Author Archives: Mike Christensen

03 Aug

transaction watch

As part of a big wave of minor league transactions on Friday, former Mississippi State star Tanner Allen was released by Miami. He was on the Double-A Pensacola roster but playing at Low-Class A Jupiter on an injury rehab assignment. The lefty-hitting outfielder was batting .225 with two homers in 50 games this season and .229 for his career. Allen was a national player of the year, the SEC’s player of the year and the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner in 2021, when he helped MSU win the national title. He was a fourth-round pick by the Marlins that summer. Also released were Ole Miss alum Mike Mayers, a former big leaguer pitching at Triple-A Buffalo in the Toronto system; ex-UM infielder Justin Bench (San Francisco system); and Itawamba Community College alum Kyle Crigger (Miami system). … Meanwhile, former Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman was promoted by Miami from Jupiter to High-A Beloit and went 2-for-4 in his debut. The 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner was batting .270 with five homers and 30 RBIs in Low-A ball. P.S. After being outscored 25-3 in the first three games of the series at Trustmark Park, the Mississippi Braves rallied from a five-run deficit to beat Tennessee 7-6 Friday on a walk-off knock by Justin Dean in the ninth. Dean’s hit followed a walk, a steal and a wild pitch by former Delta State standout Dalton Moats, who took the loss for the Chicago Cubs’ Double-A club. … Former Mississippi Valley State (and Rust College) standout Dreylin Holmes has emerged as one of the top hitters in the MLB Draft League. He is hitting .400 with four homers, nine RBIs and 14 runs in 13 games for Mahoning Valley. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound outfielder reportedly hit a 461-foot homer on Thursday; he hit 29 homers in three seasons for the Delta Devils. … Brandon High’s Jamaurion McQueen is slated to participate in the Hank Aaron Invitational today at Truist Park in Atlanta. The event is part a diversity-focused development program for prep players around the country. McQueen, 6-3, 195, an outfielder/pitcher, is a Southern Miss commit.

02 Aug

three shining moments

Around the minors on Thursday, Tanner Hall pitched an immaculate inning, Blaze Jordan got a walk-off hit and Gunnar Hoglund made an impressive debut. Hall, the former Southern Miss All-America, pitching for Low-Class A Fort Myers in the Minnesota chain, struck out the side on nine pitches in the fifth inning against St. Lucie. What’s more, Hall threw six innings — his longest outing of the year — struck out nine all told and got the win in a 7-2 game. The 2022 Ferriss Trophy winner, a fourth-round pick in 2023, is 3-0 with a 5.22 ERA in 14 games in his debut season. Jordan, the ex-DeSoto Central High star, was 0-for-5 when he stepped into the box in the 10th inning for Double-A Portland (Boston), then delivered an RBI hit to give the Sea Dogs a 6-5 win over Erie. Boston’s No. 19 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Jordan is hitting .252 with 41 RBIs in what has been an uneven season. He was riding a 17-game hit streak when he broke a finger in mid-May and missed a month. The right-handed hitting first baseman/third baseman hit 18 homers in 2023 but has just six this season, only one since June 21. Ole Miss product Hoglund, Oakland’s No. 17 prospect, made his first appearance for Triple-A Las Vegas, pitched a 1-2-3 first inning with two K’s and worked five more innings against Albuquerque. He yielded five hits and three runs, fanned seven and got a no-decision. The 6-foot-4 right-hander, the 19th overall pick in 2021, was 9-4 with a 2.84 ERA in Double-A this season. P.S. Hoglund was one of three Mississippians pegged by MLB Pipeline as pitching prospects to watch down the stretch. The others were ex-Mississippi State star Cade Smith (6-6, 3.48, at Low-A Tampa in the New York Yankees’ system) and former Bulldogs closer Landon Sims (1.21 ERA, 32 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings at High-A Hillsboro in the Arizona system).

01 Aug

and the bad news …

The thrill of a big victory by the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday was muted a bit by the agony of an injury to All-Star third baseman Jordan Westburg. The Mississippi State product suffered a fracture in his right hand when hit by a pitch and could miss the rest of the regular season. “He’s a huge part of our lineup, our culture, really everything,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said in an mlb.com article. Westburg, in his second big league season, is hitting .269 with 18 homers, 25 doubles and 58 RBIs for Baltimore, which leads the American League East by a half-game over the charging New York Yankees. … In the O’s 10-4 win over Toronto at Camden Yards, rookie Jackson Holliday hit a grand slam for his first career home run. Only two other Orioles have done that since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954. The first was ex-Southern Miss star Frank Baker, who hit his slam on Sept. 28, 1973. It was the only homer in the Meridian native’s 146 career big league games. P.S. Former USM slugger Matt Wallner belted a 442-foot home run for Minnesota in an 8-3 win over the New York Mets. It was Wallner’s sixth homer of the season and fifth in his last 15 games. He was robbed of a second homer when Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor reached over the center-field wall and knocked Wallner’s fly ball back into play for a double. … Ex-USM standout Justin Storm threw two scoreless innings, striking out five of the nine batters faced, in his High-Class A debut for Beloit in the Miami system. The 6-foot-7 lefty was 4-2 with a 1.41 ERA and two saves in 24 games in Low-A this season.

31 Jul

lightning strikes twice

Deadline trades — and there were a slew of them this week — can be risky, but they can also make a big difference in a team’s championship chase. To wit: Former Meridian Community College standout Cliff Lee was involved in deadline deals in back-to-back seasons that proved very rewarding. Both times the lanky left-hander helped his new club reach the World Series. In 2009, the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies traded four prospects to Cleveland for Lee, the 2008 Cy Young Award winner, and an outfielder. Lee went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA as the Phillies won the National League East. In the postseason, he was 4-0 with a 1.56 and beat the New York Yankees twice in the World Series. Alas, the Phils fell in six games. In 2010, Lee had moved on to Seattle. That July, Texas sent three prospects along with big leaguer Justin Smoak to the Mariners to get Lee for the stretch run. He went 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA for the Rangers, 2-1 with a 1.93 in four September starts, helping them win the American League West. In the 2010 postseason, Lee posted a 3-2, 2.78, ledger as Texas reached the World Series. Both of his losses came in the Series, won by San Francisco. … Lee won 143 games in a 13-year big league career and was 7-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 11 postseason starts. He did not win a ring, however. P.S. At a press conference in Pittsburgh today, Jackson Prep alum Konnor Griffin formally signed with the Pirates for a $6.5 million bonus, the highest for a Mississippi-connected player in the bonus pool era (since 2012) of the MLB draft. The consensus national high school player of the year was the ninth overall pick. “The (Pirates) team is on a great track right now hopefully getting to the playoffs,” Griffin said at his signing. “There are a lot of great things I’m seeing here.” If Griffin, an outfielder/shortstop, plays this season, it’ll likely be at Low-Class A Bradenton. The rookie league season has ended. … Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren was optioned back to Triple-A by the New York Yankees after making an impressive MLB debut at Philadelphia on Tuesday (see previous posts). … Lance Lynn, the 37-year-old right-hander out of Ole Miss, went on the injured list with knee inflammation today, a day after notching his sixth win for St. Louis against Texas. Lynn (6-4, 4.06 ERA) is 2-0 in his last three starts while allowing just three runs in 16 innings for the Cardinals, who are still in the National League wild card race.

31 Jul

fresh cut

A bunch of faces turned up in new places on Tuesday: Thrown into the cauldron at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Will Warren acquitted himself well in his big league debut. The former Jackson Prep standout from Brandon gave up four early runs but nothing more over 5 1/3 innings as a spot starter for the New York Yankees. The Yanks rallied to beat the Phillies 7-6 in 12 innings. Warren, New York’s No. 7 prospect, threw a fastball past Bryce Harper in the first inning for his first strikeout. … Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko homered in his first game for Triple-A Charlotte after being promoted by the Chicago White Sox. Elko, who hit 46 homers in five seasons in Oxford, has 42 career bombs in three years of pro ball. … Southern Miss product Tyler Stuart, traded to Washington by the New York Mets, pitched five innings (three runs, five K’s) in his debut with Double-A Harrisburg. … Former USM star Matthew Etzel, traded to Tampa Bay by Baltimore, went 0-for-4 in his debut with Double-A Montgomery. … Cooper Pratt, 2023 Gatorade player of the year at Magnolia Heights, hit a homer and a sac fly in his first game at High-Class A Wisconsin in the Milwaukee system. … David McCabe, Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect, came off the injured list for the Double-A Mississippi Braves and went 0-for-3 with a walk in his 2024 debut. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound third baseman hit .276 with 17 homers in A-ball in 2023. … Ole Miss product Gunnar Hoglund, 9-4 with a 2.84 ERA in Double-A, was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas by Oakland but did not pitch on Tuesday. P.S. Brent Rooker, subject of many trade rumors, stayed put with Oakland on deadline day and belted his 26th homer of the season in a 5-2 win at San Francisco. The ex-Mississippi State standout leads the majors with 11 homers in July. … Former DeSoto Central star Austin Riley had his first four-hit game since June 8, 2023, in Atlanta’s 5-1 win at Milwaukee. Riley boosted his average to .259. … Recently signed by Gastonia of the independent Atlantic League, MSU alum Jacob Robson hit his first homer of 2024 in his third game on Tuesday. The well-traveled Robson played in four MLB games with Detroit in 2021 and most recently played in Australia.

30 Jul

debut alert

While we wait for Konnor Griffin to sign his pro contract, another former Jackson Prep star is in the news today. Will Warren has been called up by the New York Yankees to make his MLB debut tonight against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. The 25-year-old right-hander, New York’s No. 7 prospect, will get to face Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper in the first inning of his first game. Good luck with that. In his fourth pro season, Warren was an inconsistent 5-5 with a 6.11 ERA in 20 starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He features an excellent slider and a mid-90s fastball. Warren went 7-0, 1.39 ERA, at Jackson Prep as a senior in 2017 and signed with Southeastern Louisiana, an off-the-radar NCAA Division I program. Over four years with the Lions, he put up a 3.90 ERA in 53 games. The Yankees drafted him in the eighth round in 2021.

30 Jul

m-braves by number

24 — Home dates, starting with tonight’s game against Tennessee, that remain before the Mississippi Braves are gone to Columbus, Ga.
74,359 — Total reported attendance at Trustmark Park this season, just over 2,000 per home date.
15-12 — The M-Braves’ second-half record, good for second place in the Southern League South. The team went 31-37 in the first half.
4 — Top 30 Atlanta prospects on the M-Braves’ current roster.
178 — Stolen bases by the team, which ranks first in the league.
44 — Steals by Justin Dean, an M-Braves season record and the best total in the league. Three other M-Braves rank in the top seven.
45 — Home runs by the team, last in the league.
10 — Homers by Tyler Tolve, who leads the team and ranks 11th in the league.
3.69 — Staff ERA, which ranks fourth in the league.
1.28 — Staff WHIP, which ranks second-worst in the league.
7 — Wins by Ian Mejia (tonight’s starter), tied for second-most in the league. He also leads the club in ERA (2.70) and strikeouts (88).

30 Jul

memorable day

The best day by a Mississippian in the majors on Monday was registered by Jordan Westburg, the All-Star out of Mississippi State who plays for Baltimore. But the honor of most interesting day goes to Matt Wallner, the ex-Southern Miss slugger who plays for Minnesota. First, Westburg: In a doubleheader against Toronto, Westburg went 5-for-8 with a walk, three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and three runs. Have a day, as they say. He is batting .273 with 18 homers in his first full MLB campaign. Usually the Orioles’ starting third baseman, Westburg played second base and shortstop on Monday. (For the record, he made two errors at short in just his second appearance there.) As for Wallner, the outfielder with the big arm made the first pitching appearance of his five-year pro career in the Twins’ 15-2 loss to the New York Mets. Wallner came on with runners aboard in the seventh of the blowout game and yielded a two-run knock before getting out of the inning. He retired three of the four batters he faced in the eighth. His ERA sits at 0.00. Wallner was used as a closer at times while at USM, posting nine saves and a 4.91 ERA in his freshman and sophomore years. P.S. MSU product and Canton native Dakota Jordan reportedly has signed with San Francisco for a $2 million bonus (well above the slot value) as a fourth-round draft pick. MLB Pipeline labeled Jordan, a power-hitting outfielder and the 2024 Ferriss Trophy winner, the “biggest steal” of the fourth round. … Ex-Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery has signed with Boston for $5 million. The outfielder was the 12th overall pick out of Texas A&M. … Tim Elko, ex-Ole Miss slugger, reportedly has been promoted to Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox’s system. Elko was batting .289 with nine homers and 40 RBIs at Double-A Birmingham. … Texas sent ex-MSU standout Justin Foscue back to Triple-A Round Rock; he is 2-for-19 in his two brief stints with the Rangers.

29 Jul

of local interest

An interesting subplot when Atlanta and Milwaukee get together is the performance of the players who came through Mississippi on the respective Double-A clubs. Both the Braves and Brewers have built winning teams with a heavy reliance on homegrown talent, though Atlanta’s lineup for tonight’s game at Milwaukee is missing several former Mississippi Braves stars. Ronald Acuna, Michael Harris and Ozzie Albies are out with injuries, leaving only Austin Riley and recent call-up Nacho Alvarez as M-Braves alums in the lineup. Third baseman Riley has started to rake after a sluggish start to 2024; he is batting .254 with 14 homers for a team that leads the National League wild card race despite a ridiculous rash of injuries. Alvarez, playing second base in Albies’ absence, has scuffled with an .087 average. The Brewers, first in the NL Central, will trot out four recent Biloxi Shuckers stars: Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick. Turang, the second baseman and leadoff batter, is among the league’s top base stealers with 31, and left fielder Chourio, only 20, a rookie of the year candidate, is batting .259 with 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 12 bags. Interestingly enough, the Braves have a former Shuckers standout at shortstop — Orlando Arcia — and the Brewers start an M-Braves product — William Contreras, a 2024 All-Star — at catcher. Milwaukee got a lift on Sunday when closer Devin Williams, a Shuckers alum, came off the injured list and threw a scoreless inning. He’ll likely get in tonight if the Brewers have a late lead. Two former M-Braves will be in Atlanta’s bullpen: right-handers A.J. Minter and Darius Vines, just recalled today from Triple-A. … The three-game series that begins tonight at American Family Field marks the first meeting of the Braves and Brewers this season. P.S. Cooper Pratt, the 2023 Gatorade player of the year at Magnolia Heights, was promoted by Milwaukee from Low-Class A Carolina to High-A Wisconsin. Pratt, a shortstop, hit .295 (.394 OBP) for Carolina with three homers, 36 RBIs and 25 steals.

29 Jul

worth noting

Seven of the nine players picked out of the Magnolia State in the first two days of the MLB draft reportedly have signed. The exceptions are Jackson Prep product Konnor Griffin (ninth overall by Pittsburgh) and Mississippi State alum Dakota Jordan (fourth round, 116th overall, San Francisco). The slot value of those picks, per mlb.com’s Draft Tracker, are $6.22 million for the ninth pick and $624,800 for No. 116. The signing deadline is Thursday. Griffin has a college commitment to LSU in hand, and Jordan has two years of college eligibility remaining. Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery, the 12th overall pick out of Texas A&M by Boston, also has not signed. All told, 15 of the 21 players picked from Mississippi schools have signed; Hunter Elliott (20th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) reportedly is returning to Ole Miss. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Tyler Stuart, formerly the New York Mets’ No. 17 prospect, was traded to Washington for big league outfielder Jesse Winker. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander, was 3-7 with a 3.96 ERA in Double-A for the Mets; he has a 3.09 career ERA in pro ball. … Justin Dean stole four bases on Sunday, setting a Mississippi Braves single-season record with 44 bags. Dean, who has spent parts of the last four years with the Double-A M-Braves, has 195 career steals, 114 with the M-Braves. … Former Magee High star Brennon McNair delivered a walk-off hit for Low-A Columbia on Sunday. The Kansas City Royals farmhand, 21, is 5-for-15 in his last four games, lifting his average to .209 with six homers and 24 RBIs. … Right-hander Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, recently was added to Philadelphia’s active roster from the injured list. Rucker, who has a career 4.96 ERA, grew up in Washington state and was drafted out of BYU by the Chicago Cubs. … Fun fact: Greenville native George Scott hit 271 home runs in the big leagues but only one inside-the-park job. It happened on this date in 1967, for Boston, at Fenway Park, against Minnesota’s Jim Perry. Scott, a two-time All-Star, was a big dude but could run a little: 69 steals, 60 triples in 14 MLB campaigns.