tag team
If it was a contest, D.J. Davis won. But just barely. The former Stone County High star had four hits for the Lansing Lugnuts on Monday. Fellow Mississippian Anthony Alford, Davis’ teammate, had to settle for three hits. Both picked up a run, an RBI and a stolen base as the Lugnuts beat South Bend 7-5 in a Midwest League game. Both Magnolia State products are picking up momentum in their pro career. Davis, Toronto’s first-round pick in 2012, is batting .265 in the low Class A MWL. Hailed for his sprinter’s speed, the lefty-hitting outfielder, 20, has seven stolen bases (in 12 tries), a homer, 12 RBIs and 18 runs. Alford, the former Mr. Baseball (and Mr. Football) from Petal, has been on a tear in his first full season since leaving the Ole Miss football program last fall. Alford, also 20, a right-handed hitting outfielder, is batting .322 with seven RBIs, 19 runs and six steals. Davis is currently rated the No. 18 prospect in the Blue Jays’ system by mlb.com, a notch ahead of Alford, though Alford may have the greater potential. “It’s limitless what Anthony can do,” Kenny Graham, the hitting coach at Lansing, told milb.com. Both Davis and Alford are projected to make The Show in 2018, though that might be a conservative forecast.