Tag Archives: Braves

23 Aug

one more for the show

Another day, another big league debut for a Mississippi Braves alumnus. And, no, it doesn’t get old. Drew Waters made his long-awaited debut on Monday, with the Kansas City Royals, joining the more than 160 former M-Braves who have appeared in The Show since 2005. He didn’t set off any fireworks, but the 23-year-old outfielder drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning that put the Royals ahead in a game they would win 6-4 against the Chicago White Sox. He revealed afterward that he was almost late for the day game at Kauffman Stadium because he was confused over the starting time. He played right field, hit ninth, went 0-for-3 — but was awarded player of the game honors by his teammates for drawing the clutch walk. A second-round pick by Atlanta in 2017, Waters had a monster year for the M-Braves in 2019, winning the Southern League batting title and MVP honors at age 20. A five-tool prospect — and a really sharp guy — the switch-hitter hit .319 with five homers, 41 RBIs, 63 runs, 35 doubles, nine triples and 13 stolen bases. His progress seemed to stall at Triple-A Gwinnett, and the Braves traded him in mid-July to the Royals for a 2022 draft pick. He took off again at Triple-A Omaha, hitting .295 with seven homers and 17 RBIs in 31 games before the call-up. “There’s definitely been peaks and valleys in my journey,” Waters told mlb.com. “But I would say this tops it all, being here with the guys who are now my teammates and being able to put on a Royals uniform.” … Waters’ debut notwithstanding, the Former M-Brave Player of the Day Award has to go to Michael Harris II, whose 13th homer of the year helped Atlanta beat Pittsburgh 2-1. Harris, a strong rookie of the year candidate, debuted back in May, the first of an impressive crop to arrive in 2022. That list includes Vaughn Grissom (.391, three homers with Atlanta), Joey Meneses (.318, five homers with Washington) and Shea Langeliers (.273, one homer in six games with Oakland).

20 Aug

power surge

Among the smattering of home runs hit by Mississippians in pro ball on Friday was a milestone blast by Hunter Renfroe. The former Mississippi State standout from Crystal Springs hit his 150th career homer for Milwaukee, which lost to Chicago 8-7 at a windy Wrigley Field. Renfroe’s 22nd homer of the season carried 427 feet to center field. In just his sixth full season (counting 2020 as a full season), he currently sits 10th on the all-time home run list of Mississippi-born players in MLB. Bill Melton and Frank White are tied for eighth at 160. The rest of the list: Ellis Burks 352, Dave Parker 339, George Scott 271, Chet Lemon 215, Brian Dozier 192, Mitch Moreland 186 and Dmitri Young 171. Corey Dickerson, from McComb, now playing for St. Louis, is second to Renfroe on the active list with 132 homers, four this season. (Moreland hasn’t officially retired but has not played this season.) … Austin Riley, the ex-DeSoto Central High star, hit career bomb No. 90 for Atlanta in a big 6-2 win against Houston in their World Series “rematch.” Riley has 31 on the year, his fourth in the big leagues. At Triple-A Norfolk in the Baltimore system, MSU alum Jordan Westburg hit his 10th homer for that club and 19th total in 2022. At Double-A Hartford (Colorado), former Bulldogs standout Hunter Stovall hit his ninth of the season. And at Low-A Visalia (Arizona), ex-Ole Miss star Kevin Graham hit homer No. 2 in his 10th career game. P.S. Toronto is interested in Billy Hamilton, according to a report. The veteran outfielder from Taylorsville recently became a free agent after Miami sent him to the minors. Since 2018, his last season with Cincinnati, his original club, the dash-fast Hamilton has hooked up with nine different major league organizations. Speed never slumps.

19 Aug

coming out party

Ke’Shun Collier, a 20th-round pick last month, played in his first pro game on Thursday, going 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI as the right fielder for the Arizona Complex League Cubs, Chicago’s rookie team. A Meridian Community College product from Mendenhall, the 5-foot-8 Collier is the latest of the 2022 draftees from the state to debut. Most of them are still in rookie ball, but a few have graduated to a higher level. Logan Tanner, a second-round pick out of Mississippi State, is 2-for-14 at Low-Class A Daytona in Cincinnati’s system. Southern Miss alum Tyler Stuart is at Low-A St. Lucie in the New York Mets’ chain; he yielded a run in 1 1/3 innings of work there on Thursday. Ex-USM standout Landon Harper allowed two runs in one inning in his Wednesday debut for Low-A Augusta in the Atlanta organization. Ole Miss alum Kevin Graham is 1-for-24 (with a home run) at Low-A Visalia in Arizona’s system. Emaarion Boyd, drafted by Philadelphia out of South Panola High, has had one of the best starts: 5-for-16 (.313) with three steals in the Florida Complex League. Ex-MSU star Brad Cumbest, a Colorado draftee, has had a cold start: 1-for-17 (with eight strikeouts) in the ACL. Former Ole Miss slugger Tim Elko has had the most interesting debut. He was hitless in his first three games for the White Sox’s ACL club but has belted three homers in his last three. He is 3-for-21 overall. Of note: MSU product Landon Sims, the first pick (34th overall) out of the state by Arizona, won’t debut until 2023 because of elbow surgery. Itawamba CC alum Kyle Crigger, drafted out of Louisiana Tech by Miami, has not allowed an earned run in five appearances for Low-A Jupiter. USM/Delta State product Hunter Riggins, a free agent signee by Atlanta, has a 3.00 ERA in two games in the FCL.

17 Aug

touching the bases

There is much to absorb from a busy Tuesday. Start with Charlie Morton’s brilliance against the first-place New York Mets. The former Mississippi Braves pitcher threw 6 2/3 shutout innings, yielding three hits and fanning 12, in Atlanta’s 5-0 win — its eighth straight — at Truist Park. The Braves are 3.5 games back in the National League East. … Down at High-Class A Rome, M-Braves alum Mike Soroka, on a big league rehab assignment, struck out eight batters in four scoreless innings. He hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since Aug. 3, 2020. … The Braves gave rookie sensation Michael Harris II, who started this season at Double-A Mississippi, a well-deserved new contract: $72 million over eight years. (Don’t the Braves need to find some cash to re-sign Dansby Swanson?) … The tally is now 160 (at least) of M-Braves alums who have reached the majors with the promotions of Freddy Tarnok by the Braves and Shea Langeliers by Oakland. Tarnok was 2-2 with a 4.31 ERA for the M-Braves this season before moving to Triple-A Gwinnett. Langeliers, a star on last year’s Double-A South championship club before being traded, doubled on the first pitch he saw for the A’s. He was hitting .283 with 19 homers at Triple-A Las Vegas. … Former Mississippi State star Adam Frazier had two hits, two RBIs and two runs in surging Seattle’s 8-2 win against the Los Angeles Angels. Frazier is hitting .318 in his last seven games for the American League wild card leader, which has won 35 of its last 50. … MSU alum Hunter Renfroe, on with a bunt single — yes, a bunt — in the 11th inning, scored the game-winning run for Milwaukee in a 6-5 victory vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fellow former Bulldogs star Brandon Woodruff struck out eight L.A. batters in five innings. … Ole Miss product Nick Fortes homered twice and scored a third time in run-starved Miami’s 4-3 win over San Diego. Fortes is at .259 with six homers. … Ex-MSU standout Nathaniel Lowe went 3-for-4 in Texas’ loss to Oakland and is batting .400 in August, .291 on the season. … Former Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz, moving closer (maybe) to returning to San Diego’s active roster, got two outs and gave up a three-run homer in a rehab appearance for Triple-A El Paso. The 33-year-old lefty has been on the shelf all season. … Ex-MSU star Jake Mangum, on the injured list at Triple-A Syracuse since May 23 with a back problem, went 0-for-2 in a rehab game for the Mets’ Florida Complex League club. Mangum was hitting .333 in 11 games at Syracuse. … DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan had a 4-for-5 game with his third homer for High-A Greenville in Boston’s system. Jordan is batting .435 in six games at his new level. … Logan Tanner, drafted out of MSU in the second round last month by Cincinnati, got his first two hits as a pro at Low-A Daytona. He is 2-for-17. … Third-round pick Dalton Rogers, a Southern Miss alum, pitched a scoreless inning in his pro debut for Boston’s rookie team in the FCL. … Ex-State standouts Jordan Westburg (in Baltimore’s system) and Justin Foscue (Texas) are ranked Nos. 80 and 82 in MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 Prospects list.

15 Aug

farm to table

Time to take a moment to appreciate the quality of pitching talent that has been funneled through Double-A Mississippi and into Atlanta. If you’ve frequented Trustmark Park in Pearl in recent years, you know about these guys. It’s been quite a treat. The Braves take a six-game win streak into this week’s titanic National League East clash with the New York Mets. Five of those six games were started by M-Braves alums, including the last three at Miami, where young guns Kyle Muller, Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder — all just up from Triple-A — held the Marlins to five runs in 18 combined innings. Elder, 23, who went 7-1 for the 2021 Double-A South champion M-Braves, was brilliant on Sunday, allowing one run in seven innings with 10 strikeouts. Unfortunately, he got no support and a no-decision. All told, former M-Braves have 53 of Atlanta’s 70 wins this season. They’ve made 113 of the 116 starts. Spencer Strider (M-Braves ’21), a rookie of the year candidate, is 6-4 with a 3.11 ERA heading into tonight’s start against the Mets’ Carlos Carrasco. Graybeard Charlie Morton (M-Braves ’07), the Tuesday starter, is 5-5, 4.26. The Braves haven’t announced a starter for Thursday (vs. Jacob deGrom), but it’ll likely be either 14-game winner Kyle Wright (M-Braves ’18) or All-Star and 10-game winner Max Fried (M-Braves ’17-18). Anderson (M-Braves ’18-19), a postseason star for the world champion Braves last fall, has 10 wins despite not having his best stuff this year. And there’s this news: Erstwhile staff ace Mike Soroka (M-Braves ’17), who is 15-6, 2.86, in his injury-interrupted career, is slated for a rehab assignment on Tuesday at High-Class A Rome. (It also bears mentioning that the Braves have developed a slew of other pitchers now on other clubs, including Alex Wood, Mike Minor, Bryse Wilson, Sean Newcomb and Tucker Davidson.) Atlanta’s scouting and development personnel have done a helluva job in recent years. Brimming with young talent, the Braves put a World Series trophy on the shelf in 2021 and are well-positioned to add more. Pitching is always the key, and they’ve got it.

11 Aug

now that’s a big splash

Ever since Brian McCann made the jump from Mississippi to Atlanta in 2005 and banged out a couple of hits in his first game, we’ve seen some splashy MLB debuts from a number of former M-Braves. We’ve never seen anything like what Vaughn Grissom did on Wednesday night at Fenway Park in Boston. In fact, no one has. Grissom, 21, became the youngest player in the modern era to both hit a home run and steal a base in his debut. He is the only Braves player (Boston, Milwaukee or Atlanta) ever to do it. Not to be overlooked is the fact that Grissom, primarily a shortstop who played only one game at second base in 22 games for the M-Braves, handled eight chances flawlessly at second. He registered four assists and four putouts and turned two double plays. “He was like a kid out on the playground pretty much, just having a ball,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said in an mlb.com article. Having recently been elevated to the top of Atlanta’s prospect chart, Grissom was having a breakout season in the minors, batting .324 with 14 homers and 27 steals between High-Class A Rome and Double-A Mississippi. He was hitting .363 with three homers and seven bags for the M-Braves when he got the call-up. He was promptly inserted as the No. 9 hitter and plugged in at second base, filling a hole created by injuries. In the bottom of the first inning, the ball found him; he dug out a grounder by Rafael Devers, completed the 4-3 and flashed a broad grin. He was hitless in two at-bats when he came up in the seventh against lefty Darwinzon Hernandez. “The competitive nature kicked in,” Grissom told mlb.com. He launched a first-pitch fastball over the Green Monster, 412 feet, punctuated with a playful bat flip. In the ninth, he lashed a single to left and then stole second. He scored on a Dansby Swanson hit, the last run in the Braves’ 8-4 win. Jeff Francoeur homered in his first MLB game, as did Evan Gattis and Austin Riley. Jordan Schafer and Jason Heyward homered in their first at-bat. But the splashy debuts of those former M-Braves stars have to take a back seat to what Grissom did on Wednesday night. P.S. On a somber note, we mourn the passing of Corky Palmer, a legend in Southern Miss circles and beyond. Palmer, an affable character, is a thread through USM baseball history, having played for Pete Taylor, coached under Hill Denson and served as head coach for 12 years, taking the 2009 team (featuring Brian Dozier) to the College World Series. Current USM coach Scott Berry coached with Palmer for most of those years. He was 68.

10 Aug

whatever happened to …

Braxton Lee, whose serpentine career includes a minor league batting title and 17 MLB at-bats, is flourishing in the independent Atlantic League. Lee, 28, who played at Picayune High, Pearl River Community College and Ole Miss, set an Atlantic League record with a three-triple game on Tuesday for Southern Maryland, the club managed by Jackson’s Stan Cliburn. A lefty-hitting outfielder, Lee is batting .315 with three homers, 57 RBIs, 19 doubles, nine triples and 14 stolen bases. Originally drafted by Tampa Bay in 2014, he won the Southern League batting title in 2017 (playing for two different teams) and reached the big leagues with Miami in 2018. He played in the New York Mets’ system in 2019 and Cincinnati’s in 2021, getting some Triple-A time both years. He moved on to the Atlantic League after becoming a minor league free agent last fall. Cliburn’s Blue Crabs won the first-half title in their division with a 48-18 record; they’re 18-11 (second place) in the second half. P.S. Debut alert: Vaughn Grissom, making the jump from Double-A Mississippi to Atlanta today, is in the Braves’ lineup, batting ninth and playing second base at Boston. Grissom, 21, Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect, hit .363 with three homers in 22 games for the M-Braves, playing one game at second base, the others at shortstop. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Grissom has played 19 games at second in his three-year pro career. He is a .315 career hitter.

09 Aug

just stuff

There is a Mississippian on the roster of one of the two Iowa-based teams slated to play tonight in the minor league Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa. Former Pascagoula High star Willie Joe Garry is an outfielder for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, Minnesota’s High-Class A affiliate. Garry, who recently came off the injured list, is batting .179 with 10 steals in his fourth pro season. Drafted out of ‘Goula in 2018, Garry is a .199 career hitter who stole 24 bases in 2021. (Listed on Quad Cities’ roster but on the season-long IL is ex-Mississippi State pitcher Eric Cerantola, drafted by Kansas City in 2021.) Tonight’s game will be televised by MLB Network at 6:30 CDT. … Ex-State standout Logan Tanner, the second-highest drafted Mississippi product this summer, made his pro debut on Monday with Cincinnati’s Arizona Complex League team. The Hattiesburg native, a second-round pick by the Reds, went 0-for-3. … The Mississippi Braves are at Tennessee this week for a six-game Southern League series in which they could encounter a couple of Magnolia State products. Ex-Southern Miss star Walker Powell is 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA in six games (three starts) for the Smokies, a Chicago Cubs affiliate. The 6-foot-8 Powell has nine wins over three levels in the Cubs’ system in 2022, his second pro season. Infielder Delvin Zinn, a Pontotoc native and Itawamba Community College alum, has played sparingly this season and is batting .095. He is a .237 career hitter. … The big league Cubs have announced that former M-Braves star Jason Heyward will be released after this season with a year left on his eight-year, $184 million contract. He is batting .174 with seven homers and is on the IL, probably for the remainder of this season. Heyward, 32, a key figure for the Cubs on their historic World Series winner in 2016, arrived in Mississippi as one of the top prospects in baseball in 2009. He hit .352 with seven homers and 30 RBIs in 47 Double-A games. He famously homered in his first MLB at-bat with Atlanta the next year. The Cubs also have released former M-Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons, a defensive whiz who was hitting just .173. Simmons, 32, hit .293 for the M-Braves in 2012 and carries a .263 career average in the big leagues. … In Atlanta’s deflating series against the New York Mets last weekend, there were good signs from ex-M-Braves star Ronald Acuna, who went 8-for-19 with two doubles and a home run. He also won the Chevrolet Electric Play of the Week award for a home run-robbing catch in right field in Friday’s game, the only one the Braves won. Acuna is batting .267 with nine homers, 28 RBIs and 23 steals. Atlanta, playing at Boston tonight, needs more from him.

08 Aug

staggered

While the Atlanta Braves — and all those Mississippi Braves alumni on their roster — were getting steamrolled in New York by Buck Showalter’s Mets, the current M-Braves were getting trucked in Pearl by the rival Biloxi Shuckers. The Double-A M-Braves dropped Sunday’s series finale 6-5 at Trustmark Park, their fifth loss in the six games against Biloxi. They fell from 17-10 and first place in the Southern League South at the start of the homestand to 18-15 and second behind Montgomery. Biloxi bolted to 17-16, third place. There was an ominous sign early in Sunday’s game. With the bases full and two outs in the top of the first inning, a pop fly into left field off the bat of Biloxi’s Thomas Dillard was lost in the sun by Justyn-Henry Malloy. Two runs scored. A wild pitch made it 3-0. The M-Braves later lost another ball in the sun and had some adventurous catches in the outfield, as well. Down 6-1 in the seventh, the home club battled back but wound up with their second one-run loss in the series. They also lost two two-run games. Dillard, the former Ole Miss star, had a big series for the Shuckers, going 7-for-23 with two walks, a homer, five RBIs and four runs. He had three hits Sunday and is batting .229 (.365 on-base percentage) with nine homers and 60 RBIs on the season, his first full year in Double-A. Immediately after the game, the wounded M-Braves boarded a bus for a seven-hour trip to Kodak, Tennessee. That’s a lot of time to sit and think about what just hit them.

04 Aug

look who’s no. 1

The flurry of recent trades that involved a ton of minor league prospects made for a major reshuffling of the organizational Top 30 charts by MLB Pipeline. Mississippi Braves shortstop Vaughn Grissom jumped up to the No. 1 spot in Atlanta’s list. He is raking at a .362 clip in 17 Double-A games. Nine other current M-Braves, including some on the injured list, are in the Top 30. No. 10 is Darius Vines, a right-handed starter slated to go tonight against Biloxi at Trustmark Park. Former Smithville High star Jared Johnson is No. 23 on the Braves’ list. The right-hander is on the IL (Tommy John surgery) at Low-Class A Augusta. … There are 18 other Mississippi products in the various Top 30s. (The lists will be redone again at some point to filter in the 2022 draft picks.) Former Mississippi State stars Will Bednar (No. 4, San Francisco) and Justin Foscue (No. 4, Texas) are the highest-rated. Others of note: MSU product Jordan Westburg is Baltimore’s fifth-rated prospect; ex-DeSoto Central High standout Blaze Jordan is Boston’s No. 6; Ole Miss alum Ryan Rolison is Colorado’s No. 7; Southern Miss product Matt Wallner is Minnesota’s No. 7; and former MSU star J.T. Ginn is Oakland’s No. 8. Wallner, who homered in last month’s All-Star Futures Game, has reached Triple-A. MSU product Ethan Small, Milwaukee’s No. 10, has made two big league pitching appearances this season. P.S. Lance Lynn, the veteran right-hander from Ole Miss, delivered a shot in the arm for the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. In what broadcaster Steve Stone described as a “wonderful” performance, Lynn threw six innings of one-run ball to beat Kansas City 4-1. It might have been the best of his 10 starts since coming off the injured list. Pitching around a rain delay, he allowed four hits and struck out eight. Lynn is 2-4 with a 5.87 ERA, not the numbers Chicago was hoping for from him. But Wednesday’s outing surely was encouraging. … Ex-UM star Thomas Dillard hit his ninth homer of the season, helping Biloxi complete a twinbill sweep of the M-Braves at the TeePee. … Mississippi College alum Blaine Crim, at Double-A Frisco in the Texas system, went 4-for-5 and hit a pair of homers. He is batting .277 with 15 bombs and 57 RBIs.