spray hitting
A few random thoughts on a gray November day: Ole Miss product — and inaugural Cool Papa Bell Award winner (see previous post) — Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins is the first Mississippian (native or college alumnus) to claim a major league rookie of the year award, which he did on Monday. The only other Mississippi-connected player to win in either league before Coghlan was Darryl Strawberry, the ex-Jackson Met, who took the NL honor in 1983. … On the subject of the OJMs, Wally Backman will rejoin the lengthy list of former Mets and Generals managing or coaching in pro ball. The New York Mets hired him to manage their Class A Brooklyn team next season. … The minor league free agent list is out, and four 2009 Mississippi Braves are on it: RH Jerome Gamble, C Jose Camarena, IF Kody Kirkland and 1B Ernesto Mejia. It seems fairly certain the Braves will re-sign Mejia, who missed most of the ’09 season with a knee injury. The 6-foot-6 slugger, who turns 24 next month, has a career .278 average with 45 homers and 205 RBIs in five minor league years, including a 21-homer season at Class A Myrtle Beach in ’08. He barely got a taste of Double-A last summer, moving up when Freddie Freeman was shut down. Freeman, Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect, has played only 12 games in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .267 with one homer. There’s a good chance he’ll start the 2010 season with the M-Braves, but he and Mejia would form a good lefty-righty tandem sharing first base and DH duties. … Two former M-Braves to watch in Atlanta’s camp next spring: right-handed starter Todd Redmond and right-handed closer Luis Valdez. Redmond, the Southern League pitcher of the year in 2008, won nine games at Triple-A Gwinnett this year and capped his season by going 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in the World Cup in October. He could help the Braves in middle relief. Valdez, the hard-throwing closer for the M-Braves’ pennant winner in ’08, got some rave reviews in the International League this year and earned a cup of coffee in The Show. He’s a darkhorse in Atlanta’s closer race.