Tag Archives: Biloxi Shuckers

12 Nov

ring the bell

It’ll come as no surprise if Brent Rooker is awarded the Silver Slugger at DH in the American League. The former Mississippi State star hit .293 with 39 homers, 112 RBIs, 82 runs, 26 doubles, 11 steals, a .927 OPS and a 5.6 WAR for the (no longer Oakland) Athletics. All of those numbers were easily career-highs for the fifth-year big leaguer. He was tied for fourth in the AL in homers and ranked third in RBIs. No other Mississippian (native or school alum) came close to Rooker’s production this season, making Rooker a slam-dunk choice for the Cool Papa Bell Award. Other winners of the Bell — given here for the best performance by a Mississippian in MLB — include Justin Steele, Austin Riley, Tim Anderson, Corey Dickerson, Mitch Moreland, Brian Dozier, Desmond Jennings, Lance Lynn, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Chris Coghlan. For the record, Rooker made $750,000 this past season; he is due for a big jump in salary arbitration. P.S. Vicksburg native Dmitri Young was a guest on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show today and did an engaging interview ranging from his baseball card collection to his rising star nephew Quentin to his first MLB game against studio host Al Leiter. Young hit 171 homers in a 13-year big league career. … Jared Johnson, who powered Class 1A Smithville High to a state championship back in 2019, has been traded by Atlanta to the A’s for infielder Nick Allen. Johnson, 23, posted a 2.60 ERA as a reliever at High-Class A Rome in 2024 and has a 3.98 over his five minor league campaigns. The 6-foot-2 right-hander has 225 strikeouts in 183 1/3 career innings. Allen is a good defensive shortstop who hasn’t hit in limited big league time. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Jackson Chourio, now with Milwaukee, was named a finalist for National League rookie of the year. He hit .275 with 21 homers and 22 steals. … Shuckers alum Brice Turang, a Gold Glove winner at second base, won the NL’s Platinum Glove as the best overall defensive player in the league. Turang was a first-round pick by Milwaukee in 2018 and played for the Double-A Shuckers in 2021. He posted a .989 fielding percentage with just seven errors at second base in 2024. He had 379 assists and a hand in 78 double plays. He led all major league players with 22 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024 per mlb.com and all NL fielders in Baseball Reference’s Defensive Wins Above Replacement stat. … Louisville native Marcus Thames apparently will be retained as hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox, who recently named Will Venable as their manager for 2025. The ChiSox went 41-121 last season, worst record in modern MLB history. … Brett Wellman, son of former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman, has been named manager of the Down East Bird Dawgs, who’ll join the Mississippi Mud Monsters as an expansion team in the independent Frontier League next year. Brett Wellman, a bullpen catcher for the M-Braves when his dad was manager, played three years in the Toronto system.

08 Nov

odds and ends

Former Ole Miss standouts Derek Diamond and Kemp Alderman made the National League roster for Saturday’s Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game (7 p.m., MLB Network), though Alderman will not participate. Right-hander Diamond, a 2022 draftee by Pittsburgh, has a 2.45 ERA in seven AFL games; he pitched at the High-Class A level this past season. Alderman, a Miami prospect drafted in 2023, is second in the league with six homers but is not currently active. The list of Mississippians who have participated in the AFL’s showcase game en route to the big leagues over the years includes Austin Riley, Hunter Renfroe, Colt Keith, Brian Dozier, Chris Stratton, Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart, Anthony Alford and Braxton Lee. … Also on Saturday, Ole Miss product Tim Elko will suit up for Team USA in the opener of the World Baseball Premier 12 Tournament in Mexico. The U.S. plays Puerto Rico. Elko had been playing in the AFL following a strong season in Double-A and Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox. Mississippi Braves alum Drake Baldwin, a touted catching prospect, is also on the Team USA roster. … Former Mississippi State stars Brent Rooker and Jordan Westburg along with Biloxi High alum Colt Keith are among the American League finalists for Silver Slugger Awards, honoring the top hitters at each position in each league. The winners will be announced on Tuesday. Rooker, who hit 39 home runs this year with the Athletics, is a finalist at DH; Westburg, a 2024 All-Star with Baltimore, is up for the award as a utility player; and Keith, who batted .260 as a rookie with Detroit, is one of three candidates at second base. Other finalists include former M-Braves Freddie Freeman (first base, Los Angeles Dodgers), William Contreras (catcher, Milwaukee) and Shea Langeliers (catcher, A’s). … Cooper Pratt, the former Mississippi prep player of the year at Magnolia Heights, won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove award at shortstop, one of just nine honorees from all of the minors. The second-year pro made only eight errors in 338 chances at two levels of A-ball in Milwaukee’s system. The Brewers’ No. 2-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline, he also batted .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals. … Former Madison Central standout Regi Grace was among the 500-plus players who became minor league free agents this week. Grace, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, was 1-4 with a 4.19 ERA in 31 games at the Double-A level in Minnesota’s system. Drafted by the Twins in 2018, Grace has a 3.94 career ERA. Onetime big league pitchers Konnor Pilkington, a Mississippi State alum, and Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, also hit the market, as did ex-MSU standout Hunter Stovall. Stovall, 28, is a .277 career hitter who spent the last two seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A team. … Former Biloxi Shuckers Sal Frelick, Milwaukee’s right fielder, and Brice Turang, Brewers second baseman, won 2024 Gold Gloves in the National League, while Mississippi Braves alum Dylan Moore, who played six different positions for Seattle, picked one up as a utility player in the American League. All three were first-time winners. … Dave Parker, the Grenada native and seven-time MLB All-Star, is up for the National Baseball Hall of Fame again as part of the Classic Baseball Era ballot. The electees will be announced Dec. 8. MLB Network’s Dan Plesac, who played with Parker in Milwaukee, says “The Cobra” should be in the Hall, calling him a “marvelous teammate” who was “full of life” and “brought energy to the clubhouse.” Over a 19-year career (1973-91), Parker batted .290 with 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs, 154 stolen bases and 143 outfield assists. Parker “knew he was good,” Plesac said in a recent broadcast, “and he was good.”

25 Oct

names to know

There are no Magnolia State natives or school alums on the active rosters for this year’s World Series, though there are some significant state connections. Former Mississippi Braves star Freddie Freeman plays first base and Evan Phillips, another M-Braves alum, pitches for Los Angeles. Trent Grisham, who played for the Biloxi Shuckers, is a reserve outfielder for New York. Ex-Mississippi State star Travis Chapman also suits up for the Yankees and enjoys the privilege of slapping hands with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, et al., as they start their home run trek. Chapman, the Yankees’ first-base coach, was an outstanding third baseman who played on two College World Series teams at State before enjoying a nice pro career (.286 average) that included one at-bat in The Show in 2003. He played his last game in 2006 and then became a manager and coach in the Yankees’ minor league chain. He joined the big club in 2022. Grisham belted 20 homers in 79 games for Biloxi in 2017-18 and hit nine this year for the Yankees, but the lefty hitter has yet to appear in this postseason. Freeman, who has pronounced himself a “100 percent go” for tonight’s Game 1 despite an ankle injury, played for the M-Braves in 2009; he hit .248 with two homers and 24 RBIs in 41 games. He made the big leagues in 2010 and is an eight-time All-Star and former MVP. Phillips did two stints in Pearl (2016 and ’17), appearing in 37 games as a reliever. He reached Atlanta in 2018 and was traded to Baltimore during that season. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in 12 postseason appearances over four years with the Dodgers. … Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss alum and Olive Branch resident, is on the umpiring crew for the Series and will be behind home plate for Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. A 25-year vet in MLB, Fletcher was behind the plate in Korea for Game 2 of the 2024 season when the Dodgers played San Diego. … Brent Rooker, MSU alum now with Oakland, will serve as a correspondent for MLB Network in Game 3 of the Series at Yankee Stadium, doing pre- and postgame interviews. P.S. In the previous 11 World Series matchups featuring the Dodgers and Yankees, the only one in which a Mississippian played any type of role was the 1941 meeting. Morton native Atley Donald, nicknamed Swampy, started Game 4 for the Yankees and stood to get the loss before Mickey Owen’s infamous ninth-inning passed ball allowed the Yankees to mount a winning rally en route to taking the Series 4-1. Right-hander Donald pitched eight years with the Yankees from 1938-45 and compiled a 65-33 record with a 3.52 ERA. He was a three-time world champion with the Bronx Bombers.

22 Oct

minor matters

Though Jake Mangum’s numbers weren’t — for whatever reason — enough to rate a call to the big leagues, they were certainly good enough to rate a spot on the all-Mississippi minor league All-Star team for 2024. The Mississippi State product led the Triple-A International League in batting at .317 with six homers, 56 RBIs and 20 steals in the Tampa Bay system. Pencil Mangum in as one of the outfielders, joined by two other Tampa Bay farmhands: ex-MSU standout Colton Ledbetter (.273, 16 homers, 34 bags at the High-Class A level) and Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel (.272, 11 homers, 66 RBIs and 45 steals at two levels, finishing in Double-A in the Rays’ chain after a trade from Baltimore). Behind the plate, former MSU standout Gavin Collins had a resurgent season at Triple-A Memphis (.264, nine homers, 35 RBIs) in the St. Louis organization. Former Ole Miss star Tim Elko is the pick at first base; he batted .289 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox. At second base, it’s minor league vet Hunter Stovall, an MSU alum who hit .271 with seven homers and 41 RBIs for Colorado’s Triple-A club. The shortstop is rising star Cooper Pratt, the former Gatorade player of the year from Magnolia Heights who batted .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 bags at two Class A levels in Milwaukee’s organization. (Pratt is likely to start 2025 at Double-A Biloxi.) R.J. Yeager, another former State standout, gets the nod at third base after batting .254 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs in Double-A in St. Louis’ system. Put ex-Mississippi College star Blaine Crim (.277, 20 homers, 86 RBIs for Texas’ Triple-A team) at DH. Justin Foscue, a former MSU standout who made the majors in 2024, would make a fine utility player; he hit .276 with nine homers in Triple-A for Texas in an injury-curtailed season. On the mound, Ole Miss alums Doug Nikhazy (7-4, 2.98 ERA, at Double-A and Triple-A for Cleveland) and Gunnar Hoglund (9-7, 3.44, in Double-A and Triple-A for Oakland) make for a fine lefty-righty combo. The closer: former MSU closer Landon Sims, who went 4-0 with nine holds, two saves, a 3.07 ERA and a bunch of punchouts at two A-ball levels in Arizona’s system. P.S. On the news front: Elko has been selected to the U.S. roster for the World Baseball Premier 12 tournament. Team USA begins play on Nov. 9 in Mexico. Also on the roster are former Mississippi Braves Drake Baldwin and Touki Toussaint, the latter an MLB veteran. … Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product Brandon Parker, who played for the M-Braves in 2024, has been released by Atlanta, and ex-USM standout Ben Ethridge (3.38 ERA in two A-ball seasons) was released by Minnesota. … Happy 45th birthday to Eli Whiteside, the New Albany native and Delta State alum who won a World Series ring as the backup catcher (to Buster Posey) with the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

04 Oct

off to a wild start

There were crushing defeats in the MLB Wild Card Series. And then there was what happened to Milwaukee and former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams in a Game 3 on Thursday night. Williams – 14-of-15 in save opportunities with a 1.25 ERA in 22 games this season — surrendered the game-changing three-run homer to Pete Alonso in the ninth inning of the division-champ Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the wild-card New York Mets. The frenzied crowd at American Family Field, fired up by two Milwaukee bombs in the seventh, was crestfallen. Williams, a 2019 Biloxi alum whose “Airbender” changeup helped him win rookie of the year honors in 2020, and fellow former Shuckers Jackson Chourio (.455, two homers in the series), Sal Frelick (.364, Game 3 homer) and Garrett Mitchell (big Game 2 homer) are done. Among those celebrating for the Mets were former Mississippi Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson, the first-base coach, and former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons, the longtime MLB manager who is now the team’s bench coach. … Atlanta’s tumultuous and injury-plagued season ended Wednesday in San Diego, where M-Braves alum Max Fried, in perhaps his last Atlanta appearance, got whacked for six straight hits and five runs in the second inning of Game 2. Despite the efforts of ex-M-Braves star Michael Harris II (3-for-4 with a double and homer), the Braves could not recover and went down and out, 5-4. … Houston, another division champ playing at home, went out in two games to the surging Detroit Tigers. Former Shuckers ace Josh Hader faltered at a crucial time in Game 2 for the Astros, giving up a game-deciding three-run double in the eighth inning of the 5-2 defeat. Colt Keith, the rookie out of Biloxi High, and the amazing Tigers move on to face Cleveland (and ex-Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin) in the American League Division Series. … Baltimore, playing at home as the No. 3 seed in the AL, was swept by Kansas City. Former Mississippi State standout Jordan Westburg, an All-Star for the Orioles this season, is done, while the upstart Royals, with former Bulldogs Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier in tow, move on to play the New York Yankees in the ALDS. … Awaiting the Mets in the NLDS is Philadelphia and the raucous fans at Citizens Bank Park. Philly’s current roster includes ex-Shuckers standout Weston Wilson and M-Braves alum Kolby Allard, and Laurel native Bobby Dickerson is the team’s infield coach. The other NL semifinal matches two teams that have some history: San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers. On LA’s roster are former M-Braves Freddie Freeman and Evan Phillips. … All the division series openers are Saturday.

25 Sep

bright spots

On a supercharged Tuesday night in the big leagues when highlights were popping all over the place, a trio of former Mississippi Braves stars and an ex-Biloxi Shuckers standout found the limelight. In Atlanta, 2024 M-Braves alum Spencer Schwellenbach threw seven brilliant innings and Michael Harris II went 3-for-4 with a homer (and a great catch) as the Braves beat the New York Mets 5-1 in the opener of a crucial series. In Houston, Jason Heyward (M-Braves 2009) hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Josh Hader (Shuckers ’15-16) notched a clean four-out save as the Astros beat Seattle 4-3 to clinch their fourth straight American League West title. … Elsewhere, San Diego clinched a National League playoff berth, sealing a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a triple play; Baltimore clinched an AL berth with a wild win over New York at Yankee Stadium; and Detroit and Kansas City tightened their grip on AL wild card invitations. … But back to the ATL, where the Braves moved to within a half-game of Arizona (11-0 loser to San Francisco) and a game back of the Mets in the NL wild card standings. Schwellenbach started this season in A-ball and threw 13 scoreless innings in two May outings for the Double-A M-Braves before jumping to the big league club. He is 8-7 with a 3.47 ERA and has won three straight starts. A solo homer in the seventh inning was all the damage the Mets could muster against the right-hander. Harris, who jumped from Mississippi to Atlanta in 2022 and won rookie of the year honors, has been on fire since coming off the injured list in mid-August. He is batting .362 with seven homers, 13 RBIs and 17 runs in his last 15 games. … Over to Houston, where Heyward has found a home at age 35 after being released by the Dodgers in late August. He is batting .234 with four homers in 47 at-bats for the Astros and playing his usual stellar defense in the outfield. Hader, who has had some rocky times with Houston, notched his 34th save Tuesday; he has an 0.95 ERA in his last 15 appearances. Houston, which once trailed Seattle by 10 games in the AL West, is now 5 up. P.S. Former Ole Miss star Doug Nikhazy worked 5 2/3 innings (1 run, 10 strikeouts) to lead Columbus to a 3-2 win against Omaha in the opener of the Triple-A International League Championship Series. Lefty Nikhazy, a second-round pick in 2021, went 7-4 with a 2.98 ERA this season at Double-A and Triple-A in the Cleveland system.

24 Sep

philly flashback

The last time the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated a division championship was 13 years ago, when the club’s “Sports Illustrated Five” featured a pair of Mississippi junior college alumni. The Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 6-2 on Monday night to claim their first National League East crown since 2011. That was the year that ex-Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee and former Holmes CC standout Roy Oswalt were members of a stellar rotation that appeared on the cover of SI’s preseason issue. Lee went 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA and Oswalt 9-10, 3.69, as the Phillies rolled to a 102-60 finish. Roy Halladay (a 19-game winner), Cole Hamels and Vance Worley rounded out the starting five, and Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins powered the offense. Alas, Philly lost in the NL Division Series to St. Louis (and a rookie right-hander named Lance Lynn). The lone Mississippi connection with the 2024 Phillies is veteran infield coach Bobby Dickerson, the Laurel native who has been on the staff for the last three seasons. P.S. Drake Baldwin, who played for the Mississippi Braves in 2024, and Jacob Misiorowksi, who pitched for Biloxi this season, were named minor league players of the year in their respective organizations by Baseball America. Atlanta prospect Baldwin, a catcher, hit .244 with four homers in 52 games for the Double-A M-Braves before finishing the season at Triple-A, where he belted 12 more bombs. Milwaukee prospect Misiorowski was 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA for the Double-A Shuckers; he struck out 127 batters in 97 1/3 innings, including time in Triple-A.

20 Sep

southern exposure

Behind a gem of an outing from former Mississippi State pitcher K.C. Hunt, Biloxi squared its Southern League Division Series at a game apiece with a 5-1 win against Montgomery on Thursday night. Hunt threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing just the one run on three hits and no walks with five strikeouts. A member of State’s 2021 national title team, Hunt was 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA over three levels in Milwaukee’s minor league system in 2024. Joining the Shuckers on Thursday was Cooper Pratt, the ex-Magnolia Heights star who celebrated his first game in Double-A by going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Shortstop Pratt, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect, hit .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals over two Class A levels this season. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel drove in the only run for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate. The decisive Game 3 of the series is tonight at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium. … In the other Southern League series, former Ole Miss standout Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a homer and scored twice as Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) beat Tennessee (Cubs) 12-5 to even that series at 1-1. Gonzalez, a 2023 first-round pick, hit .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 bags over two levels this year. P.S. MSU alum Jordan Westburg went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for Triple-A Norfolk as he began a rehab assignment in the Baltimore system. A 2024 All-Star, Westburg (.269, 18 homers, 58 RBIs) has been on the injured list (hand) since Aug. 1. The Orioles are battling the New York Yankees for the American League East title. … Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin got the final two outs (via strikeout) in the fifth inning, halting a Minnesota rally, and Cleveland went on to beat the Twins 3-2 in 10 innings and clinch a playoff berth in the AL. Sandlin has a 3.93 ERA in 66 games. … Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes had a good view of a history-making event on Thursday. He was catching for Miami as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homers, two steals and 10 RBIs, becoming the first player to record a 50-homer/50-steal season. BTW, Fortes hit his fourth homer of the year in the ninth inning of the Marlins’ 20-4 loss.

19 Sep

fitting finale

Lance Lynn’s season ended Wednesday when St. Louis put the veteran right-hander on the injured list with right knee inflammation. We’re now left to wonder if Ole Miss alum Lynn’s career might have ended, too. If so, he went out in fitting fashion, like the horse he has always been, throwing six innings and allowing a lone run in a 3-1 victory Tuesday against Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium. The burly, gray-bearded Lynn, 7-4, 3.84 ERA in 23 starts on the year, went 6-0 at Busch Stadium, where a large group of family members watched him work on Tuesday. Tuesday’s game was his 100th career appearance at Busch, per an mlb.com story, and he is 46-20 there all-time. The 37-year-old Lynn’s 13-year MLB career began with St. Louis in 2011, when he helped the Cardinals win the World Series. All told, he went 143-99 with a 3.74 ERA and 2,015 strikeouts, pitching for six different clubs. Drafted in the first round out of Ole Miss by St. Louis in 2008, Lynn’s 143 wins are tied for fourth-most (with Cliff Lee) among Mississippi natives or school alums who have pitched in the big leagues. Lynn signed a one-year, $11 million free agent contract with the Cardinals this past off-season, and the club holds an option to bring him back in 2025. Cards manager Oliver Marmol told mlb.com he couldn’t have asked for more than Lynn provided in 2024: “I think we picked the right guy to come in and help mold the culture in ways that matter.” So, will we see Lynn on the bump in the majors again? “If you ask me if I want to pitch, I never want to stop pitching,” he said after Tuesday’s game. “But I know there’s going to be a time when that’s going to happen.” P.S. Lucedale’s Justin Steele came off the injured list Wednesday and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the Chicago Cubs, who lost to Oakland 5-3 at Wrigley Field. Steele is 5-5, 3.03, in an injury-dampened season. … Props to Milwaukee and all the former Biloxi Shuckers who contributed as the Brewers clinched the National League Central crown on Wednesday. … Love these comments from Grae Kessinger, the former Ole Miss star now playing a reserve role with the playoff-bound Houston Astros: “It’s always good to contribute and help the team win. Every day, just come to win. What a fun group this is. Winning is all that matters.” On Tuesday, Kessinger, subbing for the ejected “Shoeless Jose” Altuve, scored the go-ahead run as the ghost runner in the top of the 10th inning and then made a sweet play behind second base to end the game, a 4-3 victory over San Diego. Kessinger has played in just 17 games and gotten just 15 at-bats.

14 Sep

welcome back … ?

The Pittsburgh Pirates and fans at PNC Park gave Adam Frazier a warm “welcome back” on Friday night. The Pirates played a video tribute to their former star on the stadium scoreboard and the crowd gave him a standing ovation before his first at-bat. “Appreciate them doing that,” the Mississippi State product said in a postgame interview. “Then you gotta lock back in, that’s all I was trying to do right there … .” He did, helping visiting Kansas City — fighting for a playoff berth — roll to an 8-3 victory. Frazier scored twice and hit his fourth home run as the Royals improved to 81-67, second in the American League wild card standings. Frazier was drafted by the Pirates in 2013 and spent his first six MLB seasons in a Pittsburgh uniform. He was traded in mid-2021, which was the last time he played at PNC. He has bounced to four other teams the past four years. A .264 career hitter, Frazier’s first year in KC hasn’t been great — .205, four homers, 20 RBIs, 32 runs over 244 at-bats — but he plays hard and plays anywhere in the field he is needed. He also has postseason experience — with Baltimore in 2023 and Seattle in 2022. P.S. Saucier native Brandon Parker, back near his old stomping grounds at Biloxi’s Keesler Federal Park, homered for the second straight night as the Mississippi Braves beat the Shuckers 7-0 in a Double-A Southern League game. Parker has eight homers on the season. At Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston, Parker belted 38 homers in two seasons, setting the school record with 24 as a freshman in 2018. … Ole Miss alum T.J. McCants doubled home the winning run in the 11th inning as Low-Class A Kannapolis beat Charleston 2-1 to advance to the Carolina League Championship Series. McCants, who finished his college career at Alabama in 2024, hit .230 with two homers and four steals this season for the Chicago White Sox affiliate.