Tag Archives: Biloxi Shuckers

04 Nov

odds and ends

JaCoby Jones, the former Mr. Baseball from Richton, heads a group of Mississippi-connected players named to the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars Game. Jones, a shortstop in Detroit’s system currently batting .304 with two homers for Scottsdale, is on the East roster. The West includes 2015 Mississippi Braves starter Lucas Sims and two Biloxi Shuckers alums, outfielder Michael Reed and closer Damien Magnifico. Magnifico had a magnificent run with Milwaukee’s Double-A team last summer, moving into the bullpen and going 4-1 with 20 saves and a 1.17 ERA in 42 appearances. The Fall Stars Game is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. CST and will be televised by MLB Network. … Connor Lien, expected to contend for an outfield spot with the M-Braves next spring, is scuffling in the AFL. He is hitting .171 with a homer, 18 strikeouts and two walks in 41 at-bats for Peoria. Still, Baseball America’s Bill Ballew calls Lien “one of my top sleepers in the organization.” … Jackson native and Ole Miss alumnus Cody Satterwhite, a veteran minor league pitcher, is on the U.S. roster for the first Premier 12 international tournament set for Nov. 8-21. Pool play is in Taiwan and Japan with the semifinals and finals in Tokyo. According to Baseball America, Premier 12 is the top senior event for the International Baseball Federation, now re-branded as the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Satterwhite, currently a New York Mets farmhand, is joined on the American squad by former M-Braves star Tyler Pastornicky and Biloxi Shuckers alum Brett Phillips. … Tampa Bay released former Jackson State catcher Jovany Felipe, who batted .182 in rookie ball this summer after signing as an undrafted free agent. … The Belhaven-William Carey rivalry apparently is no more. With the Blazers moving to NCAA Division III, their 2016 schedule does not include the NAIA Crusaders, their longtime rivals in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and Southern States Athletic Conference. BU will play Maloney Trophy rivals Millsaps and Mississippi College next season. Carey is playing NCAA D-II’s Delta State and MC in 2016, as well as NAIA Tougaloo.

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.

29 Sep

best in show

Under the category of Best 2015 Season by a Former Mississippi Braves Hitter, there are quite a few viable candidates. Yunel Escobar is batting .318 with nine homers and 56 RBIs and has played a good third base for Washington. Once viewed as troublesome, Escobar may be the least of the Nationals’ worries. Jason Heyward has been a linchpin for playoff-bound St. Louis, hitting .289 with 12 homers and 56 RBIs and playing Gold Glove-caliber right field. In Miami, Martin Prado is at .289 with nine homers and 61 RBIs. Freddie Freeman, one of only two ex-M-Braves playing regularly in Atlanta, is hitting .280 with 18 homers and 66 RBIs, and Andrelton Simmons, the defensive whiz, checks in at .261. Evan Gattis has 27 homers and 87 RBIs for Houston, which is battling for a postseason berth, and Brian McCann has 26 bombs and 92 RBIs for the New York Yankees, who are doing the same. Gregor Blanco, not a regular in San Francisco, has hit .291 with five homers and 13 steals. And Jeff Francoeur (.260, 13 homers, 45 RBIs) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.247, eight, 21 in 66 games) have had nice bounce-back years in Philadelphia and Arizona. P.S. Jorge Lopez, a 12-game winner for Biloxi this season, is slated to make his big league debut tonight for Milwaukee at San Diego. He will be the last of the six Shuckers called up this month to get in a game. (For the record, Tyler Wagner was the first to appear, back in May.) Lopez is the Brewers’ No. 8 prospect (by mlb.com) and was the organization’s pitcher of the year. … Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia, not in The Show yet, has been awarded a Rawlings Gold Glove for defensive excellence in the minors this season. Only nine Gold Gloves are given out each year for all the minor leagues. Arcia recorded a .978 fielding percentage and turned 82 double plays in 123 games for the Shuckers. And he can hit, too.

21 Sep

chasing championships

Ex-Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull could get the start tonight for West Michigan in Game 5 of the Midwest League Championship Series. Turnbull, an 11-game winner this season, is 1-1 in the postseason, including a loss to Cedar Rapids in Game 1 of the title series. Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Alabama, Turnbull already is rated their No. 5 prospect by mlb.com. As a junior at Bama, Turnbull went 5-7 with a 2.22 ERA, and he had a 3.54 career ERA there. He was on a state championship team at Madison Central. … Ole Miss alum Alex Presley went 2-for-5 and homered to help Fresno claim the Pacific Coast League pennant with a 7-3 win against Round Rock on Sunday. Presley batted .390 in the postseason for the Grizzlies, Houston’s Triple-A team, which will meet International League champ Columbus (Cleveland) on Tuesday for the Triple-A “national championship.” … Biloxi and Chattanooga will play a fifth and deciding game tonight in the Southern League title series. Former UM standout Stuart Turner is the Lookouts’ catcher, and Jackson native Stu Cliburn is the pitching coach for Minnesota’s Double-A club.

20 Sep

play ball

Yes, there was baseball on Saturday. Even in Oxford and Starkville, where Ole Miss and Mississippi State held scrimmages. There was baseball in Chattanooga, Tenn., where the Biloxi Shuckers moved within one victory of a Southern League championship in their inaugural season. There was baseball in Fresno, Calif., where ex-Ole Miss star Alex Presley, batting .389 in the postseason, had a hit and a run as the host Grizzlies forced a deciding fifth game in the Pacific Coast League finals. There was baseball in Minneapolis, where an error — just the seventh of the year by Southern Miss product Brian Dozier – helped the Los Angeles Angels beat Minnesota 4-3 in the 12th inning. “Bad play by me,” Dozier told The Associated Press. The Twins also lost Game 2 of the twinbill and fell 1½ games behind the Angels for third place in the American League wild card race. There was baseball in Houston, where the Astros, clinging to the second AL wild card, snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Oakland 10-6 with the help of Evan Gattis’ 25th home run. Atlanta fans must wince every time Gattis, the former Mississippi Braves star whose story is such a great one, gets a big hit for Houston, and he’s had a bunch. There was baseball in Detroit, where Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Jarrod Dyson threw out a Tigers runner, Ian Kinsler, at the plate – upon further review – to send the Kansas City-Detroit game into extra innings. Alas, Ned Yost’s scuffling Royals lost the game in 11 on a Kinsler homer. There was baseball in Washington, where the Nationals got a home run from Tyler Moore (No. 5) in a rare start and a save from Jonathan Papelbon (No. 24), both ex-State stars, in a win over Miami. But there isn’t much joy in Washington, home of MLB’s most disappointing team. There was baseball in Tampa Bay, but Itawamba CC product Desmond Jennings didn’t play. Oral surgery has ended his injury-marred season; he played 28 games. There was baseball in Milwaukee, but ex-Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton wasn’t there. He was in Cincinnati, having his injured shoulder examined. MLB’s base-stealing leader (with 57) may be shut down for the year. There was baseball also in Sugar Land, Texas, but Rafael Palmeiro didn’t play for the independent Skeeters. After going 2-for-4 on Friday in his first game in 10 years, the 50-year-old MSU alum got a day off. So, yes, there was baseball on Saturday. And, hey, there will be baseball today, too.

17 Sep

farm livin’

Houston and Texas are slugging it out for first place in the American League West in Arlington, with the Rangers, now up 1½ games, landing most of the big punches through three games of the four-game series. Meanwhile, down on the farm, the Triple-A affiliates of both clubs are facing off for the Pacific Coast League pennant. No doubt former Ole Miss standout Alex Presley would rather be with the Astros, but playing for a championship with Fresno can’t feel too bad. Especially when you’re hitting .481 in the postseason, with four RBIs, four runs and three steals through six games. Presley and the Grizzlies squared the PCL finals at 1-all with a 3-1 win at Round Rock on Wednesday night. Presley, 30, who has spent parts of six years in the majors – eight games with Houston this year – batted .292 this season with three home runs, 49 RBIs and 15 steals for Fresno. The lefty-hitting outfielder might get another call from the Astros before it’s all said and done in the AL West. … Someday, perhaps, Biloxi Shuckers fans will sit at the bar and recall the days of Orlando Arcia, much like old Jackson Mets fans might remember Lee Mazzilli. Arcia, a 21-year-old shortstop, went 2-for-3 with a homer as host Biloxi beat Chattanooga 7-1 at MGM Park in the opener of the Southern League Championship Series. He is hitting .625 with three bombs, nine RBIs and six runs in four postseason games after batting .307 with eight homers and 69 RBIs during the inaugural season of Shuckers baseball. Mazzilli was the first MLB star to emerge from Jackson’s old Double-A club back in the mid-’70s. Arcia, Milwaukee’s top prospect, may well become the first ex-Shucker to do so.

15 Sep

minor matters

Biloxi will host the first two games of the Southern League Championship Series, facing Chattanooga in a showdown of two star-studded teams. Orlando Arcia, Milwaukee’s No. 1 prospect, hit .615 with two homers and six RBIs in the Shuckers’ South Division series win over Pensacola. Adam Brett Walker II, a top 10 prospect in Minnesota’s system, hit 31 homers this year and added two more in Chattanooga’s North Division series win against Montgomery. Ole Miss product Stuart Turner, a catcher who hit .223 with four homers this season, also starts for the Lookouts. The title series begins Wednesday at MGM Park. … Former Ole Miss star Alex Presley batted .556 in four games for Fresno (Houston) as the Grizzlies advanced to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League finals. … Helping West Michigan (Detroit) get to the Class A Midwest League finals were former Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull, a prospect pitcher, and Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Kade Scivicque, a catcher in his first pro season. … Southern Miss product Scott Copeland, who made five trips up and down from the minors for Toronto this season, has been designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. Copeland was 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in five MLB games and 11-6, 2.95 at Triple-A Buffalo.

10 Sep

playoff fever

The Biloxi Shuckers have Pensacola’s Blue Wahoos right where they want them. The Southern League playoff format gives the Shuckers home field for the first two games of the best-of-5 South Division series, meaning the Shuckers can only clinch the series on the road. Remember, this is a team that played its first 54 games on foreign ground and still won the first-half championship handily. They even clinched the title on the road, at Trustmark Park in Pearl. A league championship would be frosting on what already has been a remarkable inaugural year for the Shuckers, a Milwaukee affiliate that moved from Huntsville. Jorge Lopez (12-5, 2.26 ERA), the SL pitcher of the year, will start tonight’s opener for Biloxi at MGM Park. In Game 2 on Friday, Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi Community College alum, will start for Pensacola (Cincinnati affiliate). Reed went 6-2 with a 2.17 ERA in eight starts for the Blue Wahoos and is the reigning SL pitcher of the week. In two starts from Aug. 31-Sept. 7, he was 2-0 with 14 shutout innings and 17 strikeouts. P.S. In the Pacific Coast League playoffs on Wednesday night, ex-Ole Miss star Alex Presley went 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run to pace Fresno (Houston) past El Paso 9-1. Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe was hitless in four trips for El Paso (San Diego). … Former State standout Adam Frazier was 1-for-4 with a run as Altoona (Pittsburgh) beat Bowie 8-7 in the Eastern League playoffs. Frazier was second in the EL in hitting this year with a .324 average. … In the Midwest League playoffs: Ex-Madison Central star Spencer Turnbull (11-3, 3.01 during the regular season) worked six strong innings (two runs, seven K’s) as West Michigan (Detroit) topped Fort Wayne 5-2. Southwest Mississippi CC alum Kade Scivicque was behind the plate for West Michigan and went 0-for-4. The Bray brothers from Vancleave (see previous post) were on opposing sides again as Peoria (St. Louis) defeated Kane County (Arizona) 2-1. Colin went 0-for-4 for KC; Tyler did not pitch for Peoria. And Stone County High alum D.J. Davis put up a 1-for-5 with a run scored for Lansing (Toronto) in a 6-5 victory over Great Lakes. Davis, a first-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2012, hit .282 with seven homers, 59 RBIs, 77 runs and 21 steals.

08 Sep

worth noting

In three starts against the Chicago Cubs this season, Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn is 0-3 and has yielded 12 runs in 14 1/3 innings. The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander, 11-6 against everybody else, lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the Cubbies on Monday, giving up seven hits, two walks and six runs in a 9-0 loss. Lynn was pitching on nine days rest. … Former Pillow Academy (and LSU) star Louis Coleman was back in the big leagues on Monday, working a clean inning for Kansas City. It was the first MLB appearance of the year for Coleman, who had eight wins, nine saves and a 1.69 ERA at Triple-A Omaha. His career ERA with the Royals is 3.23 over parts of five seasons. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, the big league steals leader with 54, is expected to be activated today by Cincinnati. He has been out since Aug. 19 with a shoulder injury. Hamilton went 3-for-11 with four runs in a three-game rehab assignment with Double-A Pensacola. … Former Mississippi State standout Jacob Lindgren’s season officially ended when the New York Yankees put the lefty reliever on the 60-day disabled list. Lindgren had elbow surgery in mid-June; he had a 5.14 ERA in seven games as a rookie for the Yankees. … The Double-A Mississippi Braves, who missed the Southern League postseason, finished 69-67 overall and 36-32 in the second half, a game back of Pensacola. Emerson Landoni was the top hitter among players on the final roster with a .297 average. Kevin Ahrens had nine homers and 64 RBIs, Matt Lipka 16 steals. Mallex Smith, promoted at midseason, hit .340 with 23 steals in 57 games. Greg Ross led the team in wins with seven and in ERA (among SL qualifiers) with a 3.99. Tyler Jones posted 16 saves. … Biloxi will host Pensacola on Thursday and Friday in the first two games of the SL South Division best-of-5 series. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson led the SL (and all of Double-A) with 49 stolen bases.

03 Sep

opportune moments

One-run lead in the ninth on the road against the best team in the National League. It was the kind of situation Washington had in mind for Jonathan Papelbon when it traded for the high-priced closer in late July. The former Mississippi State standout came through, despite allowing two hits, and the Nationals notched a 4-3 win Wednesday night against St. Louis. Problem is for the Nats, that kind of situation hasn’t come along often enough. It was just the sixth save opportunity for Papelbon since he joined the club on July 28. Washington went 12-17 in August while the New York Mets went 20-8 and blew past them in the NL East. The Nationals have perked up a bit of late but even after Wednesday’s win are 6.5 games behind the Mets in the division. Papelbon, 23-for-23 in saves for the year, allowed a leadoff single to ex-Mississippi Braves star Jason Heyward, and a one-out hit put runners at the corners. Papelbon got a strikeout and a ground out to end it and was effusive afterward. “(The Cardinals) are the best team in baseball right now. It pretty much shows that we could play with anybody out there,” he told mlb.com. Perhaps, but they’ve got a lot of work to do. Baseball Prospectus puts the Nationals’ current chances of making the postseason at 8.2 percent. … Another ex-Bulldogs star, Mitch Moreland, also came through in a big game. He drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning single as surging Texas won at San Diego 5-4. The Rangers, winners of nine of their last 12, are just 2 games behind Houston in the American League West and lead Minnesota by a game in the battle for the second wild card. Moreland is batting .286 with 18 homers and 68 RBIs. P.S. Tim Anderson, the Chicago White Sox prospect from East Central Community College, was named to the Southern League’s postseason All-Star team as the utility player. Anderson, who hit .312 with 49 steals for Birmingham, also won the hustle award. He was beaten out at shortstop by Biloxi’s Orlando Arcia (.308). Shuckers right-hander Jorge Lopez (12-5, 2.29 ERA) also made the team. No M-Braves were selected.