Tag Archives: allmississippibaseball

30 Jun

future (and current) stars

When the stars come out on July 12 at Truist Park in Atlanta, Konnor Griffin, Braden Montgomery and Jurrangelo Cijntje will be among them. The three Mississippi products were named to the rosters for the All-Star Futures Game, a showcase event for some of the game’s top prospects. Griffin, the ex-Jackson Prep star, is Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect and the No. 31 overall, per MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop, a first-year pro, is batting .343 (.412 OBP) with 12 homers, 48 RBIs and 37 steals over two levels of Class A ball. Montgomery, a Madison Central High alum who played three years of college ball, is also in his first pro season, batting .274 (.352 OBP) with 10 homers and 49 RBIs over two levels of A-ball. The switch-hitting outfielder is the No. 4 prospect (32 overall) in the Chicago White Sox’s chain. Cijntje, the switch-pitcher out of Mississippi State, is 4-4 with a 4.88 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings in his pro debut at High-A in Seattle’s system. He is the Mariners’ No. 8 (84 overall). Former Atlanta Braves players will make up the on-field staff for the two teams. Chipper Jones will manage the National League squad, Marquis Grissom the AL team. Former Jackson State star Marvin Freeman is a coach on the AL staff. The game will be televised by MLB Network at 3 p.m. CDT. P.S. Dakota Jordan, another 2024 draftee from MSU (where he was the Ferriss Trophy winner last year), had a six-RBI game on Sunday for Low-A San Jose in the San Francisco system. Jordan, former Jackson Academy star, is batting .309 with six homers and 50 RBIs, tops in the California League. … Looking ahead to the 2025 MLB draft, set to start July 13, MLB Pipeline recently rated Southern Miss’ Jake Cook as the fastest runner in the 2025 class with an 80 scouting grade. A first-year starter as a redshirt sophomore for USM, the Madison Central alum played a mean center field and batted .350 (with just three steals). He goes 6 feet 3, 185 pounds. Lefty Liam Doyle, who pitched at Ole Miss in 2024 (5.73 ERA, 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings) before transferring to Tennessee, was rated as having the best fastball, a 75 on the 20-80 scale.

27 Jun

great eight

Interesting story – with a Mississippi tie — on mlb.com today: An Atlantic League player named Dylan Rock has homered in eight straight games, tying the known professional record. Three major leaguers have gone deep in eight straight: Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr. One minor leaguer has done so: Former Mississippi State star Justin Foscue, who did it in July of 2021 in the Texas system. A first-round pick by the Rangers in 2020, Foscue started his homer streak while on a rehab assignment in the rookie Arizona Complex League. He hit one there and the next seven with Low-Class A Hickory. He finished that season with 17 homers and has hit 53 since, 10 in Triple-A this season before a recent call-up. He has yet to homer in the majors in 45 at-bats. … Rock, who plays for Lexington in the independent Atlantic League, is slated to play tonight against Southern Maryland, which is managed by Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn.

26 Jun

carolina clash

They aren’t going head-to-head exactly, but they are on the same field in Greensboro, N.C., playing for opposing teams in a South Atlantic League series. Konnor Griffin and Braden Montgomery — former Mississippi prep stars, first-round draft picks last summer and among the top prospects in the minor leagues – are clashing this week as Winston-Salem visits Greensboro at First National Bank Field. Griffin, former Jackson Prep star and Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect, went 1-for-3 on Wednesday in the host Grasshoppers’ victory in Game 2 of the series. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run in a win in Game 1 on Tuesday. Montgomery, out of Madison Central and the No. 4 prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s chain, is 4-for-8 in the two games with a homer and three RBIs. Both started this season, their pro debut, in Low-Class A but quickly moved up. Griffin, 19, is batting .337 with 11 homers, 46 RBIs and 34 steals over the two levels of A-ball. Montgomery, 22, who played three years of college ball at Stanford and Texas A&M, is at .280 with 10, 49 and nine overall. One or both might be invited to the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta next month. Both have certainly lived up to expectations as first-round picks. P.S. Blaine Crim’s brief MLB tour with Texas did not go very well – 0-for-11 in early May – but the ex-Mississippi College star hasn’t gone into a funk since returning to Triple-A Round Rock. He went 3-for-4 with his 13th homer and four RBIs on Wednesday and is batting .299 with 60 RBIs on the season. He is hitting .315 in June. … Madison Central product Spencer Turnbull was designated for assignment by Toronto on Wednesday when Max Scherzer came off the injured list. Veteran righty Turnbull had a 7.11 ERA in three games with the Blue Jays and might be headed back to free agency.

24 Jun

ratings game

With the college season finally done and a national champion crowned in NCAA Division I, it’s time to close the book on the Magnolia State season, another very good one. Ranking the teams on the 80-20 scouting scale — with 50 being average, 80 exceptional and 20 the pits — there are three teams that probably deserve a 65 rating.
Start with Belhaven University, which reached a Super Regional in NCAA D-III, the only state school to get that far. The Blazers went 34-15, 13-5 (second in the CCS), won the Maloney Trophy (over Millsaps), reached the finals of their conference tournament and won a regional on the road in their first postseason appearance in 14 years.
Give a 65 also to Southern Miss and Ole Miss, ranked No. 21 and No. 19, respectively, in Baseball America’s final poll. The Golden Eagles won 47 games, finished second in the Sun Belt, reached the finals of the SBC Tournament (losing to Coastal Carolina) and reached the finals of the regional they hosted. They also produced the SBC player of the year (Nick Monistere) and two first-team All-America selections (Monistere and J.B. Middleton, the Ferriss Trophy winner). Ole Miss won 43 games (16-14 SEC), won the Governor’s Cup, reached the final of the SEC Tournament (beating national champ LSU along the way), earned a No. 10 national seed and made the finals of their regional. And they were unranked at the start of the season.
At the 55 level, there are four. William Carey University won 38 games (17 on the road), won the SSAC title (24-6) and reached the finals of the league tournament. However, the Crusaders went 2-and-out in the NAIA Opening Round tourney they hosted. Delta State went 33-20, won the Gulf South regular season championship and went to an NCAA D-II regional, where the Statesmen went 1-2. Mississippi College finished 35-23, swept Delta State in the regular season finale, went 2-2 in the GSC Tournament and upset the No. 1 team in the nation (Tampa) in their D-II regional before bowing out. Millsaps went 29-15, won the SAA regular season title and went to a D-III regional. The Majors also produced a D-III All-America pick: Bradley Pelle.
Coming in with a 50 is Mississippi State. The Bulldogs wound up 36-23, 15-15 SEC, and lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament. They got a regional bid but lost twice to host Florida State. They also endured a midseason coaching change and coaching search. Give interim coach Justin Parker some props for navigating that with a 10-4 record. Jackson State also rates a 50 after going 30-21, 16-12 SWAC, and putting together a clutch 10-game win streak late in the year. They bowed out in three games in the SWAC Tournament. Blue Mountain Christian also scores a 50; the Toppers finished 28-24, 16-14 SSAC (beating Carey two of three), and won a game in the league tourney. Give a 50 also to D-III MUW, which posted a 21-17 mark (with a win over Millsaps), went 14-4 in the SLIAC and made the league tournament finals.
Rust, of the NAIA-level HBCUAC, comes in at 40. Rust went 22-28 (13-17) and was 0-2 in the league tourney. A shade below at 35 are Tougaloo, Mississippi Valley State and Southeastern Baptist. Tougaloo was 14-32 and 9-20 HBCUAC. Valley finished 12-29, 7-23 SWAC. Southeastern Baptist, an NCCAA program in Laurel, went 20-19, beat Alcorn State and went 2-2 in a Christian college regional.
Alcorn State gets stuck with a 25. Under new coach Carlton Hardy, who got a late start with the program, the Braves finished 6-43, winning only one of 30 SWAC games (against Southern University). Hardy, who has a good track record, has a lot of work to do in Lorman.

24 Jun

noteworthy

Justin Foscue made his 2025 debut with Texas on Monday night, becoming the 26th Mississippian (native or school alum) to play in the big leagues this season. Seventeen are currently on active rosters. Three have been released and are free agents, the others are either on the injured list or back in the minors. Ex-Mississippi State star Foscue, called up from Triple-A on Saturday, played first base and went 0-for-3 in the Rangers’ loss to Baltimore. … Brent Rooker moved up to third and Colt Keith to fourth in the latest All-Star Game balloting for American League DH, and Austin Riley rose to sixth in the National League third base race. Rooker, an MSU alum, is hitting .275 with 15 homers and 41 RBIs for the A’s. Keith, a Biloxi High product, is at .243 with six bombs and 24 RBIs for Detroit, which has the best record in MLB. Former DeSoto Central star Riley is hitting .275 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs for Atlanta; he was 2-for-4 with a triple in the 3-2 win vs. the New York Mets on Monday night. The All-Star Game is July 15 in Atlanta. … Connor Hujsak, former MSU standout, was named the Carolina League player of the week on Monday; he was 10-for-29 with two homers and nine RBIs last week for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay chain. Hujsak is the 11th Mississippi product to win a minor league player or pitcher of the week award this season, joining Konnor Griffin, Kemp Alderman, Blaze Jordan, Tyson Hardin, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Niko Mazza, Braden Montgomery, Rowdey Jordan, Blaine Crim and J.T. Ginn.

23 Jun

and they’re back

After a long road trip that lasted two weeks and rambled through four Midwest towns, the Mississippi Mud Monsters return to the sultry South for a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. The independent Frontier League club, now 18-21 on the season, went 5-7 on the trip but did finish on a high note, beating Gateway 8-7 on Sunday. Nick Hassan hit his first homer of the season and drove in four runs as part of Mississippi’s 17-hit attack. Brayland Skinner continued to fuel the offense, going 3-for-6 from the leadoff spot. Luis Devers went seven innings for the win. Skinner, former Mississippi State standout, is hitting .300 with a team-leading 28 runs and a league-best 25 steals. Kyle Booker, a DeSoto Central High product, is batting .314 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 14 bags. Travis Holt (.268) leads in homers and RBIs with six and 22. Tyree Thompson (4-0, 2.84), Brian Williams (2-2, 2.97) and Devers (4-3, 5.21) have been effective starters for manager Jay Pecci’s club. Chris Barraza, who got the save Sunday, has three and a 0.50 ERA in 13 games. Sergio Sanchez has five saves despite a 7.07 ERA. The Mud-sters, fourth in the Midwest Conference South, will face a Down East team that is 14-23 and fourth in the Atlantic Conference East. The Bird Dawgs are managed by Brett Wellman, whose dad, Phillip, managed the Mississippi Braves to a Southern League pennant back in 2008. Brett served as a bullpen catcher at times during his father’s four seasons in Pearl. … Former Mud-sters lefty Zack Morris has made two appearances (2.25 ERA) for Colorado’s rookie-level team since being signed by the Rockies on June 13. P.S. Congratulations to Conner Ware, Germantown High and Pearl River Community College product and a member of LSU’s national title team. Ware, a junior, did not pitch in the College World Series. (Of note: Former Taylorsville High pitcher Aiden Moffett was on the LSU roster when the Tigers won the 2023 CWS crown; he was at Texas this season.)

21 Jun

big league chew

Matt Wallner’s sixth home run of the season, a rather modest 370-footer, came in the seventh inning Friday night with his team down 8-0. But it was a significant hit for the Minnesota slugger out of Southern Miss. Milwaukee rookie and former Biloxi Shuckers ace Jacob Misiorowski had a no-hitter going at the time. In fact, the 6-foot-7 right-hander had entered the seventh with a perfect game, following up the five no-hit innings he threw in his big league debut last week. A walk to Byron Buxton ended the perfecto and Wallner then took a hanging slider out of the park to end Misiorowski’s night. The Brewers won the game 17-6. … Former state prep stars Austin Riley and Colt Keith also went deep Friday in losing causes, Riley hitting his 12th for Atlanta, Keith his sixth for Detroit. … Spencer Turnbull, the ex-Madison Central standout, made his first start for Toronto — and first since last season with Philadelphia — and it did not go well: The Chicago White Sox touched him up for five runs (four earned) in two innings. Turnbull now has a 7.11 ERA in three games for the Blue Jays, who lost 7-1 Friday. Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin came off the injured list and tossed a scoreless inning in relief for the Jays in his first MLB game in two months. … Former Jackson Generals standout Ray Montgomery is serving as the Los Angeles Angels’ acting manager with Ron Washington sidelined by health concerns. It’s the second time in the four years Montgomery, the team’s bench coach, has stepped in as acting skipper. The Angels lost to Houston 3-2 on Friday. … Will Clark, the former Mississippi State star now a special assistant with San Francisco, is helping Rafael Devers learn the ropes at first base, per reports. Devers, recently acquired from Boston, has never played the position. Clark was a five-time All-Star at first base with the Giants. “He’s very eager to help,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told The Mercury News of San Jose.

20 Jun

making a name

The Mississippi Jordans ruled in the minors on Thursday as both Dakota and Blaze (no relation) put up more good numbers in what has been a big year for both. Playing at Low-Class A San Jose, Dakota Jordan went 4-for-5 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs in sparking the Giants to a 7-1 win against Modesto. The former Mississippi State outfielder, San Francisco’s No. 5 prospect, is batting .302 with five homers, 50 RBIs and 19 steals in what is essentially his first pro season at age 22. He ranks among the California League leaders in several categories. He was the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner at MSU in 2024 and the Gatorade player of the year at Jackson Academy in 2022. Blaze Jordan, Gatorade player of the year at DeSoto Central in 2020, went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI Thursday in helping Triple-A Worcester beat Buffalo 9-4. A corner infielder, Jordan is batting .339 with two homers and nine RBIs in 14 Triple-A games in the Boston system. He batted .320 with six and 37 in Double-A before being promoted. He has slipped off the Red Sox’s Top 30 prospect list but, at 22, is clamoring to get back in. P.S. In (somewhat) related news, Rowdey Jordan, a member of MSU’s 2021 national title team, recently retired in the midst of his fifth pro season. Traded by the New York Mets to Houston in April, Jordan (no relation to the other two) was batting .243 with four homers and 16 RBIs at Corpus Christi in his third season at the Double-A level. A .231 career hitter, he won a Texas League player of the week award in May.

19 Jun

glove stories

Forget exit velo and spin rate for a moment and give some love to the glove. Hunter Elliott of Ole Miss and Jacob Keys of Pearl River Community College have been honored as ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winners for 2025. Elliott, a left-handed pitcher from Tupelo, was named in the NCAA Division I category, and Keys, a catcher from Brandon, was selected in NJCAA Division II. Elliott, a third-team All-America pick by the NCBWA, picked off 13 base runners, a modern-era record at UM, according to a school release, and allowed just seven stolen bases among 14 attempts. He had 20 assists, six putouts and three errors over 17 games and 85 2/3 innings, winning 10 games and fanning 102 batters for a Rebels team that earned a No. 10 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. Keys, a second-team NJCAA D-II All-America pick, did not make an error in 63 games behind the plate for PRCC. He registered 29 assists all told, threw out 15 of 25 would-be base stealers and yielded just six passed balls. The Wildcats, MACCC and Region 23 champions, made it all the way to the juco World Series championship game. A reverse transfer from Southern Miss, Keys is bound for Southeastern Louisiana. P.S. Former Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum had a two-run single in the third inning Wednesday as part of Tampa Bay’s amazing comeback win against Baltimore. The Rays won 12-8 after trailing 8-0 in the second inning. … Per an mlb.com poll, former Mississippi Braves catcher Drake Baldwin of Atlanta is the frontrunner to win National League rookie of the year honors. Three other M-Braves alums have won the award: Michael Harris II (2022), Ronald Acuna (2018) and Craig Kimbrel (2011). … On June 19 in baseball history, Vicksburg native Ellis Burks hit three homers in a game for Cleveland in 2001, Louisville native Marcus Thames hit two bombs for Detroit in 2009 and Greenville native George Scott homered for Boston in 1977. Burks, with 352 career homers, is the all-time leader among Mississippi natives, while Scott, with 271, ranks third. Thames, currently the Chicago White Sox’s hitting coach, clubbed 115 in just 640 career games, averaging a homer every 15.9 at-bats, comparable to David Ortiz, Frank Thomas and Willie McCovey.

17 Jun

temperature reading

Maybe there should be a CAUTION sign hanging above Jake Mangum’s locker. The Mississippi State product from Flowood is that hot, and so is his Tampa Bay team. With Mangum banging out three hits and driving in three runs, the Rays beat visiting Baltimore 7-1 on Monday. That’s four straight wins, 10 out of 13 and 19 out of 25 for the Rays, now 40-32 and just 2.5 games back of slumping New York atop the American League East. “We have a lot of faith in each other,” Mangum told mlb.com. “If I don’t get the job done, the guy behind me is gonna get it done, the guy in front of me is gonna get it done.” Lately, Mangum has been getting it done. The rookie switch-hitter is 12-for-27 (.444) over his last seven games with eight RBIs, five runs and five stolen bases. He is hitting .315 on the season with 21 RBIs, 13 runs and 10 bags in 37 games; he missed almost a month after a groin injury in late April. … And then there is the coldest team in the big leagues: Washington, which blew a ninth-inning lead Monday and lost to lowly Colorado 6-4 at Nationals Park. That’s nine straight losses for the Nats, now 30-42 and sinking in the National League East. Former Mississippi State standout Nathaniel Lowe, the regular first baseman, is also in a cold snap, with just four hits and eight strikeouts in his last 22 at-bats. Brought in this season to provide some power for a young team, he has just one home run since May 16. On the year, Lowe — a Silver Slugger winner in 2022 and a World Series champ in ’23 with Texas — is batting .227 with nine homers and 44 RBIs. He has been the subject of trade rumors, but you wonder if interest might be waning. P.S. Ex-State star J.T. Ginn came off the injured list for the A’s Monday and threw three scoreless innings in relief in a 3-1 win vs. Houston. He has a 4.79 ERA in five appearances this season.