Tag Archives: Baseball America

19 Jan

try that again

Alex Yarbrough has some work to do in 2016. The Ole Miss alum, a highly rated prospect in 2015, has fallen out of the top 30 in Baseball America’s rankings of the Los Angeles Angels’ best minor leaguers. Yarbrough, a switch-hitting second baseman, hit .236 with three homers, 48 RBIs and 56 runs in 128 games at Triple-A Salt Lake City last season, not a disaster but less than what was forecast for the 2014 Texas League player of the year. “It now looks like most of the industry was too high on Yarbrough coming into the 2015 season, when he didn’t make adjustments after struggling at the plate in Triple-A and struck out far too often,” BA’s Bill Mitchell wrote on the magazine’s web site. “That’s a big issue since he’s not a good defensive second baseman (14 errors in 2015) and is a below-average runner (one steal).” Yarbrough, 24, a fourth-round pick by the Angels in 2012, is expected to get another shot in Triple-A this season. Sometimes it takes two tours at the same level for things to click.

11 Jan

tiger tales

There could be some Mississippi flavor coming to the Detroit Tigers’ roster in the near future. Richton’s JaCoby Jones and Madison’s Spencer Turnbull are rated among the top nine prospects in the Detroit system by both Baseball America and mlb.com. And not too far behind is Kade Scivicque, a Southwest Mississippi Community College product who has been labeled a “hidden gem” in the club’s 2015 draft crop. Jones, a shortstop acquired by the Tigers from Pittsburgh in a trade last summer, was rated the No. 5 prospect on Baseball America’s chart, released last week. The former Mr. Baseball, who played at LSU, batted .257 with 16 homers, 80 RBIs and 25 steals in 2015, finishing the season in Double-A. He also played well in the Arizona Fall League before getting slapped with a 50-game drug of abuse suspension that will carry into the 2016 season. That setback notwithstanding, Jones “has the raw tools to be an exciting difference-maker,” reports MLBPipeline, which rates Jones ninth in the Tigers’ organization. Former Madison Central star Turnbull, who pitched at Alabama, was pegged No. 9 by BA (and fifth by mlb.com). Turnbull, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA as a starter in low Class A last season. Wrote BA’s Ben Badler in a website chat, “I do think ultimately his best role will be in the bullpen. … (H)e has the two-pitch mix led by that wicked power fastball that would play well in that role.” Scivicque, an All-America catcher at LSU, was drafted in the fourth round and played at two levels of A-ball last summer, batting .269 with five homers. He is reputed to have outstanding defensive skills.

18 Dec

comin’ on strong

No surprise here: Anthony Alford, the former Petal High standout, has been ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Toronto organization by Baseball America. The magazine had previously named Alford the “best player” in the Blue Jays’ system in 2015. The 21-year-old outfielder is rated the Jays’ No. 2 prospect by mlb.com. Alford may wind up among the Top 50 prospects overall for 2016, according to BA’s John Manuel, who wrote in an online chat on the magazine’s web site: “If he’s not a big league regular in 2-3 years, I’ll be very surprised.” Alford played at two levels of Class A ball in 2015, his first full season in pro ball after giving up football. He batted .293 in low A and .302 in high A over 107 games, with four homers and 27 steals combined. He is a player to be excited about. … Stone County High alum D.J. Davis, also 21 and an outfielder, is rated Toronto’s No. 10 prospect by BA. Davis batted .282 with seven homers and 21 steals at low Class A Lansing last season.

03 Dec

eye on …

He pitched only 16 2/3 innings last season, but Dakota Hudson looms as a player to watch at Mississippi State in 2016. The junior right-hander has been ranked No. 33 on what mlb.com calls its “early Draft Top 50” chart. He is described as having a lively fastball and a “nasty cutter/slider” among his four pitches. Hudson had a 4.32 ERA for the Bulldogs last season but did strike out 26. His work in the Cape Cod League over the summer no doubt boosted his draft stock. Pitching for Hyannis, Hudson went 2-3 with a 1.68, fanning 41 in 42 2/3 innings. In the postseason, he was even better: 2-0, 0.64 in two starts. P.S. Former Bulldogs star Tyler Moore has signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with Washington, avoiding arbitration. Moore, who also played at Northwest Rankin High and Meridian Community College, is primarily a pinch hitter for the Nationals, providing right-handed power. He hit six homers in 187 at-bats in 2015, hitting just .203. He has 24 career MLB bombs in 601 ABs. … The Biloxi Shuckers were named Baseball America’s minor league team of the year. The new Southern League club, a Milwaukee affiliate packed with prospects, won the South Division first-half title despite playing the first two months of the season on the road. The Shuckers reached the SL Championship Series, losing in five games.

01 Dec

making a list

A pair of Mississippi high schoolers — one an Ole Miss signee, the other inked by Mississippi State — made Baseball America’s recently released (and somewhat premature) list of the Top 100 prep players in the Class of 2016. Thomas Dillard, a catcher at Oxford High, is ranked No. 37 by BA. A transfer from Memphis Briarcrest, Dillard is one of four current Chargers who have signed with Ole Miss for the 2017 season. Walker Robbins, a first baseman from George County who signed with State in the early period, is ranked No. 65. Robbins is the brother of former Southern Miss star Mason Robbins, currently playing in the minors. Two other UM signees, Cooper Johnson, a catcher from Illinois, and Will Ethridge, a right-hander from Georgia, also made the Top 100 at No. 23 and No. 62. Graham Ashcraft, a righty from Alabama who signed with State, is No. 98. P.S. Hinds Community College will hold a signing ceremony on Thursday for the four players on its roster for 2016 who signed with NCAA Division I schools in the early period. The four, all right-handed pitchers, are Trent Driver (USM), Trey Jolly (Mississippi State), Timothy Jordan (Louisiana Tech) and Carlisle Koestler (Southeastern Louisiana). There were 14 sophomores on Sam Temple’s 2015 club who signed with D-I schools.

09 Oct

campus notes

Southern Miss will play the first eight games of the 2016 season at home in Taylor Park, but the more interesting aspect of the schedule is where the Golden Eagles will play 10 of their road games. In addition to the annual games against Mississippi State (April 1) and Ole Miss (April 5) at Trustmark Park in Pearl, USM will visit three other minor league ballparks. USM is slated for three games in a March 4-6 tournament at Pensacola’s scenic Bayfront Stadium. The Eagles have two March games set for MGM Park in Biloxi and a three-game C-USA series March 18-20 against Marshall at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. USM opens the season Feb. 19 against Eastern Illinois. … After last weekend’s fall ball scrimmages in Oxford, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco singled out four pitchers for their work. Good stuff is expected from junior left-hander Wyatt Short, the Southaven product who was an All-SEC pick in 2015. The other three drawing praise were newcomers: juco transfer David Parkinson and freshmen Andy Pagnozzi and Parker Caracci. Caracci is from MAIS powerhouse Jackson Prep. … Pitching also has been in fashion of late at Mississippi State. In Sunday’s scrimmage, lefty Daniel Brown threw three shutout innings with five strikeouts. On Monday, Austin Sexton tossed four shutout innings with four K’s. And on Tuesday, freshman lefty Jared Padgett worked three scoreless innings. Padgett, from Florida, was a 26th round pick by the Chicago Cubs in June. P.S. Former Ole Miss left-hander Austin Wright was rated the top prospect in independent ball by Baseball America. Wright, who recently signed with Arizona, went 5-11 with a 4.46 ERA for Windy City in the Frontier League. He had a 4.26 ERA in four years in the Philadelphia system before being released – but he also has a fastball that reaches the mid-90s.

07 Oct

name dropping

Baseball America’s chart of the top 20 prospects in the Southern League is chock-full of familiar names, with the Mississippi Braves and Biloxi Shuckers placing two players each in the rankings. From the M-Braves, outfielder Mallex Smith was No. 16 and right-hander Tyrell Jenkins was No. 20; both finished the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. For the Shuckers, shortstop Orlando Arcia was No. 3 and RH Jorge Lopez No. 7. Lopez was a September call-up by Milwaukee and won his only start. Also rated among the SL’s best was Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College star who played for the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A club in Birmingham. A shortstop with speed, Anderson was ranked eighth. Northwest Mississippi CC product Cody Reed (Pensacola/Cincinnati) was No. 10; the left-hander was the No. 6 prospect in the Class A Carolina League. … BA’s Matt Eddy didn’t see much he liked from M-Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz, who didn’t make the top 20 list: “He almost literally never pulls the ball, he doesn’t run well at all and is a fringy defensive third baseman.” P.S. Southern Maryland, managed by Jackson’s Stan Cliburn, fell to the Somerset Patriots in the independent Atlantic League Championship Series. Somerset won Game 4 3-1 on Monday to win the series 3-1. Cliburn’s club, the Blue Crabs, won Game 1 7-3 last Wednesday, a victory highlighted by a three-run home run by former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and MLB star Fred Lewis. Lewis got two hits in Game 3 on Sunday and drove in the Blue Crabs’ lone run with a base hit in Game 4.

05 Oct

closing arguments

Joey Butler enjoyed what he termed a “pretty cool” finish to his season. Butler, the former Pascagoula High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout, got a curtain call at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field on Sunday during a two-homer, six-RBI game against Toronto. Among Mississippians who won’t be going to the postseason, Butler’s day was the brightest but not the only highlight. Ole Miss alum Seth Smith hit a game-winning home run, his 12th, for Seattle. Corey Dickerson, the former Meridian CC star, hit his 10th home run, a three-run shot that was part of a seven-run ninth inning for Colorado. UM product David Goforth pitched a scoreless inning for Milwaukee, and ex-Mississippi State star Ed Easley got his first MLB start for St. Louis. He was behind the plate (for Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn’s playoff tuneup) in Game 2 of a pair against Atlanta and went 0-for-3 in the 2-0 loss. Easley was 0-for-6 on the year, still without a big league knock. It seems unlikely he’ll make the postseason roster. Butler, who rarely played down the stretch (see previous post), told mlb.com that he “proved to myself” that he belongs in The Show. We’ll see what the Rays think. He finished at .276 with eight homers. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who didn’t play for Cincinnati after Sept. 17, lost the stolen base title to Miami’s Dee Gordon, who finished with 58 to Hamilton’s 57. P.S. Northwest Mississippi CC product Cody Reed was ranked the No. 6 prospect in the Class A Carolina League by Baseball America. Left-hander Reed went 5-5 with a 2.14 ERA for Kansas City’s Wilmington team before he was promoted to Double-A and then traded in the Johnny Cueto deal. He finished at Pensacola in the Southern League, going 6-2, 2.17 for the Cincinnati affiliate. … Anthony Alford, Bobby Bradley and Spencer Turnbull cracked the Baseball America top 20 prospects list for the Midwest League. Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal, was rated the No. 2 prospect, ex-Harrison Central High star Bradley was No. 9 and Madison Central product Spencer Turnbull was No. 17. Alford, an outfielder in Toronto’s system, was promoted to the high Class A Florida State League at midseason and was the No. 8 prospect in that loop. He’s got game (see previous posts). Bradley hit a league-best 27 home runs for Cleveland’s Lake County team, and Turnbull, a Detroit farmhand, was an 11-game winner who didn’t allow a home run all year.

24 Sep

high praise

Austin Riley, the ex-DeSoto Central High star, was rated the No. 2 prospect in the Appalachian League by Baseball America. Riley, drafted 41st overall by Atlanta in June, batted .351 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 30 games for Danville in the rookie Appy League. He hit seven homers in 30 Gulf Coast League games before his promotion. BA’s Hudson Belinsky had a lot of good things to say about Riley in an on-line chat on the magazine’s web site. To wit: “Riley has a chance to stay in the dirt (at third base) and has a chance to be a middle-of-the-order bat. (Houston prospect Kyle) Tucker’s track record is stronger, and he surged towards the end to cement himself as the (league’s) top prospect, but Riley’s surge is real.” … Riley is on Atlanta’s Instructional League roster, along with former Murrah star Zack Bird and John Gant, both of whom pitched for the Mississippi Braves this season, and Southern Miss product Bradley Roney, who pitched in A-ball.

17 Sep

news flashes

Moving past Chris Coghlan’s “dirty” slide (no, it wasn’t) and Rafael Palmeiro’s “comeback” (don’t get it), here’s some baseball news we can sink our teeth into: Former Petal High standout Anthony Alford has been named the best player in Toronto’s minor league system by Baseball America. “He’s truly made progress across the board; every day he finds a way to get better in an aspect of the game,” Tony LaCava, the Blue Jays farm director, told BA. Alford, an erstwhile football star, batted .298 with four homers, 35 RBIs and 27 steals over two levels of A-ball in his first full pro season. He was a third-round pick in 2012. And here’s some more news: Former Southern Miss star B.A. Vollmuth has returned to the Golden Eagles as a volunteer assistant. From 2009-11, the Biloxi native batted .326 with 40 home runs and 153 RBIs. He was an infielder on the 2009 team, with Brian Dozier, that went to the College World Series. Taken in the third round of the 2011 major league draft by Oakland, Vollmuth played four pro seasons, batting .231 with 45 homers, before his release in 2014.