Tag Archives: allmississippibaseball

22 Feb

taking names

Full squad workouts are under way in Florida and Arizona. Actual spring training games begin Sunday. Here’s a look at Mississippians in camp:

40-man roster members
Position players
Anthony Alford (Petal), Pittsburgh; Tim Anderson (East Central CC), Chicago White Sox; Bobby Bradley (Harrison Central), Cleveland; Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC), Miami; Adam Frazier (Mississippi State), Pittsburgh; JaCoby Jones (Richton), Detroit; Nate Lowe (MSU), Texas; Mitch Moreland (MSU), Oakland; Hunter Renfroe (MSU), Boston; Austin Riley (DeSoto Central), Atlanta; Brent Rooker (MSU), Minnesota
Pitchers
Garrett Crochet (Ocean Springs), Chicago White Sox; Demarcus Evans (Petal), Texas; Kendall Graveman (MSU), Seattle; Jonathan Holder (MSU), Chicago Cubs; Dakota Hudson (MSU), St. Louis (DL); Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), Chicago White Sox; Mike Mayers (Ole Miss), Los Angeles Angels; Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss), San Diego; Cody Reed (Northwest CC), Tampa Bay; Justin Steele (George County High), Chicago Cubs; Chris Stratton (MSU), Pittsburgh; Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central), Detroit; Jacob Waguespack (Ole Miss), Toronto; Bobby Wahl (Ole Miss), Milwaukee; Brandon Woodruff (MSU), Milwaukee

Non-roster invitees
Position players
Gavin Collins (MSU), Cleveland; Nick Fortes (Ole Miss), Miami; Justin Foscue (MSU), Texas; Trent Giambrone (Delta State) Chicago Cubs; Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville), Cleveland; Grae Kessinger (Ole Miss), Houston; Jack Kruger (MSU), Los Angeles Angels; Jacob Robson (MSU), Detroit
Pitchers
Ben Bracewell (MSU), Oakland; Cody Carroll (Southern Miss), Baltimore; Chris Ellis (Ole Miss), Tampa Bay; Jacob Lindgren (MSU), Chicago White Sox; Kirk McCarty (USM), Cleveland; David Parkinson (Ole Miss), Philadelphia; Ryan Rolison (Ole Miss), Colorado; Nick Sandlin (USM), Cleveland; Ethan Small (MSU), Milwaukee

20 Feb

just pitch, baby

NCAA Division I schools in Mississippi have not yet started playing ball, but we already have a theme for 2021. Pitching. The state’s Big 3 are loaded with quality arms, and Jackson State has a couple to crow about, as well. Ole Miss’ Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy and Mississippi State’s Christian MacLeod, Eric Cerantola and Will Bednar are showing up on various lists of top MLB draft prospects for this summer. Hoglund, Nikhazy and MacLeod are on the 55-player Golden Spikes Award watch list. Hoglund has been selected to — at last count — four preseason All-America teams. Nikhazy, MacLeod and Southern Miss ace Walker Powell were pegged as second-team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball, and Powell is the preseason pitcher of the year in C-USA. JSU features Nik Galatas, chosen as the SWAC’s preseason pitcher of the year, and Steven Davila, a top closer in the league. The considerable depth of the Ole Miss and State staffs will be tested right out of the chute this weekend in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas, where they’ll face three nationally ranked Texas schools. USM opens at home Sunday with a doubleheader against Northwestern State; JSU is at Mercer in Georgia for a twinbill today. Defense wins championships in football. In basketball, shooting. In baseball, it’s pitching. Mississippi’s D-I schools are armed for the task.

19 Feb

one fine career

Surely, sometime this season, when a decent number of fans are allowed back in Target Field, the Minnesota Twins will have a Brian Dozier Day of some sort. The former Southern Miss star, who announced his retirement on Thursday, deserves it. He was the face of the franchise for the better part of the seven years he spent with the team that drafted him out of USM in 2009. One Minneapolis columnist wrote that Dozier ranks as the third-best second baseman in the Twins’ long history, behind Hall of Famer Rod Carew and Chuck Knoblauch. Dozier hit more homers than any Twins second baseman in history and tied an MLB record for homers by a second baseman in a single season when he launched 42 in 2016. With 192 career bombs, Dozier ranks fifth all-time among Mississippi-born players. He topped 1,000 career hits and 100 career steals. But of course, he was about a lot more than numbers. He won several leadership and community service awards during his time in Minnesota. “He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever been around in my life,” Ron Gardenhire, one of Dozier’s managers, said in a Zoom call tribute arranged by the Twins on Thursday. It seems a shame that Dozier is done at 33, apparently healthy after barely playing in 2020. Players get old quick these days. But he said during a very upbeat Zoom call that he is at peace with his decision and is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and two young kids. He even joked about heading off to have a beer rather than to a ballfield. Dozier crammed a lot into his nine MLB seasons. He was an All-Star, a Home Run Derby participant, a Gold Glove winner and a World Series champion (with Washington in 2019). He deserves to be celebrated.

18 Feb

better late …

After what felt like an oddly long wait, Mitch Moreland has a job for 2021. The former Mississippi State standout will play for Oakland, having agreed to a $2.25 million deal. He’ll likely be the DH for a team that expects to contend in the American League West. The A’s have slick-fielding Matt Olson at first base but recently traded away Khris Davis, their primary DH last year. Moreland, 35, has been in the big leagues since 2010 and carries a .252 average with 176 home runs. He hit 10 bombs last season, split between Boston and San Diego. P.S. Add the names of Grae Kessinger (Houston), Kirk McCarty (Cleveland), Jacob Robson (Detroit), Trent Giambrone (Chicago Cubs), Ryan Rolison (Colorado), David Parkinson (Philadelphia) and Cody Carroll (Baltimore) to the list of Magnolia State college alums headed to big league camps as non-roster players.

12 Feb

well, that’s different

Goodbye, Southern League. The Mississippi Braves will play this season in the Double-A South league, specifically in the South Division of the Double-A South. Biloxi is also in the division. Under the new configuration set up by Major League Baseball, which has taken over minor league operations, there is no more Pacific Coast League. No Texas League. No Carolina League. Gwinnett, Atlanta’s Triple-A club formerly of the International League, will play in the Triple-A East Southeast Division. There is also a Double-A Northeast Southwest Division and a Low-A Southeast West Division. Could get confusing. But at least there will be minor league ball in Mississippi in 2021. Montgomery and Pensacola join the M-Braves and Shuckers in the Double-A South South. The Double-A South is essentially the old Southern League minus two teams: Jacksonville moved to Triple-A and Jackson (Tenn.) no longer has a team. As part of the revamped minor leagues, players will get salary increases, facilities will get needed upgrades and travel will be decreased. All good. Minor league schedules are not out yet, but it is expected that the Southern League – er, Double-A South – will start play in May and run through September.

08 Feb

tagging up

It would be an understatement to say Pearl River Community College has come out swinging. The 4-0 Wildcats, ranked seventh in the NJCAA preseason poll, hit 11 homers in a doubleheader sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sunday and have 16 bombs on the season. Von Seibert hit four homers on Sunday, three in Game 1, when the Wildcats set an apparent school record with eight. “It’s just what we do around here,” Seibert said in a release. … East Mississippi, which went 1-13 in 2020’s abbreviated campaign, is also 4-0, including a sweep of Northwest, ranked fourth by the NJCAA. Meridian moved to 4-0 with a sweep of Copiah-Lincoln on Sunday. … Delta State, starting Year 2 under coach Rodney Batts, dropped two of three games at Shorter over the weekend despite the efforts of Jones juco transfer Kirkland Trahan, who went 6-for-12 with two homers and five RBIs. … Mississippi College was outscored 18-2 in a Sunday doubleheader loss to Valdosta, nationally ranked in NCAA Division II. Game 3 of the Gulf South series is today in Clinton. … William Carey University won its opener on Sunday thanks to a walk-off double by Jake Lycette, a freshman from Brandon, then completed a sweep against Clarke (Iowa) behind the pitching of Carlo Graffeo and Connor Adams. Game 3 is today. … Blue Mountain College, stung by the tragic death of pitcher Chris Maurin in a Jan. 28 accident, is slated to open its season Tuesday at home against Tougaloo. The Toppers have had five games either postponed or cancelled. … Belhaven University is now slated to open with a three-game series against Piedmont College starting Thursday at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium. … Millsaps opens with back-to-back twinbills at Hendrix on Saturday and Sunday. P.S. Trivia time: Who was the one and only manager of the Jackson DiamondKats, the ill-fated independent club that played at Smith-Wills Stadium in 2000? Answer: Steve Dillard, the former Ole Miss star and big leaguer who turns 70 today. Dillard, an infielder, hit .243 over parts of eight years in the majors and managed in the affiliated minors in addition to his year with the D-Kats.

05 Feb

by invitation

Former Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin, whose rapid rise in Cleveland’s system was stalled by injury in 2019, has received an invitation to big league spring training as a non-roster player. Mississippi State product Gavin Collins, a catcher who played in high Class A in 2019, also got an invite to the Indians’ camp in Goodyear, Ariz. Teams are beginning to announce their non-roster invitees as it appears spring training will begin as scheduled in a couple of weeks. Sandlin, a sidearm-style right-hander, was a second-round pick in 2018 and reached Triple-A early in 2019 before a stress fracture in his arm ended his season. Sandlin got work in the Indians’ alternate camp during the 2020 season. He has a 2.68 ERA and seven saves in 49 pro games. Collins, a 13th-round pick in 2016, is a .257 hitter with 24 homers in 295 minor league games. P.S. As part of a series on minor league record-holders, milb.com featured Esix Snead as the modern day leader in career stolen bases with 507. Second on the list, somewhat surprisingly, is Trenidad (Trent) Hubbard, who was the second baseman on the first Jackson Generals team in 1991. Hubbard swiped 488 bags in a career that spanned 20 seasons (1986-2005) and included some big league time. (Note: Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who set a minor league single-season record with 155 steals in 2012, has 396 minor league bags in 505 games.)

03 Feb

launch party

Fourth-ranked Northwest Mississippi Community College takes on 2-0 East Mississippi today as conference play begins for the Mississippi junior colleges. Fourteen of the 15 schools are slated to meet in doubleheaders. Northwest, the highest ranked of five state jucos in the NJCAA Division II poll, is 2-0 after pounding Coahoma in a twinbill last Friday. Kelton Hall went 5-for-6 with a homer in the two games, and Peyton Puckett, a Mississippi State transfer, had a five-RBI game. The Rangers were 14-1 – best start in program history – in 2020 when the season was halted. East beat Itawamba and Northeast in a round-robin event in Booneville last weekend. Blayze Berry, another State transfer, had a big debut for the Lions, going 3-for-4 with a homer and getting the win in relief vs. ICC. No. 7 Pearl River hosts East Central today, No. 11 Northeast (1-1) is at Holmes (1-1) and 12th-ranked Jones welcomes Meridian. Hinds, No. 9 in the NJCAA poll, will open its season Saturday at Southwest.

02 Feb

a little history

In recognition of Black History Month, here’s a compelling nugget uncovered via a little research. The first black Mississippian to win a game in the major leagues was Dave Hoskins, a Greenwood native who pitched for Cleveland in 1953-54. He got that first win on May 10 of ’53, and there’s quite a story behind it. Hoskins was a two-way standout in the Negro Leagues and then, after “organized baseball” was integrated, in the Texas League, where in 1952 he became the first African-American to play in that minor league. Hoskins made his big league debut with the Indians on April 18, 1953, giving up a hit, five walks and a run in 2 1/3 innings. He worked five scoreless innings in a mop-up role on May 5 before getting the call for his third appearance five days later at old Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Browns. He pinch-hit for pitcher Bob Feller in the seventh inning of a game the Tribe trailed 3-0. Hoskins doubled but didn’t score. He then pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh. In the top of the eighth, Al Rosen homered to make it 3-1, and with two out and two on, Hoskins was permitted to bat for himself. He blasted a go-ahead homer off Virgil Trucks. Hoskins then struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth and, after the Indians scored eight times in the ninth, closed out the 12-3 victory. A right-handed thrower and lefty hitter, Hoskins went 9-4, 3.81 ERA in 139 1/3 innings over 40 MLB games while batting .227. The homer on May 10, 1953, was his only one.

29 Jan

that’s some stuff

Garrett Crochet, the only Mississippian ranked in MLB Pipeline’s new list of the Top 100 minor league prospects, provided a sneak preview of his potential last September. Not to get carried away, but it was a fairly jaw-dropping debut from the Chicago White Sox’s 2020 first-round pick. The 6-foot-6 left-hander from Ocean Springs by way of Tennessee pitched six scoreless innings over five appearances. He allowed three hits, struck out eight, walked none. He struck out the first batter he faced as a pro: a called third strike at 100 mph. But there’s so much more. To say Crochet throws hard sells him way short. According to a recent mlb.com article, there were 311 100 mph-plus pitches all told in 2020. Crochet threw 45 of those. And he only threw 85 pitches. “He’s already the hardest-throwing White Sox pitcher ever,” the mlb.com story said. He also throws a quality slider and a changeup. Crochet left his one postseason appearance with an arm injury that proved to be minor. There is great anticipation to see what he does this year for a strong White Sox team. Crochet likely will pitch out of the bullpen initially in 2021, but at some point he’ll move to the rotation, which was his role at UT. … Crochet is No. 56 on the top prospects list. (Obviously, it’s a tough crowd.) Former Mississippi Braves stars Cristian Pache (12), Ian Anderson (18) and Drew Waters (35) also made the list, as did Ke’Bryan Hayes (9), son of Hattiesburg native and ex-big leaguer Charlie. Pache, Anderson and Hayes had nice MLB debuts in 2020.