Tag Archives: Braves

10 Jul

summit meeting

Even though there are 50 games left in the Southern League season, the next five may be bigger than most for the Mississippi Braves. The M-Braves, 12-8 and running second in the SL South, play host to first-place Mobile (13-7) in a five-game series at Trustmark Park that begins tonight. Mobile, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, won the first half in the division. The BayBears lead the league in ERA (3.13) and runs (433), a pretty good combination. The M-Braves, however, are right on their heels. They actually have a better team batting average (a league-best .269) to go with a 3.59 ERA (third) and 397 runs (fourth). Bottom line: This ought to be a whale of a series. Even with the recent loss to injury of slugger Seth Loman (11 homers, 53 RBIs), the M-Braves can trot out a pretty impressive lineup; they’ve got nine players batting .271 or better. Recent newcomers Kyle Wren (.368) and Daniel Castro (.355) have adjusted quite well to Double-A pitching. Jose Peraza is clipping along with a .342 average, and Cedric Hunter is at .319 with nine homers and 47 RBIs. Jake Lamb, a prospect at third base, leads Mobile with a .314 average, 13 bombs and 68 RBIs. Jason Hursh (6-6, 4.08) takes the bump for Mississippi in the opener (7 p.m.), facing A.J. Schugel (4-1, 3.81).

03 Jul

who’s on third?

Third base is a position of tradition for the Braves, thanks to Chipper Jones (and Eddie Mathews, for those who go back that far). Since Atlanta moved its Double-A team to Pearl in 2005, we have seen a parade of third basemen come and go: Wes Timmons, Van Pope, Eric Campbell, Donell Linares, Joe Leonard, et al. Not one of them has made the big leagues. (Martin Prado played primarily second base for the Mississippi Braves, and that remains his best position.) Kyle Kubitza is the latest to man the hot corner here, and he might just be the one who breaks through. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Texas native is having a very good Double-A debut. He went 3-for-4 on Wednesday night, with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs, as the M-Braves topped Huntsville 5-1 at Trustmark Park. Kubitza, a left-handed hitter, is at .306 for the year and is batting .351 over his last 10 games, with two three-hit games in the last five. He shows no signs of hitting the wall. He has four homers, 26 RBIs, 21 doubles, six triples, 15 steals (in 16 attempts) and 46 runs in 77 games. He needs to hit more home runs, but he is capable. He went deep 12 times at Class A Lynchburg in 2013. He is solid with the glove, as well, and has an outstanding arm. A third-round pick out of Texas State (yes, it’s NCAA Division I) in 2011, Kubitza turns 24 on July 15. He was rated Atlanta’s No. 22 prospect by Baseball America entering this season, but his stock surely has risen. And his shot at the revered third-base job in Atlanta might not be far off. P.S. There are two Mississippi natives working out of the Huntsville bullpen: David Goforth, from Meridian and Ole Miss, and Tim Dillard, from Saltillo and Itawamba Community College. Goforth, 25, is a Milwaukee closer prospect trying to move up, Dillard, 30, a big-league vet trying to get back. The M-Braves and Stars (the future Biloxi team) conclude their five-game Southern League series tonight at the TeePee.

02 Jul

a feel for the job

It was a late summer day in 1984. Hours before the game scheduled that night at Smith-Wills Stadium, a player was taking ground balls at shortstop, scooping them up and firing to first base with a beautiful rhythm. A visiting radio broadcaster in the press box remarked about how good “that shortstop out there” looked. It wasn’t a shortstop. It was Roger McDowell, a Jackson Mets pitcher who was still rehabbing from an elbow injury that shelved him for most of that season. McDowell is a man of many skills, as we have seen over the years. He has transitioned smoothly from minor league starter to major league reliever (with big league comedic talents, as well) to pitching coach, first in the minors now in the big leagues. The job he has done in Atlanta this year — his ninth in charge of the Braves’ staff — is worthy of an award. The Braves’ rotation has been plagued by injuries. Three projected front-line starters are out for the season. The relief corps also has taken injury hits. Five pitchers, all recent Mississippi Braves, have made their MLB debuts in the bullpen this season, plugging holes as necessary. And yet, Atlanta has a 3.27 ERA, fifth-best in MLB, third-best in the National League, and leads the NL East standings. It isn’t hitting that got them there. The ’84 JaxMets were a star-studded bunch, but McDowell had some shining moments of his own in the Texas League Championship Series win over Beaumont. He was in the big leagues the next year, and in 1986, he got the win in Game 7 of New York’s World Series triumph over Boston. McDowell pitched for 12 seasons, winning 70 games, saving 159 and posting a 3.30 ERA. He even hit .222. He became a minor league pitching coach in 2002 and succeeded Leo Mazzone, no small task, in Atlanta in 2005. McDowell has handled the job with aplomb and never better than in 2014. P.S. Seth Smith, the former Ole Miss star, led off with a home run for San Diego on Tuesday, ending an 0-for-17 skid and a nine-game homer-less drought. He has nine bombs for the year and is hitting .281, worthy of some All-Star consideration. … Pascagoula native Joey Butler finally made his debut in Japan on Tuesday. Butler, released by St. Louis so that he could sign with the Orix Buffaloes, went 2-for-4 in a win over Rakuten. Among Butler’s teammates is former big leaguer Wily Mo Pena.

29 Jun

something new

The Mississippi Braves, 6-4 in the second half, will have a new look when they take the field at Trustmark Park today to begin a five-game series with Huntsville. All-Star shortstop Elmer Reyes is gone, sent to Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday. Kyle Wren, an outfielder, and Daniel Castro, an infielder, were promoted from Class A Lynchburg. Neither played in the series finale at Birmingham, so they could make their Southern League debuts today. Wren, son of Atlanta general manager Frank Wren, was batting .296 with 33 steals at Lynchburg. The lefty-hitting center fielder was an eighth-round pick last June from Georgia Tech. Castro, a Mexico native who can play second base and shortstop, was hitting .292. The M-Braves also lost right-hander Aaron Northcraft, who led the team with seven wins, to promotion last week. They do come home on a roll, having won the last two games at Birmingham in dramatic fashion: with a nine-run ninth inning on Friday and with a go-ahead, eighth-inning home run by Cedric Hunter on Saturday. Hunter, a onetime big leaguer, is batting .311 with seven bombs. Second baseman Jose Peraza, who arrived from Lynchburg during the previous homestand, is hitting .425 in nine games. P.S. Some big league chew from Saturday: Former M-Braves star Christian Bethancourt got his first big league hit for Atlanta in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia that completed a twinbill sweep. … Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings, who went 0-for-9 in a doubleheader on Friday, led off Saturday’s game with a homer (No. 7) that propelled Tampa Bay to a 5-4 win over Baltimore. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton got three hits and a steal — he’s batting .282 with 34 bags — and Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart added a couple of hits to help Cincinnati win its fourth straight, 7-3 over San Francisco in 11 innings. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Alex Presley went 2-for-4 with a homer (No. 4) and three RBIs as Houston fell to Detroit 4-3. … UM product Lance Lynn, coming off a brilliant outing at Colorado, lasted just two innings at Dodger Stadium, yielding nine hits, two walks and six earned runs in St. Louis’ 9-1 loss to Los Angeles.

21 Jun

eye on …

Chris Coghlan has been playing more regularly for the Chicago Cubs of late, and his bat is waking from its slumber. Coghlan, the former Ole Miss standout, tripled and homered for the Cubs on Friday in a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh. The left-handed hitting outfielder boosted his average to .219, which might not sound so hot until you consider that he was at .125 on May 21. Brought up from Triple-A Iowa in early May, Coghlan has been in 35 games (73 at-bats) and produced two homers, four RBIs and seven runs all told. He is batting .282 in June. Coghlan, who just turned 29, is a career .267 hitter and hit .321 back in 2009 when he won National League rookie of the year honors with the Florida (now Miami) Marlins. P.S. Southern Miss product Brian Dozier delivered his second career walk-off hit for Minnesota, which beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Friday. … Ex-Ole Miss star Seth Smith belted two monster homers — and just missed a third — for San Diego, ending a 20-game long ball drought. He has eight on the year. The Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5. … Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson went 4-for-5 with his ninth homer but Colorado fell to Milwaukee 13-10 in a Coors Field slugfest. … Ryan Buchter and Juan Jaime joined the list of former Mississippi Braves to play in the big leagues when they pitched for Atlanta against Washington. That brings the number to 87. Buchter, who was up at the start of the season but didn’t play, got the win as the Braves won 6-4 in 13 innings.

20 Jun

nice start

Speed is the word that dominates scouting reports on Jose Peraza, and he didn’t waste much time before showing it off in his Double-A debut on Thursday night at Trustmark Park. The Mississippi Braves’ new second baseman ripped a shot to the gap in left-center in the sixth inning and easily turned it into a triple for his first hit in the Southern League. The 20-year-old Venezuelan, batting leadoff, wound up 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI as the M-Braves opened the second half with a 9-4 win over the Jackson (Tenn.) Generals. Peraza also turned two double plays. A consensus top 10 prospect in the Atlanta system, he was tearing it up at Class A Lynchburg, batting .342 with 27 RBIs, 44 runs and 35 stolen bases in 66 games. Baseball America says he has “plus-plus speed.” Listed at 6 feet, 165 pounds, Peraza hasn’t hit much for power as a professional but reports say that may come. He is an exciting addition to an already solid M-Braves lineup.

13 Jun

makes no sense

If Corey Dickerson of the Colorado Rockies has a bruise on his right thigh today, he could consider it a badge of achievement. The former Meridian Community College standout from McComb wore out Atlanta in their four-game series, going 7-for-13 with a homer, five RBIs, four runs, four walks and an HBP. Dickerson was hit in the thigh by the Braves’ David Carpenter in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game, a 10-3 Rockies win. The plunking came immediately after Dickerson’s inadvertent whacking of Braves catcher Gerald Laird on a backswing. That makes no sense. Dickerson said he couldn’t be sure if he was hit intentionally; Carpenter, who was ejected, denied doing so. But it was pretty obvious. Rockies manager Walt Weiss, also ejected after charging onto the field, certainly thought so. Maybe Carpenter was just frustrated by his soaring ERA. Maybe the fact the Rockies — and Dickerson, in particular — were pounding the Braves for a second straight day had something to do with it. Whatever it was, Dickerson didn’t deserve to be hit. It was a classless act. P.S. Tyler Moore, another former MCC standout, is 8-for-20 at Triple-A Syracuse since Washington sent him down on June 5. The Mississippi State product has two homers and seven RBIs over that stretch.

11 Jun

well-connected

Eleven former Mississippi Braves took part in Atlanta’s wild 13-10 win at Colorado on Tuesday night. Eight ex-M-Braves had hits in the 16-hit attack, and six scored at least once. Evan Gattis, Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons hit home runs; Simmons’ blast was his first career grand slam. Five former M-Braves pitched, with David Hale getting the win, Shae Simmons a hold and Craig Kimbrel the save, his 18th. For the record, Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson, batting .333 this season, had two of the Rockies’ 13 hits, scored twice and knocked in a run.

09 Jun

numbers of note

2 — Number of home runs this season for Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton, who hit his latest on Sunday in Cincinnati’s 4-1 win over Philadelphia. Hamilton is batting .253 with 23 stolen bases.
3 — Months former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland is expected to miss after having ankle surgery. “It’s to the point where I’m hurting the team …,” the Texas Rangers first baseman told ESPNDallas.com about his decision to go under the knife. Moreland is batting .246 with two homers; he hit 23 bombs in 2013.
12 — Hits, in nine MLB games, for Tommy La Stella, the former Mississippi Braves standout now starting at second base for Atlanta. La Stella, a .340 hitter in Pearl last season, is batting .400.
14 — Runs scored by the M-Braves in their victory over Chattanooga at Trustmark Park on Sunday. The M-Braves are 1½ games out of first in the Southern League South with six to play.
16 — Hits this season for Ole Miss freshman Colby Bortles, who delivered his latest on Sunday, a two-run, eighth-inning single that helped the Rebels beat Louisiana-Lafayette 5-2 in their NCAA Super Regional. Game 3, with a College World Series trip on the line, is tonight at 6.
35 — Number of Mississippi-connected players picked in the MLB draft, from West Lauderdale High catcher Blake Anderson at No. 36 overall to Gulfport High third baseman Daniel Keating at No. 1181.
38 — Points lost off his batting average since May 21 by Ole Miss product Seth Smith. Smith, batting .301 with six homers and 21 RBIs for San Diego, is 7-for-34 (.206) over his last 10 games with just one RBI.

08 Jun

a step forward

Mississippi Braves right-hander J.R. Graham finally got his first win of 2014, throwing five shutout innings tonight against Chattanooga at Trustmark Park. It has been an uneven year for Graham, 24, ranked as Atlanta’s No. 3 prospect in preseason. Coming back from a shoulder injury that abruptly ended his 2013 campaign in May, Graham has been on a short leash. In only three of his 13 starts has he pitched five innings, and 5 1/3 is the deepest he has gone. He went into tonight’s start with an 0-3 record and 5.27 ERA, though the team was 7-5 in his games. It once looked like just a matter of time before Graham made the big leagues. He may have work to do now to get back on that path. He looked sharp against the Lookouts, consistently hitting the mid-90s while yielding just three hits and fanning three with no walks. He threw 48 of 74 pitches for strikes. Three relievers, including new closer James Hoyt, preserved the 1-0 victory.