second chance

There is a bundle of prospects on the 2013 Mississippi Braves’ roster. J.R. Graham, Christian Bethancourt, Alex Wood and Edward Salcedo are highly rated by one publication or another. Yet it would not be terribly surprising if the key player for this team is an ex-prospect, a soon-to-be 27-year-old outfielder who was recently released by another organization. Kyle Russell was signed by Atlanta about a week ago and assigned to Mississippi. Russell was an All-American outfielder at Texas who led the nation in home runs with 28 in 2007. The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him in the third round in 2008, and he blasted 26 homers in A-ball in 2009, his first full pro season. But his progress stalled when he reached Double-A in 2010. Even though he hit a combined 30 homers at Double-A Chattanooga in 2011 and ’12, his strikeout numbers apparently were troubling for the Dodgers. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound lefty hitter has a cryptic 666 whiffs in five pro seasons. The Dodgers cut Russell loose in late March. Atlanta, seeking some power for its Double-A club, is giving him a second chance. Sometimes that’s all a player needs.