Tag Archives: Braves

31 Aug

brewing a winner

A gaggle of former Biloxi Shuckers, products of Milwaukee’s rich farm system, had their fingerprints all over the Brewers’ impressive sweep of the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. The All-Shuckers Alumni outfield of Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Jackson Chourio combined for five hits, two RBIs and a run in a 10-inning 5-4 win in Game 1, which ex-Shuckers star Devin Williams closed out. In a 14-0 rout in Game 2, Mitchell homered, tripled, stole a base and scored three times; Frelick went 3-for-5 with two RBIs; and ex-Shuckers Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio drove in a run each. Shuckers fans know these names. Heading into this season, the Brewers, despite three straight winning seasons, were not pegged as a playoff contender. But after Friday’s sweep, Milwaukee owns a 79-56 record and a 10-game lead in the National League Central. “Let’s face it, there wasn’t enough bratwurst and beer in the world to convince anyone outside Milwaukee that this team would be running away with the division,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently wrote. Popular and successful manager Craig Counsell bolted for Chicago after last season, replaced by Pat Murphy. Stalwart pitcher Brandon Woodruff, the former Mississippi State standout, has been on the injured list all year, and fellow ace Corbin Burnes was traded to Baltimore. But the plucky Brewers have found a way, relying mainly on young talent that has risen through the system. Chourio, age 20, is a shining example. Entering this season, he was regarded as one of the top two or three prospects in the minors and got a huge contract before ever playing an MLB game. After belting 22 homers and stealing 43 bases for the Double-A Biloxi club last year, Chourio is batting .273 with 16 homers, 62 RBIs and 19 steals, a rookie of the year-type season. Worth noting: Former Mississippi Braves star William Contreras, an All-Star catcher in 2024, homered in both games for the Shuckers on Friday and has 20 on the season. … Interestingly enough, a former Shuckers standout helped fuel Atlanta’s big win at Philadelphia on Friday. Orlando Arcia — much to the chagrin of Phillies fans — smacked two homers in the Braves’ 7-2 victory, which trimmed Philly’s lead to 5 games in the NL East. Arcia, having a down year with the bat (.228), does have 15 homers and is a very good defensive shortstop.

30 Aug

worth noting

Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark isn’t the place you’d choose for your first major league start, but J.T. Ginn handled Thursday’s appearance at that launching pad relatively well. The ex-Mississippi State star from Brandon went to the bump for Oakland and retired the first eight Reds batters he faced before Will Benson homered. Ginn yielded another home run in the fourth inning and a couple runs in the fifth but left with a lead. The A’s couldn’t hold it and ultimately lost 10-9. Ginn allowed four hits and a walk and struck out four. In three MLB appearances, the 25-year-old righty has a 5.19 ERA and eight K’s in 8 2/3 innings. He was 15-16 with a 4.68 over four minor league campaigns prior to his call to The Show earlier this month. … MSU alum Gavin Collins is enjoying a career revival at Triple-A Memphis in the St. Louis organization. He went 2-for-2 with a three-run homer Thursday in the Redbirds’ 18-2 win against Iowa and is batting .271 with seven homers and 27 RBIs in 50 games. The versatile Collins, 29, who has played primarily catcher this year, was drafted by Cleveland back in 2016. He became a free agent in 2022, signed with Tampa Bay, got released and then batted .314 with 10 bombs in the independent American Association last season before signing with St. Louis. … Mississippi College product Blaine Crim and ex-MSU standout Justin Foscue homered for Triple-A Round Rock, providing all the offense in a 3-1 win over Oklahoma City. Crim has 17 homers, Foscue nine for the Texas farm club. … Ex-Southern Miss and Mississippi Braves star Hurston Waldrep allowed one run over five innings for Triple-A Gwinnett and has a 4.50 ERA in six games for the Stripers. The 2023 first-round pick may yet get another look in Atlanta, where he was shelled (13 runs in seven innings) in two outings earlier this season. … K.C. Hunt, signed as an undrafted free agent out of MSU by Milwaukee last year, will make his fourth start tonight for Double-A Biloxi, where he is 0-2 despite a 3.31 ERA. Hunt, the Brewers’ No. 29 prospect, has pitched at three levels this season and has a 7-3 record, 2.21 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings. … Kudos to Jason Heyward, the former M-Braves star who smacked a two-run double in his second at-bat for resurgent Houston, which beat Kansas City 6-3. Heyward, a 15-year MLB vet, was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers last week.

29 Aug

‘the bethancourt game’

The Chicago Cubs scored 11 runs over the final three innings to overcome a seven-run deficit and beat Pittsburgh 14-10 Wednesday at PNC Park. Amazing. More amazing might be the fact that Christian Bethancourt — remember him, Mississippi Braves fans? — drove in six runs in those last three frames and seven all told. “This will be remembered as ‘The Bethancourt Game,'” Cubs broadcaster Jim Deshaies said. Bethancourt, batting ninth on Wednesday, went 3-for-5 with a 431-foot two-run homer in the seventh, a two-run double in the eighth and a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth. The 32-year-old catcher, signed by the Cubs after being released by Miami, is hitting .407 with three homers in 11 games. “I don’t know how you can play better than he’s played,” manager Craig Counsell told mlb.com. “(E)very time he’s in there, there are extra-base hits, there are RBIs, throwing out runners.” The well-liked Panama native, whose pro career began in 2008 in Atlanta’s system, has had quite the odyssey. His transactions page on mlb.com could be published as a novella. He’s been everywhere, man. He has played for six different MLB teams, wearing seven different numbers, and passed through several other organizations. He has played in the Dominican Summer League and the Dominican Winter League. He has played in the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars Game and the All-Star Futures Game. He has played in Korea and in the Caribbean Series (earlier this year, in fact). He even tried pitching, including 11 MLB appearances (9.31 ERA). He arrived in Mississippi in 2012 as a top Braves prospect and had a tough year. He returned to Double-A in 2013 and was a Southern League All-Star. He made his big league debut that fall. Bethancourt has played in almost 1,500 pro games and in 415 big league games. He’s had some moments but never a day like Wednesday, a day Cubs fans will always remember: “The Bethancourt Game.”

27 Aug

just stuff

Nick Sandlin, former All-America pitcher out of Southern Miss, made his first pro start on Monday for Cleveland and fared well: two strikeouts, two walks and a foul out in his one inning. However, the Guardians lost the game to visiting Kansas City and then lost again in the nightcap as their lead in the American League Central slipped to 1 game over the Royals. Sandlin was a lockdown reliever for two years at USM, moved to the rotation for his junior year (2018) and went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA. He won the Ferriss Trophy, C-USA’s pitcher of the year award and a national player of the year honor. The Guardians drafted him and moved him back to the bullpen, and the right-hander has a 3.26 ERA in 198 MLB games. … Kansas City played without Mississippi State products Hunter Renfroe (on the injured list), Adam Frazier (sitting with a .211 average) and Chris Stratton (5.23 ERA), and ex-Ole Miss standout James McArthur (no longer closing) worked one scoreless inning in Game 1. Frazier is in the lineup tonight for Game 3 of the big series. … Colt Keith has eight RBIs in his last four games, all wins by Detroit. The rookie out of Biloxi High is batting .266 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs. … Ex-USM star Matt Wallner homered in the ninth inning of Minnesota’s loss to Atlanta. His 10th blast of the season was his first off a left-hander (Dylan Lee). … Justin Steele, former George County High standout, is back on the bump today for the Chicago Cubs against Pittsburgh. Steele (4-5, 3.07, overall and 2-0, 1.66, in August) has had problems with Pittsburgh’s Connor Joe, batting .538 with a homer in 15 plate appearances vs. the left-hander, per Baseball Reference’s Matchups to Watch. … Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn, on the IL (knee injury) since July 31 for St. Louis, is expected to make a rehab start this week with Triple-A Memphis. Lynn (6-4, 4.06) threw about 75 pitches in a live practice session Monday, reports said. … Ex-DeSoto Central star Blaze Jordan, out since Aug. 10 after getting hit in the face by a pitch, was activated today by Double-A Portland. The Boston Red Sox’s No. 26 prospect is hitting .253 with seven homers and 51 RBIs. … Mississippi Braves right-hander Lucas Braun was named to MLB Pipeline’s Prospect Team of the Week after allowing just one run with 20 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings in two starts last week. Atlanta’s No. 21 prospect is 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in 10 Double-A starts.

22 Aug

pitching in

J.T. Ginn made a pretty impressive big league debut on Wednesday night, one of several noteworthy pitching performances from Magnolia State products in pro ball. Ex-Mississippi State star Ginn, called up by Oakland on Tuesday (see previous post), struck out the side around a walk in his first inning and finished with two hitless innings of relief work in the A’s 4-2 loss against Tampa Bay. … Southern Miss alum Tyler Stuart, making his Triple-A debut in the Washington chain, went 6 2/3, allowing one hit and one run with six strikeouts, to notch the victory for Rochester in a 4-1 win over Lehigh Valley. … Landon Harper, another former USM standout, pitched the last three innings for the Mississippi Braves and earned his first Double-A save in a 4-2 win vs. Chattanooga at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Harper has a 1.46 ERA in 19 appearances, with three holds and two wins. … Tanner Hall, the 2022 Ferriss Trophy winner at USM, allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his second High-Class A start in Minnesota’s system. Hall (two hits, two walks, four K’s) got a no-decision in Cedar Rapids’ 4-3 loss to Dayton. … Cam Schuelke, a 2024 draftee out of MSU by Cleveland, got the last two outs for Low-A Lynchburg in a 3-2 victory vs. Salem and earned his second save. He has not allowed a run in four games. P.S. Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet, now working limited innings for the Chicago White Sox, yielded two runs in four innings and got a no-decision in the club’s 6-2 win at San Francisco. The All-Star lefty, who has a 3.64 ERA, has pitched four innings or fewer in his last eight starts and is 0-3 in that span. … In the independent Frontier League, ex-Itawamba Community College star Tyreque Reed hit two of the five homers allowed by Belhaven product Brett Sanchez in Washington’s 8-2 win over Joliet. Reed is batting .339 with 10 bombs. Sanchez slipped to 4-6, 4.48 ERA, after allowing eight runs in five innings.

20 Aug

tagging up

Atlanta’s season of woe continued on Monday when Austin Riley was placed on the injured list with a fractured hand. The former DeSoto Central High star was batting .256 with 19 home runs and playing Gold Glove-level defense — did you see the play he made on Friday? — for a wounded Braves team (66-58) that is still very much in the playoff hunt in the National League. It has been a painful year generally for Mississippians in the majors. Riley joins Jordan Westburg, Dakota Hudson, Kendall Graveman, J.P. France, Brandon Woodruff, Spencer Turnbull, Lance Lynn and Jacob Waguespack on the injured list. In addition, Nathaniel Lowe, Justin Steele, Justin Foscue, Hurston Waldrep, Ethan Small, Hunter Renfroe and Nick Fortes have done time on the IL. … Fortes, an Ole Miss product, came off the IL on Sunday for Miami and recorded the final out in a 8-9-4-2 double play, the first in the big leagues in the modern era. He also homered on Monday — his third — and is batting .388 over his last 15 games. … Foscue, back in the minors, had a four-hit, four-RBI game for Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday. Rated Texas’ No. 7 prospect, the ex-Mississippi State star is batting .277 with five homers for the Express; he is 2-for-19 in his limited MLB time this year. … Biloxi High alum Colt Keith, 23, not that far removed from his youth league days, went 3-for-4 with a game-tying run in Detroit’s 3-2 win over the New York Yankees in Sunday’s Little League Classic at Williamsport, Pa. … Ex-State standout Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-24 over a six-game stretch before going 3-for-9 on Saturday and Sunday for Kansas City in back-to-back wins against Cincinnati. … Belated kudos to former Biloxi Shuckers standout Weston Wilson, who became the first Philadelphia Phillies rookie to hit for the cycle when he did so last Thursday. Wilson, who played in Biloxi in 2018-19, homered in his first big league at-bat for the Phillies last August. … The Mississippi Braves pounded Biloxi 11-1 on Sunday at Keesler Federal Park (formerly MGM Park) as Keshawn Ogans hit his first homer of the season for the M-Braves. The M-Braves won five of six in the series. Atlanta’s Double-A team, which is moving to Columbus, Ga., in 2025, starts its next-to-last homestand Tuesday at Trustmark Park vs. Chattanooga.

12 Aug

short hops

Baseball is a non-contact sport, except when a 97-mph fastball hits you in the face. Blaze Jordan, the ex-DeSoto Central High star, took one just below his right eye on Friday in a game for Double-A Portland. “Baseball is rough sometimes,” Jordan said on X (Twitter). “Be back soon!” He went on the seven-day injured list with a nasty black eye. The 21-year-old Boston prospect is batting .253 with seven home runs and 51 RBIs in his first full year at the Class AA level. … Austin Riley, another DeSoto Central alum, blasted his 18th homer of the year – and fourth in August – but it was wasted in Atlanta’s “Nightmare on Blake Street,” a 9-8 loss Sunday at Colorado in which the Rockies scored seven times in the eighth inning. … One day after getting roughed up by Atlanta, former Mississippi State standout Dakota Hudson landed on Colorado’s IL with elbow inflammation. Hudson, who has a 6.17 ERA with the Rockies, was making his first big league appearance since July 3. He had been at Triple-A. … MSU alum Christian MacLeod made his Triple-A debut in the Minnesota system on Sunday, yielding four earned runs in five innings in a loss against Columbus. The 2021 draftee has pitched at three levels in 2024 and has a 3.26 overall ERA. … South Panola product Emaarion Boyd put up a four-hit game on Sunday for High-A Jersey Shore, scored twice and swiped his 20th bag of the season for the Philadelphia affiliate. Boyd, 20, the Phillies’ No. 18 prospect (per MLB Pipeline), is batting .241 for the year with 41 runs and 31 RBIs in 78 games. He has 84 steals in three pro seasons. … There is a new vibe at Alcorn State, where Carlton Hardy, a highly successful college coach, has taken the reins as the Braves’ head man. Hardy spent the last 18 years at Savannah State, where he won a couple of conference coach of the year awards and led the Tigers to a 31-17 record in 2024. The former Grambling State player takes over an Alcorn program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2009. The previous coach, Reggie Williams, went 16-122 in three years.

31 Jul

fresh cut

A bunch of faces turned up in new places on Tuesday: Thrown into the cauldron at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Will Warren acquitted himself well in his big league debut. The former Jackson Prep standout from Brandon gave up four early runs but nothing more over 5 1/3 innings as a spot starter for the New York Yankees. The Yanks rallied to beat the Phillies 7-6 in 12 innings. Warren, New York’s No. 7 prospect, threw a fastball past Bryce Harper in the first inning for his first strikeout. … Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko homered in his first game for Triple-A Charlotte after being promoted by the Chicago White Sox. Elko, who hit 46 homers in five seasons in Oxford, has 42 career bombs in three years of pro ball. … Southern Miss product Tyler Stuart, traded to Washington by the New York Mets, pitched five innings (three runs, five K’s) in his debut with Double-A Harrisburg. … Former USM star Matthew Etzel, traded to Tampa Bay by Baltimore, went 0-for-4 in his debut with Double-A Montgomery. … Cooper Pratt, 2023 Gatorade player of the year at Magnolia Heights, hit a homer and a sac fly in his first game at High-Class A Wisconsin in the Milwaukee system. … David McCabe, Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect, came off the injured list for the Double-A Mississippi Braves and went 0-for-3 with a walk in his 2024 debut. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound third baseman hit .276 with 17 homers in A-ball in 2023. … Ole Miss product Gunnar Hoglund, 9-4 with a 2.84 ERA in Double-A, was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas by Oakland but did not pitch on Tuesday. P.S. Brent Rooker, subject of many trade rumors, stayed put with Oakland on deadline day and belted his 26th homer of the season in a 5-2 win at San Francisco. The ex-Mississippi State standout leads the majors with 11 homers in July. … Former DeSoto Central star Austin Riley had his first four-hit game since June 8, 2023, in Atlanta’s 5-1 win at Milwaukee. Riley boosted his average to .259. … Recently signed by Gastonia of the independent Atlantic League, MSU alum Jacob Robson hit his first homer of 2024 in his third game on Tuesday. The well-traveled Robson played in four MLB games with Detroit in 2021 and most recently played in Australia.

30 Jul

m-braves by number

24 — Home dates, starting with tonight’s game against Tennessee, that remain before the Mississippi Braves are gone to Columbus, Ga.
74,359 — Total reported attendance at Trustmark Park this season, just over 2,000 per home date.
15-12 — The M-Braves’ second-half record, good for second place in the Southern League South. The team went 31-37 in the first half.
4 — Top 30 Atlanta prospects on the M-Braves’ current roster.
178 — Stolen bases by the team, which ranks first in the league.
44 — Steals by Justin Dean, an M-Braves season record and the best total in the league. Three other M-Braves rank in the top seven.
45 — Home runs by the team, last in the league.
10 — Homers by Tyler Tolve, who leads the team and ranks 11th in the league.
3.69 — Staff ERA, which ranks fourth in the league.
1.28 — Staff WHIP, which ranks second-worst in the league.
7 — Wins by Ian Mejia (tonight’s starter), tied for second-most in the league. He also leads the club in ERA (2.70) and strikeouts (88).

29 Jul

of local interest

An interesting subplot when Atlanta and Milwaukee get together is the performance of the players who came through Mississippi on the respective Double-A clubs. Both the Braves and Brewers have built winning teams with a heavy reliance on homegrown talent, though Atlanta’s lineup for tonight’s game at Milwaukee is missing several former Mississippi Braves stars. Ronald Acuna, Michael Harris and Ozzie Albies are out with injuries, leaving only Austin Riley and recent call-up Nacho Alvarez as M-Braves alums in the lineup. Third baseman Riley has started to rake after a sluggish start to 2024; he is batting .254 with 14 homers for a team that leads the National League wild card race despite a ridiculous rash of injuries. Alvarez, playing second base in Albies’ absence, has scuffled with an .087 average. The Brewers, first in the NL Central, will trot out four recent Biloxi Shuckers stars: Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick. Turang, the second baseman and leadoff batter, is among the league’s top base stealers with 31, and left fielder Chourio, only 20, a rookie of the year candidate, is batting .259 with 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 12 bags. Interestingly enough, the Braves have a former Shuckers standout at shortstop — Orlando Arcia — and the Brewers start an M-Braves product — William Contreras, a 2024 All-Star — at catcher. Milwaukee got a lift on Sunday when closer Devin Williams, a Shuckers alum, came off the injured list and threw a scoreless inning. He’ll likely get in tonight if the Brewers have a late lead. Two former M-Braves will be in Atlanta’s bullpen: right-handers A.J. Minter and Darius Vines, just recalled today from Triple-A. … The three-game series that begins tonight at American Family Field marks the first meeting of the Braves and Brewers this season. P.S. Cooper Pratt, the 2023 Gatorade player of the year at Magnolia Heights, was promoted by Milwaukee from Low-Class A Carolina to High-A Wisconsin. Pratt, a shortstop, hit .295 (.394 OBP) for Carolina with three homers, 36 RBIs and 25 steals.