heat check

Roughly one week into the season, the hottest-hitting Mississippian in the majors is Seth Smith, the Ole Miss product who is at .385 in 13 at-bats for his newest team, Seattle. Another UM alum, Chris Coghlan, is batting .375 with a pair of home runs for the Chicago Cubs, who are off to a 4-2 start. Former Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson is sailing along at .357 with two homers and nine RBIs for 5-2 Colorado. Ex-Taylorsville High standout Billy Hamilton, batting just .250, has seven steals and seven runs for Cincinnati, off to a 4-3 start. … As for pitchers, Aaron Barrett (Ole Miss, Washington), Jonathan Papelbon (Mississippi State, Philadelphia) and Drew Pomeranz (UM, Oakland) are unscored upon to this point, with Pomeranz yielding just two hits over seven innings in a win against Seattle. … Former Bulldogs star Kendall Graveman gets a start tonight for Oakland at Houston looking to shave his 18.90 ERA. Also eagerly awaiting his next turn is Picayune High product T.J. House, who has a 40.50 ERA for Cleveland. … Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi CC alum, finally got in a game for Kansas City on Monday and delivered a single. … Ex-MSU star Ed Easley spent a couple of days in a St. Louis uniform but did not make his MLB debut before being returned to Triple-A Memphis.