Tag Archives: Brewers

16 Jul

it’s a wrap

Three more Mississippi State pitchers and five from Ole Miss were picked in rounds 11-20 of the MLB draft. The total number drafted from state schools over the three days was 21, eight of them Bulldogs pitchers. MSU’s Tyson Hardin (Milwaukee), Tyler Davis (Kansas City) and Cam Schuelke (Cleveland) went on Day 3, along with outfielder Connor Hujsak (Tampa Bay) and shortstop David Mershon (Los Angeles Angels). Ole Miss draftees included third baseman Ethan Lege (Pittsburgh) and pitchers Connor Spencer (Oakland), Xavier Rivas (New York Yankees), Cole Tolbert (Boston), Hunter Elliott (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Kyler Carmack (Philadelphia). Southern Miss outfielder Dalton McIntyre went to Atlanta. Only one high school player — Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin, the ninth overall pick — was drafted this year, and none were picked from the state’s non-Division I schools or junior colleges.

07 Jul

that’s one to flush

Lance Lynn’s first pitch — a fastball, of course — was crushed out of Nationals Park, a home run by C.J. Abrams that portended the worst start of the veteran right-hander’s long MLB career. Former Ole Miss star Lynn allowed nine hits (three homers), four walks and 11 runs (10 earned) in 2 2/3 innings Saturday in St. Louis’ 14-6 loss at Washington. His record dropped to 4-4 and his ERA ballooned to 4.48 over 18 starts. Lynn had been brilliant in winning his previous two starts, allowing just one run in 12 2/3. But on Saturday, on a 97-degree day, the Nationals jumped all over his normally reliable four-seamer. The Cardinals surely knew there would be days like this when they signed the 37-year-old Lynn, who is approaching 2,000 career MLB innings, as a free agent in the off-season. A fiery innings-eater most of his career, Lynn is averaging just 5.0 innings per start in 2024. His fastball velocity is not what it once was. He gave up an MLB-worst 44 homers in 2023 but had yielded just 10 before Saturday’s disaster, which may raise concerns. For his part, Lynn didn’t seem too worried postgame. “I wouldn’t be playing this long if I didn’t flush (bad outings),” he told mlb.com. … Minnesota reportedly is recalling ex-Southern Miss slugger Matt Wallner from Triple-A St. Paul, where he is batting .259 with 19 homers and 53 RBIs since an April demotion. P.S. The final Biloxi-Mississippi Southern League game at Trustmark Park produced a memorable pitchers duel, won by the visiting Shuckers 2-1. Ex-USM star Landon Harper ran his scoreless streak to 20 innings for the M-Braves, going four innings as the starter Saturday. For the Shuckers, Milwaukee prospect Jacob Misiorowski yielded one run in 6 1/3 innings and struck out 10. Remember that name. … Mississippi State alum J.T. Ginn notched his first Triple-A victory Saturday, allowing two runs over six innings for Las Vegas (Oakland system). Ginn is 1-3, 7.03, in nine games for the Aviators. He was 4-1, 4.15, in Double-A this season.

03 Jul

rise and fall

The hard fall of Tim Anderson created a loud thud on Tuesday when the former batting champion and All-Star shortstop was designated for assignment by one of the worst teams in baseball. East Central Community College alum Anderson, a .278 career hitter, was batting .214 with no homers for Miami. Fittingly, he struck out Sunday in his final at-bat with the Marlins, giving him 68 strikeouts in 234 ABs this season. He was on a one-year, $5M contract after being cut loose by the Chicago White Sox following a poor 2023 season. Speculation is Anderson, 31, will be released; he may well get another shot somewhere. … Grae Kessinger, ex-Ole Miss star, was recalled from Triple-A by Houston and was in uniform for the Astros’ game at Toronto on Tuesday, though he did not play. Kessinger, 0-for-11 in MLB ABs this year, was batting .283 with two homers and 11 RBIs at Sugar Land. … Ex-Mississippi State star Jordan Westburg, now with Baltimore, apparently will fall short of beating out Jose Ramirez for the starting nod at third base for the American League in fan balloting for the All-Star Game. Voting ends today. … MSU product Nathaniel Lowe, who had just two homers as of June 25, has hit four in his last seven games, including two in Texas’ 7-0 victory against San Diego on Tuesday. (It was his bobblehead night.) He averaged 21 homers over the previous three years for the Rangers. … Former Ole Miss standout Anthony Servideo was sent back to Double-A Bowie from Triple-A Norfolk by Baltimore. Servideo, a third-round pick in 2020, was batting .212 in 14 games for the Tides; he was hitting .196 for Bowie when he was promoted to fill a roster need. … Cleveland sent Southern Miss product Nick Sandlin (5-0, one save, 3.49 ERA) on a rehab assignment to Triple-A Columbus. He worked a scoreless inning Tuesday. The reliever has been on the injured list since June 17. … Ole Miss alum Dylan DeLucia was promoted from rookie ball to Low-Class A Lynchburg by Cleveland. He made two appearances in the Arizona Complex League, his first outings since being drafted in 2022. He did not pitch Tuesday. … Former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt, Milwaukee’s No. 4 prospect (see previous post), cracked MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 minor league prospects list at No. 96. Pratt is in A-ball. USM alum Hurston Waldrep, who already has debuted with Atlanta this season, is No. 70, up from 72 in the previous ranking.

02 Jul

reach for the stars

Magnolia Heights product Cooper Pratt is going where a number of former Mississippi-connected stars have gone before: the All-Star Futures Game. Pratt, a top Milwaukee prospect, has been named to the National League roster for the July 13 contest at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He follows the likes of Colt Keith, Billy Hamilton, Hunter Renfroe, Matt Wallner, Nathaniel Lowe, Dakota Hudson and Ethan Small as selectees for this prestigious game. Pratt, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound shortstop, was drafted in the sixth round by the Brewers in 2023 after earning state player of the year honors as a two-way standout at MAIS state champion Magnolia Heights. An Ole Miss commit, he got $1.35M to sign with the Brewers and already is rated the No. 4 prospect in their loaded system. “He’s a cage rat … and one of our more explosive athletes,” Brewers minor league hitting instructor Brenton Del Chiaro recently told Brewers Beat. Pratt, 19, playing at Low-Class A Carolina — for a first-half championship team in the Carolina League — is hitting .313 with two homers, 31 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. He batted .356 in rookie ball last summer. MLB Pipeline projects his big league arrival as 2027 — but that could change. … Former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland, who spent a chunk of his MLB career with Texas, will serve as first-base coach for the AL team in the Futures Game. Most of the coaches have Rangers connections.

16 Jun

who’s hot?

Continuing to make his case for a return to the big leagues, Matt Wallner enjoyed another four-hit game — with a home run — on Saturday for Triple-A St. Paul. The ex-Southern Miss star, who also had a four-hit game on Thursday, is batting .396 in June (.458 OBP) with seven homers and 16 RBIs. He was sent down by Minnesota on April 16 following a horrid start. After his recent hot streak, the left-handed slugger is at .246 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs for St. Paul. … Grae Kessinger is also building a case for a return to The Show. The Ole Miss product went 3-for-5 for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday and is batting .341 since his June 5 demotion by Houston. Kessinger, a versatile infielder, rarely played (11 at-bats) while he was with the Astros, who are struggling mightily at 32-39. … Former Biloxi High standout Colt Keith, making his case to stay in the big leagues with Detroit, went 4-for-6 in the Tigers’ 13-5 whipping of the Astros on Saturday. After an early June swoon, rookie Keith, 22, is 7-for-13 in his last three games, boosting his average to .235. He has three homers and 20 RBIs. “For me, it’s not about the stats or the data,” he recently said in a FanGraphs article. “It’s a comfort-level thing.” … In four games since he was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett from Mississippi, Nacho Alvarez is making his case as a prospect to watch in Atlanta’s system. He put up a 4-for-4 game Saturday and is 9-for-18 with two homers in four games for the Stripers. With the Double-A M-Braves, the 21-year-old shortstop hit .265 with no homers in 49 games. … In Low-Class A, former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt is bidding for a move up in Milwaukee’s system. Pratt had a three-hit game for Carolina on Saturday — his fourth three-knock game in his last eight — and is raking at a .429 clip in June. For the season, the second-year pro, 19, is at .310 with two homers, 24 RBIs and 15 steals. He is the Brewers’ No. 8-rated prospect.

12 Jun

going places

Former Mississippi Braves star Drew Waters got back in The Show and former Biloxi Shuckers star Carlos F. Rodriguez got his first MLB shot among a flurry of Tuesday transactions involving players with Mississippi ties. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel was promoted to Double-A in the Baltimore system; ex-Ole Miss standout Brandon Johnson moved up to Double-A in the Kansas City chain; former Mississippi State bullpen ace Landon Sims jumped to High-Class A in the Arizona system; and USM product Hunter Stanley came off the injured list at Triple-A Columbus in the Cleveland organization. … Waters — Southern League player of the year in 2019 — was recalled by Kansas City to replace Hunter Renfroe, the ex-State star who went on the injured list with a broken toe. Waters, hitting .277 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in Triple-A, went 0-for-4 in his first MLB game of 2024. The Royals also placed Bulldogs alum Adam Frazier on the bereavement list. … Rodriguez, Milwaukee’s No. 6 prospect who went 9-6, 2.77 ERA, for the Shuckers in 2023, allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings and took a loss against Toronto. … Etzel, a 2023 draftee by the Orioles, was batting .306 with four homers and 31 steals at High-A Aberdeen; he got a knock in his first at-bat for Class AA Bowie. … Johnson was 3-3, two saves, 4.13, in High-A for the Royals. … Sims, a star on MSU’s national title team, had a 4.38 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings at Low-A Visalia. … Stanley, on the IL for about a month, has a 5.85 ERA over six games for Columbus. P.S. Kirk McCarty, former USM standout from Hattiesburg, threw seven shutout innings in his Chinese Professional Baseball League debut last week and allowed two runs in five innings on Tuesday for CTBC Brothers. He is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA. The well-traveled McCarty has won 18 games the past three seasons: four in Triple-A, four in MLB with Cleveland, nine in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2023 plus the one in the CPBL. He won 22 games for USM from 2015-17.

03 May

down the road

A couple of former Mississippi high school stars crossed paths — and showed out — in the Low-Class A Carolina League on Thursday night. Cooper Pratt is on the faster track, but there is still time for Brennon McNair to get rolling. Magnolia Heights product Pratt, Milwaukee’s No. 9 prospect, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, two runs and two steals as the Carolina Mudcats blasted Columbia 16-2 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, N.C. Having recently come off the injured list, Pratt, 19, is hitting .250 with 11 RBIs in 14 games. The 6-foot-4 shortstop was a sixth-round pick in 2023 — he got a big bonus to pass on his Ole Miss commitment — and batted .356 in rookie ball last summer. Pratt has impressive bloodlines. His dad played college ball and his mom played softball. Brother Ozzie is Southern Miss’ starting shortstop. Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who has raved about Cooper Pratt’s potential, coached one of his uncles at Arizona State. … McNair, a former Magee High star, went 2-for-3 Thursday with his first home run of the season for Columbia, a Kansas City affiliate. McNair was an 11th-round pick by the Royals in 2021 — the only prep player drafted from the Magnolia State that year — and passed on a South Alabama offer to sign. In addition to batting .527 with 11 homers as a shortstop at Magee his senior year, he was valedictorian and class president. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound McNair, who has played multiple positions in pro ball, has had some injury issues. He is hitting .244 in 14 games this season, .219 with 11 homers and 32 bags for his career. He is only 21, but this could be a pivotal year for him. P.S. Brandon Parker — former West Harrison High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star — put up his second straight two-hit game Thursday for the Mississippi Braves, helping USM alum Hurston Waldrep notch his first Double-A win. Waldrep went 5 2/3 innings, allowing no earned runs, in a 6-1 win against Pensacola at Trustmark Park. Parker, who homered Wednesday, has raised his average to .204.

04 Apr

just stuff

Brock Wilken, Wake Forest’s all-time home run leader and now Milwaukee’s No. 7 prospect, smacked a two-run homer to power the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers to a 7-0 win Wednesday night in an exhibition game against Pearl River Community College at MGM Park. The Shuckers open the Southern League season Friday at home against Montgomery. … Former Shuckers star Jackson Chourio hit his first big league homer for the Brewers in a loss, the team’s first, against Minnesota. The highly touted Chourio is off to a .350 start in his rookie campaign. … The Norfolk Tides, Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate, banged out 29 hits in a 26-11 win against Charlotte in game highlighted by Heston Kjerstad’s 10-RBI effort and Kyle Stowers’ three homers. Ole Miss alum Errol Robinson, a minor league vet in his first year in the Orioles’ system, contributed a little: one hit and two runs. He is batting .316. … Hunter Renfroe, ex-Mississippi State star, got his first hit of 2024 — he is now 1-for-19 — and picked up an assist on a sensational throw from right field, but his Kansas City club lost to Baltimore. … East Central CC alum Tim Anderson went 0-for-2 and ex-Ole Miss standout Nick Fortes 0-for-3 as Miami fell to 0-7 with a 10-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Anderson, a free agent signee, is batting .231 with one RBI, no homers and no steals. Fortes is batting .083. … MSU product Brent Rooker went 0-for-4 in Oakland’s loss to Baltimore and is at .100 on the season for the 1-6 A’s. … Former State standout Justin Foscue, recalled from the minors on Tuesday by Texas, has yet to make his MLB debut. The Rangers are off today, host Houston this weekend.

18 Mar

quite a talent pool

Fans of the Biloxi Shuckers may look back someday on their 2023 team as the best collection of talent they ever saw at MGM Park. Much of that talent was on display Sunday in Arizona when Milwaukee’s Spring Breakout team played Kansas City. Seven ’23 Shuckers were in the opening lineup — and six of them rank among the top 25 prospects in the Brewers’ loaded system, rated No. 3 in all of MLB. Milwaukee’s top prospect (per MLB Pipeline) is outfielder Jackson Chourio, who got an $82 million contract before ever playing a big league game. He’ll do that this season, possibly on opening day. He belted 22 homers and stole 43 bases for the Double-A Biloxi club last year. The leadoff batter on Sunday was first baseman Tyler Black, the Brewers’ No. 4 prospect, who hit 14 homers and stole 47 bases for the Shuckers. He tripled and scored in the Spring Breakout game. Jeferson Quero, a catcher who ranks No. 3 in the Brewers’ system, hit 16 homers for Biloxi last year. He DH’d and hit cleanup Sunday, followed by catcher Wes Clarke (No. 25), who belted 26 bombs for the ’23 Shuckers. Also in Sunday’s lineup, batting third, was third baseman Brock Wilken (No. 7) and shortstop Eric Brown Jr., both of whom got some Double-A time last year. The starting pitcher was Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee’s No. 2, who made five starts for the Shuckers a year ago and threw 2 2/3 hitless innings with five strikeouts on Sunday. Expect to see many of these players in Milwaukee soon. Note: Former Magnolia Heights High star Cooper Pratt, a 2023 draft pick already pegged as Milwaukee’s No. 10 prospect, got in Sunday’s game at shortstop. He’ll be in Biloxi soon enough, possibly in 2025.

07 Mar

breakout breakdown

Highly rated prospects Justin Foscue, Jacob Gonzalez, Will Warren and Kemp Alderman are among the 19 Mississippians on the preliminary rosters for next week’s Spring Breakout series, a new event that will feature a ton of the top talent in the minor leagues. Each of MLB’s 30 teams will play a game — two teams will play two — beginning on March 14 in Arizona and Florida. Atlanta’s team will feature a bunch of former and future Mississippi Braves, as well as ex-Smithville High star Jared Johnson, a right-hander who pitched in A-ball in 2023. The Braves will play on March 16 against Boston, which lists DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan and ex-Southern Miss standout Dalton Rogers. Milwaukee’s team includes 2023 Biloxi Shuckers star Jackson Chourio — the No. 2 overall prospect in the minors — and Cooper Pratt, Mississippi’s prep player of the year in 2023 at Magnolia Heights. The Brewers play on March 17 against Kansas City; ex-MSU standout Eric Cerantola is on the Royals’ roster. Former MSU star Foscue is Texas’ No. 5 prospect, and he may make the Rangers’ opening day roster. Gonzalez, a first-round pick out of Ole Miss last summer and the Chicago White Sox’s No. 5 prospect, is joined on the ChiSox roster by former Rebels teammate Tim Elko. Jackson Prep product Will Warren, the New York Yankees’ eighth-ranked prospect, pitched in Triple-A in 2023 and is close to his MLB breakthrough. Alderman won the Ferriss Trophy last year at Ole Miss and is rated No. 8 on Miami’s chart. Among the other notable Mississippi products on the rosters are South Panola High alum Emaarion Boyd, Philadelphia’s No. 17 who swiped 56 bases in A-ball last season, and Colton Ledbetter (Tampa Bay’s No. 16), a second-round pick out of State in 2023 who batted .274 over two levels last season.