Tag Archives: Brewers

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.

14 Jan

managerial matters

Phillip Wellman, after a year out of the pro game, is a manager again. The former Mississippi Braves manager has been handed the reins of San Diego’s Double-A San Antonio club in the Texas League. Wellman managed the M-Braves from 2007-10 and won a Southern League pennant with the team in 2008. After leaving the Braves, he served as a hitting coach in the St. Louis system and then managed in Double-A in the Los Angeles Angels’ organization in 2014. … The Double-A Biloxi Shuckers have a new manager: Mike Guerrero, first-base coach in Milwaukee last year. A longtime minor league skipper, Guerrero replaces Carlos Subero, who was promoted to the Brewers’ big league staff. There are some familiar names in the Brewers’ system: Former Jackson Generals manager Rick Sweet will run the Triple-A team, Colorado Springs, and ex-Delta State star Edwin Maysonet is now a coach at Class A Brevard County, along with Ned Yost IV, a Jackson native and the son of the Kansas City manager.

16 Dec

new opportunity

Alex Presley didn’t get much opportunity in the big leagues with Houston in 2015, but that might change now that he is in Milwaukee’s system. The lefty-hitting outfielder out of Ole Miss has signed a minor league deal with the Brewers and will go to spring training with the big club, ostensibly to compete for the everyday job in center field. That’s a need in Milwaukee, which traded away Carlos Gomez last summer. Presley, 30, has spent parts of six seasons in the majors but got only 12 at-bats with the Astros last season. He played well in Triple-A, batting .292 for a Fresno team that won both the Pacific Coast League and Triple-A championships. Presley is a .259 career hitter in MLB with 23 homers and 25 steals in 329 games; he has played all three outfield spots. In 104 games with Pittsburgh (his original club) in 2012, Presley hit .237 with 10 homers and nine bags. Milwaukee’s depth chart currently lists 23-year-old Domingo Santana as the starting center fielder, but the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder profiles more as a corner man. While the Brewers are likely to bring in some more center field candidates, Presley should at least have a fighting chance to make the 25-man roster.

11 Nov

looking ahead

Can’t feel too bad for Lance Lynn, who had Tommy John surgery on Tuesday. He will make a reported $7.5 million in 2016 while not pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals. The crucial year for the former Ole Miss standout will be 2017, the final year of his current $22M contract. Lynn, who just finished his eighth pro season, has been a durable starter for the Cardinals the last four years, topping 200 innings twice and going at least 175 in the other two. And he has been a winner (61-39 career mark) on some very good teams. Many pitchers bounce back strong from Tommy John surgery. But some don’t. And Lynn will turn 30 in May of 2017. P.S. The Milwaukee Brewers’ new chart of top 10 prospects, as ranked by Baseball America, is flush with 2015 Biloxi Shuckers stars. Included: Shortstop Orlando Arcia (No. 1), right-hander Jorge Lopez (No. 2) and outfielders Brett Phillips and Tyrone Taylor.

29 Sep

best in show

Under the category of Best 2015 Season by a Former Mississippi Braves Hitter, there are quite a few viable candidates. Yunel Escobar is batting .318 with nine homers and 56 RBIs and has played a good third base for Washington. Once viewed as troublesome, Escobar may be the least of the Nationals’ worries. Jason Heyward has been a linchpin for playoff-bound St. Louis, hitting .289 with 12 homers and 56 RBIs and playing Gold Glove-caliber right field. In Miami, Martin Prado is at .289 with nine homers and 61 RBIs. Freddie Freeman, one of only two ex-M-Braves playing regularly in Atlanta, is hitting .280 with 18 homers and 66 RBIs, and Andrelton Simmons, the defensive whiz, checks in at .261. Evan Gattis has 27 homers and 87 RBIs for Houston, which is battling for a postseason berth, and Brian McCann has 26 bombs and 92 RBIs for the New York Yankees, who are doing the same. Gregor Blanco, not a regular in San Francisco, has hit .291 with five homers and 13 steals. And Jeff Francoeur (.260, 13 homers, 45 RBIs) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.247, eight, 21 in 66 games) have had nice bounce-back years in Philadelphia and Arizona. P.S. Jorge Lopez, a 12-game winner for Biloxi this season, is slated to make his big league debut tonight for Milwaukee at San Diego. He will be the last of the six Shuckers called up this month to get in a game. (For the record, Tyler Wagner was the first to appear, back in May.) Lopez is the Brewers’ No. 8 prospect (by mlb.com) and was the organization’s pitcher of the year. … Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia, not in The Show yet, has been awarded a Rawlings Gold Glove for defensive excellence in the minors this season. Only nine Gold Gloves are given out each year for all the minor leagues. Arcia recorded a .978 fielding percentage and turned 82 double plays in 123 games for the Shuckers. And he can hit, too.

28 Sep

making a case

Ole Miss product David Goforth, seeking to nail down a role in Milwaukee’s bullpen next year, picked up his first career win on Sunday. Goforth pitched a scoreless eighth inning against St. Louis, then benefitted from the Brewers’ seven-run rally in the ninth. They won 8-4. Goforth, 26, first called up in May, has made 18 appearances and put up a 4.09 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 22 innings. After converting from starter to closer in the minors and saving 27 games at Double-A Huntsville in 2014, Goforth was considered a candidate to close in the big leagues. Speculation now is that he may be better suited to a set-up role. Listed at 5 feet 10, 205 pounds, the Meridian native and ex-Neshoba Central star throws hard. He is on a list – surprisingly long — of pitchers who have hit 100 mph. That’s a nice weapon to have. P.S. On this date in 1978, Brian Cole was born in Meridian. Before his life was cut tragically short in a 2001 car wreck, Cole was one of the most promising players the state has produced. After starring at Meridian High, he played a year at Navarro Junior College in Texas, hit a reported .524 with 27 homers and was named Baseball America’s juco player of the year. The New York Mets drafted him in the 18th round in 1998, and two years later he was their minor league player of the year and No. 3-rated prospect. It’s so very sad that he’s gone.

17 Sep

farm livin’

Houston and Texas are slugging it out for first place in the American League West in Arlington, with the Rangers, now up 1½ games, landing most of the big punches through three games of the four-game series. Meanwhile, down on the farm, the Triple-A affiliates of both clubs are facing off for the Pacific Coast League pennant. No doubt former Ole Miss standout Alex Presley would rather be with the Astros, but playing for a championship with Fresno can’t feel too bad. Especially when you’re hitting .481 in the postseason, with four RBIs, four runs and three steals through six games. Presley and the Grizzlies squared the PCL finals at 1-all with a 3-1 win at Round Rock on Wednesday night. Presley, 30, who has spent parts of six years in the majors – eight games with Houston this year – batted .292 this season with three home runs, 49 RBIs and 15 steals for Fresno. The lefty-hitting outfielder might get another call from the Astros before it’s all said and done in the AL West. … Someday, perhaps, Biloxi Shuckers fans will sit at the bar and recall the days of Orlando Arcia, much like old Jackson Mets fans might remember Lee Mazzilli. Arcia, a 21-year-old shortstop, went 2-for-3 with a homer as host Biloxi beat Chattanooga 7-1 at MGM Park in the opener of the Southern League Championship Series. He is hitting .625 with three bombs, nine RBIs and six runs in four postseason games after batting .307 with eight homers and 69 RBIs during the inaugural season of Shuckers baseball. Mazzilli was the first MLB star to emerge from Jackson’s old Double-A club back in the mid-’70s. Arcia, Milwaukee’s top prospect, may well become the first ex-Shucker to do so.

02 Sep

a look ahead

With the Mississippi Braves’ final homestand of 2015 concluded, and no surety that a postseason berth is forthcoming, it’s a good time to ponder what the M-Braves’ 2016 roster might look like. (Keep in mind that Atlanta GM John Hart is a constant threat to make more trades that will impact the Double-A club.) Current position players likely to return to Pearl include third baseman Rio Ruiz, outfielder Sean Godfrey and infielders Levi Hyams and Eric Garcia. Late-season roster additions Zack Bird, Mauricio Cabrera, John Gant and Lucas Sims could well be back on the pitching staff. On the high Class A Carolina roster, Connor Lien’s stats stand out. An outfielder, he was batting .286 with seven homers, 43 RBIs and 32 stolen bases through August. Other Mudcats bucking for promotion include shortstop Johan Camargo (Atlanta’s No. 22 prospect in the most recent rankings by mlb.com), third baseman Carlos Franco (nine homers), outfielder Dustin Peterson (.258, eight homers), catcher Joseph Odom (seven homers) and first baseman Jacob Schrader (268, 15 homers, 59 RBIs). Starting pitchers Brandon Barker (8-5, 3.00 ERA), Blair Walters (2.93) and Seth Webster (8-7, 2.75) have good numbers, as does reliever Justin Jackson (three wins, four saves, 2.28). The 2016 campaign, the M-Braves’ 12th in Pearl, begins on April 7, with Pensacola visiting Trustmark Park. Mississippi will host the Southern League All-Star Game for the second time on June 21. P.S. It’s not likely that outfielder Mycal Jones will be back, but who expected he’d return for a sixth tour in 2015? Jones, a fourth-round pick by Atlanta out of Miami-Dade College in 2009, has worn an M-Braves uniform for at least part of every season since 2010. He has played in 362 games for the Double-A club, with 306 hits, a .247 average, 16 homers, 121 RBIs and 144 steals. … The M-Braves averaged an announced 3,190 per game in attendance for 68 dates this season. That ranks seventh in the Southern League and is up marginally from 2014 (3,152). … Sims, Cabrera, Lien, Camargo, Odom and current M-Braves pitcher Andrew Thurman have been assigned by Atlanta to the Arizona Fall League. … Seven Biloxi Shuckers/Milwaukee prospects are headed to the AFL: pitchers Jacob Barnes, Josh Hader, Adrian Houser and Damien Magnifico, infielder Yadiel Rivera and outfielders Brett Phillips and Michael Reed.

01 Sep

career thoughts

Brent Leach’s 11th season in pro ball ended last week when he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers. Injury had limited the Flowood native to six appearances for Triple-A Colorado Springs. Leach turns 33 in November and last pitched in the big leagues in 2009, when he worked in 38 games as a lefty specialist for the Los Angeles Dodgers. If his career is over, it was quite the odyssey, taking him from Brandon High to Southern Miss, Delta State and minor and major league parks all over the country. His MLB debut came in Dodger Stadium; he got the last three outs in a game won by Clayton Kershaw. Leach pitched in Japan in 2011 – after the tsunami — and spent some time in 2012 with the Double-A Mississippi Braves, pitching at Trustmark Park, not far from where he grew up. In 308 minor league games, Leach has 35 wins, 25 saves and a 3.67 ERA. He was undefeated — 2-0 — as a big leaguer. If he is ready to call it a career, he can also call it a good one.