Tag Archives: Biloxi Shuckers

28 Jun

luminosity

Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe, Dansby Swanson of the Mississippi Braves and recently promoted Biloxi Shuckers standout Josh Hader have been named to the All-Star Futures Game, set for July 10 at Petco Park in San Diego. MLB Network will televise the game (at 6 p.m. CDT) as part of All-Star Weekend. … Fan voting for the July 12 MLB All-Star Game ends on Thursday; the teams will be announced next Tuesday (on ESPN). Ole Miss alumni Zack Cozart (Cincinnati) and Drew Pomeranz (San Diego) have outside chances at being selected to the National League squad, though both face very strong competition at their spots, shortstop and starting pitcher. Former M-Braves Julio Teheran, Freddie Freeman and Arodys Vizcaino are also regarded as viable candidates. … Former Jackson State coach Bob Braddy formally enters the National College Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday when the organization holds its Night of Champions in Lubbock, Texas. Braddy, one of the nicest people you could hope to meet, won a SWAC record 824 games at JSU and claimed 12 conference titles in 24 years with the Tigers. He steered more than 50 players into pro baseball, several reaching the big leagues, including Dave Clark, Oil Can Boyd, Wes Chamberlain and Marvin Freeman. JSU’s field is named in Braddy’s honor. He is still involved in youth baseball in Jackson. … In Omaha on Sunday, Ole Miss’ Colby Bortles and State’s Brent Rooker will take part in the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby. The event will be aired on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m.

25 Jun

random numbers

1 – Big league hits for Adam Frazier, the former Mississippi State standout who got his first knock in his first at-bat for Pittsburgh on Friday night.
1 – Professional hits for Walker Robbins, the ex-George County High star who singled in his first game with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals.
4 – Hits in eight at-bats for Joey Meneses in his first two games with the Mississippi Braves. The native of Mexico was hitting .342 at Class A Carolina.
1,000 – Career wins in MLB for Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, the former Jackson Mets manager who won 73 games with the Double-A club back in 1990.
3,315 – Attendance on Friday at Biloxi’s MGM Park, where former Jackson Mets star Darryl Strawberry threw out the first pitch. He was in town for a speaking engagement.
12 – Combined runs scored by Montgomery and Biloxi in the first inning of the Southern League game, won by the Biscuits 10-9.
13 – Home runs by Corey Dickerson, the Meridian Community College product who went deep for Tampa Bay on Friday. He leads all Mississippians in the majors in homers; Zack Cozart and Mitch Moreland have 11 each.
3 – Home runs allowed in two MLB starts by Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi CC alum now with Cincinnati.
15 – Strikeouts by Cody Reed in his 12 innings in the big leagues.
3.56 – ERA of Cleveland’s pitching staff, which leads the American League. Former Ole Miss standout Mickey Callaway is the pitching coach for the Indians, who have won seven straight and lead the AL Central.

20 Jun

seeing stars

The stars will come out to play on Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, sometime around 7:30 p.m. The 2016 Southern League All-Star Game will feature a bunch of “local talent,” with Mississippi Braves Dansby Swanson and Dustin Peterson and Biloxi Shuckers Brett Phillips, Garrett Cooper and Jacob Nottingham expected to be in the starting lineup for the South stars, managed by Luis Salazar. Biloxi’s Josh Hader, who leads the league with a 0.95 ERA, and hard-throwing Atlanta prospect Mauricio Cabrera are on the South pitching staff. League home run leader Daniel Palka (Chattanooga), stolen base leader Yefri Perez (Jacksonville) and pitching strikeout leader Jacob Faria (Montgomery) are also on the rosters, along with highly rated MLB prospects such as Amir Garrett (Pensacola), Willy Adames (Montgomery) and Jake Peter (Birmingham). This is the second SL All-Star Game to be held at the TeePee. The other was in 2007, when eight M-Braves played for the South Division team managed by Phillip Wellman. J.C. Holt and Carl Loadenthal had three hits apiece, but the South stars lost the game before an announced 4,555. Jackson hosted two Texas League All-Star Games at Smith-Wills Stadium, in 1984 and 1992. Both were decided by walk-off home runs by East Division stars, the first by the Jackson Mets’ Billy Beane, the second by Greenville native Adell Davenport, who was playing for Shreveport.

16 Jun

big league chew

Freddie Freeman was touted as a future star when he arrived in Mississippi in July of 2009, and he is one former Mississippi Braves player who has lived up to that billing. Freeman became just the third player in the Atlanta Braves era (1966-now) to hit for the cycle in leading the Braves to a 9-8, 13-inning win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Freeman’s numbers aren’t jaw-dropping this season — .257, 11 homers, 22 RBIs – but keep in mind that he is surrounded by a weak team. If Atlanta has only one player picked for the All-Star Game, Freeman certainly should be it. It would be his third trip in the last four years. … Craig Kimbrel, another ex-M-Brave who has become a bonafide MLB star, notched his 15th save for Boston in its 6-4 win against Baltimore in a big American League East showdown. … Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College alumnus, is getting a lot of credit for rejuvenating the Chicago White Sox. Anderson, now leading off, went 3-for-5 and scored three times in the ChiSox’s 5-3 win against Detroit. Chicago climbed back to .500 and is just 2½ games out in the AL Central. Through six games, shortstop Anderson is batting .320 with three doubles and a triple. He hasn’t stolen a base yet, but those will come. … Mississippi Gulf Coast CC product Tony Sipp got one out and a win for resurgent Houston in a 4-1 victory against St. Louis. Sipp retired Matt Carpenter with runners at second and third in the seventh inning, keeping the Cardinals’ lead at 1-0. A George Springer homer in the eighth put the Astros on top. Left-hander Sipp (1-2) has a 3.22 ERA in 29 appearances. … Mitch Moreland, the former Mississippi State star from Amory, extended his hitting streak to seven games in Texas’ 7-5 win against Oakland. Moreland is batting .370 during his streak with four homers. For the year, he is at .227 with 10 bombs and 28 RBIs for a Rangers club that has opened up a 6½-game lead in the AL West. … Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson was 1-for-3 with two RBIs for Tampa Bay, which beat Seattle 3-2. Dickerson’s average is up to .209, and he has 12 homers and 31 RBIs for the Rays, who are fighting to stay in the AL East race. P.S. Former State standout Brandon Woodruff had a rough start in a big game for Biloxi in the Double-A Southern League. He yielded three hits, two walks and three runs in a third of an inning in a loss to Jacksonville, dropping his record to 2-3 and jacking his ERA to 4.71. The Shuckers are still tied for first with Pensacola in the SL South; the first half ends Sunday.

01 Jun

here and there

Seth Smith blasted two home runs for Seattle on Tuesday, then got hit by a pitch. But it’s not what you think. The former Ole Miss standout was plunked in the foot by what was described as an “eephus-type pitch” thrown by San Diego’s Christian Bethancourt, the ex-Mississippi Braves catcher who was working in mop-up duty in a 16-4 game. Bethancourt, known for his arm, touched 96 mph from the mound while also throwing some pitches in the 50-mph range. According to mlb.com, Smith told Bethancourt after the HBP: “As long as it’s not your fastball, we’re all right.” … Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson also went deep on Tuesday for Tampa Bay. Of his 31 hits, nine are homers; he is batting .204 with 24 RBIs. … Ole Miss product David Goforth has been sent down by Milwaukee; he has a 9.39 ERA in seven appearances. … Ex-Southern Miss star Scott Copeland is struggling in the Korean Baseball Organization. The right-hander, who pitched for Toronto in 2015, is 1-1 with a 7.07 ERA in six starts for the LG Twins. … Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State standout, belted his 12th home run on Tuesday for El Paso, the Padres’ Triple-A club. He is batting .320 with 39 RBIs and surely itching for a call-up. … Adam Frazier, another Bulldogs product, is hitting .302 with 14 stolen bases at Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pittsburgh system. … Even after a rough outing on Memorial Day, UM alum Cody Satterwhite has a 1.96 ERA and a 3-1 record in 17 appearances for Salt Lake, the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A team. … There is much speculation that the Chicago White Sox may be ready to call up East Central CC alum Tim Anderson, the shortstop prospect who is batting .305 with 10 steals at Triple-A Charlotte. “He could come up and do well,” J.B. Shuck, recently recalled from Charlotte by the ChiSox, told csnchicago.com. “He has that personality where he’s not going to get rattled by anything.” … Ex-State standout Brandon Woodruff notched his first Double-A win on Tuesday when he worked seven strong innings for Biloxi in a 7-1 win over the M-Braves. … Anthony Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal, has gotten hot at Class A Dunedin in Toronto’s organization. Coming back from a knee injury that contributed to a slow start, Alford hit .368 over his last 10 games and is up to .233 in 27 games on the season.

31 May

going coastal

Round 2 of Season 2 of Mississippi Braves vs. Biloxi Shuckers starts tonight at MGM Park on the Coast. Alas, the pitching matchup that would have been so cool to see apparently won’t happen in this series. Mississippi State alum Brandon Woodruff is set to make his third Double-A start tonight for the Shuckers. Rated Milwaukee’s No. 30 prospect by mlb.com, he is 0-2, 8.00 ERA. Ole Miss product Chris Ellis, Atlanta’s No. 13 prospect, is slated to go Wednesday for the M-Braves. Ellis, after two straight uneven starts, is 6-2, 3.00. Former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney, who has pitched well out of the M-Braves’ pen (2 saves, 2.95 ERA), surely will make an appearance or two during the five games. The Shuckers took three of five from the M-Braves in Pearl in April and lead the series 15-13. Biloxi is 29-21, second to Pensacola in the Southern League South by a game; the M-Braves are 22-28 and fourth, 8 games back of first. Perhaps Biloxi will see an attendance spike for this series. The club is averaging an announced 2,596 fans per game, which ranks eighth in the 10-team loop. The M-Braves are seventh at 3,097 per game at Trustmark Park.

09 May

here and there

Dansby Swanson, Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect, is expected to make his home debut tonight when the Mississippi Braves host Mobile. Interested to see what kind of crowd they get at Trustmark Park. Swanson, hitless in his last three games, is batting .310 over his nine Double-A games. The shortstop out of Vanderbilt homered in his M-Braves debut on April 30 and had a four-hit game May 4. … Brett Phillips, Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect, had a three-homer game for Biloxi on Saturday and is batting .260 with five bombs for the season. The Shuckers also open a homestand tonight. … Mississippi State is No. 3, Ole Miss No. 6 and Southern Miss No. 19 in the new Baseball America poll. State’s Dakota Hudson is listed as the No. 19 draft prospect in BA’s latest rankings. … After rallying to beat West Georgia 8-7 on Sunday, Delta State is 2-0 in the Gulf South Conference Tournament. Ace Tre Hobbs had an off day, but DSU got three RBIs from Trent Giambroni, a three-run homer from Ethan Gill and a clutch sac fly by Will Robertson to secure the W, its 36th of the year. … Jackson State, looking to gather some momentum for the SWAC Tournament, swept Mississippi Valley State in a three-game set at Braddy Field over the weekend. The Tigers are 14-10 in the league and 6-0 against MVSU. The tournament is slated to start May 18. … The MACJC final four is set. Jones County Junior College, the regular season champ, will host the double-elimination tournament starting Thursday. Also in are 3-seed East Central, which beat Gulf Coast 27-21 on Saturday to advance from the best-of-3 round; Meridian, the second seed; and 4-seed Northwest. … The Houston Astros optioned former M-Braves star Evan Gattis to Double-A? Reportedly, he was sent down just to brush up on his catching skills; he hasn’t caught in an MLB game since 2014.

27 Apr

minor matters

A four-hit game on Monday moved Tim Anderson’s average above the Mendoza Line. But an 0-for-5 followed on Tuesday. It hasn’t been a silky smooth season for the former East Central Community College star now playing at Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox’s system. After a big year in Double-A in 2015, Anderson is batting .221 with three doubles, two RBIs, seven runs and four steals in 15 games for Charlotte. “You’ve just got to keep grinding and stay focused and keep dreaming about what you’ve been working for all your life,” Anderson told milb.com. Veteran Jimmy Rollins is currently handling shortstop duties for the ChiSox, but Anderson, the 17th overall pick out of ECCC in 2013, is expected to take the job by 2017 if not before. Anderson’s speed is considered his standout tool. P.S. Mississippi State alum Jonathan Holder got the last three outs of a combo no-hitter for Double-A Trenton on Tuesday. Fellow New York Yankees prospect Ronald Herrera worked the first eight innings against New Hampshire. Gulfport’s Holder got two strikeouts and made a nice defensive play in the ninth. “I’m thankful to be part of something that goes into history here in Trenton,” Holder told milb.com. He has a 1.08 ERA in four appearances at Trenton this season. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Orlando Arcia, the heir apparent for Milwaukee’s shortstop job, is batting .313 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 17 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs. “He loves to play the game and he’s always having fun out there,” Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet, the former Jackson Generals skipper, told milb.com.

22 Apr

together again

Mississippi Braves vs. Biloxi Shuckers. We want this to be a rivalry. Rivalries are good. They demand attention. Remember Jackson-Shreveport from the old Texas League days? The M-Braves and Shuckers meet for the first time in 2016 tonight at Trustmark Park. They split their 24 meetings in 2015, but, M-Braves fans should recall, the Shuckers clinched — and celebrated — the Southern League South first-half championship at the TeePee last June. So, there’s that. Biloxi comes in tonight leading the SL South at 11-3. The M-Braves are last at 5-10. The Shuckers again feature a bevy of top Milwaukee prospects, including No. 2 Brett Phillips, who is batting .311 with a homer and eight RBIs, and right-hander Adrian Houser, tonight’s starter, who is 0-1, 5.73 ERA. Biloxi has three of the SL’s top 10 hitters: Phillips, Victor Roache (.333) and Javier Betancourt (.314). The M-Braves have one: Ozzie Albies, who’s third at .350. Both teams pitch pretty well, ranking second (Biloxi) and fourth in the league in ERA. Lucas Sims, one of several pitching prospects on the M-Braves’ roster, gets the start in Game 1; he is 0-2, 1.84. P.S. Big league chew: Ex-Ole Miss star and veteran big leaguer Alex Presley got a hit in his Milwaukee debut on Thursday. … Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Jarrod Dyson is 3-for-9 with two steals since Kansas City activated him from the disabled list. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton has a thumb injury (from last week’s home run-robbing catch) that is keeping him out of the Cincinnati lineup. … Former Pillow Academy standout Louis Coleman has been placed on the bereavement list by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

04 Apr

come together

Players roll out from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Curacao, South Africa, Venezuela, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands. Sounds like a World Baseball Classic event has convened, but it’s just an everyday occurrence at Jackson State. Coach Omar Johnson’s multicultural team, which also includes eight players from good ol’ Mississippi, is showing signs of coming together after an uneven start. The Tigers, who take their show on the road to Biloxi tonight for an exhibition game with the minor league Shuckers, blew away Mississippi Valley State in a three-game series over the weekend. By beating the Delta Devils 10-3, 16-5 and 19-9, JSU moved its SWAC record to 6-3 (after an 0-3 start). Overall, the Tigers are 17-11. Jesus Santana (Puerto Rico) hit three home runs, two of them grand slams, in the Valley series and leads the team with nine homers and 37 RBIs. Such production was expected from Santana, a preseason player of the year candidate in the SWAC. Also contributing good stuff is catcher Carlos Diaz, another Puerto Rico product who is raking at a .451 clip; pitcher Miguel Yrigoyen, a Venezuela native who is 4-2; Canadian Jesse Anderson, who has three saves; and C.J. Newsome, who hails from Columbia, the city in south Mississippi. Newsome was drafted by Miami out of CHS last summer but elected to play at JSU. Tiger Nation should be thrilled. The 5-foot-9 outfielder, who had eight hits, six RBIs and six runs in the Valley series, is hitting .382 with 31 runs.