Tag Archives: allmississippibaseball

09 Aug

coming up big

The home run was big, but the single proved bigger for Bobby Bradley on Tuesday night. Bradley, the ex-Harrison Central High star, delivered a walk-off hit in the ninth inning for Akron in a 4-3 win against New Hampshire in the Double-A Eastern League. Bradley hit his 19th homer in the sixth, helping the Rubber Ducks rally from a 3-0 deficit. The lefty-hitting first baseman, 21, one of Cleveland’s highest-rated prospects, is batting .242 with 73 RBIs in his Double-A debut. Bradley has a .335 on-base percentage thanks in part to 49 walks, and he has cut down on strikeouts (95 in 364 at-bats) this year. He is slugging .456. A third-round pick by the Indians in 2014, he has blasted 83 homers in his four pro seasons. He’s getting close. … Former Petal High star Anthony Alford, one of Toronto’s top prospects, was in New Hampshire’s lineup and went 1-for-4. Alford, 23, batting .308 in his first Class AA campaign, got a cup of coffee in the majors earlier this season before an injury knocked him back to the minors. He’ll likely return to the Blue Jays next month. P.S. Former Ole Miss and Mississippi Braves standout Chris Ellis notched his second straight win for Springfield, St. Louis’ Double-A club in the Texas League, on Tuesday. Ellis, who scuffled at Triple-A Memphis to start 2017, is 4-6, 3.60 ERA at Springfield. … Mississippi State product Zac Houston recently was elevated from low-A to high-A ball in the Detroit system. The 6-foot-5 right-hander, a 2016 draftee, has thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his two appearances for Lakeland, where he has joined fellow Mississippians Will Allen, Jake Robson and Spencer Turnbull.

08 Aug

billy by number

Billy Hamilton went from the batter’s box to third base in 10.62 seconds on a triple in Cincinnati’s game against San Diego on Monday night. According to mlb.com, that’s tied for the third fastest time this season; the ex-Taylorsville High star already claims the two fastest times. Hamilton presents a bundle of compelling — and sometimes head-scratching — numbers. To wit:
44 – Stolen bases, best in the majors. His career-best is 58, which he’ll probably surpass.
9 – Triples this season, second in the big leagues and a career-high. Oddly enough, he has only 12 doubles.
70 – Runs this season, which is tied for 18th among MLB qualifiers. This despite the fact he is hitting just .251 with a .299 on-base percentage; 136 players have a higher OBP.
.340 – Batting average in the first inning. His triple on Monday came in the first – as the leadoff batter — and he would score the first run in the Reds’ 11-3 victory at Great American Ballpark.
.367 – Batting average on the first pitch. He has a homer, three triples, three doubles and seven RBIs when he puts the ball in play on the 0-0, which he has done 49 times in his 438 at-bats. As a leadoff batter, he is normally expected to work the count.
.219 – Batting average as a right-handed hitter. That’s his natural side. He is batting .265 as a lefty, where he gets most of his ABs. The Reds made Hamilton a switch-hitter after drafting him.
P.S. Former first-round pick D.J. Davis has perked up a bit at Class A Dunedin in the Toronto system. The former Stone County High standout is batting .343 over his last 10 games, raising his season average to .247. He has 28 stolen bases. This may be a critical year for the 23-year-old Davis, drafted in 2012, after he batted just .197 at the high-A level in 2016.

07 Aug

next?

Kudos to former Jackson State coach Bob Braddy and ex-Mississippi State and MLB star Jay Powell on their induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame over the weekend. Braddy, an icon at JSU, should have been in a long time ago. Who’ll be the next baseball luminary to get the call? Longtime big leaguers Roy Oswalt (163 MLB wins, three-time All-Star) and Charlie Hayes (.262, 144 homers, World Series ring) certainly should get in at some point, as well as Luke Easter, who was the first black Mississippian to make the major leagues. Sam Hairston and Howard Easterling, a couple of Negro Leagues stars, also rate consideration. Among coaches, there’s William Carey’s Bobby Halford, the 2017 NAIA coach of the year who has more than 1,100 wins, and Millsaps’ Jim Page, who has over 700 W’s and seven conference coach of the year honors on his ledger. Both are deserving of recognition over on Cool Papa Bell Drive.

07 Aug

power broker

Former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier reached the 20-home run plateau for the fourth straight season when he went deep on Sunday in Minnesota’s 6-5 win over Texas. He joins fellow Mississippians Corey Dickerson (21) and Hunter Renfroe (20) in the 20-bomb club. Never considered a power hitter in college or in the minors, Dozier started pulling the ball more in 2013, when he hit 18 homers for the Twins. He followed with seasons of 23, 28 and then 42 last year. Dozier also drove in 99 runs and scored 104 in 2016, numbers he isn’t going to reach this year. He is batting .248 with 56 RBIs and 54 runs. The subject of trade rumors in the off-season, Dozier insisted he wanted to remain in Minnesota, where, despite his best efforts, things haven’t gone well. The Twins haven’t made the postseason during Dozier’s time with the club and aren’t likely to break through in 2017. He is under contract for one more year, so it seems likely he’ll be hitting homers for some other club in the near future.

02 Aug

line of night

Competition was stiff for MLB Line of the Night, Mississippi Division. Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton put up a 4223 (AB-R-H-RBI) on Tuesday, with a homer and a triple, his eighth, which ranks second in the big leagues. Ole Miss product Seth Smith had a 3223 with a double. Jarrod Dyson, the ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star, produced a 5221 with a stolen base, No. 24 on the year. Former Mississippi State standouts Hunter Renfroe (3220) and Adam Frazier (4030) also put up some numbers worthy of mention. But Line of the Night must go to State product Mitch Moreland, whose 5323 included a double, a homer, his 13th, and a “productive” out that figured prominently in Boston’s crazy 12-10 win against Cleveland. With two outs and one on in the ninth at Fenway Park, the Red Sox down a run, Moreland reached first on a wild-pitch third strike. Christian Vazquez followed with a three-run bomb that beat Indians closer Cody Allen and moved Boston back into first place in the American League East. P.S. Dyson’s stolen base was the 200th of his career. He has an amazing 85 percent success rate. The McComb native ranks third among Mississippians on the all-time steals list, behind Hamilton (228) and Gee Walker (223). … Smith’s big night helped Baltimore beat Kansas City and give Buck Showalter his 1,481st managerial victory. The former State star moved into sole possession of 24th place on the all-time list, ahead of Earl Weaver. … Former Mississippi Braves Lucas Sims and Ozzie Albies debuted for Atlanta on Tuesday. Sims took the loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing three runs in six innings. Albies went 0-for-2 with a run.

01 Aug

exclusive company

Rookie Rafael Devers added his name to a small list on Monday when he went 4-for-4 for Boston against Cleveland. The list of Red Sox players who recorded four hits in a game at the age of 20 or younger now numbers five. Red Sox legends Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Tony Conigliaro did it, along with the lesser known Dalton Jones, a McComb native who spent six years with the BoSox in the 1960s. Jones, who went to high school in Louisiana, signed with Boston in 1961 and made the big club – at age 20 — out of spring training in 1964. He homered in his second game and notched two four-hit games that season, finishing with a .230 average. The lefty-hitting second baseman/third baseman was on Boston’s 1967 Impossible Dream team and went 7-for-18 in the World Series that year. Jones left the Red Sox after the 1969 season and played three more years with Detroit and Texas. His career average was .235 – not exactly the stuff of legend. But he is and always will be on that legendary list with Ruth, Williams, Conigliaro and the rising star Devers.

31 Jul

around the horn

Trade chatter has not distracted Lance Lynn. The Ole Miss product registered his fifth straight quality start for St. Louis on Sunday, going six innings to beat Arizona 3-2. “I told you guys all along, I’m not going anywhere,” Lynn said in an Associated Press story. “So, I’m not worried about anything.” Lynn, a pending free agent, is 9-6 on the season and now has 70 career MLB victories. Former Mississippi Braves outfielder Jose Martinez drove in all three Cardinals runs. … Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier had a hot-and-cold kinda day for Minnesota. He led off the game at Oakland with his 17th homer – 23rd career leadoff blast – then struck out five times in the 12-inning loss. … Former Mississippi State standout Dakota Hudson made his first Triple-A start in the St. Louis system and yielded four runs in seven innings. He was 9-4, 2.53 ERA at Double-A Springfield. … Petal High product Anthony Alford went 3-for-5 with a home run for Double-A New Hampshire. It was his fourth homer of the year for the Fisher Cats, first in nine games since he returned to the team. Alford made his big league debut with Toronto in May but was injured and sent back to the minors. He is batting .312 in 42 games all told at New Hampshire. … Ex-State star Ryan Gridley, a 2017 draftee by Oakland, has a nine-game hitting streak in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. He is batting .302. … The North Delta Dealers beat the Tallahatchie Rascals 7-6 to win the Cotton States League title in New Albany. Beau Simpson drove in three runs and Delta State’s Sam Williams two for the Dealers, who got six strong innings from Collin McPherson. The Rascals’ four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh came up just short. … Brandon High’s J.T. Ginn was recognized by Baseball America for having the “best fastball” in Saturday’s Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ginn hit 97 mph during his two-inning scoreless stint. Hattiesburg’s Joe Gray took an 0-for-4 but impressed with his throwing arm in the outfield.

28 Jul

memphis-bound

Dakota Hudson is taking the next step toward the big leagues. The Mississippi State product and St. Louis prospect has been promoted from Double-A Springfield to Triple-A Memphis, according to several reports. Hudson, a first-round pick in 2016, was 9-4 with a 2.53 ERA at Springfield and started the Texas League All-Star Game in late June. “This kid is a winner, a Cardinals-type player,” his Springfield manager, Johnny Rodriguez, told ozarksportszone.com. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline rank the 6-foot-5 right-hander as the No. 9 prospect in the Cardinals’ system. St. Louis brass are “excited about the potential four-pitch mix Hudson has at his disposal,” the MLB Pipeline scouting report says. The hard-throwing Hudson has enhanced his curveball this season. … The Redbirds are at home tonight against Salt Lake, completing a suspended game and then playing the regularly scheduled game at AutoZone Park.

27 Jul

time for a breakout

It is a three-team scrap, at the moment, in the American League East. Boston clings to a 1-game lead over the New York Yankees with Tampa Bay hanging 2.5 back. The Rays are visiting Yankee Stadium for a four-game series that starts tonight. Boston hosts surging Kansas City, an AL Central and wild card contender, for three starting on Friday. It’s not a good time to be in a slump, but both Corey Dickerson of the Rays and Mitch Moreland of the Red Sox are in one. Former Meridian Community College star Dickerson, a first-time All-Star this year, is batting .209 with one homer and four RBIs over his last 23 games. His average has plunged to .303. Yankee Stadium is a great hitter’s park for lefties, and Dickerson is batting .343 with three bombs against Yankees pitching this season. So … a breakout might be coming. The Rays would love to see it. Moreland, the ex-Mississippi State standout, is hitting .124 without a homer in his last 24 games and went 2-for-17 on the club’s recent road trip. His average is down to .239, and he’s been dropped in the BoSox’s order. He suffered a broken toe in mid-June but played through it and says it’s fine now. If there is a positive for Moreland entering the weekend, he is a better hitter at Fenway Park: .253 with six of his 12 homers and a .341 on-base percentage. He doesn’t have a hit in seven at-bats against Royals pitchers this year, so … perhaps he is due. The Red Sox surely hope that’s true.

27 Jul

moving forward

Injuries have dogged former Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull for the past two seasons and caused his prospect status to dip. When he’s healthy – as he apparently was on Wednesday – Turnbull looks like a future big leaguer. The 24-year-old right-hander, pitching for Class A Lakeland in the Detroit system, allowed just one hit and one run in seven innings of work to improve to 5-3 with a 3.67 ERA in 12 starts. It was his third start for the Flying Tigers since he returned from a stint on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis. Turnbull missed a chunk of 2016 with a shoulder problem. “(Y)ou always face adversity in this game,” he told milb.com, “so you just have to take it and move forward as quickly as you can. I’m just happy to be back.” A second-round pick out of Alabama in 2014, Turnbull (17-10, 3.43 career) is currently rated the Tigers’ No. 25 prospect by MLB Pipeline. He was No. 12 last year. In Wednesday’s game, he retired Mississippi State product Brent Rooker twice; Rooker, a first-round supplemental pick by Minnesota in June, is batting .194 for Fort Myers. Turnbull’s Lakeland teammate Jake Robson, another ex-Bulldogs star, had two hits and boosted his average to .333. P.S. Jackson State alum Bryce Brown, a 15th-round pick in June by Tampa Bay, leads the rookie Appalachian League with 12 stolen bases in 28 games. He stole 27 bases this past season at JSU while batting .374. … Houlka native Tyreque Reed is riding a five-game hit streak and batting .351, which amazingly ranks just seventh in the rookie Arizona League. Reed, a .500 hitter at Itawamba Community College this season, was an eighth-round pick by Texas.