Tag Archives: Braves

08 Aug

return to form

Tim Anderson’s breakout season, so rudely interrupted in late June by a lengthy trip to the injured list, has resumed unabated. The Chicago White Sox shortstop, a former first-round draft pick out of East Central Community College, has 14 hits in seven August games. He went 4-for-4 and scored three times in the ChiSox’s 8-1 win at Detroit on Wednesday. He is batting .323 with 12 homers, 39 RBIs and 15 steals on the season. Anderson was the American League player of the month for April – he batted .381 with six homers – and was at .317 when he went on the IL with a sprained ankle that caused him to miss most of July. Now in his fourth big league campaign, he is a .268 career hitter with 58 homers and 66 steals. Fans of the rebuilding White Sox can take heart in the fact that Anderson, 26, is under contract through at least 2022. P.S. DeSoto Central High product Austin Riley went on the IL Wednesday for Atlanta with a knee ligament injury. Of the 26 Mississippi-connected players to appear in MLB this season, 13 have spent time on the IL, and one has made two visits. What’s up with that? … Ex-Ole Miss star Mike Mayers cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Memphis by St. Louis. Right-hander Mayers, who did a lengthy IL stint this season, had a 7.24 ERA in 12 games for the Cardinals.

01 Aug

on the move — again

Corey Dickerson and Drew Pomeranz have new addresses and new perspectives on their 2019 season. The Mississippi college products were among the slew of players traded on Wednesday, both moving to teams with designs on a division title. Former Meridian Community College standout Dickerson, an outfielder, was traded from last-place Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, which is still in the hunt in the National League East. Ole Miss product Pomeranz, a left-hander who can start or relieve, went from San Francisco, barely an NL wild card contender, to Milwaukee, which is in the thick of the NL Central battle. (Former Biloxi Shuckers shortstop Mauricio Dubon, a top Brewers prospect, went to the Giants as part of the Pomeranz deal.) Dickerson, who figures to play regularly for the Phillies, is a .285 career hitter with 107 homers. Now in his seventh MLB season, the former All-Star and Gold Glove winner is joining a fourth different team. Pomeranz, in his ninth big league season, is now with his seventh different organization. Also a one-time All-Star, he has a 4.09 career ERA, a 46-57 record, 14 holds and three saves. He is expected to work out of the Brewers’ bullpen. … Atlanta, in much-needed moves, added relievers Shane Greene (from Detroit) and Mark Melancon (Giants). In the Greene deal, the Braves parted with Mississippi Braves alums Joey Wentz (5-8, 4.72 for the current club) and Travis Demeritte. Former M-Braves standout Kolby Allard was traded to Texas on Tuesday for reliever Chris Martin. … Other Mississippians who were rumored to be on the block – Jarrod Dyson (Arizona), Billy Hamilton (Kansas City), Lance Lynn (Texas), Hunter Renfroe (San Diego) – stayed put. P.S. Former Mississippi State standout Jonathan Holder is back up with the New York Yankees after a second stint this season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Holder has a 6.63 ERA in 32 MLB appearances.

30 Jul

whatever happened to …

Kade Scivicque, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College and Mississippi Braves standout, is plugging away – quite successfully – at Triple-A Toledo in the Detroit chain. The 26-year-old catcher is batting .288 with two homers (including one on Monday) and six RBIs in 15 games for the Mud Hens after earning a mid-June promotion from Double-A Erie. Scivicque has bounced around a lot the last couple years. He was a Southern League midseason All-Star with the M-Braves in 2017 and went to spring training with Atlanta’s big club in 2018. He was squeezed off the Triple-A Gwinnett roster that April and released, then re-signed by Detroit, which had drafted him in the fourth round out of LSU in 2015 and dealt him to Atlanta in 2017. He played at three levels with the Tigers last year and opened 2019 at Erie, where he hit .346 with five homers in 28 games. An All-America pick at LSU, the defense-minded Scivicque has a .275 career minor league average. … Also on the Toledo roster is former Mississippi State star Jacob Robson, a fourth-year outfielder who is hitting .278 with seven homers, 40 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. MLB Pipeline rates him as the Tigers’ No. 25 prospect.

29 Jul

party crashers

Dakota Hudson celebrated the anniversary of his big league debut on Sunday in St. Louis, but the Houston Astros crashed the party. Hudson, the former Mississippi State standout, was knocked around for five runs on eight hits in four innings as the Astros claimed a 6-2 victory over the Cardinals in an interleague matchup of division leaders. A sinkerball pitcher who typically gets a lot of ground balls, Hudson relied more on sliders Sunday, according to reports, and gave up three home runs. “I felt like I had good execution, they just got to a few pitches,” he told mlb.com. Hudson had won his four previous starts in July and is now 10-5 with a 3.88 ERA for a Cardinals club that dropped into a first-place tie with Chicago in the National League Central. The Cardinals host the Cubs for a compelling three-game series starting on Tuesday. On July 28, 2018, a little over two years after signing with St. Louis as a first-round draftee, Hudson threw a perfect inning in relief against the Cubs, registering two strikeouts. P.S. Southern Miss product Brian Dozier went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs to help Washington and ace Stephen Strasburg beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4. Dozier’s 15th homer of the year, a two-run shot, came in the fifth inning off Walker Buehler and put the Nationals ahead 2-1. Washington, 5.5 games back of Atlanta in the NL East, hosts the Braves in a big three-game series starting today.

25 Jul

quiet contributor

He came in from the bullpen in the seventh inning of a 1-0 game with a runner on and two outs. He struck out the batter, the only one he would face. His team, the Washington Nationals, went on to win 2-0 over Colorado in Game 2 of a twinbill. Tony Sipp, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star from Pascagoula, did his job Wednesday. Again. He’s a situational reliever, typically called on just to get one or two hitters. It’s not a job that warrants many headlines, but Sipp has been good at it this season, especially so over the last couple months. The 36-year-old lefty has posted eight straight scoreless appearances. He has yielded just one run in his last 13 games. He has been a quiet contributor for a Nationals club that has won 35 of its last 50 and pulled within 4 games of first-place Atlanta in the National League East. For the season, Sipp has eight holds and a 3.79 ERA – inflated by some early scuffles – in 19 innings spread over 33 appearances. A former 45th-round pick out of Clemson, Sipp is in his 11th big league season. He signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal with Washington as a free agent in March. The Nationals, who have had their share of bullpen issues this season, surely feel they are getting their money’s worth from Sipp.

22 Jul

around the horn

JaCoby Jones came off the injured list on Friday and looked to be in fine form on Sunday, making two outstanding catches in center field and hitting a home run in Detroit’s 4-3 win against Toronto. Ex-Richton High star Jones’ homer, his 10th, came off former Ole Miss pitcher Jacob Waguespack. Jones, who missed 11 games with a back injury, is batting .252 (.295 over his last 30 games). … The day after Jones was activated, Madison Central alum Spencer Turnbull, a member of the Tigers’ rotation, went on the 10-day IL with a back problem. … Also hitting the IL is former Wheeler High and Mississippi State standout Brandon Woodruff, who had to leave Milwaukee’s game on Sunday with an oblique injury. That’s a blow for the playoff-contending Brewers. Woodruff, an All-Star this year, is 11-3 with a 3.75 ERA. … MSU product Mitch Moreland reportedly will be activated from the IL this week by Boston. He has played three straight days at first base for Triple-A Pawtucket on a rehab assignment. He went 0-for-9 in those three games. … Ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn, the first pitcher in MLB to reach 12 wins this season, suffered a second straight loss on Sunday when Houston beat his Texas club 5-3. Lynn, who fanned 12 in seven innings, is 12-6, 3.93. … A prolonged slump coupled with the return of Ender Inciarte will cut into Austin Riley’s playing time in Atlanta. The DeSoto Central product, who sat out Sunday, is batting .170 over his last 15 games. He is at .248 with 16 homers on the season. … Current DeSoto Central star Blaze Jordan and Columbia Academy’s Slade Wilks are scheduled to play in today’s Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. MLB Network will televise the game live at 2 p.m. Both Jordan (a State commit) and Wilks (Southern Miss) are on the rosters for the Perfect Game All-American Classic to be played Aug. 11 at Petco Park in San Diego.

17 Jul

ups and downs

Getting to the big leagues is hard. Staying in the big leagues might be even harder. Bobby Bradley, the former Harrison Central High standout, was sent back to Triple-A by Cleveland on Tuesday. The Indians needed to call up a starting pitcher, so Bradley, just 8-for-45 with one homer since making The Show, was bumped from the 25-man roster. “It’s not going to hurt him to get at-bats at Triple-A,” Indians manager Terry Francona told cleveland.com. Of the five Mississippians to debut in the majors this year, only ex-DeSoto Central star Austin Riley hasn’t gone back down. Mississippi State product Nate Lowe has been sent down twice by Tampa Bay; he is currently with the big league club again (and hitting a ton). Ole Miss alum Jacob Waguespack also has been yo-yo’ed by Toronto; he was recalled Tuesday to make a spot start. Then there’s Chris Ellis. Ellis, a former UM and Mississippi Braves ace, made Kansas City’s opening day roster as a Rule 5 draftee out of St. Louis’ system. He pitched a scoreless inning in his debut on March 31. He was dropped from the active roster a couple days later and, per Rule 5 rules, was returned to the Cardinals. The 26-year-old right-hander has struggled mightily at Triple-A Memphis, with a 7.74 ERA and four blown saves in five chances over 30 appearances. One has to wonder if he’ll ever get another big league look. Bradley, only 23, surely will, though it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the demotion. He was killing it at Columbus (.292, 24 homers) before his call-up.

16 Jul

in time of need

Milwaukee needs a stopper to step up, and it’s Brandon Woodruff’s turn. The Mississippi State alum from Wheeler goes to the bump tonight against first-place Atlanta, aiming to stop the skidding Brewers’ 1-5 tumble. He would seem to be the right guy to do it. Woodruff, whose last appearance was in the All-Star Game a week ago, is 10-3 with a 3.67 ERA. He has faced the Braves once before, on May 19 in Atlanta, when he threw eight strong innings but got a no-decision in a game the Brewers won 3-2 in 10. He yielded six hits – including homers by Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna – with six strikeouts and no walks. Milwaukee has lost eight of 10 to fall to 48-47, third in the National League Central. The Braves, who’ve won eight of 10 and are comfortably atop the NL East, will throw rookie and former Mississippi Braves righty Bryse Wilson. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn, who is an MLB-best 12-4, 3.69, gets the start tonight for Texas against visiting Arizona, and another former Rebel, Jacob Waguespack, will start for Toronto against Boston at Fenway Park. It’ll be the third career appearance for Waguespack (1-0, 5.00), who beat the Red Sox on July 3 with a solid five-inning effort.

10 Jul

oh, by the way …

Somewhat lost in the shuffle of All-Star week is the Triple-A All-Star Game, which is set for tonight (8 p.m., MLB Network) in El Paso, Texas. It’s worth noting here because there are two Mississippi-connected players on the International League roster: Mississippi State product Brent Rooker and ex-Mississippi Braves slugger Travis Demeritte. Rooker, a third-year pro in the Minnesota Twins system, is batting .286 with 14 homers and 47 RBIs for Rochester. One of the highest rated prospects in this game (No. 7 by mlb.com), he could get a big league call-up later this summer. Demeritte, now with Gwinnett in Atlanta’s chain, is batting .301 with 18 homers and 64 RBIs. He hit 32 homers during two otherwise lackluster seasons in Pearl. The IL’s pitching coach is Jackson native and former big leaguer Stu Cliburn, who has been in Rochester for several years. P.S. In the lone MLB game on Thursday night’s slate, Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn will shoot for the American League lead in wins when he takes the mound for Texas against visiting Houston. Lynn, in his first year with the Rangers, is 11-4, 3.91 ERA. He is an impressive 93-61 career.

21 Jun

back on track

Bradley Roney, drafted by Atlanta out of Southern Miss in 2014, reached Triple-A in 2016 and put up nice numbers as a closer there. But his rapid progress was suddenly derailed by injuries that cost him a big chunk of the 2017 season, all of 2018 and some of this season. He may be getting back on track. Roney, 26, was promoted to the Double-A Mississippi Braves on Thursday after a dominating stint at Class A Florida, where he worked 14 1/3 scoreless innings with 18 strikeouts and three walks. Roney pitched for the M-Braves in 2016 and ’17. He had 30 career saves at USM and is 20-for-25 with a 13-7 record and 3.38 ERA in his six minor league campaigns. … The M-Braves, currently playing a series in Biloxi, return to Trustmark Park on June 25. P.S. Blast from the past: Among the handful of players still active from the first M-Braves team in 2005 is Iker Franco, who was the backup catcher to Brian McCann. Franco, now 38 and in his 20th year of pro ball, is playing for Oaxaca in the Mexican League. Franco batted .296 with three homers in 48 games for the M-Braves before earning a brief promotion to Triple-A. A native of Mexico, he has played in the Mexican League since 2008 and was the championship series MVP in 2011. He is currently batting .260 with three homers, including a walk-off shot on May 28.