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18 Aug

wrigley’s the place

The eyes of the baseball world should be turned this week to Wrigley Field, where National League Central rivals Milwaukee and Chicago, both featuring Mississippi connections, will battle in what could be a pivotal five-game series. The fun starts today with a doubleheader (1:20 and 7:05 CDT). The first-place Brewers, who had a 14-game win streak snapped on Sunday, lead the Cubs by 8 games in the division race. If the Cubbies are gonna make up ground, it’s gotta start this week. Freddy Peralta, a former Biloxi Shuckers star, starts for the Brewers in Game 1. He is 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA but has had issues against the Cubs’ Kyle Tucker (.625), Pete Crow-Armstrong (.556 with a home run) and Michael Busch (two homers). Cade Horton (7-3, 3.07), a revelation as a rookie, goes for the Cubs. The Game 2 starters are TBD for both clubs. (The Cubs have yet to name a starter for Games 4 or 5, either.) Milwaukee’s regular lineup features several alums of the Double-A Shuckers: Brice Turang (who hit .340 with six homers during the 14-game streak), Sal Frelick and Isaac Collins. Brewers catcher William Contreras, a former Mississippi Braves star, is one of the NL’s best. He was a teammate in Atlanta of Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who also played for the Double-A M-Braves. The slick-fielding Swanson is batting .249 with 18 homers and 10 steals. Brandon Woodruff, a Mississippi State product from Wheeler, is slated to start Tuesday’s game for the Brewers against 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd, 11-6, 2.46. Since coming off his long stint on the injured list, Woodruff has been sensational: 4-0, 2.06 in seven starts, all Milwaukee wins. Ex-Shuckers ace Jacob Misiorowski (4-1, 3.89), the All-Star rookie, will start Wednesday’s Game 4 for Milwaukee. The Cubs have former Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz in their bullpen, and he’s been good. The 36-year-old lefty has a 1.85 ERA in 40 appearances in his first big league work in four years. And, for the record, the Cubs have ex-Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull warming up at Triple-A Iowa, though the veteran right-hander has not pitched particularly well there: 0-2, 7.13, in four starts. P.S. Anthony Servideo, a third-round draft pick out of Ole Miss in 2020, has been released by Baltimore off of its Double-A Chesapeake roster. He was batting .156 in 95 games.

18 Aug

a new frontier

Having handled both levels of Class A ball with aplomb, Konnor Griffin will get a shot at Double-A, generally considered the big jump in the minor leagues. Former Jackson Prep standout Griffin, only 19 and the No. 1-rated prospect in the minors, will suit up for Altoona in the Eastern League, presumably as soon as Tuesday, when the Pennsylvania-based Curve hosts Reading. “He fills up the box score,” Pittsburgh Pirates GM Ben Cherington said on a recent radio show. “You look at the box score, and he’s doing this, this and this. And that’s not even counting his defense … .” Griffin, who has played shortstop and center field in his first pro season, is batting .332 overall with 16 homers, a .510 slugging percentage, a .938 OPS and 59 stolen bases. He went 2-for-5 Sunday to boost his average at High-A Greensboro to .324. Of note: On the Reading roster is Bryson Ware, a Germantown High product in his third year in the Philadelphia system. He hit his first Double-A homer Sunday and is batting .280 in six games. P.S. The official “dog days of summer” may be over, but don’t tell Jordan Westburg and Adam Frazier, a pair of old Bulldogs from Mississippi State who enjoyed a mighty fine Sunday. Westburg had a four-hit, five-RBI game for Baltimore in a 12-0 win vs. Houston; he is batting .277 with 15 homers and 34 RBIs. Frazier went 2-for-4 with a homer for Kansas City in a 6-2 victory vs. the Chicago White Sox; he is batting .329 with two bombs, 13 RBIs and 11 runs in 23 games for the Royals since arriving in a July trade. … MSU alum Nathaniel Lowe is reported to be close to signing with Boston; the veteran first baseman, hitting .216 with 16 homers, was released last week by Washington. … In the minors: Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko homered for the fifth time in six games for Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox) and now has 24 homers with the Knights. Former Southern Miss standout Matthew Etzel, in his second Triple-A game for Jacksonville (Miami), went 3-for-4 with a steal and two runs, including the game-winner in a 6-5 victory vs. Norfolk.

17 Aug

on this date

Baseball historians might remember this as the date in 1920 that Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman died after being hit by a pitch from the New York Yankees’ Carl Mays; it’s the only on-field death in major league history. Some might also remember this as the date of Pete Rose’s last big league game in 1986; he struck out as a pinch hitter for Cincinnati against San Diego’s Goose Gossage.
And, yes, a couple things happened on Aug. 17 that are of local significance:
Jim Davenport, one of the best players to come out of Southern Miss, was born on this date in 1933 in Siluria, Ala. Davenport, nicknamed “Peanut,” signed with San Francisco in 1954 and spent all of his 13 big league seasons (1958-70) with the Giants before transitioning into off-field duties with the organization. He managed the team in 1985. A third baseman, he .258 with 77 homers and 456 RBIs, made two All-Star teams and played on the Giants’ 1962 World Series club that lost in seven games to the New York Yankees. Davenport batted .297 with 14 homers that season and homered off Sandy Koufax in the playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He died in 2016 at age 82.
Sammy Vick, a Batesville native who played five years in the majors, died on this date in 1986. He was 91. Vick is perhaps best known as the player who was displaced in right field when the Yankees famously bought Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox before the 1920 season. Vick hit .248 with 26 extra-base hits, nine steals and 59 runs in 106 games in 1919. Vick and Ruth reportedly became good friends during their one season together. Vick played very little in 1920 — while Ruth was blasting 54 homers — and moved on to Boston in 1921, his last year in the majors. A Millsaps College alumnus, he hit .248 in 213 games for his big league career.

17 Aug

in the spotlight

Will Warren and Garrett Crochet, a couple of Mississippi high school grads now pitching in the American League East, will go to the mound today with something to prove. Warren, ex-Jackson Prep standout, starts for the New York Yankees at St. Louis. The rookie right-hander has been a reliable rotation piece for the Yankees, with a 7-5 record and 4.34 ERA. On the road, however, Warren has wobbled: 1-2, 6:48 ERA, in 12 starts. He is also 1-3, 6.06, in day games. Game time at Busch Stadium is 1:15. The Yankees, who have won the first two against the Cards, are 66-57, third in the AL East and barely hanging on to third in the wild card race. So, every game is a big one. Warren will face a sub-.500 Cardinals club that likely will trot out some of the same players he faced last year, when he gave up four runs in five innings and took a loss. … Crochet, the former Ocean Springs standout, gets the call for Boston against Miami at Fenway Park. Considered a Cy Young Award candidate, Crochet ranks among the Al leaders in wins (13), ERA (2.48), strikeouts (188) and, perhaps most notably, innings (152 1/3). He is coming off his shortest — and worst — start of the season: four innings, five runs in a loss at Houston. In just his second season as a starter, the 26-year-old left-hander already has exceeded his innings total from last year with the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox, sitting in second place in the AL East and tied for first in the wild card, no doubt want to keep Crochet as fresh as possible for the postseason. Can he give them enough length today to beat a fading Marlins team? P.S. Milwaukee won its franchise-record 14th straight on Saturday, getting a three-run pinch-hit homer in the 11th inning from Andruw Monistereo (Biloxi Shuckers 2022) to top Cincinnati 6-5. … Ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison notched his first career win, benefiting from Colorado’s six-run eighth inning in a 10-7 victory against Arizona. Rolison pitched a clean top of the eighth, trimming his ERA to 7.41 for the 34-89 Rockies. … Former Mississippi Braves lefty Joey Wentz, another member of Atlanta’s patchwork rotation, got his second straight win for the Braves, tossing six innings (three hits, one run) in a 10-1 romp past Cleveland. The well-traveled Wentz is 2-2, 2.60, in seven games for the Braves, his third MLB team this season.

16 Aug

soaring ever higher

Third time was a charm for Hurston Waldrep, not that his first two MLB appearances this season were clunkers. The Southern Miss alum (3-0) hurled six shutout innings Friday night in Atlanta’s 2-0 win against Cleveland. The rookie right-hander gave up a run — just one — in each of his first two games and now has a 1.02 ERA over 17 2/3 innings. A 2023 first-round draft pick out of Florida who pitched well for the Double-A Mississippi Braves in 2023-24, Waldrep made two rocky starts in Atlanta last season and then went back to the minors. He spent the first four months of this season at Triple-A Gwinnett, refining his breaking stuff. That work appears to be paying dividends. “He’s a pitcher who knows who he is,” Braves catcher Sean Murphy said in an mlb.com piece. Featuring a brilliant splitter among other effective pitches, Waldrep allowed two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts vs. the Guardians. On the season, he has 17 strikeouts, five walks and an 0.79 WHIP. Waldrep went 7-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 27 games at USM in 2021-22, then helped Florida reach the CWS finals in ’23. … On the topic of former Golden Eagles pitchers: Nick Sandlin, on the injured list for Toronto since July 8, has begun throwing again, per reports, after a setback in his rehab work. In 19 games with the Blue Jays, Sandlin has a 2.20 ERA. … Dalton Rogers improved to 4-3 with a 4.43 ERA at Double-A Portland, yielding one run in 5 1/3 innings Friday against Somerset. Left-hander Rogers is in his fourth season in the Boston system. … Justin Storm, a 2023 draftee, notched his third hold of the season with two scoreless innings for High-Class A Beloit (Miami). The 6-foot-7 lefty has two wins, five saves and a 3.71 ERA. P.S. Ex-USM outfielder Matthew Etzel was promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville by Miami but did not play in Friday’s game. Etzel is batting .236 with five homers, 36 RBIs and 18 steals this season, having already played for three different teams and at two levels. The lefty-hitting Etzel, who goes 6-2, 211, was traded by Tampa Bay to Miami in July. Drafted by Baltimore in 2023, he was traded by the Orioles to the Rays last summer. It’s not like he can’t play: He is a .268 career hitter with 84 bags in 210 minor league games.

15 Aug

big knocks

Continuing his second-half revival, Michael Harris II doubled in the tying run and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Thursday night as Atlanta beat the New York Mets 4-3. The Braves have won six of eight, showing some signs of life in what’s been a rough year. It was looking like a lost year — offensively — for former Mississippi Braves star Harris before he made some swing adjustments and turned things around in mid-July. Since the All-Star break, the lefty-hitting center fielder is batting .381 with seven homers, 16 RBIs and 18 runs. He has 14 hits in his last seven games and is batting .250 for the year with 13 homers, 60 RBIs and 14 steals. And he still knows no peer with his glove. Called up from the Double-A M-Braves after just 43 games at that level in 2022, he won National League rookie of the year that season and has been highly productive before hitting a wall to start 2025. … There were several others with Mississippi ties who got big knocks in clutch situations on Thursday:
Biloxi High alum Colt Keith, on his 24th birthday, drove in the tying run for Detroit in the sixth and scored the winner in the 11th as the Tigers beat Minnesota 4-3; Keith, a second-year big leaguer, is batting .260 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs.
Justin Foscue, former Mississippi State star, delivered the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning double as Triple-A Round Rock (Texas system) knocked off Sacramento 3-2; Foscue is batting .260 with 12 homers, 49 RBIs.
Cooper Pratt, Magnolia Heights product, hit a three-run homer in a five-run seventh inning that propelled Double-A Biloxi (Milwaukee) to a 14-8 win over Columbus; Pratt is batting .238 with seven homers, 51 RBIs, 25 steals.
Connor Hujsak, ex-MSU standout, drove in the tying run in the seventh inning — and threw out the potential winning run at the plate in the 10th — as Low-Class A Charleston (Tampa Bay) beat Hickory 2-1 in 10; Hujsak is batting .227 with five homers, 45 RBIs.
Andrew Fischer, an Ole Miss alum making his pro debut, drove in two runs in the eighth — on his third hit — that put High-A Wisconsin (Milwaukee) ahead in an 8-6 victory against Great Lakes.

14 Aug

it’s hard out there

In a surprise move, the Washington Nationals have designated Nathaniel Lowe for assignment, which will likely lead to his release. The Mississippi State product would be the eighth Mississippian to be released off a big league roster this season. Seems like a lot. Lowe, 30, a seven-year vet, homered on Wednesday, his first bomb since July 19, but was batting .091 in August and .216 overall, well below what was expected when the Nats got him in an off-season trade with Texas. The lefty-swinging first baseman hit .274 with 78 homers and won a Silver Slugger and a World Series during his four years with the Rangers. Under contract this season for $10.3 million, he might catch on somewhere as a free agent. Also found wanting in MLB this year: Kendall Graveman, Spencer Turnbull, Jacob Waguespack, Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton (twice), Tim Anderson and Grae Kessinger. Turnbull and Waguespack were signed by other clubs; the others remain free agents. Blaine Crim was DFA’d and claimed on waivers by another organization; Chuckie Robinson was DFA’d and outrighted to the minors. … On the minor league level, MSU alum R.J. Yeager was released by St. Louis off the Double-A Springfield roster; he was batting .210.

14 Aug

positive signs

Blaze Jordan, the former DeSoto Central High star, hit his first home run for Memphis — 13th overall in 2025 — as part of a 2-for-5, four-RBI performance in the Triple-A Redbirds’ 14-5 win Wednesday night against Charlotte. Jordan, recently traded to St. Louis by Boston, has four hits in his last two games after a sluggish start for Memphis. His homer came against erstwhile big leaguer Bryse Wilson. Jordan, the Cardinals’ No. 18 prospect, is batting .292 with 71 RBIs on the year. … Madison Central alum Braden Montgomery, the No. 1 prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s system, went 2-for-4 with a double for Birmingham and boosted his average for the Double-A club to .278 in 14 games. He is hitting .271 with 12 homers and 61 RBIs over three levels in his first pro season. … Mason Nichols, a 2025 draftee out of Ole Miss and a Jackson Prep grad, threw a clean inning in his pro debut for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay chain. He worked the sixth and got a hold in the RiverDogs’ 3-2 win against Hickory. … Ex-Mississippi State star Brandon Woodruff tossed four scoreless innings in a scheduled short start as Milwaukee won its 12th straight, 12-5 over Pittsburgh. The Brewers are 7-0 in Woodruff’s starts; his ERA is 2.06. … Nathaniel Lowe, an MSU product, belted his first career grand slam, a first-inning bomb that helped propel Washington to an 8-7 win at Kansas City. The scuffling Lowe, who has 16 homers on the season, had not hit one since July 19 and is batting just .091 in August. … Former State standout Jake Mangum, also battling a slump, had an RBI knock, stole a base — his 17th — and scored during Tampa Bay’s four-run first inning against the A’s (and fellow Bulldogs alum J.T. Ginn). The Rays rolled on to an 8-2 victory at West Sacramento. Rookie Mangum is batting just .163 in his last 15 games but is at .275 overall. … And in the wild, wild Pioneer League, Kellum Clark, an MSU product from Brandon, went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs to pace Rocky Mountain to a 16-1 win vs. Oakland. Clark is batting .386 with nine homers, 50 RBIs and 50 runs in 40 games in the independent league. He was released by the New York Mets last year after two seasons in their system.

13 Aug

straw’s record falls

There’s a new king of Queens: Darryl Strawberry, Jackson Mets star of 1982, has been displaced as the New York Mets’ all-time home run leader by Pete Alonso, who hit No. 253 — and then 254 — on Tuesday night in a romp against Atlanta. Strawberry’s record stood for almost 35 years. The biggest star to come out of the JaxMets’ 16-year run at Smith-Wills stadium, “Straw” hit a franchise record 34 bombs for the Texas League club in ’82. He was in New York the next year, won rookie of the year honors and stayed with the team until 1990, hitting 252 bombs over those nine seasons. For the record, the most homers by a Jackson Generals alum in a Houston Astros uniform is 326 by Lance Berkman. That ranks second on the Astros’ all-time list behind Jeff Bagwell. Berkman hit 24 homers for the 1998 Gens and made The Show the next year. Mississippi Braves alum Freddie Freeman hit 271 homers for the Atlanta Braves, ranking sixth all-time on their impressive list. (Hank Aaron, of course, is far-and-away No. 1.) Freeman hit just two homers in 41 games for the M-Braves in 2009, playing hurt part of that time. … Brandon Woodruff will start today for Milwaukee, which pounded Pittsburgh — and Paul Skenes — 14-0 Tuesday for its 11 straight win. Former Mississippi State and Wheeler High star Woodruff is 4-0 since coming off the injured list on July 6, and the Brewers are 6-0 in his starts and 25-4 since he returned after a year on the shelf. Interesting to note that back in early April, Milwaukee was No. 22 in USA Today’s MLB power rankings. The Brewers are now No. 1 — with the best record in the majors. It’s been that kind of magical run for this club, which features several Biloxi Shuckers alumni, Woodruff among them. P.S. Down on the farm: Brewers No. 3 prospect Cooper Pratt, a Magnolia Heights grad, homered and delivered a walk-off single in the ninth as Biloxi beat Columbus 7-6 at Keesler Federal Park. Pratt, who has faced some challenges in Double-A, is batting .237 with six homers, 48 RBIs and 24 steals. … Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko homered twice for Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox system) and now has 25 on the year, including four in the big leagues. … Landon Tomkins, a Northwest Rankin and Hinds Community College product, got a win in relief in his Double-A debut for Altoona (Pittsburgh). … Luke Hill, 2025 draftee out of Ole Miss, got a hit in his first pro game with Low-Class A Lynchburg (Guardians).

12 Aug

down on the field

Mississippi Mud Monsters management is hyping it as Six Nights of Beautiful Nonsense. The upcoming homestand at Trustmark Park — which begins tonight — will have fireworks and bobbleheads, bingo and a jersey auction, $2 beer and sausage on a stick. There are also a few players capable of providing entertainment value. Pitchers Luis Devers, Brian Williams and Brandon Mitchell have strikeout stuff, and Sergio Sanchez is among the Frontier League’s best closers. Brayland Skinner is a .298 hitter who ranks among the league’s top base stealers. Travis Holt (nine homers, 16 doubles, 46 RBIs) and Victor Diaz (six homers, 11 doubles) can go deep in the spacious Pearl ballpark. And then there’s Davis Bradshaw, from just down the road in Florence. An indy ball version of MLB batting champion Luis Arraez, Bradshaw is hitting .429. The lefty hitter — who spent a chunk of time on the injured list — has struck out only nine times in 83 plate appearances over his 23 games. This is no fluke. Bradshaw batted .303 over six seasons in the Miami system, reaching the Double-A level. He hit .756 as a senior at McLaurin High in 2017 and then .442 the next season at Meridian Community College. Bradshaw doesn’t have much power or speed, but he can put bat on ball, a skill that’s never really out of style. Having recruited the likes of Bradshaw, Skinner and Devers, manager Jay Pecci did a very good job building a team from scratch. The Mud Monsters are 39-38 as the season enters the final stretch, still in sight of a playoff berth in their inaugural season. The promos are cool and all, but pay some attention to the guys down on the field.