Madison Central High alum, had a rough outing in his latest minor-league tune-up. The veteran right-hander, who recently signed with Toronto as a free agent, gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings Friday for Triple-A Buffalo. He is 0-3 with a 7.13 in five minor league appearances between A-ball and Triple-A.

06 Jun

spotlight on …

With Mississippi’s Big 3 out of the NCAA Tournament, look east to Auburn, Ala., where Mississippi native Butch Thompson has his Tigers in a Super Regional for the fourth time in his 10 seasons on The Plains. Auburn, the national No. 4 seed, hosts 13-seed Coastal Carolina, the Sun Belt champ, in the best-of-3 series this weekend, with the winner off to the College World Series. “We’re playing the hottest team in college baseball coming in here,” Thompson said of the Chanticleers, 51-11, who have won 21 straight games. Thompson’s Tigers are playing pretty well, too. Led by Ike Irish (.362, 18 homers, 57 RBIs), they went 3-0 in their regional, putting up 28 runs, and are 41-18 on the year, 28-6 at home. Thompson, born in Aberdeen, starred at Amory High and Itawamba Community College and served as an assistant for seven years at Mississippi State. He is 324-231-1 as the head man at Auburn, which has become one of the best programs in the hyper-competitive SEC. The Tigers have been to the CWS twice in the last six years, and Omaha is again within reach. “We gotta keep our head down and just keep fighting for that consistency in our lineup,” Thompson said. Game 1 of the Super Regional is tonight. … Meanwhile, MSU has given newly hired coach Brian O’Connor a four-year deal worth $2.9 million per, reportedly the second-largest contract in college baseball. He won 900-plus games, including the 2015 national title, in 22 years at Virginia. P.S. Props to JoJo Parker, who joins select company as the winner of the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year Award in Mississippi. The Purvis High senior, the highest-rated MLB draft prospect in the state, batted .465 with 13 homers this year. Primarily a shortstop, he also pitched (9-2, 2.68 ERA). He and twin brother Jacob led Purvis to a runner-up finish in the MHSAA Class 4A Tournament. JoJo Parker, 6 feet 2, 195 pounds, follows Konnor Griffin, the ex-Jackson Prep star now in pro ball, as the state’s Gatorade winner. Previous winners also include Austin Riley (now with the Atlanta Braves), Colt Keith (Detroit), J.T. Ginn (A’s), Blaze Jordan (Boston minor league system), Dakota Jordan (San Francisco system), Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox system) and Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee system). All told, 10 Gatorade winners from the state have made the big leagues. … Tim Elko, former Ole Miss standout, got the first walk-off hit of his big league career on Thursday, a 10th-inning single that gave the Chicago White Sox a 3-2 win over Detroit. Recently recalled from the minors for a second stint, Elko is hitting .175 with three homers over 12 games. … MSU alum Kendall Graveman notched his first win since 2023, the beneficiary of Atlanta’s epic meltdown in Arizona’s 11-10 victory. Graveman — 2.45 ERA in eight appearances this season — allowed a run in the eighth that put the Braves ahead 10-4. The Diamondbacks then scored seven in the ninth. … Ex-MSU star Brandon Woodruff reportedly will be down for “a few weeks” after being struck on his right elbow by a line drive during a rehab assignment (see previous post). … The Los Angeles Dodgers outrighted MSU product Chris Stratton and Southern Miss’ Chuckie Robinson to Triple-A Oklahoma City after both cleared waivers.

05 Jun

charging rapidly …

After enduring a curious power outage in the month of May, Kemp Alderman is starting to light it up again at Double-A Pensacola. The former Ole Miss star from Decatur extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his sixth homer of the season on Wednesday night against Columbus. After going homerless in 26 games in May, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound slugger — the No. 10-rated prospect in Miami’s organization — has gone deep in two of three games this month. His average had dipped to .238 before his current hit streak began. He is up to .282 with 24 RBIs and 13 steals in 50 games all told. In a recent Baseball America article, Alderman said one of his goals this season was a 20-homer, 20-steal season. He might have a shot. He isn’t known for speed, really, but his raw power is unquestioned. In the 2024 Arizona Fall League, he hit a 119.5 mph home run, the hardest hit ball in that elite league last year. He smacked six homers in just nine games there after hitting eight in an injury-shortened (77 games) 2024 season spent at four levels of the minors. In 2023, Alderman put up one of the best seasons in Ole Miss history, batting .376 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs, winning the Ferriss Trophy and earning second-team All-America honors. Miami drafted him in the second round, 47th overall, that summer. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report hails Alderman’s power tool but notes that “he’s prone to chasing all types of pitches out of the zone.” Alderman told Baseball America that’s something he’s working to improve on in 2025. He has struck out 39 times (with 19 walks) in 181 at-bats with an on-base percentage of .348. P.S. DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan, also renowned for his power (see previous post), hit a homer Wednesday in his second game at Triple-A Worcester and now has 50 in his pro career in the Boston system. He’s not quite ready for The Show, but Red Sox fans should note: Jordan, 22, can play first base.

04 Jun

on the move

Blaze Jordan, the precocious slugger from DeSoto Central High, made his Triple-A debut on Tuesday night and went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and a pair of runs for Boston’s Worcester club. He played third base and hit cleanup. The Red Sox promoted Jordan, 22 but in his fifth pro season, from Double-A Portland, where he hit .390 in May. For the year at Portland, Jordan was batting .320 with six homers — all in May — 37 RBIs, 30 runs, 22 walks and just 19 strikeouts in 44 games. He hasn’t quite hit with the power that was expected when he was drafted in 2020 — 49 career homers — and he has dropped off the Red Sox’s Top 30 prospect list. But this recent surge obviously has grabbed some attention. Jordan’s move up was one of a slew of transactions on Tuesday involving Mississippians in the minors. Ex-Mississippi State standout Brandon Woodruff made another rehab start — his ninth all told — for Milwaukee’s Triple-A Nashville team but was struck on the right elbow by a line drive and left the game in the second inning. X-rays were negative; more tests are planned. … Southern Miss product Nick Sandlin, on the injured list in Toronto, got a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League and worked a scoreless frame. He has a 2.35 ERA in 10 MLB appearances. … MSU alum Justin Foscue was activated from the IL at Triple-A Round Rock in the Texas system. … Chuckie Robinson, former USM star, was DFA’d by the Los Angeles Dodgers just days after being claimed off waivers from the Angels. He had not yet gotten an at-bat at Triple-A Oklahoma City. … Ex-USM standout Tyler Stuart, on the IL at Triple-A Rochester in Washington’s chain, was activated and bumped to Double-A Harrisburg. … MSU product Preston Johnson was moved down to Double-A Chesapeake from Triple-A Norfolk, where he made one appearance, in the Baltimore system. … Tyler Samaniego, a Northeast Mississippi Community College alum on Pittsburgh’s Double-A Altoona roster, was sent on an injury rehab assignment to High-A Greensboro. … Brooks Auger, a 2024 draftee out of State, was activated from the development list at High-A Great Lakes in the Dodgers organization. He threw three scoreless innings on Tuesday.

03 Jun

something to celebrate

There is no joy in Hattiesburg or Oxford today, but, hey, there should be a festive mood in Biloxi at Keesler Federal Park. The Double-A Shuckers, celebrating their 10th anniversary season, are in first place with the best record in the Southern League as they open a six-game homestand against Montgomery. The 10th anniversary of the franchise’s first home game is Friday. The Shuckers are 30-21, 2 games ahead of Montgomery in the SL South, and lead the league in scoring. Four of Milwaukee’s Top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) are on the Biloxi roster, led by Cooper Pratt, the former Gatorade player of the year from Magnolia Heights. In his first Double-A season, shortstop Pratt is batting .229 with four homers, 27 RBIs and 28 runs. Ex-Mississippi State standout K.C. Hunt, the system’s No. 24 prospect, is in the Shuckers’ rotation and is 3-4 with a 4.61 ERA. No. 8 prospect Luke Adams leads the team with 34 runs, and No. 12 Brock Wilken has 12 homers and 27 RBIs. Zavier Warren has seven homers, 29 RBIs and 25 runs. On the mound, Nate Peterson is 5-4, 3.06; Tate Kuehner 4-4, 2.77; and Justin Yeager has eight saves. The Shuckers — formerly the Huntsville Stars — played their inaugural home game at what was then called MGM Park on June 6, 2015, winning 4-3 against Mobile. That Shuckers team, featuring Orlando Arcia and Tyrone Taylor among others, won a first-half championship despite playing the bulk of its games on the road. They actually clinched the title in mid-June vs. the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park in Pearl. … Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate, comes to Biloxi with a crew of Mississippi products in tow: Ex-MSU stars Colton Ledbetter, Kamren James and Hunter Stovall and Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel. Ledbetter and Etzel are ranked prospects for the Rays. P.S. In MLB moves, the (Sacramento) A’s have placed Gunnar Hoglund, the rookie righty out of Ole Miss, on the injured list (hip injury), and the Los Angeles Dodgers have DFA’d former MSU star Chris Stratton, who made two appearances for them.

02 Jun

worth noting

Arkansas-Little Rock, which stunned LSU — and pretty much everybody else — 10-4 on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium, is coached by Mississippi State and Meridian Community College alum Chris Curry and lists five state products on its roster. The upstart Trojans, 27-33 and No. 243 in RPI but champs of the Ohio Valley Conference, play the top-seeded Tigers again tonight for the Baton Rouge Regional title. Cooper Chaplain, a St. Joseph High product and MCC transfer, is UALR’s top hitter at .317 with seven homers, 38 RBIs, 52 runs and 12 steals. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs in Sunday’s game. Gage Haley, an MSU transfer from Southaven, has pitched in 21 games (7.38 ERA) for the Trojans. Seth Cooper (Star, MCC), Wayne Sebren (Puckett) and Eli Huebner (Meridian, MCC) also suit up for UALR. … Former Ocean Springs High star Garrett Crochet struck out a season-high 12 in Boston’s 3-1 win Sunday against Atlanta at Truist Park. Left-hander Crochet, in his first season with the Red Sox and armed with a fat contract, is 5-4 with a 1.98 ERA in 13 starts and is tied for the MLB lead with 101 K’s over 82 innings. … Andrew McCutchen is being feted for matching Roberto Clemente on Pittsburgh’s all-time homer list with 240; they’re tied for third. Sixth on that list is Mississippi native — and 2025 Hall of Famer — Dave Parker with 166 and 11th is Southern Miss product Kevin Young with 136. … Bobby Bradley, the ex-Harrison Central standout, has moved from the Atlantic League to the Mexican League and is batting .292 with four homers and 16 RBIs in 12 games for Saltillo. The former big leaguer was at .219 with two homers in 20 games for Charleston in the Atlantic. Bradley has smacked 245 homers overall in pro ball (including winter leagues), 17 in MLB. … Mississippi State alum and 2024 Ferriss Trophy winner Dakota Jordan hit his third homer for San Jose on Sunday and is batting .309 with 37 RBIs and 18 steals for San Francisco’s Low-Class A club. Jordan was a fourth-round pick last summer. … Out of nowhere it seemed, Mississippi Mud Monsters right-hander Luis Devers threw a seven-hit shutout in the independent team’s 2-0 win Sunday against Joliet at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Devers was 1-2 with a 12.66 ERA entering the game. The 25-year-old Dominican Republic native was 30-27, 3.30, in six years in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system. The Mud Monsters are 8-11 with a three-game road trip to Evansville (Ind.) ahead. … MUW’s Landon Clark, a two-way standout, has been named a second-team NCAA Division III All-American by the ABCA. Clark went 7-2 with a 3.19 ERA and hit .385 with five homers and 29 RBIs this season for the Owls. … The Parker brothers of Purvis High — twins JoJo and Jacob — have been named co-players of the year in the state by MaxPreps. The Gatorade player of the year announcement is coming soon. … Eight players at Mississippi schools are listed among the top 115 MLB draft prospects in MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings. Shortstop JoJo Parker is No. 10, Southern Miss pitcher J.B. Middleton 34, East Union High pitcher Landon Harmon 47, Lewisburg pitcher Talon Haley 90, Ole Miss infielder Luke Hill 96, outfielder Jacob Parker 107, Mississippi State pitcher Piko Kohn 112 and Ole Miss pitcher Mason Morris 115.