Tag Archives: Blue Jays

27 Sep

by the numbers

100 – Runs this season for Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss star who scored again in Minnesota’s big (aren’t they all now?) win over Detroit on Saturday. Dozier has reached the 100-run mark each of the last two years.
22 – Years since Toronto last made the postseason, a drought that has ended on the watch of manager John Gibbons, the second former Jackson Mets catcher to get a team into the 2015 American League playoffs. (Ned Yost of Kansas City is the other. Former JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle has his Pittsburgh team in the National League postseason, and the New York Mets are in, too, as NL East champs, though there are no former OJMs with the team in any capacity.)
12 – Holds by Tony Sipp, the ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star who notched his latest for Houston on Saturday in a crucial win against Texas in their AL West scrap.
5 – Hits by Corey Dickerson, the former Meridian CC standout, in Colorado’s two wins over NL West leader Los Angeles Dodgers in their current series. Dickerson, batting .323, also has three RBIs and three runs in the two games.
2 – Hits by Fred Lewis, the Gulf Coast CC product who added an RBI in Southern Maryland’s Freedom Division series clincher against Lancaster on Saturday. Jackson native Stan Cliburn’s club next plays for the independent Atlantic League championship.
0 – At-bats for Ed Easley, the former Mississippi State star, since St. Louis recalled him to the majors on Sept. 11. Easley is still seeking his first big league hit.

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.

28 Aug

into the wild

Joey Butler celebrated his return to The Show with a couple of hits, a game-tying RBI and the go-ahead run in Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win over Minnesota, which had won six straight. Pascagoula native Butler was recalled by the Rays on Thursday when Itawamba Community College alum Desmond Jennings went back on the disabled list. The Twins, along with the Rays two of the eight American League teams (excluding current division leaders) within 5 games of a wild card, got a 1-for-3 effort from ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, who scored his 87th run. … In another battle of AL playoff contenders, Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland went 1-for-4 with an RBI (No. 67) to help Texas to a 4-1 victory over Toronto, the AL East Division leader managed by former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons. … Former State star Buck Showalter’s Baltimore club, another playoff hopeful, fell to AL Central leader Kansas City 5-3. Southwest Mississippi CC’s Jarrod Dyson had a tough day for ex-JaxMets star Ned Yost’s Royals: 0-for-4 with an error (just his second of the year). … In the slightly less crazy National League, Washington, which was supposed to run away with the East Division title, kept pace (though still 6.5 games out) with the first-place New York Mets by holding off San Diego 4-2. Former State standout Jonathan Papelbon notched his fourth save for the Nationals but yielded a run, a hit, a walk and a balk in his one inning. … Ex-JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle’s Pittsburgh Pirates grinded out a 2-1 win over Miami and tightened their grip on the first NL wild card spot. The Chicago Cubs lost 9-1 to San Francisco, another postseason contender, and dropped 4 games back of the Bucs, who are trying to keep NL Central leader St. Louis in range. … September is coming, and it’s only going to get better for MLB fans.

15 Aug

hot spots

Matchups of playoff contenders are abundant in the big leagues this weekend, and a bunch of Mississippians are in the middle of things. One of the hottest spots on Friday was U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, where the Cubs beat the White Sox 6-5 thanks in large part to two home runs by former Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan. Coghlan hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the third inning and a game-tying solo shot in the fifth, both off Jeff Samardzija. Coghlan now has 13 homers on the year for the hard-charging Cubs. At Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, ex-Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings went 3-for-4 with an RBI in his first game since April, but his Tampa Bay team fell to surging Texas 5-3. Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland was 1-for-4 for the Rangers. At San Francisco’s AT&T Park, fading Washington lost to the Giants 8-5 with ex-State stars Tyler Moore (an HBP in his one at-bat) and Jonathan Papelbon (two hits and a run allowed in the eighth inning) tasting more frustration. The day’s best game was at Rogers Centre in Toronto, where the New York Yankees stopped the Blue Jays’ 11-game win streak with a dramatic 4-3 win. No Mississippians played in the game, but veteran umpire Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss grad who lives in the Magnolia State, was behind home plate. P.S. Milwaukee has recalled right-hander David Goforth, a Meridian native and former Ole Miss standout. He has a 4.15 ERA in six MLB appearances this year.

10 Aug

well-stocked toolbox

In his relatively brief time in the minors, Anthony Alford has hit and run and showed enough arm to play right field. The power hasn’t been there, but you have to think that tool will come out soon. Ex-Petal High star Alford, now Toronto’s No. 3 prospect, is batting .304 with 13 RBIs, 26 runs and nine steals in 40 games at Class A Dunedin in the Florida State League. Batting leadoff and playing center field on Sunday, he had a four-hit game, including a triple and a walk-off double. He hit .293 with 16 RBIs, 49 runs and 12 steals in 50 games at Lansing in the low-A Midwest League before earning a promotion. Alford, 21, has just one home run at each level this season, his first full year in pro ball since the Blue Jays drafted the erstwhile football player in 2012. He has five bombs in 115 career games. Alford lists at 6 feet 1, 205 pounds and looks bigger. At Petal, where he was Mr. Baseball and Mr. Football, drawing Bo Jackson comparisons, Alford hit four homers and slugged .805 in 30 games as a senior. The power will come. And just wait till he gets a chance to hit at Toronto’s Rogers Centre in a couple of years. P.S. Versatility is keeping Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan in the sizzling Chicago Cubs’ lineup. Coghlan, a lefty hitter, has been playing second base, his primary minor league position, of late (since Starlin Castro’s benching). Coghlan has played mostly left field for manager Joe Maddon but also has seen time at third, first and right field. He is batting only .248 but has a .334 on-base percentage, 11 homers, 25 RBIs and 10 steals.

09 Aug

around the horn

Former Harrison Central High standout Bobby Bradley blasted his 20th home run of the season on Saturday for Class A Lake County in the Cleveland system. Bradley, only 19, is batting .256 with 68 RBIs in his second pro season. … Ole Miss alumnus Will Allen has been named to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game, set for Aug. 18. Allen, a catcher drafted in the 13th round by Detroit in June, is hitting .263 with a homer and 17 RBIs in 33 games for Connecticut in the short-season A league. … Also impressing in the Tigers’ system is catcher Kade Scivicque, a former Southwest Mississippi Community College star, drafted in the fourth round this year out of LSU. He is batting .282 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 19 games at West Michigan in the Class A Midwest League. … And to continue on a Tigers theme: JaCoby Jones, the ex-Richton High star, hit his fourth home run in eight games for Double-A Erie in the Eastern League. Jones, a shortstop traded from Pittsburgh to Detroit last month, is hitting .300 with nine RBIs and 12 runs. He has 14 homers on the season. … Stone County High alum D.J. Davis also homered on Saturday and is batting .350 with five RBIs and 10 runs in his last 10 games for Class A Lansing in the Midwest League. Davis, a 2012 first-rounder by Toronto, is batting .290 for the season. … Mississippi State product Jonathan Holder went 5 1/3 innings on Saturday for Class A Tampa in the New York Yankees’ system, allowing just one run. It was his longest outing since June 6, just before he took a month-long trip to the DL. Holder, in his second pro season, is 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA in the high-A Florida State League.

30 Jul

off the table

Anthony Alford has played so well this season in the low minors, his name surfaced with some big ones today in trade talks. Early reports of the David Price deal had former Petal High star Alford included in the package Toronto was sending Detroit for the ace left-hander. But the Blue Jays held onto Alford, who is now rated their No. 4 prospect by mlb.com. The 21-year-old outfielder, 6 feet 1, 205 pounds, is batting .300 with a pair of homers, 25 RBIs and 19 steals at two levels of A-ball. He has hit .311 in 30 games at high Class A Dunedin. Drafted in the third round by Toronto in 2012, when he was Mr. Baseball, Alford had played only 25 minor league games before 2015 as he focused on football, first at Southern Miss, then at Ole Miss. He quit football last fall and played in the Australian Baseball League before getting an invite to the Blue Jays’ major league spring camp. His stock seems to be rising.

23 Jul

upwardly mobile

Gloom has gathered over the Chicago White Sox’s season. Fans of the last-place club needing something to brighten their day can look to Double-A Birmingham, where shortstop Tim Anderson is having a star-quality season. Rated by some as the organization’s top prospect entering 2015, the East Central Community College product appears close to being big league-ready. Anderson, 22, the Southern League All-Star Game MVP, is batting .311 with seven triples, 35 RBIs, 53 runs and 35 steals for the Barons. An athletic 6 feet 1, 185 pounds, he is hitting .298 with 69 steals over his three pro seasons. If there is a negative in his offensive numbers, it’s that he doesn’t walk much (15 times this season while serving primarily as a leadoff batter). Reports indicate that Anderson’s defense is steadily improving; in fact, some of the reports are glowing. Anderson made his Double-A debut, with a bang, at Pearl’s Trustmark Park last August. The Barons come to the TeePee again this August (18-22). Of course, by then Anderson might be in Triple-A. P.S. Thirty games into his pro career, LaDarious (aka LeDarious) Clark, the East Mississippi CC alum from Meridian, paces the short-season Class A Northwest League in homers (8, including two on Wednesday), average (.377), hits (49), slugging percentage (.685), runs (32), triples (5) and total bases (89). He also has 20 RBIs and 14 stolen bases for Texas’ Spokane club. Promote him, already. … After roughly a month in the high Class A Florida State League, former Petal High star Anthony Alford is batting .333 with a homer, nine RBIs and 18 runs at Dunedin. Toronto promoted the 21-year-old outfielder, playing his first full pro season, after he hit .293 with 49 runs and 12 steals in 50 games at low-A Lansing.

30 Jun

that’ll work

The Toronto Blue Jays surely like what they’re seeing from Anthony Alford, who is 6-for-22 in his first five games in the high Class A Florida State League. The former Mr. Baseball from Petal began his first full pro season in the Midwest League, hitting .293 with 14 doubles, 16 RBIs, 12 steals and 49 runs in 50 games at Lansing. The righty-hitting outfielder, a third-round pick in 2012, already has two doubles, a triple, a homer, three RBIs and four runs for Dunedin. … The Los Angeles Angels surely like most of what they’ve seen from Alex Yarbrough in his last five games. The switch-hitting second baseman out of Ole Miss is 9-for-19 (.473), lifting his average at Triple-A Salt Lake to .247. He has 19 doubles, 29 RBIs and 36 runs in 73 games. However, Yarbrough has struck out six times in his last five games, giving him 81 in 299 at-bats. That’s an area where the 2014 Texas League player of the year needs to improve. P.S. Jacob Taylor, the Pearl River Community College alum from Picayune, pitched two scoreless innings (no hits, three walks, two strikeouts) in his pro debut today. Taylor, a fourth-round pick by Pittsburgh and the second Mississippian drafted this year, is with the Gulf Coast League Pirates.

23 Jun

life of riley

Austin Riley, the first Mississippian picked in this year’s MLB draft, made his pro debut today for the Gulf Coast League Braves. The former DeSoto Central High star, a supplemental first-round pick by Atlanta, was the DH and batted fourth for the rookie-level club, which rallied to beat the GCL Yankees 8-7 in 10 innings in Florida. Riley struck out in his first two at-bats, was hit by a pitch (and later scored) in his third and grounded out in his fourth. The play-by-play on milb.com indicates that Riley pinch hit for himself (?) in the eighth inning and walked, then struck out again in the 10th. So, he was either 0-for-3 or 0-for-4. … Also debuting today in the GCL: Mississippi Valley State alum Kalik May, who went 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and a steal for the GCL Blue Jays, whose game was suspended by rain in the seventh inning.