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24 Sep

bombs away

The first home run of Hunter Renfroe’s major league career sailed out of San Diego’s Petco Park on this date in 2016. The victim was San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner. Renfroe, the former Mississippi State star from Crystal Springs, had made his MLB debut three days earlier. He would go on to hit 191 more homers in a career that apparently has ended. He was released in May by Kansas City. Whether he ever plays again, the powerfully built outfielder will rate as one of the most prolific sluggers ever out of Mississippi. His 192 bombs are tied (with Brian Dozier) for the fifth-most in big league history among Mississippi natives. He also hit two homers in the postseason, one in the 2020 World Series with Tampa Bay. Among the pitchers he took deep are Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Zack Greinke, Max Fried, Hunter Greene and Garrett Crochet. His last homer came against Atlanta’s Charlie Morton on Sept. 29, 2024, at Truist Park. Renfroe batted .236 with 510 RBIs over a 10-year career spent with seven different teams. He had a 33-homer season with San Diego in 2019 and a 94-RBI season with Boston in 2021. Also known for his strong arm, he notched 75 outfield assists. P.S. The leaders in career homers by Magnolia State natives: Ellis Burks 352, Dave Parker 339, George Scott 271, Chet Lemon 215, Brian Dozier and Hunter Renfroe 192, Mitch Moreland 186, Dmitri Young 171, Austin Riley 169, Bill Melton and Frank White 160. (Note: Riley was born in a Memphis hospital but grew up and went to school in Southaven.)

24 Sep

are you not entertained?

On a sensational Tuesday night when the New York Yankees and Seattle clinched playoff berths; Cleveland caught collapsing Detroit; the desperate Mets rallied past the Chicago Cubs; Houston lost its fourth straight; and the Los Angeles Dodgers blew a win for Shohei Ohtani against plucky Arizona, several Mississippians in pro ball deserved attention:
Nathaniel Lowe: The ex-Mississippi State star produced two hits, two walks, two RBIs and a run in Boston’s 4-1 win at Toronto. The Red Sox kept their grip on the second American League wild card and remained in the hunt for the AL East title. Lowe is batting .286 with two homers, 15 RBIs and 14 runs in 29 games since the Red Sox signed him as a free agent following his release by Washington.
Garrett Crochet: The Ocean Springs native gets the ball for Boston tonight against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Crochet, a strong Cy Young Award candidate, is 17-5 with a 2.69 ERA in his first season with the Red Sox, who gave the big left-hander a bunch of money to do what he’s doing.
Hurston Waldrep: The Southern Miss alum improved to 6-1 in 10 appearances for Atlanta, which won for the 10th straight time by beating Washington 3-2. Rookie Waldrep pitched around nine baserunners, allowing just one run in six innings and trimming his ERA to 2.88. (Former Mississippi Braves Ronald Acuna and Michael Harris homered for Atlanta, Harris hitting two, one off ex-MSU star Konnor Pilkington.)
Calvin Harris: The former Ole Miss catcher went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs to help Birmingham beat Montgomery 7-3 and force a decisive Game 3 in the Double-A Southern League Championship Series. Harris hit .266 with three homers and 38 RBIs in his third year in the Chicago White Sox’s organization. (MSU alum Colton Ledbetter went 0-for-5 for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate.)
Kemp Alderman: The ex-Ole Miss slugger and 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner was named to the Southern League postseason All-Star team by MLB Pipeline. The Decatur native batted .282 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs for Miami’s Pensacola club and finished the season in Triple-A, where he belted seven more homers. (Incidentally, he went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in Jacksonville’s 5-4 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the opener of the International League Championship Series.)

23 Sep

faded glory

Perusing the box score from Atlanta’s game Monday against Washington evokes many thoughts, some positive, some sad. The Braves won their ninth straight, 11-5 at Truist Park. The familiar names of Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II, Drake Baldwin and Nacho Alvarez Jr. combined for eight hits, five walks, an HBP, six runs and eight RBIs. Quite a game. And yet, here the Braves are, stuck in fourth place in the National League East, nine games under .500 and out of the playoff picture for the first time in eight years. End of an era. Those five familiar names once played at Trustmark Park in Pearl for the Mississippi Braves, Atlanta’s highly productive Double-A team that now resides in Columbus, Ga., another era having ended. The Braves’ current win streak makes one wonder what might have been had this team stayed healthy and performed to expectations. (As fate would have it, Albies, having a tough year, broke a bone in his hand Monday.) It’s easy to forget that Baseball America ranked Atlanta as the majors’ second-best team entering the 2025 season, and Lindy’s magazine picked the Braves as NL champs, as did many others. On Monday, the Braves banged out 14 hits all told and went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Stranding baserunners was a huge issue this season. There was production up-and-down the lineup; every starter save for Matt Olson — the most dependable hitter — got at least one knock. Yes, the pitching staff needs some attention this off-season, but the current lineup, if it clicks like it has recently (72 runs during the win streak), should be fine for 2026. … Meanwhile, Milwaukee lost its second straight — a 5-4 defeat in 11 innings at San Diego, a playoff-clinching win for the Padres. The Brewers have clinched the NL Central title but their lead over Philadelphia for the top seed in the NL postseason is down to 2.5 games with a week to play. Former Biloxi Shuckers star Freddy Peralta was good for Milwaukee on Monday, leaving after five innings with a 3-2 lead. However, ex-Shuckers Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Brice Turang went 1-for-15 with five strikeouts and a GIDP. P.S. Ex-Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin was named the Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. The top-rated prospect had a remarkable first pro year: .333 with 21 home runs, 65 RBIs, 117 runs and 94 steals over three levels in Pittsburgh’s system. The 19-year-old shortstop is among three finalists for MLB Pipeline’s player of the year honor. … In the minors tonight, Jacksonville — with Ole Miss alum Kemp Alderman and Southern Miss’ Matthew Etzel on the roster — plays Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the opener of the Triple-A International League Championship Series. In the Double-A Southern League, Montgomery — with ex-Mississippi State standout Colton Ledbetter — takes on Birmingham — featuring former UM catcher Calvin Harris — in Game 2 of the title series. The Biscuits won the opener on Sunday.

22 Sep

big league chew

There was good news for Milwaukee on Sunday. A 1-0 loss by the Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati handed the Brewers the National League Central title, their third straight. But there was also bad news, a double dose: The team lost to St. Louis 5-1 and announced the loss of Brandon Woodruff, the Mississippi State product, to the injured list. Right-hander Woodruff has what has been described as a moderate lat strain that reportedly could keep him out into the postseason. Returning from shoulder surgery that cost him all of the 2024 season, Woodruff went 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 12 starts. “The longer you keep going, things like this can happen,” he told The Associated Press. Woodruff joins a crowd of Mississippians with season-ending injuries that includes Justin Steele, Gunnar Hoglund, Nick Sandlin, Austin Riley, Colt Keith and Matt Wallner. … The surging Reds completed a four-game sweep of the Cubs and have tied the floundering New York Mets for third place in the NL wild card standings, both at 80-76. The Reds own the tiebreaker. … Toronto also clinched a playoff berth on Sunday with an 8-5 win against Kansas City. The Blue Jays, at 90-66, lead the AL East by 2 games over the New York Yankees. Of note: A key move by Toronto at the trade deadline was acquiring Shane Bieber from Cleveland straight up for minor league prospect Khal Stephen, the former Mississippi State star who pitched in Double-A this season. Bieber is 3-2 with a 3.57 in six starts for the Jays. … Ex-Mississippi College star Blaine Crim homered Sunday for the fourth time in 31 at-bats for Colorado since he was recalled from the minors. … Atlanta, which seems to make a waiver claim every day, picked up Chuckie Robinson, the ex-Southern Miss catcher, from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Robinson, a .131 hitter in his brief MLB time, was batting .254 with four homers and 30 RBIs in Triple-A for the Dodgers, who claimed him from the Angels earlier this season. The Braves optioned Robinson to Triple-A Gwinnett. … Charlie Morton, the all-time winningest pitcher among former Mississippi Braves in MLB, was designated for assignment by scuffling Detroit. He had two wins and a 7.09 ERA in nine starts for the Tigers. He is 147-134, 4.13, lifetime. P.S. Schaumburg, with three Ole Miss alums on its roster, came up short in Sunday’s decisive Game 5 of the Frontier League Championship Series. Quebec City won the title 6-5. Former Rebels star Anthony Calarco — the independent league’s MVP — drove in 16 runs in the postseason for Schaumburg, and Banks Tolley, a St. Andrew’s and UM alum who homered on Sunday, knocked in 12. Calarco hit .347 with 24 homers and 116 RBIs on the season as the Boomers won the Midwest West Division that included the expansion Mississippi Mud Monsters. Tolley hit .313 with 12 homers, and Dallas Woolfolk, another UM product, posted a 6.00 ERA over 15 relief appearances.

21 Sep

signature game

Rookie Nacho Alvarez Jr. had big shoes to fill as Atlanta’s replacement at third base for two-time All-Star Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central alum who was lost for the season on Aug. 4. On Saturday, former Mississippi Braves star Alvarez had his signature game, helping the red-hot Braves deal Detroit a devastating defeat. Alvarez hit the first two homers of his brief MLB career and added a game-tying, two-out, two-strike single in the top of the ninth as Atlanta rallied for a 6-5 win at Comerica Park. Jurickson Profar added the go-ahead knock. The Braves have won seven straight. Detroit has lost five straight and seen its lead in the American League Central dwindle to 1 game over Cleveland, which has won 10 in a row. A top prospect, Alvarez hit .265 — with no homers — in 48 games as the M-Braves’ shortstop in 2024 before being promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett. He got a brief look in Atlanta last season (at second base) but did not play well. Injured at the outset of the 2025 season, Alvarez was recalled to Atlanta briefly when Riley was injured in mid-July and then again when Riley went down for good on Aug. 4. In 52 games all told, the California native has batted .249 with 14 RBIs and played solid defense. “He’s done something with his opportunities,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said in an mlb.com piece. … The scuffling Tigers have watched as Cleveland, which was 15.5 games behind them two months ago, has surged into contention for a division title that once appeared wrapped up. “Difficult to accept, difficult to explain,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told mlb.com. “It’s hard trying to put into words what is going on.” Detroit has lost infielder Colt Keith, the ex-Biloxi High star, to a rib cage injury, likely for the rest of the regular season. He was hitting .256 with 13 homers, 45 RBIs and 65 runs as the primary leadoff batter vs. right-handers. P.S. Matt Wallner, former Southern Miss slugger, is out for season with Minnesota because of an oblique injury. It was a very uneven campaign for the fourth-year big leaguer. He hit 22 homers but batted just .202 with 40 RBIs and struck out 114 times with 46 walks over 336 at-bats.

20 Sep

it’s that time

Fall baseball — the college variety — is in the air. Mississippi State, now in the Brian O’Connor era, played the first of its 11 intrasquad scrimmages Friday at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs’ first exhibition game is Oct. 18 against Florida State in Pensacola, Fla., and they’ll host a second fall game on Nov. 1 vs. Louisiana Tech. Southern Miss, which recently extended the contract of coach Christian Ostrander, started practice Friday and will conclude its fall season with a best-of-5 intrasquad series in early November. Ole Miss, under 25-year coach Mike Bianco, will play two exhibitions, both at Swayze Field: Oct. 4 against Arkansas-Little Rock and Oct. 18 vs. Tulane. This is a particularly significant fall season for NCAA Division I schools and players: The new 34-man roster limit goes into effect on Dec. 1. … MSU was ranked No. 4 in Baseball America’s way-too-early 2026 poll. The magazine hails the arrival from Virginia of the veteran O’Connor — who faces “perhaps the highest expectations in the country” — and several portal additions. State also welcomes highly touted freshman Jacob Parker from Purvis and returns Ace Reese, SEC newcomer of the year in 2025. Ole Miss, with Judd Utermark, Austin Fawley and Hunter Elliott back in the fold, was ranked No. 24 by BA. The ’26 season starts Feb. 13. Of note: Ole Miss is slated to play in Astros Foundation College Classic in Houston from Feb. 27-March 1. Also in the field: Ohio State, Coastal Carolina and Baylor. USM will play in the Round Rock Classic in Texas from Feb. 20-22. Purdue, Oregon State and Baylor are also in that field.

19 Sep

tapping into power

Brent Rooker hit his 30th homer of the season on Thursday, a first-inning two-run shot that helped the A’s deal playoff-chasing Boston a hard loss at Fenway Park. Rooker, the former All-America from Mississippi State, now has 99 homers in three years with the A’s. It’s weird to think that in his first three MLB campaigns (2020-22) he hit a grand total of 10 homers while barely playing with three other clubs. The A’s got the former 35th overall pick as a waiver claim from Kansas City in November 2022. Of note: Fellow MSU product J.T. Ginn pitched six effective innings Thursday to get the win; the second-year right-hander is 4-6 with a 4.57 ERA in 22 appearances this year. With the defeat, Boston fell to third in the American League wild card standings. … Former Mississippi College star Blaine Crim belted two 400-foot homers for Colorado and now has three in seven games with the Rockies. Crim, getting his first real opportunity in the big leagues in his sixth pro season, has 124 minor league homers on his ledger. … Down in the minors, Kemp Alderman, third-year pro from Ole Miss, slugged his seventh homer in 17 games since being promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville in the Miami chain. Alderman hit 15 bombs in Double-A this season. P.S. Biloxi was eliminated by Montgomery in the Southern League division playoffs. Ex-Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt, Milwaukee’s No. 3 prospect, hit .237 with eight homers, 62 RBIs, 71 runs and 31 steals in his first Double-A season.

18 Sep

september madness

The Chicago Cubs clinched their first playoff berth in five years, and former Ole Miss ace Drew Pomeranz played a role in Wednesday’s win and an even larger one in the team’s overall success. Acquired from Seattle in a late April trade, the big left-hander, now 36, has made 53 appearances, registering a 2-1 record, 13 holds, a save and a 2.15 ERA. He had not appeared in an MLB game in four years before the Cubs gave him this shot. The fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft by Cleveland, he has a 3.82 career ERA and a World Series ring (Boston, 2018). Pomeranz worked a scoreless eighth inning in Wednesday’s 8-4 road win against Pittsburgh. … Elsewhere on Wednesday, Brandon Woodruff, the former Mississippi State standout from Wheeler, worked five innings (one run, nine strikeouts) on 10 days rest as Milwaukee beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-2. The Brewers, who clinched a playoff berth last week, lead the Cubs by 5 games in the National League Central. The teams do not meet again this season. Woodruff, in his comeback campaign, is 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA. “I want to pitch deep into October and make a run at this thing,” he told mlb.com. … And in Kansas City, former MSU star Adam Frazier hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning as the Royals stopped Seattle’s 10-game win streak 7-5 and dropped the Mariners a half-game behind first-place Houston in the American League West. P.S. MSU product Cam Schuelke and Luke Hill, a 2025 draftee out of Ole Miss, celebrated a Carolina League title on Wednesday night as Lynchburg beat Columbia 8-2. Schuelke, a second-year pro, got the last six outs for the save. Hill hit .347 this season for the Hillcats, Cleveland’s Low-Class A affiliate. … Ex-Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin and MSU alum Tyson Hardin were named High-A All-Stars by MLB Pipeline. Shortstop Griffin, currently in Double-A in Pittsburgh’s system, was also rated the top prospect in the South Atlantic League. Right-hander Hardin, now with Double-A Biloxi in Milwaukee’s organization, played for Wisconsin in the Midwest League.

17 Sep

just stuff

Dakota Jordan, the ex-Mississippi State star from Canton, and Niko Mazza, a Southern Miss and MRA alum, celebrated a California League championship on Tuesday night. The San Francisco Giants’ Low-Class A San Jose club won the pennant with a 4-2 victory over Inland Empire. Jordan, a Cal League postseason All-Star, has been on the injured list since mid-August; he hit .311 with 14 homers and 82 RBIs. Mazza, 4-3 with a 2.22 ERA this season, did not pitch in the clincher. … Former William Carey University standout Patrick Lee won a ring with Detroit’s High-A West Michigan team, which completed a dominant season with a Midwest League championship. … Ex-DeSoto Central High slugger Blaze Jordan belted his 12th homer for Triple-A Memphis – a two-run shot off MSU product Christian MacLeod – as the Redbirds (a St. Louis affiliate) beat St. Paul 7-6. Jordan has 18 homers and 94 RBIs all told this season, his fifth in the minors. … After a month-long stay on the IL, Jordan Westburg returned to Baltimore’s lineup and went 0-for-3 with two walks and a run in the Orioles’ win against the Chicago White Sox. The MSU alum is the Orioles’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee for 2025. … Ex-USM standout Chuckie Robinson – 0-for-1 with a run and a sac in his one appearance for the Los Angeles Dodgers – was sent down (again) to the minors. … After his sizzling start for Boston, former MSU star Nathaniel Lowe is now in a 2-for-20 skid; he went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in the Red Sox’s 2-1 loss to the A’s. … Current MSU standout Ace Reese – the SEC newcomer of the year last season – was ranked the No. 8 draft prospect among college players for 2026 by MLB Pipeline. Reese hit .352 with 21 bombs in 2025.

15 Sep

hot starts

On this date in 2002, Cliff Lee threw the first pitch of his major league career. Perhaps foreshadowing what was to come, the ex-Meridian Community College standout went 5 1/3 innings, allowing a lone run, but took a loss for Cleveland in a 5-0 defeat against visiting Minnesota. A 6-foot-3 left-hander, Lee would finish his 13-year MLB career with a 143-91 record, a 3.52 ERA, a Cy Young Award, an ERA title and four All-Star Game appearances. He never won a World Series ring but was 7-3, 2.52, in the postseason. In sum, he was really good. Born in Arkansas, he spent two years at MCC (under Scott Berry) and was drafted by Baltimore in 1998. He didn’t sign and went on to Arkansas, where he was a fourth-round pick by Montreal in 2000. He was traded to Cleveland in the summer of 2002 along with Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore in a blockbuster deal for Bartolo Colon and Lee Stevens. Lee would win 90 games for the Indians, 22 in 2008 when he earned the Cy Young. He won 58 games in parts of five seasons with Philadelphia and went 2-0 in the 2009 World Series. … Also on this date, in 1984, Natchez native Freddie Toliver made his MLB debut, tossing a scoreless inning for Cincinnati against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Drafted out of a California high school in 1979, Toliver went 10-16, 4.73, in 78 MLB games; he was 7-6, 4.24, for a 91-win Minnesota club in 1988. … And on this date in 1993, Keith Kessinger, an Ole Miss alum, went 1-for-2 for Cincinnati against Atlanta, getting his knock off Kent Mercker in his first at-bat. Kessinger, son of former big league star Don Kessinger, hit .259 in 11 games in ’93, his only year in The Show. P.S. Crochet v. Warren Act II went a lot like the original. Crochet, the former Ocean Springs High standout now with the Boston Red Sox, threw six effective innings Sunday night, allowing three runs and fanning 12, in Boston’s 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Warren, the Jackson Prep product, gave up all six runs in the first inning – two on a hit by Mississippi State alum Nathaniel Lowe – and took the loss. Crochet (16-5, 2.63 ERA in 30 starts) beat Warren and Yanks on Aug. 23, punching out 11 in seven innings in a 12-1 win. Warren (now 8-7, 4.44) got roughed up in that game, too. He has a 9.42 ERA in three career starts against Boston. Of note: Crochet has fanned Aaron Judge 11 times in 15 at-bats; Judge has hit two homers off the lefty, including one Sunday. The season series between the two American League East rivals has ended. The Red Sox, who won the series, trail the second-place Yankees by 1.5 games. … Former Southern Miss standout Chuckie Robinson has been recalled again (see previous posts) by the Los Angeles Dodgers.