Tag Archives: allmississippibaseball

14 Sep

up for a challenge?

Tonight, for the third time in his last four starts, Chris Stratton will face a contending team as he goes to the mound for the fading San Francisco Giants, who have been out of the running for a while. The ex-Mississippi State star from Tupelo goes against the Colorado Rockies, who have won seven of their last 10 and lead the National League West race by 1.5 games over Los Angeles. Stratton (9-9, 4.99 ERA) beat Arizona, an NL West challenger, on Aug. 27 and lost to NL Central contender Milwaukee in his last outing on Sept. 8. Stratton has been up and down from the minors in what has been an erratic season for the 28-year-old right-hander. But since his last recall on Aug. 21, having made some mechanical changes, he has posted a 2.84 ERA. Less encouraging, however, are his numbers against the hard-hitting Rockies. Charlie Blackmon is 6-for-12 career with two homers vs. Stratton, Nolan Arenado 5-for-11 with two bombs, Ian Desmond 5-for-8, D.J. LeMahieu 4-for-8 with three RBIs, Trevor Story 5-for-9. At least the game is at the Giants’ AT&T Park, where the hits and homers are a little tougher to come by than at Coors Field. P.S. Former Madison Central High standout Spencer Turnbull, now on Detroit’s active roster, has yet to make his MLB debut (see previous post). Maybe it’ll happen tonight when the Tigers tackle Cleveland. … Stratton and Turnbull are among the 12 pitchers from Mississippi preps or colleges currently in The Show.

13 Sep

down to wire

Hunter Renfroe is surging. Tim Anderson is on the brink of a special accomplishment. Mitch Moreland is a solid contributor on the best team in baseball. Corey Dickerson’s numbers are pretty darn good, and Brian Dozier has 20 homers and more RBIs than any other Mississippian in the big leagues. Picking All Mississippi Baseball’s Cool Papa Bell Award winner for 2018 is going to be tough. Ex-Mississippi State star Renfroe clubbed his 22nd homer for San Diego on Wednesday. He is batting .258, slugging .519 and has 48 runs and 60 RBIs in 102 games (he spent time on the disabled list and in the minors). He credits a new two-strike approach for this late-season bolt. “I’m letting the ball get deep, shortening up a bit, making sure I’m as short and quick to the ball as possible,” he said in an mlb.com article. Anderson, the East Central Community College alum, hit his 19th homer – a game-winner – for the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. With 26 stolen bases, he is a homer shy of becoming the ChiSox’s fifth 20-20 man. “I’m excited to be able to chase that,” he told mlb.com. Anderson is hitting .248 with 62 RBIs and 73 runs in 141 games. Unlike Renfroe and Anderson, former State standout Moreland plays for a playoff-bound team, the 100-win Boston Red Sox. An All-Star in July, he has scuffled of late but is still hitting .250 with 16 homers and 57 RBIs and playing a good first base. Meridian CC product Dickerson also has faded recently but is batting .291 with 11 homers, 49 RBIs, 57 runs and eight steals for Pittsburgh. That’s a productive year. Former Southern Miss star Dozier, winner of the last two Cool Papas, has slumped since moving from Minnesota to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are chasing a division title. Playing on a troublesome knee, he is hitting .219. Can he possibly muster a finishing kick? It’s going to be fun final couple of weeks.

13 Sep

on this date

On this date in 1925, according to nationalpastime.com, Dazzy Vance threw a no-hitter for Brooklyn; in 1936, Bob Feller, at age 17, struck out 17 batters, an American League record; in 1946, Ted Williams hit the only inside-the-park home run of his career, clinching the AL pennant for Boston; in 1965, Willie Mays hit his 500th homer; in 1971, Frank Robinson hit his 500th homer; in 1983, Mike Fitzgerald, a former Jackson Met, homered in his first MLB at-bat; in 1998, Sammy Sosa hit his 62nd homer of the year; in 2008, Francisco Rodriguez – “K-Rod” – notched his 58th save of the season, breaking Mississippi State alum Bobby Thigpen’s record; and in 2011, Mariano Rivera got his 600th save.
Also on this date, in 1956, a boy was born at Great Lakes Naval Base near Chicago (and Wrigley Field). He would grow up in Augusta, Ga. (where Ty Cobb once played), become a fan of the Braves (and Hank Aaron), play second base on the dusty fields at Eisenhower Park, collect baseball cards (can’t quit), discover the joys of APBA Baseball, become a sports writer, move to Mississippi (the land of Boo Ferriss and George Scott), get married to a sweet girl (who graciously endures his baseball ramblings), cover Double-A baseball (and five championship teams) for 20-odd years, raise a Braves (and Jeff Francoeur) fan, make many friends through baseball connections, cobble together a book on Mississippi baseball history and start a baseball blog that inspires him to get out of bed every day and write something. To those who read this stuff: a heartfelt thank you.

12 Sep

midas touch

Chuckie Robinson added to his bling collection on Tuesday, scoring the winning run in the Carolina League championship game for Buies Creek. If you’re keeping score, that’s three titles in three years for the former Southern Miss standout. USM won a Conference USA crown with Robinson behind the plate in 2016, and he picked up a championship ring last year with Quad Cities, Houston’s low Class A club in the Midwest League. Robinson was the MVP in the MWL Championship Series, capping a year in which he batted .274 with 15 homers and 77 RBIs. At high-A Buies Creek this season, he didn’t have the big numbers — .238, seven homers, 30 RBIs – but he came up large in the one-game title showdown against Potomac. With the score tied 1-1, Robinson led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a single and later scored from second base on another single. The former 21st-round pick, an outstanding defensive catcher, slipped off the Astros’ Top 30 prospect chart at midseason this year but is no doubt still on the club’s radar.

11 Sep

arrival time

There were several injury-related detours along the way, but former Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull has finally arrived in the big leagues. Turnbull was activated today by the Detroit Tigers. “Just being here is a dream come true,” Turnbull said in an mlb.com story. The 25-year-old right-hander was a second-round pick out of Alabama in 2014. He spent most of this season at Double-A Erie, going 4-7 with a 4.47 ERA — around a stint on the disabled list — before earning a promotion to Triple-A Toledo, where he put up a 2.03 in two starts. “I saw him in spring training,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire, the former Jackson Mets infielder, told mlb.com. “(H)e has that electric stuff that you take notice of.” … Turnbull will be the fourth Mississippi product to make his MLB debut in 2018, following Braxton Lee (Ole Miss), Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State) and Cody Carroll (Southern Miss).

11 Sep

present arms

It went in the box score as a hold (H, 20 to be precise), but that designation doesn’t do justice to what former Biloxi Shuckers star Josh Hader did for Milwaukee on Monday night. In a huge game at Wrigley Field, Hader struck out all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings, preserving the Brewers’ one-run lead in what ended as a 3-2 win against the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers cut the Cubs’ lead in the National League Central to 1 game heading into tonight’s contest, the second of the three-game set. In the eighth inning, Hader cut down Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez. That’s big time. A lefty with vicious stuff, Hader now has 127 punchouts, a Brewers record for relievers. “To have any type of record is a great feeling,” he told mlb.com. Hader pitched, as a starter, in Biloxi in 2015 and ’16. In the latter season he gave a preview of what was to come in The Show, posting a 0.95 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 57 innings. … In San Francisco, the fingerprints of former Mississippi Braves were all over Atlanta’s 4-1 win against the Giants, which moved the Braves 5 games ahead of Philadelphia atop the NL East. Ozzie Albies went 2-for-4 (with a triple) and scored twice, driven in both times by Dansby Swanson (sac fly, squeeze bunt). More significant perhaps was the pitching of three left-handers, all M-Braves alums. Sean Newcomb worked six innings for the W, moving to 12-8 with a 3.82 ERA. Jonny Venters tossed a scoreless eighth inning for his 12th hold, and A.J. Minter closed it out for his 14th save. Though he has had some notable hiccups, his ERA is now 3.36. Minter was in Mississippi in 2016 and ’17, pitching mostly in middle relief. He had only two saves in his minor league career.

09 Sep

eye on …

Brian Dozier made a splashy debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 1, homering in his first game after being acquired in a trade with Minnesota. Then the former Southern Miss star went deep again in his second game. Through eight games with his new club Dozier was batting .307 with three homers. Alas, the hot start has given way to a bitter cold snap. After taking an 0-for-3 in a loss to Colorado on Saturday – before being lifted for a pinch hitter — Dozier is in an 0-for-21 slump. Over his last 15 games, he is 6-for-51. In 33 games with the Dodgers, Dozier is batting just .191 with four homers and 16 RBIs. The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that Dozier has been dealing since April with a knee injury that has affected his swing. He said he has declined to take any time on the disabled list, which would be a first in his career. “That’s not me,” he told the Times. “I’m still trying to find ways to be productive.” Dozier is a gamer. The Dodgers are in the thick of a battle royale in the National League West. They trail first-place Colorado by a 1.5 games heading into today’s rubber game of a three-game set. The Rockies are starting left-hander Tyler Anderson, meaning the right-handed Dozier will probably start. Don’t bet against him finding ways to be productive, if not today then surely down the stretch. The Dodgers may yet get a Dozier bump.

06 Sep

say what?

The book on David Parkinson says he has average stuff. The numbers from his first full pro season say something else. The Ole Miss alumnus led all of minor league baseball in ERA with a sparkling 1.45 over two levels of A-ball in the Philadelphia system. The 22-year-old left-hander from Virginia went 11-1, struck out 141 batters and walked just 35 in 124 1/3 innings. That doesn’t sound average. Parkinson was a top-drawer starter for the Rebels in 2016 and ’17, winning 11 games total with a 2.78 ERA in 2016 and a 3.39 in ’17. The Phillies picked him in the 12th round of the 2017 draft. He pitched well in limited innings that summer, then blossomed this season as a starter at low-A Lakewood and high-A Clearwater. He went 3-0, 1.24 in August for the Threshers, helping them make the Florida State League playoffs. He could be on the bump tonight in a decisive game. Parkinson is rated the No. 19 prospect in the Philadelphia system by MLB Pipeline. P.S. In the big leagues: Richton High product JaCoby Jones hit his 10th homer for Detroit on Wednesday and became the sixth Mississippian to reach double digits in home runs this season. Brian Dozier has just one bomb since Aug. 9 but still leads the All-Mississippi Home Run Derby with 20, followed by Hunter Renfroe (19), Tim Anderson (18), Mitch Moreland (15) and Corey Dickerson (11). Adam Frazier has eight.

05 Sep

southern exposure

The Mississippi Braves started their 2018 season with a win in April and ended it with a win on Labor Day. But there weren’t enough W’s in between for the Double-A club, in its 14th season in Pearl, to make the Southern League playoffs. A late run in the second half came up short of what would have been a fifth playoff appearance. Managed by Jackson native Chris Maloney, the M-Braves finished 67-71 overall. A bunch of prospects appeared on the roster: 13 of Atlanta’s Top 30 as rated by MLB Pipeline, five of the top seven. Most came and went quickly. Pitching once again was the M-Braves’ calling card. The team finished second in the SL in ERA, allowed the fewest homers and ranked fourth in strikeouts. Touki Toussaint, Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright and Ian Anderson, among others, took star turns on the bump. But Trustmark Park can be tough on hitters, and they didn’t hit well on the road, either, which is a bad combination. The M-Braves’ .308 on-base percentage ranked 10th — last — in the league, as did their home run total. They were ninth in runs. Luis Valenzuela, at .282, was the only M-Braves batter to rank in the league’s top 20 in batting average. Travis Demeritte had the most interesting numbers: 17 homers, 22 doubles, 63 RBIs with a .222 average and 140 strikeouts. Tyler Marlette, Tyler Neslony and Ray-Patrick Didder had some moments. Cristian Pache, a top 10 prospect added late in the season, showed promise and might be a centerpiece of the 2019 team. … Meanwhile, Biloxi has enjoyed a big year, sweeping both halves in the SL South and claiming the MVP, pitcher and manager of the year awards. The Milwaukee-affiliated Shuckers, managed by Mike Guerrero, are slated to host Pensacola tonight at MGM Park in Game 1 of the South Division Series. Corey Ray, who led the league in homers and steals, was the MVP, and Zack Brown, the ERA champ, was voted top pitcher. If there were a closer of the year award, Nate Griep (34 saves) would’ve won it.

05 Sep

making it work

Just as he was getting hot, the curtain fell on Braxton Lee’s season. The Picayune native, who has endured a rollercoaster campaign, hit .324 over his final 10 games at Triple-A New Orleans and had a four-hit game in Monday’s season finale. Though he is on Miami’s 40-man roster – and on the club’s Top 30 prospect chart – Lee didn’t get a September call-up, at least he hasn’t yet. He batted .235 in 47 games at New Orleans. Lee’s career took off last year, when he won the Southern League batting title and made the All-Prospect team in the Arizona Fall League. He made the Marlins’ roster for opening day and debuted on March 30, the first Mississippian to break in in 2018. He played in only eight big league games. He was sent down, struggled, got hurt, rehabbed in A-ball, spent time in Double-A – it was just that kind of season. For the year, he batted .233 over three minor league levels. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound outfielder has always been a grinder, relying on speed and defense to succeed, from Picayune High to Pearl River Community College to Ole Miss and into pro ball. He was drafted by Tampa Bay in 2014 and traded to Miami last summer. “I’ve never thought, “What if it didn’t work?’” Lee told the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel back in the spring. “I’m going to make it work regardless of what happens.” You have to admire that mindset. This season might be over, but Lee will fight again another day.