checking the charts

There are lofty expectations for three recent Mississippi high school players of the year. In MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 minor league prospects list released on Tuesday, Konnor Griffin (Jackson Prep) is ranked No. 55, Braden Montgomery (Madison Central) No. 59 and Cooper Pratt (Magnolia Heights) No. 62. Griffin, drafted ninth overall by Pittsburgh last month, is rated the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect, despite not having played a pro game. He was the national prep player of the year for 2024. Montgomery, drafted 12th overall in July out of Texas A&M by Boston, is already No. 4 in the Red Sox’s system; he hasn’t yet been assigned to a team either as he recovers from an ankle injury. Pratt was drafted last year and is now Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect; he is batting .287 with four homers, 39 RBIs and 27 steals over two levels of Class A ball. … Roughly two dozen players with Mississippi ties appear in the Top 30 rankings of individual MLB clubs. Of note: Southern Miss alum Hurston Waldrep, who already has some big league time in his second pro season, is Atlanta’s No. 3. … Dakota Jordan, former Jackson Academy star drafted out of Mississippi State in July, checks in at No. 5 in San Francisco’s chain. … Jurrangelo Cijntje, the switch-pitcher drafted 15th overall out of MSU, is rated Seattle’s No. 7. … Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren, who has made two appearances with the New York Yankees this season, is the No. 5 prospect in that system. P.S. USM product Matthew Etzel, Tampa Bay’s No. 25 prospect, hit his first two homers for Montgomery in Tuesday’s 18-5 blowout of Pensacola in the Double-A Southern League. Etzel is batting .278 with eight homers and 42 steals overall in 2024, having been traded by Baltimore to the Rays last month. … East Union High’s Landon Harmon, the Class 2A Mr. Baseball this past season, is slated to participate in today’s MLB-sponsored High School All-America Game at Petco Park. … Mike Cubbage, former major league infielder who managed the 1986 Jackson Mets to a division title in the Texas League, has died at age 74.