Tag Archives: Brewers

19 Nov

transaction watch

Though Reed Trimble has had trouble staying healthy and on the field in his pro career, Baltimore officials have seen enough good stuff to add the ex-Southern Miss star to the 40-man protected roster. Tuesday was the deadline for MLB clubs to set their rosters before next month’s winter meetings and the Rule 5 draft for eligible minor leaguers. Tupelo native Trimble was the 65th overall pick in 2021 after a standout sophomore year at USM (.345, 17 homers, 72 RBIs). A swift, switch-hitting outfielder, the 25-year-old Trimble has a .251 career average and 61 stolen bases (in 61 attempts) in 226 games over five minor league seasons. He reached Triple-A in 2025 and hit .259 with five homers and eight steals in 30 games for Norfolk. … Former Northeast Mississippi Community College standout Tyler Samaniego was added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man. Drafted in 2021 out of South Alabama, the 6-foot-4 left-hander posted a 3.08 ERA in 20 games in Double-A last season and has a career 3.82, working almost exclusively in relief. … Ryan Rolison, a former first-round draft pick from Ole Miss, was designated for assignment by Colorado, moving off the 40-man roster. The lefty put up a 7.02 ERA in 31 games as a 28-year-old rookie in 2025. … Ex-DeSoto Central High slugger Blaze Jordan and former USM standout Tyler Stuart were among the rated prospects (by MLB Pipeline) who did not get 40-man roster protection and could be plucked by other MLB clubs. Jordan belted a career-high 19 homers in 2025, playing at Triple-A in both the Boston and St. Louis organizations. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander in Washington’s system, has a career 3.44 ERA. … Brandon Woodruff, ex-Mississippi State standout, accepted a $22 million qualifying offer from Milwaukee; he had previously declined a reported $20M option in his last contract. The right-hander bounced back from injury in 2025, going 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA for the Brewers but missing the postseason. He is 53-28, 3.10, in 142 career appearances with Milwaukee. … MSU alum Nathaniel Lowe was designated for assignment by Boston and is likely headed for free agency. The seven-year veteran hit .280 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 34 games for the Red Sox last year after being released by Washington. He batted .228 with 18 homers all told in 2025.

06 Nov

names in the news

Bobby Halford: Congratulations to the longtime William Carey University coach on his election to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Halford is the state’s all-time winningest college coach with 1,375 wins over 40 years at the Hattiesburg school. His teams have made 26 appearances in the NAIA Tournament and three trips to the World Series. Halford has won more coach of the year honors than you can count.
Konnor Griffin: The former Jackson Prep star added a minor league Gold Glove award to the numerous player of the year honors he has collected. The first-year pro, Pittsburgh’s top prospect, had a .980 fielding percentage at shortstop with seven errors in 89 games. He also played some center field while moving through three levels.
Antoan Richardson: The ex-Mississippi Braves standout has joined new Atlanta manager Walt Weiss’ staff as first-base coach. Richardson, who coached with the New York Mets in 2025, played in Pearl in 2010-11 and made the majors in 2011 with Atlanta. He also played for the Yankees and is remembered for scoring the run on Derek Jeter’s walk-off hit in his final MLB at-bat.
Brandon Woodruff: The Mississippi State product from Wheeler declined his mutual option with Milwaukee and became a free agent. Woodruff went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 12 games in 2025 but ended the season on the injured list. He missed all of 2024 following arm surgery. He is 53-28 over an eight-year big league career.
Michael Fowler: The former Southern Miss pitcher has made six appearances in the Arizona Fall League without allowing an earned run over seven innings. Milwaukee signed Fowler off the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters’ roster last summer, and he put up good numbers in A-ball.

30 Oct

there and here

In light of Trey Yesavage’s dominant start for Toronto in World Series Game 5 on Wednesday night, mlb.com compiled a list of other outstanding performances by postseason rookies in other organizations. Brandon Woodruff, who debuted with Milwaukee in 2017, was still technically a rookie in 2018 when the Mississippi State product shined during the Brewers’ run to a Game 7 in the National League Championship Series. Woodruff made four appearances all told in the playoffs, yielding three runs in 12 1/3 innings with 17 strikeouts. He got the win in Game 1 of the NLCS with two hitless innings and famously homered off Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw. … Tim Elko, the ex-Ole Miss star who made his MLB debut in 2025, will miss the start of the 2026 season after having surgery to repair a torn ACL, according to an mlb.com report. He could be sidelined several months. Elko, 26, hit just .134 with four home runs in 23 games with the Chicago White Sox this season. He batted .292 with 26 homers and 70 RBIs in Triple-A in his fourth pro campaign. Elko suffered an ACL injury to the same knee during his senior year in Oxford before returning to help the Rebels win the national championship. … The MLB Players Association has named Ronald Acuna Jr. its NL comeback player of the year and Drake Baldwin the NL’s outstanding rookie. Both are former Mississippi Braves stars. … Former MSU standout Eric Cerantola, a prospect in Kansas City’s system, is pitching in the Dominican Winter League and has a 2.25 ERA in four appearances for Cibaenas. A fifth-round draft pick in 2021, he went 2-2 with a 4.04 era and a save in 38 games at Triple-A Omaha this past season. … Coming Nov. 7, MSU’s annual alumni game — the Diamond Dawg Classic — that will bring an impressive list of ex-Bulldogs to Starkville, including current big leaguers Adam Frazier and Jake Mangum. Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro will serve as managers of the two squads. Expected to participate are Mitch Moreland, Jonathan Papelbon, Hunter Renfroe, Tyler Moore, Reid Humphreys, Tanner Allen and current minor leaguers Dakota Jordan and Connor Hujsak. … Colt Keith, former Biloxi High star, is expected to again play a utility role for Detroit in 2026. The second-year big leaguer did time at first, second and third base as well as DH while batting .256 with 13 home runs. “The fact that he can play all three positions gives us a real advantage,” Detroit’s president on baseball operations, Scott Harris, recently told the Detroit Free Press. … Born on this date in 1986: Desmond Jennings, the ex-Itawamba Community College two-sport star who played seven years in the big leagues, all with Tampa Bay. He hit .245 with 55 homers and 95 steals; he also batted .303 in 11 postseason games.

29 Oct

boys of fall

Checking in on Mississippi products in the Arizona Fall League:
David Mershon, former All-SEC shortstop at Mississippi State, has been filling the box scores in the AFL after a rough 2025 season in the Los Angeles Angels’ chain. Playing for Salt River, Mershon went 2-for-4 on Tuesday, boosting his average to .258 over 10 games. He has a homer, six RBIs, 10 runs, five steals and 11 walks. After a strong pro debut in Double-A in 2024, Mershon batted just .182 this past season, missing a chunk of time with injury. … Ex-MSU and DeSoto Central High standout Cade Smith worked three scoreless innings as the starter for Mesa and trimmed his ERA to 0.93 in three appearances. The New York Yankees prospect, a third-year pro, has allowed just three hits with 11 strikeouts in 9 2/3 AFL innings. … Former Madison Central star Braden Montgomery, playing for Glendale against Mesa, went 1-for-3 with a walk (and an HBP) and is hitting .429 (.652 OBP) with three stolen bases in five games. Montgomery, the Chicago White Sox’s No. 1 prospect, reached the Double-A level this summer in a solid pro debut. … Southern Miss alum Michael Fowler has put up a 0.00 ERA in four appearances (five innings) for Surprise. The well-traveled right-hander was signed by Milwaukee off the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters’ roster this summer and made a good impression in A-ball. … Former Ole Miss standout Derek Diamond has a 5.63 ERA in six games for Salt River. Diamond, in his fourth year in Pittsburgh’s system, has allowed nine hits and eight walks in eight innings in the AFL. He was limited by injuries to 13 appearances (19 1/3 innings) in 2025. P.S. Mississippi Braves alum Antoan Richardson will not return as first-base coach for the New York Mets, per reports. He is expected to catch on with another organization.

17 Oct

‘so you’re telling me …’

It has been done. The Milwaukee Brewers can hang their hopes on that fact. Once — once — in MLB history a team has come from down 3-0 in games to win a best-of-7 series. That team was the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who pulled off that incredible feat against the New York Yankees. The other 40 teams who faced that mountain tumbled off. Julio Borbon, the Brewers’ first-base coach (and a Starkville native), has been a lonely man in this National League Championship Series. The Brewers, and their contingent of former Biloxi Shuckers stars, simply haven’t hit — or scored — against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ array of strong arms: nine hits and three runs in the three games. And tonight at Dodger Stadium, they face Shohei Ohtani. He did not have a dominant season on the mound (2.87 ERA in 14 appearances) but did beat Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park in the NLDS. And he’s Shohei Ohtani, who throws 100 and features a wide variety of off-speed weapons. Milwaukee was one of the highest-scoring teams in MLB this season and posted the best overall record. But their hitters have not come through in this series. Former Shuckers Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Brice Turang — dynamic forces in the lineup all season — are a combined 3-for-33. William Contreras, the former Mississippi Braves catcher and a two-time All-Star, is 0-for-10. So here they are: Down 3-0. On the brink of elimination. On the road. Facing Ohtani and a rested L.A. bullpen. It’s a steep climb, to say the least. “It’s going to take more than what we’ve shown so far,” Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin said in an mlb.com story. And it has been done. Once.

15 Oct

impressive debut

In an Arizona Fall League replete with highly ranked prospects, Cade Smith certainly looked like he belonged in his first appearance. The former Mississippi State standout, pitching in relief for Mesa on Tuesday night, threw three hitless innings, walking one and fanning five. The 23-year-old right-hander is ranked No. 19 among New York Yankees’ prospects by MLB Pipeline. He started his 2025 minor league season on the injured list and worked through three levels over the summer, finishing at High-Class A Hudson Valley. For the year, Smith was 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 11 starts. He went 6-7, 3.65, in A-ball in 2024. Smith was drafted in the sixth round in 2023 after three solid seasons at State, where he pitched for the College World Series champs as a freshman in 2021. He has a championship pedigree, having won two Class 6A state titles at DeSoto Central High. The Yankees’ system is stacked with pitching prospects, including lefty Pico Kohn, a 2025 draftee from MSU who is already rated their No. 14. … In other Yankees news, ex-MSU infielder Travis Chapman will not be retained as the club’s first-base/infield coach, per various reports. He has been on the MLB staff since 2022. P.S. Several Mississippi products are on track to be MLB free agents after the World Series concludes, per a recent report from mlb.com, and among them is Drew Pomeranz, the Ole Miss product who pitched so well for the Chicago Cubs this season. The 37-year-old lefty, back in the big leagues in 2025 after four injury-prone years away, recorded a 2.17 ERA in 57 regular season games and a 1.50 in the postseason. “I just wanted to get out there and pitch one more time, and here I am, however many appearances later,” he recently told marqueesportsnetwork.com. “It just doesn’t feel real sometimes. But I don’t take one single second for granted here, not at all.” Some team is sure to sign him for 2026. Other free agents-to-be include Adam Frazier (Mississippi State), Hunter Renfroe (MSU), Chris Stratton (MSU), Kendall Graveman (MSU) and Tim Anderson (East Central CC). All but Frazier were released during the season. … Brandon Woodruff (MSU), who had a bounce-back year with Milwaukee, is a potential free agent, though his contract contains a mutual option, so he is likely to be back with the Brewers. The team is still alive — barely — in the National League Championship Series, and Woodruff has said he hopes to come off the IL should they make the Fall Classic.

14 Oct

numbers game

A few relevant numbers from Monday night’s Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, won 2-1 by Los Angeles at Milwaukee:
8-6-2 — The scoring for the never-before-seen double play turned in the fourth inning by Milwaukee, including two putouts by catcher William Contreras, the former Mississippi Braves standout. Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick, former Biloxi Shuckers standout, started the bizarre play with a bobble-and-catch off the wall and then a perfect throw to shortstop Joey Ortiz for the relay.
15 — Career postseason home runs by ex-M-Braves star Freddie Freeman, including the one in the sixth inning that put the Dodgers up 1-0.
3 — Walks in the top of the ninth inning, one of which forced in a run, issued by Shuckers alum Abner Uribe.
3 — Walks issued by Dodgers pitchers in the bottom of the ninth, including one to Shuckers product Isaac Collins, who scored the Brewers’ lone run.
7 — RBIs this postseason by the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio, the ex-Shuckers star whose ninth-inning sac fly put Milwaukee on the board.
11 — Number of times the Brewers struck out, 10 against Blake Snell and one against Blake Treinen, who got Shuckers alum Brice Turang to swing and miss to end the game.
3 — Number of former M-Braves who played, including L.A. defensive replacement Justin Dean. (Freeman and Contreras were teammates on Atlanta’s 2021 title team.)
5 — Number of Shuckers alums who played, including rookie Collins, who got his first postseason start, in left field.
1 — Loss for Milwaukee in seven meetings with Los Angeles in 2025.

12 Oct

whatever it takes

Everybody digs the long ball nowadays, not just chicks. Milwaukee is not a team that lived by the long ball this season — the Brewers’ 166 home runs ranked 22nd among MLB teams — but the Brewers launched three on Saturday night, which was enough to beat Chicago 3-1 and claim Game 5 of their National League Division Series at American Family Field. Former Mississippi Braves standout William Contreras homered off Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz in the first inning, Andrew Vaughn homered in the fourth and ex-Biloxi Shuckers star Brice Turang went deep in the seventh. The Cubs’ lone run was a Seiya Suzuki bomb. Home runs win games, the stats show: Teams that out-homer their opponents in a game win more than 70 percent of the time; the percentage is even higher in postseason games. The Brewers, in their first NL Championship Series appearance since 2018, will face Los Angeles, which led the NL in homers with 244, 55 of them by presumptive MVP Shohei Ohtani. Freddie Freeman, the former M-Braves star, hit 24 homers for the Dodgers. The Brewers’ leader was Christian Yelich with 29, followed by Shuckers alums Jackson Chourio (21) and Turang (18). And yet, don’t sell the Brewers short. They beat the Dodgers six straight times in the regular season en route to the league’s best record. The Brewers seemingly are just good at doing whatever it takes in a given game. “It’s a team that deserves and earned their way for the right to go to the World Series. That’s a good baseball team,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said in an mlb.com piece. The Brewers hit three solo homers Saturday, and their pitching — they were first in the NL in staff ERA — made those runs stand up. Jacob Misiorowski, the rookie All-Star who pitched in Biloxi just last year, delivered four great innings in relief to earn the win, and Abner Uribe (Shuckers ’22-23) retired six of the seven he faced to get the save. As Manny Randhawa writes for mlb.com, they “are the very definition of the phrase ‘greater than the sum of its parts.'” Many of those parts came up through the pipeline from Double-A Biloxi. P.S. The last time Milwaukee played in the NLCS, in 2018, the Dodgers were the opponent. A home run was a highlight in Game 1 of that series: Brandon Woodruff, the Mississippi State product from Wheeler, hit a bomb off Clayton Kershaw — back when pitchers still batted — and won the game with two clean innings out of the bullpen. L.A. won the series in seven. Woodruff currently is on the injured list and won’t be available for the NLCS.

10 Oct

go figure

You know the phrase, “That’s baseball.” Well, consider this: Justin Dean, longtime Mississippi Braves standout who didn’t touch the plate in 18 MLB appearances this season, scored more runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers than the entire Milwaukee team scored on Thursday night. Dean came on as a pinch runner in the seventh inning and came across on a bases-loaded walk for the Dodgers’ first run in their jaw-dropping 2-1 win against Philadelphia. The National League Division Series game — and the mighty Phillies’ season — ended on a base-loaded throwing error in the 11th inning at Dodger Stadium. Now that’s baseball. Meanwhile, in Chicago, at a frenzied Wrigley Field, the Brewers, the second-highest scoring team in the NL this season, lost 6-0 to the Cubs and will now face a deciding Game 5 in Milwaukee on Saturday. Former Biloxi Shuckers Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang and Sal Frelick went 2-for-11 and M-Braves alum William Contreras 0-for-4 as the Brewers managed just three hits all told. Ex-Shuckers star Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee’s ace, gave up a three-run bomb to Ian Happ in the first inning — all the offense the Cubs, fueled by the home crowd, would need. P.S. Dean made the Dodgers’ postseason roster because of his speed and his glove. He spent parts of four seasons with the M-Braves and was the center fielder on the 2021 Double-A South pennant winner. In 2024, the M-Braves’ swan song at Trustmark Park, Dean swiped a club-record 47 bases and set the Mississippi career record with 117 bags. He was signed by L.A. as a minor league free agent in December and made his MLB debut — as a defensive replacement — on Aug. 8. He was 0-for-2 as a hitter on the season.

07 Oct

connect four

Those were familiar names rising to the occasion in Milwaukee’s huge Game 2 win Monday night in the National League Division Series. Three Biloxi Shuckers of recent vintage and a Mississippi Braves alum took star turns in the 7-3 victory over Chicago at American Family Field. Start with Jason Misiorowski, the 6-foot-7 stringbean rookie who threw three innings of high heat and got the win. He yielded just one hit and no runs, striking out four and hitting 102 mph-plus on 12 of his pitches, topping out at 104.3. In two seasons at Double-A Biloxi, The Miz flashed some of that stuff: He struck out 141 batters across 100 2/3 innings. With the score tied at 3-3 in the third inning, William Contreras (M-Braves 2019) launched a 411-foot (at least) solo home run off Shota Imanaga. (Why did Atlanta ever trade Contreras, who’s also an excellent defensive catcher?) In the fourth inning, Jackson Chourio — one of the top prospects in the minors when he wore the Shuckers unie in 2023 — belted a three-run bomb, 419 feet to center field on an 0-2 pitch, that essentially iced the game for the Brewers. Almost overlooked is what reliever Abner Uribe (Shuckers ’22-23) did in the ninth, blowing away Carson Kelly, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson on 13 pitches. The largely unsung Uribe had a 1.67 ERA in 75 appearances this season. The Brewers hold a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Wrigley Field. P.S. Oh yeah, in the other NLDS, Los Angeles took a 2-0 series lead with a drama-filled 4-3 win against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. In the middle of it all was Freddie Freeman, the “grizzled veteran” who toiled for the M-Braves way back in 2009. Freeman had a hit and scored a run in the Dodgers’ four-run seventh, then made two outstanding plays at first base in the ninth as the Phillies tried to rally. Because of his clutch hitting prowess, it’s easy to forget what a great defensive player Freeman is: In 66 postseason games, he has a .996 fielding percentage with just two errors.