Author Archives: Mike Christensen

15 Jun

turning point?

Fingers are crossed in Braves Nation. “Getting Austin (Riley) involved is huge for us,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told The Associated Press after Friday’s 7-3 win over Tampa Bay. “I’ve been obviously working hard to get it right. To see some results is nice,” former DeSoto Central High standout Riley said after his 3-for-4, three-RBI night. Braves fans are knocking on wood. Did anyone need a big game more than Riley? He entered Friday’s contest in a 1-for-19 skid. He was hitting .185 with no homers and two RBIs over his previous 15 games, which followed a two-week stint on the bench with a side injury. Some critics were already calling it a “lost season.” On Friday, he had an RBI double in the first inning and the next inning blasted a 422-foot home run, his fourth of the year but first since May 3. He boosted his average to .230. This is a guy who hit .281 with 37 homers and 97 RBIs, won a Silver Slugger at third base and was an All-Star for the second time in 2023. The wobbling, injury-plagued Braves (37-30) need his production. Plus, he’s the kind of guy you root for. No bat flips, no showboating. No smack talk, no whining. He just shows up and plays hard, like a modern-day Dale Murphy. The loss of Michael Harris II to the injured list Friday with a hamstring injury makes a return to form by Riley even more vital for the Braves in the coming weeks. P.S. Is Tim Anderson finally escaping his season-long funk? The ex-East Central Community College star had a three-hit game for Miami on Friday and now has nine hits over his last four games. He has lifted his average to .221, though he still hasn’t homered and has just seven RBIs in 52 games for the lowly Marlins (23-46). With the Chicago White Sox, Anderson won a batting title in 2019, a Silver Slugger at shortstop in 2020 and was an All-Star in 2021 and ’22. Marlins fans have not seen that player.

14 Jun

just stuff

There were some notable home runs on Thursday: Nacho Alvarez, promoted from the Mississippi Braves to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday, hit his first home run of 2024, helping the Stripers beat Nashville 8-7. … Geraldo Quintero of the M-Braves hit his second homer of the season and his second at Rocket City, in Madison, Ala., where the M-Braves won a “home” game 7-5 on the playable field conditions of Toyota Field. … Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner blasted two homers for Triple-A St. Paul (Minnesota affiliate) and now has six this month and 13 overall for the Saints. … DeSoto Central High alum Blaze Jordan hit his third homer and first since coming off the injured list Wednesday (see previous post) for Double-A Portland (Boston). … In the big leagues, former M-Braves standout Justyn-Henry Malloy, in his ninth MLB game, hit his second homer for Detroit and first at Comerica Park in a Tigers win. … There were also some notable pitching performances, most notably Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet’s outing for the Chicago White Sox in a 3-2, 10-inning win at Seattle. The big left-hander struck out a career-best 13 while allowing two hits and one run in seven innings. He is now tied for the MLB lead with 116 punchouts. … Lucedale native Justin Steele also got a no-decision, throwing six shutout innings for the Cubs in their loss to Tampa Bay. Steele has a 3.22 ERA in nine starts but has yet to register a win. … Brandon native Will Warren, pitching at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees), took a shutout into the sixth inning against Rochester before yielding a three-run homer and departing the game. He got a no-decision in the RailRiders’ loss. After a brutal May, Jackson Prep product Warren (4-4, 7.01, on the year) has a 2.81 ERA in three June starts. P.S. Former Hattiesburg High star Joe Gray Jr. has been released by Kansas City. A second-round pick in 2018 by Milwaukee, Gray was batting .136 at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He hit .213 for his career with 51 homers and 70 steals, never having any success above A-ball. Only 24, he might draw some interest from independent teams.

13 Jun

cruise control

Before he went on the injured list on May 12 with a broken finger, Blaze Jordan was cruising along on a 17-game hitting streak. He returned to the Double-A Portland lineup on Wednesday and got right back in gear. The DeSoto Central High product — Boston’s No. 19 prospect — banged out a two-run double in his first at-bat and finished 2-for-5 in the Sea Dogs’ 5-4 win at Reading. After a sputtering start to his first full year in Double-A, the 21-year-old Jordan is hitting .288 with two homers, eight doubles and 18 RBIs in 27 games. A renowned power hitter in his amateur days, Jordan was a third-round draft pick as a 17-year-old by the Red Sox in 2020. His power potential began to show last season, when he hit 18 homers between High-Class A Greenville and Portland. He batted .324 in 73 games at Greenville and was named a South Atlantic League postseason All-Star; he was also a Red Sox Organization All-Star for the second straight year. Jordan, who goes 6 feet 1, 220 pounds, is a corner infielder whose future may be at first base. His right-handed stroke seemingly is well-suited for Fenway Park. P.S. A couple of former Ole Miss stars are playing major roles for Birmingham, which has the best record (38-21) in the Double-A Southern League. Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, promoted from A-ball last month, is hitting .321 after a 2-for-4, two-RBI effort in a 4-3 win Wednesday against Pensacola. He has a homer, 15 RBIs and 14 runs in 21 games for the Barons, a Chicago White Sox affiliate. Tim Elko, the Barons’ first baseman/DH, is hitting .298 — fourth in the SL — and ranks in the top 10 with six homers and 28 RBIs. Gonzalez — a first-round pick in 2023 — and Elko — 10th round, 2022 — were teammates on Ole Miss’ ’22 national championship club. … Hunter Renfroe has a bone bruise in his left foot, not a broken toe, the Kansas City Royals have announced. The former Mississippi State standout went on the IL on Tuesday. His recovery time likely will be shorter than originally expected.

12 Jun

this ain’t good

There was big news involving the Mississippi Braves early today. Nacho Alvarez, the highly touted shortstop prospect, was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett, becoming the fourth top 11 Atlanta prospect promoted off the Double-A roster in the last two weeks. But later today, there was even bigger news, jaw-dropping news: The M-Braves’ scheduled home series against Rocket City has been moved to Madison, Ala., home of the Trash Pandas. Unplayable field conditions is the announced reason. First, Tuesday night’s series opener at Trustmark Park was curiously cancelled. Now tonight’s game is off, as well, with a five-game series to start Thursday at Rocket City. This ain’t a good look for a franchise that is moving to Columbus, Ga., next year. This season was supposed to be a celebration of the team’s 20 years in Mississippi. The M-Braves last played a home game on June 2 (before a reported crowd of 1,344). The infield looked pretty rough then. It looks worse now. Was no maintenance done while the team was on the road? This situation surely won’t sit well with the few fans the lame-duck team has left. They won’t see the M-Braves again in Pearl until June 25. If the field if playable, of course.

12 Jun

going places

Former Mississippi Braves star Drew Waters got back in The Show and former Biloxi Shuckers star Carlos F. Rodriguez got his first MLB shot among a flurry of Tuesday transactions involving players with Mississippi ties. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel was promoted to Double-A in the Baltimore system; ex-Ole Miss standout Brandon Johnson moved up to Double-A in the Kansas City chain; former Mississippi State bullpen ace Landon Sims jumped to High-Class A in the Arizona system; and USM product Hunter Stanley came off the injured list at Triple-A Columbus in the Cleveland organization. … Waters — Southern League player of the year in 2019 — was recalled by Kansas City to replace Hunter Renfroe, the ex-State star who went on the injured list with a broken toe. Waters, hitting .277 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in Triple-A, went 0-for-4 in his first MLB game of 2024. The Royals also placed Bulldogs alum Adam Frazier on the bereavement list. … Rodriguez, Milwaukee’s No. 6 prospect who went 9-6, 2.77 ERA, for the Shuckers in 2023, allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings and took a loss against Toronto. … Etzel, a 2023 draftee by the Orioles, was batting .306 with four homers and 31 steals at High-A Aberdeen; he got a knock in his first at-bat for Class AA Bowie. … Johnson was 3-3, two saves, 4.13, in High-A for the Royals. … Sims, a star on MSU’s national title team, had a 4.38 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings at Low-A Visalia. … Stanley, on the IL for about a month, has a 5.85 ERA over six games for Columbus. P.S. Kirk McCarty, former USM standout from Hattiesburg, threw seven shutout innings in his Chinese Professional Baseball League debut last week and allowed two runs in five innings on Tuesday for CTBC Brothers. He is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA. The well-traveled McCarty has won 18 games the past three seasons: four in Triple-A, four in MLB with Cleveland, nine in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2023 plus the one in the CPBL. He won 22 games for USM from 2015-17.

11 Jun

three things

1 — On a Mississippi Braves team that lacks power, Brandon Parker has begun to supply some. The ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star homered on Saturday and Sunday at Pensacola and enters this week’s homestand with a team-leading five. The right-handed hitting outfielder, who has four homers (and a .444 average) in June, has played in only 33 of the team’s 57 games. The slumping M-Braves (25-32) — last in the Southern League with 21 home runs — host Rocket City for a six-game series starting tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Parker’s power potential is likely what drew Atlanta’s interest when it drafted him in 2019. At Gulf Coast in 2018 and ’19, Parker belted 38 homers, setting the school record with 24 as a freshman, when he was the NJCAA Division II player of the year. The Saucier native entered 2024, his first full year in Double-A, with 26 bombs over four pro seasons.
2 — Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe, just beginning to swing a big bat for Kansas City, suffered a broken left big toe in Monday’s game against the New York Yankees. He is likely headed for the injured list. Renfroe took a nine-game hitting streak into Monday’s game. His recent surge — .326 over his last 15 games — has boosted his average to .200, and he has six homers and 26 RBIs. The Crystal Springs native is in his first year with the Royals and ninth MLB campaign overall. With 183 career homers, he is seventh among Mississippi natives on the all-time list.
3 — Don’t be surprised if Jackson Academy’s team batting average jumps in 2025. The Raiders have hired former big leaguer Corey Dickerson — a career .280 hitter over 11 MLB seasons — as their new coach. Dickerson, from McComb, played at Brookhaven Academy and Meridian CC before he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. He played last season for Washington (released in August) and finished his career with 1,028 hits and 136 home runs. He made an All-Star team and won a Gold Glove. … JA went 13-20-1 under Parker Harris this season.

10 Jun

wrapping it up

The college season in the Magnolia State was tinged with disappointment. To paraphrase the Billy Beane character from “Moneyball,” If you don’t win the last game of the season, the rest is irrelevant. Winning the last game is what every team is gunning for. But while no school from Mississippi won a national championship, there was plenty of stuff to be proud of. William Carey made yet another trip to the NAIA World Series. The Crusaders won the SSAC Tournament, then hosted and won an NAIA regional before ending their run at 37-16. R.J. Stinson was a Ferriss Trophy finalist and John Snyder a second-team All-America. Southern Miss, under first-year coach Christian Ostrander, won the Sun Belt Tournament and got an NCAA Tournament bid, finishing 43-20, the program’s eighth straight 40-win season. Mississippi State rallied from a sluggish start to earn an NCAA bid and finish 40-23. The Bulldogs’ Dakota Jordan won the Ferriss Trophy, and Connor Hujsak made the SEC All-Tournament team after delivering two game-winning knocks. Delta State reached the GSC Tournament championship round and earned an NCAA Division II regional spot. Led by All-GSC third baseman Dylan Coleman, the Statesmen finished 33-24. Jackson State reached the title game of the SWAC Tournament and was three outs from winning it. The Tigers finished 36-20 and were ranked No. 2 in Black College Nines’ final HBCU Large School poll. Belhaven — led by CCS pitcher of the year Brett Sanchez and player of the year Owen Abney — reached the semifnals of the CCS Tournament and ended the season with a 25-17 mark. The Blazers also swept all three games from Maloney Trophy rival Millsaps. Blue Mountain Christian reached the SSAC Tournament final — losing to Carey — and earned the school’s first NAIA Tournament bid. The Toppers, who finished 31-23, beat Carey in a three-game series for the first time, and Arderrius Townsend was a first-team All-America choice. MUW went 22-15, setting a school mark for regular season wins. Southeastern Baptist of Laurel posted a 17-15 record, including a win over Division I Alcorn State. It was an especially tough year for Ole Miss, which wobbled in at 27-29, 11-19 in the SEC. The Rebels’ season ended in gut-wrenching fashion: a walk-off loss to Mississippi State in the SEC tourney. Mississippi College‘s season also ended with a thud: a three-game sweep at the hands of rival Delta State. The Choctaws wound up 20-25, 10-20 in the GSC. Millsaps endured a 14-27 campaign that ended with two one-run losses to Centre (Ky.) in the SAA postseason. Both Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State struggled again, the Braves going 6-43 (5-25 SWAC) and the Delta Devils 12-34 (4-26). NAIA member Rust finished 16-33 overall (10-11 GCAC) but did win a couple games in the GCAC Tournament. Tougaloo went 13-35, 8-13 GCAC. P.S. Seven players from Mississippi jucos earned All-America honors in NJCAA Division II. Pearl River Community College first baseman Hollis Porter — the MACCC player of the year — was a first-team pick, along with Meridian catcher Blaise Priester. PRCC outfielder Bryce Fowler, Hinds outfielder Thomas Marsala and Jones infielder Brady Thomas made the second team, and East Central pitcher Luke Cooley — the conference pitcher of the year — and outfielder Mo Little were on the third team. ECCC got an at-large bid to the juco World Series and reached the semifinals, finishing 55-9.

10 Jun

that’s the ticket

Typically, there is an adjustment period for a minor league player as he moves up the ladder. Former South Panola High standout Emaarion Boyd might be starting to figure out the High-Class A level in the Philadelphia system. The 20-year-old center fielder went 3-for-6 on Sunday for Jersey Shore, his second three-hit game in his last three. He filled up the box score in the BlueClaws’ 18-5 win against Greensboro with a homer (his first), a double, two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base (his 12th). At the Low-Class A level in 2023, Boyd hit .262 with a .366 on-base percentage and swiped 56 bases. The going has been tougher this season. Boyd is batting just .214 with a .314 OBP in 42 games. But he has hit at a .292 clip in June, and Sunday’s performance arguably was his best of the season. His home run — his second in three pro seasons — was a first-inning grand slam off former Ole Miss star Derek Diamond, a Pittsburgh prospect. The 6-foot, 177-pound Boyd was an 11th-round pick out of South Panola — the football power — in 2022 and received a nice signing bonus. Rated a 70 (on the 20-80 scale) for his speed tool, Boyd is the No. 16 prospect in the Phillies’ system, per MLB Pipeline. He can be a weapon — a la Billy Hamilton — as both a base-stealer and fly-catching center fielder. P.S. Interesting that Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College alum, was placed on the bereavement list by Miami prior to its three-game home series with Cleveland. Anderson and the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez engaged in a much-publicized scrap last summer, and both were suspended. Anderson, batting a miserable .188 with zero homers, six RBIs and three stolen bases, missed the entire series, won 2-1 by the Guardians. … Though he didn’t play for Detroit on Sunday, ex-Biloxi High star Colt Keith apparently dodged major injury to his knee in a collision with Akil Badoo on Saturday. Rookie second baseman Keith is batting .214 with seven errors.

09 Jun

a case for cooperstown

Today is Dave Parker’s 73rd birthday, which makes it a good time to ask, Why is he not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame? There is only one native Mississippian in Cooperstown: Starkville’s Cool Papa Bell, a star in the Negro Leagues. Parker, born in Grenada, should be there, too. He was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, two-time batting champion, two-time World Series champ and one-time National League MVP. He was drafted out of a Cincinnati high school in 1970 and played in the majors from 1973-91, batting .290 with 2,712 hits, 339 home runs and 1,493 RBIs. He had one of the best right-field arms in the game in his prime. Nicknamed “The Cobra,” he was baseball’s first million-dollar-a-year player. He had a controversial side. He endured weight problems and injuries at various times and was embroiled in the cocaine scandal of the early ’80s. That’s probably what hurt him with the BBWAA voters; he fell off that ballot in 2011, never coming close to election. His fate now rests with the special selection committees. Parker, who is battling Parkinson’s, is in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame. He really ought to be in Cooperstown. P.S. Hurston Waldrep is set to become the 22nd Southern Miss alumnus to play in the big leagues. The right-hander is slated to start for Atlanta today at Washington. Waldrep, the Braves’ top draft pick in 2023 and current No. 2 prospect, pitched at USM in 2021-22 before finishing his college career at Florida. … Former USM standout Justin Storm, a seventh-round pick by Miami last summer, is having a fine season at Low-Class A Jupiter. The Madison Central High alum, a 6-foot-7 lefty, is 3-1 with a 0.55 ERA in 10 games. The lone run he allowed in a three-inning stint on Saturday against Lakeland was a homer by former William Carey standout Patrick Lee, who recently signed with Detroit as a free agent. … Ex-Madison Central star Braden Montgomery suffered a broken ankle Saturday in Texas A&M’s win against Oregon in the NCAA Super Regional. He is done for the season. Montgomery — a likely first-round MLB draft pick next month — hit .322 with 27 homers for the Aggies.

08 Jun

white knight

Mired in a franchise-record 14-game losing streak and coming off a woeful performance on Thursday, the lowly Chicago White Sox sent Garrett Crochet out to ride to their rescue on Friday night. The 6-foot-6 left-hander from Ocean Springs delivered the W — with a little help from his posse. In a 7-2 win over Boston at Guaranteed Rate Field, Crochet pitched six innings, allowing three hits and two runs with two walks and 10 strikeouts. “That guy is a (expletive) stud,” Boston’s Jarren Duran told mlb.com. Crochet, converted to starter this spring, now owns six of the White Sox’s 16 wins. He is 6-5 with a 3.33 ERA and ranks second in MLB with 103 K’s. Crochet was also the winning pitcher in the team’s previous victory — back on May 21. One of the runs he allowed Friday was the result of his own bad throw and the other came on a bizarre steal of home by Duran. Rookie Jonathan Cannon pitched the final three innings for his first save. Luis Robert Jr., Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn homered for the ChiSox — a welcome sight for hitting coach Marcus Thames, the ex-East Central Community College star whose charges entered Friday’s game last in MLB in hitting and runs and tied for last in homers. (Crochet notwithstanding, the pitching ain’t so good either: The staff ranks next-to-last in ERA and runs allowed.) P.S. Nacho Alvarez, Atlanta’s top-rated position player prospect, returned to the Double-A Mississippi Braves’ lineup at shortstop and went 1-for-5 with an RBI in a 2-1 loss at Pensacola. Alvarez had been out since May 30 with a minor injury. … Zach Allen has been elevated to head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Pascagoula native Allen, who played at Jones JC and William Carey, was an assistant to Bob Keller the last three years. The Bulldogs went 26-22 in 2024 and missed the MACCC postseason. … The New Albany-based Cotton States League is scheduled to begin its 16th season today. The wood-bat college summer league has four teams this year, comprised mainly of players from small colleges and jucos around the state. … The Cape Cod League’s season begins next Saturday, and there is a smattering of Mississippi alums in what is regarded as the premier summer loop for collegians. Southern Miss’ Davis Gillespie, Nick Monistere and Kros Sivley are among those on the preliminary rosters, along with Ole Miss’ Andrew Fischer, Luke Hill, Campbell Smithwick and Patrick Galle and Mississippi State’s Luke Dotson, Cam Schuelke and Dylan Cupp. The rosters will change frequently as the season progresses.