first part of journey
Tyreque Reed put up some nice numbers in the Arizona League on Saturday: Two hits, three RBIs and four runs in the rookie-level Rangers’ 25-3 mauling of the Padres. Reed, a juco All-American at Itawamba Community College this year, is batting .313 with seven RBIs and seven runs in four games in pro ball. He was an eighth-round pick by Texas last month. Ex-Mississippi State All-American Brent Rooker, the first player from the state drafted this year (35th overall), smacked his third homer in seven games for Minnesota’s Appalachian League club. Rooker is hitting .267 with five RBIs. Southern Miss alum Taylor Braley (sixth round, Miami) has signed but has yet to debut, while fellow Golden Eagles product Kirk McCarty (seventh round, Cleveland) has made one appearance in the New York-Penn League, throwing two scoreless innings. MSU product Ryan Gridley (11th round, Oakland) got his first two pro hits on Saturday in the NYPL. Ex-Ole Miss star Tate Blackman (13th round, Chicago White Sox) is at .206 with three RBIs and six runs in 11 games in the Pioneer League. Jackson State alum Bryce Brown (15th round, Tampa Bay), the only player drafted from a state SWAC school, is batting .240 in eight games in the Appy League. Dylan Burdeaux (20th round out of USM) and Colby Bortles (22nd round out of Ole Miss) have hit back-to-back in a couple of games for Detroit’s NYPL team (Connecticut). Bortles is at .286 in four games, Burdeaux .214. P.S. Braxton Lee has made a rather smooth adjustment to his new organization and team. The former Picayune High, Pearl River CC and Ole Miss standout is 9-for-16 in four games for Jacksonville in the Double-A Southern League. Traded from Tampa Bay to Miami in the Adeiny Hechavarria deal, Lee was batting .335 with two homers and 21 RBIs for Montgomery and was an SL All-Star Game selection. … Nice feature on USM’s Matt Wallner in the latest issue of Baseball America, which chose him as its national freshman of the year. State’s Riley Self was a second-team freshman All-America choice by BA.