searching …

Trustmark Park is not a great place to find your offense, but the Mississippi Braves open a 10-game homestand tonight desperately searching. The M-Braves, off to a 2-8 start, are batting .218 and have scored just 27 runs, ninth in the 10-team Southern League. Nine of those runs came in one game, a win at Montgomery on Friday. Maybe that was a sign that a breakout is imminent. There are only 10 position players among the top 30 prospects (as rated by mlb.com) in Atlanta’s refurbished minor league system, and three of them are playing for the M-Braves. No. 3 Ozzie Albies is off to a fine start, batting .310. No. 21 Dustin Peterson also has played well, hitting .308 with a homer (in Friday’s game) and seven RBIs. No. 24 Johan Camargo, like Albies and Peterson, playing his first Double-A season, has scuffled (.179). The pitching depth in the Braves’ system is impressive, but they’re going to have to produce some hitters, too. There are less-heralded players on the M-Braves’ roster who could be part of the rebuild in Atlanta but who need to get it going. First baseman Jacob Schrader, who hit .268 and belted 15 homers at Class A Carolina in 2015, has hit one bomb this year (Friday in Montgomery) and is batting just .214. Third baseman Carlos Franco, who had 11 homers at Carolina last year, is still looking for his first in Mississippi and is hitting .125. Infielder Emerson Landoni, a .297 hitter for the M-Braves a year ago, is at .118. Outfielder Dian Toscano, the 27-year-old Cuban signee, is 1-for-8 in his two games since being activated, though the one hit was a two-run triple in that Friday game at Montgomery. He’s one to watch. Outfielder Connor Lien had good numbers at Carolina in 2015 (.285, nine homers, 32 steals) but is currently on the disabled list. He could boost the attack, too, whenever he returns. The M-Braves’ pitching staff, armed with prospects, has a 3.19 ERA. If they could only get them some runs. P.S. On Chattanooga’s roster is former Ole Miss star Stuart Turner, a catcher who is batting .364, ranking among the SL leaders. … Mississippi State product Tyler Moore is hitting .282 with a home run and seven RBIs in eight games at Triple-A Gwinnett. Former M-Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz is hitting .314 for the G-Braves; he hit .229 in Pearl last season. … Dansby Swanson, the Braves’ No. 1 prospect, is killing it at Carolina, hitting .350 in 10 games for the high-A club.