Braves Archives - Page 69 of 78 - All Mississippi Baseball

31 Aug

wait till next year

The Oakland A’s are one of those teams that enters September thinking about next year. And one of the things the A’s must be thinking about is whether Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz can fill the bill as their closer in 2016. The big left-hander, a converted starter, has gotten some looks in that role in August and had some success. He is 2-for-4 in save chances for the month with a couple of holds and a 1.42 ERA in 11 games. “It seems like every time he’s out there he’s more and more comfortable,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin told mlb.com. For the year, in 43 games (34 relief appearances), Pomeranz has a 3.61 ERA, three saves, a 4-5 record and 75 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings. Pomeranz was the fifth overall pick by Cleveland in 2010 but hasn’t really blossomed over five tours as a big leaguer. Closing might be his calling, and next year might be his time. P.S. It has to have been a trying year for Roger McDowell, the former Jackson Mets star now in his 10th season as Atlanta’s pitching coach. The Braves’ pitching is a mess, and it’s not his fault. Trades and injuries have gutted the staff. The team has used 34 different pitchers, some of them very young, some way past their prime, very few effective. The staff ERA of 4.43 ranks 26th in baseball, and it’s 5.28 since the All-Star break. They’re second in the majors in walks. They’ve blown 21 saves, most in MLB. They just allowed 38 runs in three games at home against the New York Yankees. The Braves have been among the majors’ leaders in staff ERA every year under McDowell – first in 2013 and fifth in 2014 — and for many years before that. This is a shock to the system for Braves Nation and raises the question, Are they really going to be able to clean this up by 2017?

29 Aug

m-braves, hither and yon

It was a night for big home runs in Atlanta, Pearl and Danville, Va., a nice night for certain Mississippi Braves past, present and future. At Trustmark Park, where the M-Braves opened their final homestand on Friday battling for a second-half championship, third baseman Rio Ruiz smacked a three-run homer that propelled the home team to a 7-1 win over Biloxi. (Ruiz is legitimately hot, 16-for-40 with two homers and eight RBIs in his last 10 games. He is batting .237 for the year with four homers. Too bad the season is almost over.) At Turner Field, ex-M-Braves star Brian McCann returned to the ATL for the first time as a New York Yankee and, of course, launched a home run, his 23rd of the season, helping the Yanks crush the woeful Braves 15-4. (Former M-Braves star Freddie Freeman homered for the Braves, but so what? Atlanta is now 20 games under .500 and generally unwatchable.) And at Legion Field in Danville, where Atlanta’s rookie-level Appalachian League team holds forth, Austin Riley, the former DeSoto Central standout, went yard for the 11th time this season. The 18-year-old third baseman, Atlanta’s top pick in June, blew through the Gulf Coast League and is batting .340 with four homers in 26 games at Danville. (Riley, if he progresses normally, could be at the TeePee by 2018. Something to look forward to.)

27 Aug

time to shine

Some games in the minors simply matter more than others. Performance in those games is magnified. With first place in the Southern League South on the line Wednesday night, Cody Reed pitched like an ace for Pensacola. The Northwest Mississippi Community College product from Horn Lake threw six innings, allowing one run and punching out eight, as the Blue Wahoos topped the visiting Mississippi Braves 3-1. The Wahoos (33-26) climbed a half-game ahead of the M-Braves (32-26) in the battle for the second-half title in the SL South. “I love having that pressure of being the guy they give the ball to,” Reed said in a story on the team’s web site. Reed’s star is surely rising in the Cincinnati organization. The bespectacled, 6-foot-5 left-hander, acquired from Kansas City in the Johnny Cueto deal, is 4-2 with a 3.03 ERA in six starts for the Wahoos. He was 2-2, 3.45 at Double-A Northwest Arkansas and 5-5, 2.14 in A-ball in the Royals’ system. The lone run the M-Braves scored was knocked in by Rio Ruiz, who is finally beginning to play like the prospect Atlanta thought it was getting from Houston in the Evan Gattis trade. Ruiz has an 11-game hit streak and is batting .368 with a homer, five RBIs and six runs in his last 10 games. For the year, his first in Double-A, the lefty-hitting third baseman is at .232 with three homers and 38 RBIs. In the finale of the Pensacola series tonight, the M-Braves send Greg Ross (7-9, 3.59) to the bump. More games that matter are ahead: Mississippi comes home on Friday for a series against Biloxi, the first-half champ in the SL South.

24 Aug

summer fun

Biloxi Shuckers fans were given quite a treat this summer. The first team Milwaukee sent to its new Double-A home won a first-half championship and was packed with prospects, including Orlando Arcia, who is still there and still raking. The Venezuelan shortstop, rated the Brewers’ No. 1 prospect and No. 13 overall by mlb.com, had his first career two-homer game on Sunday at MGM Park. He is batting .342 over his last 10 games and .302 for the year, with eight homers, 62 RBIs, 34 doubles and 23 steals. Arcia turned 21 earlier this month. Biloxi hitting coach Sandy Guerrero told milb.com that Arcia is not quite big league-ready, but “he’s not that far.” … Meanwhile, the Mississippi Braves have moved into first place in the second-half race in the Southern League South. Lucas Sims, one of Atlanta’s top pitching prospects, threw six strong innings, fanning 10, and Rio Ruiz, another prospect, homered as the M-Braves beat host Pensacola 3-1. If the M-Braves win the title — there are 14 games left — they would meet the Shuckers in the first round of the SL playoffs. That would be quite a treat for both fan bases. P.S. Former Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe hit his third homer in five Triple-A games for El Paso (San Diego Padres) on Sunday. … Ex-State standout Kendall Graveman threw six shutout innings for Oakland on Sunday but got a no-decision and remains winless in his last eight starts. What’s worse, he suffered an oblique injury and may have to go on the disabled list.

18 Aug

crunch time at teepee

Birmingham is one of the Southern League’s best hitting teams. The Mississippi Braves are running out a rotation filled with prospects, young guns that could be in Atlanta in the near future. The compelling clash of Barons bats and M-Braves arms begins tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Right-hander John Gant is slated to start Game 1 for Mississippi. He is followed in the rotation by Lucas Sims, Greg Ross, Zack Bird and Andrew Thurman. Birmingham, hitting .261 (second in SL) as a team with 482 runs (fifth), features a dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of its order. Former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson, one of the Chicago White Sox’s highest rated prospects, is batting .316 and tops the league in runs (69) and steals (45). Two-hole hitter Jacob May is batting .296 with 31 bags, second in the league. For power, the Barons have Christian Marrero (12 homers), Danny Hayes (seven) and Brian Fletcher (six). They’ll test the young guns. Gant, recently acquired from the New York Mets, has been slotted in as the Braves’ No. 23 prospect by mlb.com. Since joining the M-Braves, he is 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA in three outings. Sims, Atlanta’s first-round pick in 2012 and the seventh-best prospect, is 1-2, 5.87 in five Double-A starts. Jackson native Bird, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers and ranked No. 12 on the prospect chart, is 1-1, 4.26 over three starts. No. 18 prospect Thurman, picked up from Houston late in the spring, took a loss in his M-Braves debut on Aug. 14, allowing four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Ross doesn’t have a top 30 rating, but the Double-A veteran is 7-9, 3.98 in 23 games. P.S. Former M-Braves star Brian McCann did something Monday night that no catcher in the New York Yankees’ long history has done, according to the Elias Sports Bureau: He drove in five runs and threw out three runners attempting to steal. McCann’s efforts, which included his 21st homer, led the Yankees to an 8-7, 10-inning win over Minnesota. One of the runners he cut down was Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier, who had three hits for the Twins.

07 Aug

random numbers

8 – Hits, including three doubles, a triple and a home run, by Austin Riley in six games for Danville, Atlanta’s advanced rookie team. The former DeSoto Central High star, the 41st overall pick in the June draft, was promoted last week from the Gulf Coast League, where he had seven homers and 21 RBIs.
.349 – Batting average over 73 games for Adam Frazier, the ex-Mississippi State standout now playing at Double-A Altoona in the Pittsburgh system. Frazier, playing shortstop and center field, has 10 hits in his last six games.
2 – Innings pitched in pro ball this season by Jacob Taylor, the Pearl River Community College product drafted in the fourth round by Pittsburgh. Taylor recently had Tommy John surgery and may not pitch again until 2017.
9 – Holds by Tony Sipp, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alum from Pascagoula, for the Houston Astros. Sipp pitched a clean inning Thursday in the first-place Astros’ 5-4 win against Oakland and lowered his ERA to 2.52.
9 – Hits, in 27 at-bats, for Daniel Castro, the Mississippi Braves alumnus who has been filling in at shortstop in Atlanta for injured Andrelton Simmons. Castro had three hits and scored twice in Thursday’s 9-8 win over Miami.
41 – Stolen bases by Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College star now playing at Double-A Birmingham in the Chicago White Sox’s system. Anderson, batting .302, leads all of Double-A in steals and leads the Southern League in hits (126) and runs (62).
4.60 – Aaron Barrett’s ERA for Washington when the Nationals sent the Ole Miss product to Triple-A on Thursday. Barrett had a 2.66 in 2014.
23 – Home runs in 2015 by the Mississippi Braves, including Kevin Ahrens’ game-winner on Thursday against Montgomery. The M-Braves are dead last in the SL in homers; ninth-place Biloxi has 47. Ahrens leads the team with five.
1,220 — Hits in pro ball, including 38 in the big leagues, by Brandon Jones, the ex-Mississippi Braves star who announced his retirement during his 12th season on Wednesday. He was playing for Bridgeport in the independent Atlantic League and batting .243.
18 – Strikeouts, in 15 innings for Pensacola, by Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi Community College product who moved from the Kansas City organization to Cincinnati in the Johnny Cueto trade. Lefty Reed is 2-0 with one run allowed in two starts for the Southern League’s Blue Wahoos.

05 Aug

finishing touch

For Mississippi Braves right-hander Jason Hursh, change has done him good. Since moving from the rotation to the bullpen in early July, Hursh has a 2.25 ERA, a win and two saves in nine appearances. He has allowed 11 hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in 12 innings out of the pen. Atlanta’s No. 13-rated prospect (by mlb.com) entering this season, the 2013 first-round pick had been erratic as a starter: 2-6, 5.63 ERA this season after going 11-7, 3.58 at the Double-A level a year ago. Hursh got the W on Tuesday night, working a scoreless frame in a 7-6, 11-inning decision against Montgomery that moved the M-Braves’ record to 21-17 in the second half. They are 2.5 games out of first in the Southern League South. The club ranks ninth in the 10-team league in runs and last in slugging and homers, but pitching may just keep them in the playoff hunt. The staff includes six of Atlanta’s current top 30 prospects: Lucas Sims (No. 8), Murrah High alum Zack Bird (13), Hursh (now 18), Mauricio Cabrera (22), John Gant (24) and Stephen Janas (30). The M-Braves have a solid 3.53 ERA with an SL-best 38 saves and have allowed the fewest home runs in the league. Gant (1-0, 1.59) goes tonight against the Biscuits at Trustmark Park in his second start since coming over from the New York Mets in one of last week’s trades.

03 Aug

cream of crop

Mississippi high school products dominated MLBPipeline.com’s Prospect Team of the Week for July 27-Aug. 2. The 10-member team includes DeSoto Central’s Austin Riley (who hit .393 with three homers and 13 RBIs for Atlanta’s Gulf Coast League team) at third base; Harrison Central’s Bobby Bradley (.381, four, nine in A-ball for Cleveland) at first base; and Richton’s JaCoby Jones (.409, three, eight in Double-A for Pittsburgh and Detroit) at shortstop. Also on the team is former Mississippi Braves star Jose Peraza (.435, six runs in Triple-A for Atlanta and the Los Angeles Dodgers) at second base. P.S. Ole Miss product Christian Trent and East Mississippi Community College alum LeDarious Clark will be on opposing sides in Tuesday’s Pioneer League-Northwest League All-Star Game at Spokane, Wash. This is the first All-Star matchup between the two short-season Class A leagues. Trent, a left-hander picked in the 24th round in June by Milwaukee, is 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA in seven appearances for Helena of the PL. Outfielder Clark, a 12th-rounder by Texas, is batting .307 with eight homers, 20 RBIs and 19 steals for Spokane of the NWL. Clark, currently in the throes of a 2-for-36 slump, was pulled from a game last week for not running out a pop-up but was back in the lineup the next day.

30 Jul

’round and ’round

This trade deadline stuff will make your head spin: Former Mississippi Braves Alex Wood, Luis Avilan and Jose Peraza are gone from Atlanta’s roster, shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade that brought in Cuban third baseman Hector Olivera – and his $37M contract. Hard to figure where Atlanta is going with all of this, isn’t it? … Also joining the Braves organization is former Murrah High star Zack Bird, a ninth-round pick by the Dodgers in 2012 who has a 16-35 record and 4.74 ERA in four years in the low minors. The 6-foot-4 right-hander was in the Class A California League at the time of the deal. He could make it to the Double-A M-Braves sometime in the near future. … One small save for Washington, one giant (well, sorta) save for Mississippi State product Jonathan Papelbon. In his first appearance for the Nationals today, Papelbon worked a 1-2-3 ninth, punching out Michael Morse for the final out in a 1-0 win over Miami. It would have been a thing had Papelbon blown his first save try with the Nats, don’t you think? … Meanwhile, ex-M-Braves ace Matt Harrison, trying to battle back this season from injuries (see previous posts), is off to Philadelphia as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Cole Hamels to Texas. “He’s got a long track record of great success. It’ll be huge for us,” Rangers first baseman and MSU alum Mitch Moreland told mlb.com about Hamels. … And this just in, former Richton High star JaCoby Jones has been dealt from Pittsburgh to Detroit in exchange for closer Joakim Soria. Jones, 23, a shortstop, was just recently promoted to Double-A, which had sparked speculation a deal might be in the works with him.

21 Jul

rolling with changes

Change has become a constant for the Mississippi Braves’ pitching staff, which will roll out Lucas Sims tonight for his Double-A debut at Jackson, Tenn. Sims, Atlanta’s top draft pick in 2012 and current No. 3 prospect (by mlb.com), was 3-4 with a 5.18 ERA in nine starts at Class A Carolina. Perhaps the Braves just thought he needed a change of scene. The M-Braves recently added No. 17 prospect Mauricio Cabrera, who also had so-so stats at Carolina (5.52 ERA). He debuted on Sunday, throwing two scoreless innings in a win against Jacksonville. In that same game, ex-starter Jason Hursh, the No. 12 prospect, notched his first save. Hursh was 2-6, 5.63 as a starter. He has allowed two runs in six innings out of the pen. The M-Braves already have a standout closer: LSU product Tyler Jones, who has taken the reins from promoted Ryan Kelly, has 11 saves and a 1.55 ERA. The M-Braves’ rotation, which lost No. 10 prospect Tyrell Jenkins to Triple-A Gwinnett earlier this month, includes two other July additions: No. 26 prospect Steve Janas, 1-2, 3.86 in four starts, and indy league-signee Andrew Barbosa, 2-1, 6.23. … Kudos to manager Aaron Holbert for becoming the team’s all-time wins leader on Monday with 269. He passed Phillip Wellman, who has one thing Holbert would love to add: a Southern League championship ring. The M-Braves, 15-9 and first in the SL South entering tonight’s game, return to Trustmark Park in Pearl on Wednesday to face division rival Mobile.