Tag Archives: allmississippibaseball

17 Mar

spring flings

Billy Hamilton, the former Taylorsville High standout, did not stay on the market for long. Released by Cleveland on Saturday, the 30-year-old outfielder signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. Judging from manager Tony La Russa’s comments, it sounds as if Hamilton has a good shot at making the White Sox’s major league roster. “His speed is a real weapon,” La Russa told mlb.com. “I’m anxious to put him through the paces and see how he looks this year.” A .241 career hitter with 305 steals, Hamilton has been on a whirlwind tour of late. Since 2018, he has been affiliated with eight different clubs: Reds (who drafted him in 2009), Royals, Braves, Giants, Mets, Cubs, Indians and now White Sox. … Minnesota has trotted out what is thought to be its opening day lineup in its last two Grapefruit League games and Mississippi State product Brent Rooker has been the left fielder. Rooker went 1-for-2 on Tuesday and is batting .412 with a home run this spring. He got 19 big league at-bats in 2020, hitting .316 with a homer, before a broken arm ended his season. The former SEC player of the year has 54 homers over three minor league campaigns. … Former Richton High standout JaCoby Jones hit his first homer of the spring for Detroit on Tuesday; he is batting .143 in 21 at-bats. The five-year veteran finished 2020 on the injured list with a broken hand. … Ex-Ole Miss star Bobby Wahl suffered an oblique injury on Monday and will start the season on Milwaukee’s IL, according to reports.

16 Mar

juco showdown

Pearl River Community College, ranked No. 3 in the country but standing just sixth in the MACCC, gets a chance to validate its poll position today when Copiah-Lincoln, ranked 20th but tied for first in the conference, visits Poplarville for a twinbill. PRCC (15-5 overall, 5-3 MACCC) features a ton of power, its 40 home runs ranking second among all NJCAA Division II schools. Von Seibert has eight homers and Graham Crawford and Tate Parker, both batting over .400, have seven bombs apiece. The Wildcats also can run a little: 71 stolen bases. Landon Gartman has been PRCC’s best pitcher; he is 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA and 31 strikeouts over his five starts. The Wildcats swept a non-conference doubleheader from Co-Lin in Wesson in early February, but the Wolves (12-8, 8-2) have been on a roll of late, with nine wins in their last 11 games. Marquez Hudson and Tom Biggs have sparked the Co-Lin attack. Hudson is batting .338 with five home runs, Biggs .414 with 24 RBIs. Jacob Spinks (2-2, 5.97) is the top Co-Lin starter. P.S. The other state schools ranked in the NJCAA DII poll released Monday are Meridian (No. 10), Jones (14), Itawamba (16) and East Central (19). ECCC is 8-2 in conference, tied for first with Co-Lin.

06 Mar

home at last

It might feel a little like homecoming at Delta State this weekend. A month into the season, the Statesmen will play their first home games, hosting West Alabama in a three-game Gulf South Conference series at Ferriss Field. Coach Rodney Batts’ second edition of Statesmen is 4-5, overall and in the GSC. They are coming off a series win against West Georgia, a series that was moved from Cleveland to Carrollton because of weather concerns. Anticipation is no doubt building among DSU fans. Batts’ first season as the replacement for the ultra-successful Mike Kinnison was halted after 23 games because of the pandemic. The club was a lackluster 13-10 and 6-6 in the conference. The 2021 team was picked to finish third in the 13-team league by GSC coaches, so perhaps the slow start is an aberration. Led by Hayden White and Jake Barlow – the reigning GSC player of the week – the Statesmen have shown some power, with 16 home runs. White, from MRA by way of Copiah-Lincoln Community College, has four bombs and 10 RBIs. Patrick Hodges (.450) and Chad Ragland (.368) also have been hot at the plate. Hunter Riggins, All-GSC in 2019, is a legit ace on the bump. He is 1-1, 3.32 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 19 innings. Otherwise, the pitching has been inconsistent (5.14 ERA). UWA is 6-4, 4-3, but the Statesmen have dominated this series over the years and have beaten the Tigers eight straight times. The circumstances appear ripe for a launch. P.S. There are two Mississippi high schools ranked in the latest Collegiate Baseball prep Top 30, and they are located just a few miles apart. Madison-Ridgeland Academy (MRA) is No. 23 and its Madison County neighbor Madison Central is No. 27. And, no, they aren’t scheduled to play each other this season.

04 Mar

two months out

Here’s what we know: Two months from today, the Mississippi Braves will open their 2021 season at home as part of the new Double-A South. What we don’t yet know is who the players will be — or who will manage them. Just guessing, there could be as many as six of Atlanta’s top 20 prospects stationed in Pearl come May 4. Catcher Shea Langeliers (rated No. 4 in the system by mlb.com), shortstop Braden Shewmake (No. 5), pitcher Freddie Tarnok (No. 11), outfielder Trey Harris (No. 13), third baseman C.J. Alexander (No. 18) and first baseman/outfielder Greyson Jenista (No. 20) appear to be at the Double-A stage of development. Shewmake, Harris, Alexander and Jenista all spent time with the M-Braves in 2019, when minor league teams last played. Langeliers and Shewmake were first-round picks out of major colleges in 2019 and look to be on the big league fast track. Langeliers, who played in low-A ball in 2019, is said to have the best arm among all catchers in the Braves’ system; he could be Atlanta’s regular catcher next year. Shewmake, long, lean and athletic, is projected to make the majors this season. Both are in big league camp as non-roster invitees, along with Tarnok, Harris and Alexander. Minor league camps haven’t yet opened. The 2021 season will be the M-Braves’ 16th at Trustmark Park. They’ve cranked out a lot of big leaguers but have won just one league championship, in 2008, Season 4. They would seem due for another. … Biloxi, also in the reconfigured Double-A South, also opens on May 4, at Birmingham. The Shuckers have announced the return of manager Mike Guerrero for his fifth season. It would not be a surprise to see ex-Mississippi State star Ethan Small, a top Milwaukee prospect, begin 2021 at Biloxi.

04 Mar

observations

Intrastate competition was on the college menu Wednesday night, with Mississippi State topping Southern Miss 4-1 in Pearl and Ole Miss whipping Jackson State 12-1 in Oxford. It would be folly to draw too many conclusions based solely on these games, but some observations are in order: 1) USM needs to start putting the bat on the ball. 2) The hype about State’s pitching depth appears justified. 3) Ole Miss’ “slump” appears to be over. 4) JSU should be focused on its SWAC opener this weekend. … USM (4-4) managed three hits and struck out 20 times against State. The Golden Eagles are batting .179 as a team with 83 strikeouts in 240 at-bats. That really needs to change. … State (6-2 and a consensus top 10 team) got a great start from Houston Harding, who fanned nine in five innings, and brilliant relief work from three others, including Preston Johnson, a Hinds Community College transfer who punched out six in two innings in his D-I debut. Bulldogs pitchers have a 3.00 ERA and 111 K’s over 72 innings. … After scoring just 10 runs in losing a three-game set to Central Florida, Ole Miss (7-2 and a consensus top 10) scored 28 in back-to-back wins against Memphis and JSU. The Rebels put up seven in the first inning vs. JSU’s rattled starter Brandon Valentin. Tim Elko, who hit three homers in 14 games in 2020, homered for the second straight day. … JSU, 0-8 all-time vs. UM, may be outmanned against SEC competition but should still be a force in the SWAC. The Tigers (3-5) visit Alabama State this weekend. Keep an eye on Chandler Dillard, a former Germantown High star and Copiah-Lincoln CC transfer who is batting .333 with nine RBIs. He hit .426 in 2020.

03 Mar

kudos to jucos

Jarrod Dyson, a 50th-round draft pick – yes, 50th — by Kansas City in 2006, is returning to his original team. The former Southwest Mississippi Community College star from McComb has agreed to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract with the Royals, per reports. The 2021 season will be Dyson’s 12th in the big leagues. The speedy outfielder, 36, who won a ring with the Royals in 2015, is a .246 career hitter with 256 stolen bases and good defensive skills. He last played in KC in 2016 and split last season between Pittsburgh and the Chicago White Sox. … When he officially joins the Royals, Dyson will be the fourth state junior college product on an MLB 40-man roster. Corey Dickerson, Tim Anderson and Cody Reed are the others. The state’s jucos have produced a healthy list of big leaguers over the years, the most accomplished of which is arguably Roy Oswalt, a Holmes CC alum who won 163 big league games, second-most all-time among Mississippi natives. If you were choosing an all-time MLB team of state juco alums, Oswalt would have to be the No. 1 pitcher. Dyson, Meridian CC’s Dickerson and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC’s Matt Lawton would be the outfielders. Meridian alums Paul Phillips (catcher), Tyler Moore (first base) and Jason Smith (second base) would join East Central CC’s Anderson (shortstop) and Northwest CC’s Bill Selby (third base) in the infield. Marcus Thames, another ECCC alum, would be the DH. On the bench: MGCCC’s Fred Lewis and Joey Butler, Itawamba CC’s Desmond Jennings, Pearl River CC’s Wendell Magee, Copiah-Lincoln CC’s Nook Logan and Delta CC’s Bobby Etheridge. Cliff Lee (MCC), Greg Hibbard (MGCCC), Tony Sipp (MGCCC), Chad Bradford (Hinds), Reed (NWCC), Mike Smith (Utica) and Mike DeJean (Delta) would fill out a solid pitching staff. P.S. Mississippi-connected players who have recently joined big league camps include ex-Mississippi State star J.T. Ginn (New York Mets), Ole Miss product Cooper Johnson (Detroit) and UM alum Errol Robinson (Cincinnati). Ginn, a second-round pick in 2020, is coming back from Tommy John surgery.

02 Mar

back with a bang

Anthony Alford, Brent Rooker and Bobby Bradley, each making a comeback of sorts, belted home runs in their spring training debuts on Monday. Alford, the former Petal High star, and Mississippi State product Rooker went yard in their first at-bat, while ex-Harrison Central standout Bradley waited until his second. Alford, whose 2020 season was ended by a broken elbow, was in Pittsburgh’s lineup as the DH and took Toronto’s Robbie Ray deep. Alford, expected to be the Pirates’ center fielder, reportedly is still building strength in his throwing arm. He played in just five games for the Bucs last summer after they claimed him on waivers from the Blue Jays. Rooker debuted in 2020 with Minnesota but played in only seven games (.316, one homer) before suffering a broken forearm when hit by a pitch. The big outfielder homered Monday off Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow (on a 98-mph pitch) and later added a sac fly. Rooker is trying to make the Twins’ roster as a reserve. Bradley, who made his MLB debut in 2019, did not play in 2020 and wasn’t at Cleveland’s alternate site for the summer. Contending for the Indians’ first base job, the lefty-swinging slugger mashed a homer off Kansas City’s Jake Kalish.

01 Mar

play ball

Nice start for Austin Riley in Atlanta’s spring training opener against Tampa Bay. The former DeSoto Central High standout, playing third base and batting third, went 2-for-3 with an RBI. The Braves are counting on Riley to produce at third base with more consistency in his third MLB season. He hit .239 with eight homers last year and had a big bomb in the postseason. His career numbers are .232 and 26. “The thing that is encouraging about Austin is all the way through, since he’s been a pro, he’s made adjustments and figured things out,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters last week. “He’s gotten better every year.” … Ole Miss product Chris Ellis, in camp as a non-roster invitee, started that game for Tampa Bay and pitched a scoreless frame. Other spring debuts of note by Mississippians in the majors: Mitch Moreland got a hit in his first at-bat in an Oakland uniform. Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-2 in his first Boston appearance. Billy Hamilton, in the Cleveland lineup as the DH, went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run. Tim Anderson went 1-for-3 for the Chicago White Sox, and JaCoby Jones put up a 1-for-3 for Detroit. Jacob Lindgren registered two strikeouts in an inning of work for the White Sox. Ethan Small worked a clean inning and got a hold for Milwaukee. Grae Kessinger went 1-for-1 for Houston. Jacob Waguespack had a tough day for Toronto, yielding two home runs against the New York Yankees.

25 Feb

springing into it

Here are a few Mississippians to keep an eye on in MLB spring training:
Bobby Bradley likely will get every opportunity to earn the first base job for Cleveland. A lefty-hitting first baseman, the former Harrison Central High standout has 147 minor league homers and put up 33 in Triple-A in 2019, the last year he actually played a real game. He got 45 at-bats with the Indians in 2019 but wasn’t invited to the team’s alternate camp last summer. He’s 24. His prospect clock is running out. It’s time to break through.
Anthony Alford is due some good luck. The former Mr. Baseball (and Football) from Petal was handed the center field job in Pittsburgh last summer after being claimed on waivers from Toronto. In his fifth game, he broke his elbow crashing into an outfield wall. Alford was dogged by injuries during his years with the Blue Jays and has only 83 MLB at-bats on his ledger dating to 2017. He is penciled in as the Pirates’ center fielder for 2021. Fingers are crossed.
After four humdrum seasons with St. Louis, Mike Mayers thrust himself into the Los Angeles Angels’ bullpen plans for 2021 with a spectacular September. The ex-Ole Miss star posted a 0.98 ERA, two wins, two saves and a .113 batting average against in 14 appearances. He was named the American League’s reliever of the month. The right-hander, who has a 5.69 career ERA, will try to keep the good times rolling this spring – and beyond.
Nate Lowe has gone from the best team in the American League in 2020 to the worst, but it might be a good career move. Texas traded with Tampa Bay for the former Mississippi State standout with the express intention of making him their regular first baseman. In 219 at-bats spread over two seasons with the Rays, the lefty-hitting Lowe batted .251 with 11 homers. The Rangers are in the midst of a rebuild, and Lowe could be a key building block.
The 2021 season will be the eighth in pro ball for Justin Steele, the former George County High star drafted by the Chicago Cubs way back in 2014. The left-hander, now 25, has battled injuries over the years and appeared in just 80 minor league games. He pitched in the old Southern League in 2019 and spent 2020 in the Cubs’ alternate camp. He has a 3.62 career ERA. The Cubs reportedly like his stuff. He might contend for a rotation spot this spring.
P.S. Former Petal High standout Demarcus Evans is rehabbing a right lat strain and reportedly will not be ready to open the season with Texas. He is following a throwing program in camp. Evans, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, made his MLB debut last season, working four innings and allowing one run, a homer by Albert Pujols. … Mississippi State alum Dakota Hudson is in St. Louis’ camp as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. It’s possible though unlikely that he’ll pitch for the Cardinals in 2021. “Mentally, I’m waiting on September,” he told mlb.com. “I’m just trying to stay on pace to where that’s an opportunity to compete at the end of the year. Be available is the ultimate goal.” He has 19 wins in 40 starts over the last two seasons. … Olive Branch native Kendall Williams, who went to prep school in Florida, is in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ camp as a non-roster invitee. The 6-6 right-hander was a second-round pick by Toronto in 2019 and was traded last summer in the Ross Stripling deal.

23 Feb

random numbers

3 – Wins by Ole Miss against top 10 teams in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, earning the Rebels their first No. 1 ranking by Baseball America and D1baseball.
11 – Combined RBIs by Mississippi State’s Luke Hancock and Rowdey Jordan in a 2-1 finish at the State Farm event in Texas.
45 – Strikeouts by Southern Miss pitchers in going 2-1 against Northwestern State; Hunter Stanley and Ben Ethridge combined for 25 K’s.
7 – Home runs by Pearl River Community College’s Tate Parker, leading NJCAA Division II. Northwest CC’s Peyton Mills is second with six.
11 – Hits by Kirkland Trahan, who has two homers, six RBIs and seven runs, for 2-4 Delta State.
8 – Hits by Ken Scott, who has a homer and four RBIs, for 0-6 Mississippi College.
11 – Runs by Nick Lucido, who is 11-for-22, for 4-2 Belhaven.
8 – RBIs by Mason Little, who is 9-for-21, for 2-4 Millsaps.
2 – Wins in two starts by Connor Adams, who has a 2.70 ERA, for 4-2 William Carey.
0 – Combined runs by Jackson State (0-3) and Mississippi Valley State (0-2); Alcorn State hasn’t gotten on the field yet.