Tag Archives: Braves

12 Apr

tilting at curveballs

The biggest disappointment in the big leagues so far would have to be Minnesota, which is 0-7. Ex-Southern Miss star and Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was quoted during spring training as saying, “The last couple years, we thought we would be good, but this year we expect it.” Like his team, 2015 All-Star Dozier isn’t meeting expectations: .192 with a solo homer. … Among the surprises in MLB is Cincinnati, off to a 5-2 start. Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart is batting .412, and Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, while hitting just .176, has contributed a homer, a steal, three walks and four runs. … The only thing Jonathan Papelbon has throttled this season for Washington has been opposing batters. The former Mississippi State star has saved all four of the Nationals’ wins, allowing just one run. … Tampa Bay wanted power from ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, and the ex-Colorado slugger has delivered with three homers through six games. He has only two other hits, however. … McComb native Jarrod Dyson is 1-for-4 with two walks in two rehab games at Triple-A Omaha; no definite return date has been set for the Kansas City Royals speedster. … Former Mississippi Braves star Mallex Smith’s line from his MLB debut for Atlanta on Monday: 1 hit, 1 run, 1 caught stealing, 5 stitches in his forehead. But, he may start again tonight. … Though the M-Braves are 1-4, don’t blame Ozzie Albies or Chris Ellis for the poor record. Albies, the flashy shortstop prospect, is batting .364. Ellis, the highly touted Ole Miss alum, won his only start, throwing six shutout innings. … Petal High product and Toronto prospect Anthony Alford, injured (leg) in Class A Dunedin’s opener last week, is on the club’s 7-day disabled list. Alford’s Dunedin teammate D.J. Davis, a Stone County alum, is off to a 3-for-21 start. … Not only does the Magnolia State have three nationally ranked NCAA Division I teams, but D-II Delta State is 26-11, NAIA William Carey is 29-13 and jucos Jones County and Meridian are 31-3 and 26-6, respectively. … On the schedule today are two interesting intrastate matchups: Mississippi Valley State visits Delta State at Ferriss Field in Cleveland and Mississippi College and Millsaps hook up at Twenty Field in Jackson in a Maloney Trophy Series game.

04 Apr

numbers to crunch

0 – Hits allowed by Hinds Community College’s Quinton Logan and Carlisle Koestler in a 4-1 win vs. Coahoma on Saturday.
1 – Losses in MACJC play by first-place Jones County JC, which has won 11 league games and is 28-2 overall.
4 – Wins for Kenny Wright and saves for Chris Guerin after the Millsaps duo combined to beat Sewanee 2-1 on Sunday and complete a Southern Athletic Association sweep at Twenty Field.
5 – Mississippi State’s rank (same as last week) in Baseball America’s poll after the Bulldogs whipped nationally ranked Ole Miss two of three in Starkville over the weekend.
6 – Number of former Mississippi Braves, including recent addition John Gant, on Atlanta’s opening day roster.
8 – Years since the Mississippi Braves won their only Southern League pennant. With an initial roster that includes two top 10 Atlanta prospects (Sean Newcomb and Ozzie Albies) and several other top 30-types from a replenished farm system, this year’s club could be a contender.
10 – Consecutive wins in Gulf South Conference play for nationally ranked Delta State, which swept Christian Brothers in Cleveland over the weekend to improve to 16-5 in the league and 23-10 overall.
17 – Hits by Southern Miss, including four by Tim Lynch, in a 16-6, sweep-completing win at Charlotte on Sunday. USM (22-7) has won six of seven games heading into Tuesday’s College Series clash with Ole Miss (21-7 with five losses in six games) at Pearl’s Trustmark Park.
25 – Wins for William Carey, which got a big hit from RBI leader Tyler Richardson in a 7-6, Southern States Athletic Conference series-clinching win against NAIA No. 3 Faulkner in Hattiesburg on Sunday. The Crusaders are 25-12.

02 Apr

read all about it

The new Baseball America is here! The new Baseball America is here! Well, it’s not quite that exciting, but the arrival of the bi-weekly magazine in the mailbox – the one sitting on a pole down by the street — does provide a little kick. There on the cover of the latest edition (April 8-22) is a picture of a gaggle of Atlanta Braves prospects, including Austin Riley, the former DeSoto Central High star whose pro debut in 2015 was such a smash. As the Braves build toward the future, Riley already rates among the top position player prospects in a stacked farm system. A third baseman drafted 41st overall, Riley hit .304 with 12 home runs over two levels last summer. He might someday fill out an Atlanta infield that will include Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies, who also appear on the BA cover and will appear with the Mississippi Braves sometime soon. There is more treasure inside. John Manuel, BA’s editor in chief, throws out some preseason candidates for minor league player of the year, and two Mississippians are on the short list: Petal’s Anthony Alford and Gulfport’s Bobby Bradley. Alford, an outfielder in Toronto’s system, is expected to play at the Double-A level this year; reports are he is close to big league-ready. Bradley, a first baseman with Cleveland, might make Double-A this summer; he is only 19 but already drawing raves about his power potential. Found on an inside page is a chart of the top catchers in the minors who will vie for the Captain’s Catcher’s Award, which recognizes defensive skills. Ex-Ole Miss star Stuart Turner made the list; he played at Double-A Chattanooga in the Minnesota organization in 2015. This issue of BA also has the chart of minor league managers and coaches. Among the familiar names: Al Pedrique, Stu Cliburn, Jody Davis, Rick Sweet, Gary Allenson, Joe Mikulik, Phillip Wellman, Paul Phillips, Jeff Ware, Scott Thorman … . Ah, ’tis the season.

30 Mar

just a wild guess

Purely speculating on the Mississippi Braves’ 2016 Opening Day lineup:

Ozzie Albies, ss
Connor Lien, cf
Dustin Peterson, rf
Jacob Schrader, 1b
Dian Toscano, lf
Rio Ruiz, 3b
Joseph Odom, c
Levi Hyams, 2b
Zack Bird, p

That would be a nice mix of old and new, with hot prospect Albies and Cuban curiosity Toscano rating particular attention. Bird, a former Jackson Murrah High star, would be a cool choice to start Game 1. New M-Braves manager Luis Salazar will pencil in the actual lineup on April 7, when the M-Braves host Pensacola to begin their 12th season at Trustmark Park in Pearl. … Former Mississippi State standout Brandon Woodruff looks like a candidate for the Biloxi Shuckers’ rotation this year. The right-hander from Wheeler pitched at Class A Brevard County in the Milwaukee system last season and went 4-7, 3.45 ERA in 21 games, 19 starts. Biloxi opens at MGM Park on April 7 against Chattanooga. P.S. Good to see that Atlanta added Jeff Francoeur of the original M-Braves (2005) to the big league roster. “For me, it’s going to be really cool on Monday running out there back at Turner Field,” he told mlb.com. Now if the Braves could find a way to bring back Brian McCann, Gregor Blanco, Martin Prado, Craig Kimbrel, Evan Gattis, Jason Heyward, Yunel Escobar, Kris Medlen, Tommy LaStella, Phil Gosselin, Jose Peraza … . Longtime M-Braves outfielder Mycal Jones has signed with Somerset of the independent Atlantic League, and Luis Hernandez, another original M-Brave, signed with Bridgeport of that same league.

28 Mar

here and there

If there were any doubts about his place in the Oakland rotation, Kendall Graveman likely quashed them on Sunday. The Mississippi State alum drew raves after a seven-inning outing against Kansas City in which he yielded just four hits and one run and fanned six. “I knew it was big,” Graveman told mlb.com. Graveman and the A’s beat the Royals 10-1, getting a home run from Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan in the process. Graveman was 6-9 with a 4.05 ERA in 21 starts as a rookie for the A’s in 2015, his first year with the club after coming in a trade with Toronto. He has 4.98 ERA this spring. Drafted in the eighth round out of MSU in 2013, the right-hander climbed through four levels of the minors in 2014 to reach the big leagues with the Blue Jays. P.S. Tyler Moore should serve as a nice insurance policy if Freddie Freeman’s wrist troubles him again. Atlanta traded for Moore, the ex-State star, on Sunday and will stash the power-hitting first baseman at Triple-A Gwinnett. … Milwaukee shipped Ole Miss product David Goforth, a bullpen candidate, to the minors on Sunday, but ex-Rebels standout Alex Presley is still hanging around in the Brewers’ outfield picture. Presley is in camp as a non-roster player. … Just when the job of first-base coach is getting some pub – see Tom Verducci’s article in the March 28 issue of Sports Illustrated – Chris Maloney moves to third base with St. Louis. Jackson native and former State star Maloney has been the Cardinals’ first-base coach since 2012. He’ll move across the diamond while Jose Oquendo recovers from knee surgery.

23 Feb

going forward

If you’ve been recently to an Atlanta Braves game or a Mississippi Braves game – maybe even a Rome Braves game – you’ve seen them in the crowd. Jeff Francoeur replica jerseys. Francoeur, who starred for the M-Braves 11 years ago, last played a game for Atlanta in 2009. But his jersey had staying power — and now “Frenchy” himself is back in the fold. Signed to a minor league contract, he’ll be in the big club’s spring training camp this week. Though Francoeur’s first tour with the Braves didn’t end well, there is still a soft spot for him in the hearts of many fans, especially so in Pearl. He wasn’t the first M-Braves product to make The Show, but he created the most buzz back in 2005. The question now is, Can Francoeur, who had a good 2015 season in Philadelphia, win a job in Atlanta’s outfield? … As spring training begins to heat up, there are quite a few interesting questions surrounding Mississippians. To wit: How will Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton and Ole Miss product Zack Cozart bounce back from injuries in Cincinnati, and will they become trade bait? How will ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, traded from Colorado to Tampa Bay, fare in a new league and new home park? What will UM alum Chris Coghlan’s role be with the Chicago Cubs, who look loaded for bear in the National League? What kind of numbers will Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland, a free agent after this season, put up for Texas, which rewarded his strong 2015 campaign with a $5.7M deal? And, while everyone is saying all the right things, is former State star Jonathan Papelbon really going to fit in with Washington?

02 Feb

golden oldie

Freddy Garcia, who has pitched all over the planet during his 39 years on it, was in Santo Domingo, D.R., on Monday. Yes, pitching. For Team Venezuela in the opener of the Caribbean Series. The former Jackson Generals right-hander – he went 6-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 1998 – worked six innings, allowed just four hits, a walk and a run and beat Puerto Rico 2-1. “It was like magic,” he told The Associated Press. With Daryle Ward having taken a minor league coaching job with Cincinnati, Garcia is the only ex-Gens player still going. He pitched briefly in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ system in 2015 and last toiled in the majors with Atlanta in 2013. He owns 156 MLB wins and 203 wins overall in a pro career that began in 1995, when Houston signed him as a teenager out of Venezuela. Also of note: The big hit for Venezuela was delivered by onetime Mississippi Braves outfielder Jose Martinez, who belted a two-run triple in the second inning. The 6-foot-7 Martinez batted .285 for the 2013 M-Braves.

27 Jan

future stars

The Atlanta Braves are all about the future, and former DeSoto Central High star Austin Riley could be a big part of that future. After a smashing pro debut, Riley has been rated the sixth-best third base prospect by MLBPipeline, which says he might have been “the steal of the 2015 Draft.” Riley was picked 41st overall by the Braves and proceeded to hit .304 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 60 games at two levels. He made 16 errors, but that’s not a red flag at this point. Still just 18, Riley goes 6 feet 2, 230 pounds and has a strong arm. It’ll be a couple years before he gets to Double-A Mississippi (and perhaps a couple more before he makes The Show), but for Braves fans, that’s something to daydream about. … Ke’Bryan Hayes, son of Hattiesburg native and ex-big leaguer Charlie Hayes, is No. 5 on the third base prospect list, which is published on mlb.com. Hayes, a Texas native, is in the Pittsburgh system. … Riley is the third Mississippian to appear on an MLBPipeline top 10 prospect list: Harrison Central alum Bobby Bradley (Cleveland) made it at first base and Northwest Mississippi Community College product Cody Reed (Cincinnati) is on the left-handed pitcher chart. … Ex-East Central CC star Tim Anderson, who could be on the shortstop prospect list when it is released today, has gotten an invitation to the Chicago White Sox’s big league spring camp. Anderson hit .312 with five homers, 46 RBIs, 79 runs and 49 stolen bases for Double-A Birmingham in 2015.

26 Jan

who’s next?

It’s a good question for a rainy day: Who’ll be the next Mississippian to break into the major leagues? A lot of unpredictable factors that impact opportunity come into play over the course of a season. Still, it’s a good bet that the next Magnolia State big leaguer will come from among this group:
Chris Stratton, San Francisco. The former Mississippi State ace reached Triple-A in his fourth pro season and made the Giants’ 40-man protected roster. A right-handed starter, he went 5-10 with a 3.95 ERA at two levels in 2015, pitching better at Triple-A Sacramento than in Double-A. The Giants have a deep rotation, so it might take an injury for Stratton to get a shot this year.
Chris Ellis, Atlanta. The Ole Miss alum hasn’t pitched above Double-A, but reports are the 6-foot-5 right-hander will get a long look in Atlanta’s spring camp. Ellis, described as “polished” and “athletic,” went 7-4 with a 3.92 ERA at Double-A Arkansas in 2015, his second pro season. Acquired by Atlanta from the Los Angeles Angels this off-season, he is rated the Braves’ No. 11 prospect by mlb.com.
Hunter Renfroe, San Diego. The Mississippi State product, ranked as the Padres’ No. 2 prospect by mlb.com, is not on the 40-man roster but will be in camp. At Triple-A El Paso last year, Renfroe batted .333 with six homers, and he totaled 24 bombs for the year. He also has a right fielder’s arm. Matt Kemp is penciled in as San Diego’s right fielder but could be moved to center if (when?) Melvin Upton struggles.
Cody Reed, Cincinnati. The former Northwest Mississippi Community College standout has been labeled a player to watch in the Reds’ camp this spring. A power left-hander who goes 6 feet 5, 225 pounds, Reed posted a 6-2 record and 2.17 ERA at Double-A Pensacola after the Reds got him in a mid-summer trade with Kansas City. Baseball America rates Reed the No. 2 prospect in Cincy’s system.
Bobby Wahl, Oakland. The ex-Ole Miss star may contend for a bullpen role this spring as a non-roster player. Wahl, who has had some injury issues, made Double-A in 2015 and put up a 4.18 ERA with four saves in 24 appearances at Midland. Scouts rave about his stuff, which is better than his numbers might suggest.
Chad Girodo, Toronto. The lefty reliever out of Mississippi State reached the Triple-A level last year and has popped up in some of the Blue Jays’ prospect charts. He has a 2.30 ERA in 160 2/3 minor league innings and pitched well in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll be in the Jays’ camp as a non-roster invitee. And again, he’s a lefty.

14 Jan

whatever happened to …

Jordan Schafer, the former Mississippi Braves outfielder of some renown, has signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to various reports. Schafer, a lefty-hitting center fielder with plus speed, played 27 games for Minnesota in 2015, went on the disabled list in May and then was released, spending the rest of the year out of the game. Schafer arrived in Mississippi in 2008 as Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect and with a swagger to match. A few days into the season, he was slapped with a drug suspension. He struggled upon his return but bounced back to have a good last month and helped the club win a Southern League pennant. He hit .269 with 10 homers, 51 RBIs and 12 steals that season. He won the center field job in Atlanta the next spring and famously homered in his first at-bat. But then he slumped and got hurt and his career became a series of ups and downs. He wound up back in Pearl for a while in 2010, was traded to Houston, then reacquired by the Braves, then claimed off waivers by Minnesota. Schafer, 29, has 103 career MLB steals but has hit just .228 over parts of six seasons. P.S. Anthony Alford has received an invite to Toronto’s big league spring camp for a second straight year, and this time the former Petal High star will be joined on the non-roster list by Mississippi State alum Chad Girodo. Alford is the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect and figures to play in Double-A this season. Girodo, a lefty reliever who reached Triple-A last summer, has a 2.30 ERA over three seasons and was a standout in the 2015 Arizona Fall League.