Tag Archives: Brewers

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.

15 Aug

hot spots

Matchups of playoff contenders are abundant in the big leagues this weekend, and a bunch of Mississippians are in the middle of things. One of the hottest spots on Friday was U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, where the Cubs beat the White Sox 6-5 thanks in large part to two home runs by former Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan. Coghlan hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the third inning and a game-tying solo shot in the fifth, both off Jeff Samardzija. Coghlan now has 13 homers on the year for the hard-charging Cubs. At Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, ex-Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings went 3-for-4 with an RBI in his first game since April, but his Tampa Bay team fell to surging Texas 5-3. Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland was 1-for-4 for the Rangers. At San Francisco’s AT&T Park, fading Washington lost to the Giants 8-5 with ex-State stars Tyler Moore (an HBP in his one at-bat) and Jonathan Papelbon (two hits and a run allowed in the eighth inning) tasting more frustration. The day’s best game was at Rogers Centre in Toronto, where the New York Yankees stopped the Blue Jays’ 11-game win streak with a dramatic 4-3 win. No Mississippians played in the game, but veteran umpire Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss grad who lives in the Magnolia State, was behind home plate. P.S. Milwaukee has recalled right-hander David Goforth, a Meridian native and former Ole Miss standout. He has a 4.15 ERA in six MLB appearances this year.

24 Jul

catching up

Delta State, the 2,700-student school up in Cleveland with its proud baseball tradition, has produced, remarkably enough, three major league catchers. Carlos Leal has designs on being the fourth. Leal, in just his second pro season, is playing in the Class A Midwest League and batting .314 with two homers and 26 RBIs for Wisconsin in the Milwaukee system. Leal, from Puerto Rico, was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference catcher at DSU and an All-Stater at East Central Community College before that. But he was drafted as a pitcher (34th round) last year by the Brewers, who were impressed by his strong arm in a workout. He did not make a smooth transition last summer, putting up an 8.53 ERA in six rookie-league appearances. Milwaukee brass decided in the off-season to give Leal a shot at making one of the minor league clubs this spring as a catcher. He not only made the Wisconsin roster, he became the Timber Rattlers’ No. 1 catcher and made the MWL All-Star Game last month. “You could tell he has a passion for catching,” Charlie Greene, a Brewers minor league instructor, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. At 24, the left-handed hitting Leal could and probably needs to move up quickly. It’s a long way from A-ball to the big leagues, but Leal certainly appears to have a shot at joining Barry Lyons, Scooter Tucker and Eli Whiteside as Statesmen who’ve caught in The Show.

24 Jul

about-face

Things were going well for Drew Pomeranz in his role as a relief pitcher. Twenty appearances, a 1.56 ERA. Well, forget that. The big left-hander out of Ole Miss is back in the Oakland rotation. He made an emergency start on Thursday – after the A’s traded Scott Kazmir – and it didn’t go so well. Eight batters faced. Two hits, a walk, two runs allowed (on a home run). The A’s wound up losing 5-2 to Toronto. Pomeranz now has a 4.67 ERA in nine starts this season. Thursday’s was his first since May 18. The fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft, Pomeranz is with his third organization; he is 13-21 with a 4.14 ERA. He has always had trouble going deep into games as a starter. The move to the pen this season, which followed a stint on the disabled list, seemed like a good idea. And the results were good. Now he’ll have to readjust to starting for a team that’s out of the postseason hunt. “In five days I hope I’ll polish up a few things,” he told the San Jose Mercury News. Pomeranz’s next start figures to come against the Los Angeles Dodgers. P.S. David Goforth, another ex-UM star, was recalled by Milwaukee on Thursday and pitched in relief against Arizona. Didn’t go well for him either. Three hits, a walk and two runs allowed in one inning. Meridian native Goforth now has a 5.40 ERA in his five MLB appearances.

19 Jul

going coastal

First impression of MGM Park in Biloxi: intimate. Listed seating capacity of the new ballpark is 5,000, and each one is relatively close to the field. (On the downside, the park offers very little cover from the rain or sun.) The power alley distances are marked as 350 feet, which would seem to be a hitter’s dream. But on this particular night, when the air was heavy from a pregame storm, none of the 23 hits mustered by the Shuckers and visiting Chattanooga Lookouts came close to leaving the yard. The stadium backdrop is unique. The Beau Rivage towers above the center-field wall and dominates the view. MGM owns the Beau, and Shuckers ads and paraphernalia are everywhere in the Casino & Hotel. Construction is ongoing at the park, which is obvious. Lots of orange barrels, cones and tape. An announced crowd of 4,482 turned out for this Friday night game despite a 1-hour, 41-minute rain delay. (Yes, there were postgame fireworks.) The product they’re seeing on the field is a good one. The parent Milwaukee Brewers stacked the Double-A club with prospects, and the Shuckers won the first-half title in the SL South despite playing mostly road games. (MGM Park opened June 6.) They lost on this particular night, 6-5, but had the winning run on second base in the ninth. Shortstop Orlando Arcia, who’ll be in the big leagues soon, went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, and center fielder Michael Reed shined on defense, throwing out two runners. One of Chattanooga’s stars was former Ole Miss player Stuart Turner, who had three of the team’s 14 hits. In sum: Nice park, good game, fun time. P.S. Continuing on a Coastal theme, former Vancleave High standout Colin Bray is on a tear at Class A Kane County in the Arizona system. The switch-hitting outfielder, in his third pro season, is batting .296 with 15 doubles, 30 RBIs and 15 steals. He won Midwest League player of the week honors for July 6-12. And ex-George County High star Justin Steele, a fifth-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2014, is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA in five starts at short-season Class A Eugene.

03 Jul

welcome back

Ole Miss product Alex Presley, back on Houston’s roster, is in the lineup for tonight’s game at Boston. Presley, who took the spot of injured George Springer, is batting ninth and playing center field for the Astros, who are in first place in the American League West. Presley, a 10-year pro with 321 big league games on his ledger, was batting .308 with two homers, 35 RBIs and 10 steals at Triple-A Fresno. The left-handed hitter batted .244 with six homers and 19 RBIs for the Astros last season; he was designated for assignment in the spring. … Also back in The Show is another ex-Rebels star, David Goforth, recalled today by Milwaukee from Triple-A Colorado Springs for a second stint. The right-handed reliever did not allow a run in four appearances during his previous call-up, his first in the big leagues.

16 Jun

here and there

Ex-Southern Miss right-hander Christian Talley has signed as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies, the school announced today. USM had three pitchers drafted last week: Cody Carroll, Ryan Milton and Ferriss Trophy winner James McMahon, who was picked by the Rockies. … Stan Cliburn, the former Forest Hill High star from Jackson, recently notched his 1,500th win as a professional baseball manager. Cliburn’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are currently tied for first in the independent Atlantic League’s Freedom Division. One of his regulars is ex-big leaguer Fred Lewis, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product who is batting .238 with 13 RBIs and 18 runs in 44 games. Cliburn, who also played in the big leagues, managed his first team in 1988 and has been working in pro ball ever since. His twin brother Stu, also an MLB vet, is the pitching coach for Chattanooga in the Southern League. … Former Hattiesburg High standout and onetime big leaguer Robert Carson has signed with Bridgeport of the Atlantic League. The big left-hander, 26, was recently released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the heels of a 50-game drug suspension that cost him an invite to major league spring training. … Itawamba CC alum Tim Dillard is soldiering on in his 13th pro season. The onetime big leaguer, now 31, has a 4.24 ERA in 12 games for Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Milwaukee system. Dillard recently moved into the Sky Sox starting rotation. … Here’s a young player to watch: Mason Irby. The lefty-hitting catcher, a Southeast Lauderdale High product, was a second-team NJCAA Division II All-America pick as a freshman at Jones County Junior College this past season after batting .395 with three homers and 51 RBIs. He is playing for Niagara in the New York Collegiate Baseball League and at last look was hitting .359 with five doubles and six RBIs in 11 games.

15 Jun

tenacious oyster

The Biloxi Shuckers’ logo is described in the club’s press notes as a “tenacious oyster,” which might be a bit of a P.R. stretch, but tenacious could certainly be used to describe the team. The Shuckers, playing their inaugural season, clinched the first-half championship in the Southern League South on Sunday — with six games left in the half — by whipping the second-place Mississippi Braves 9-0 at a subdued Trustmark Park. The Shuckers (39-24, best record in the league) won this title despite playing all but five of their 63 games to date on the road. MGM Park in Biloxi didn’t open until June 6. This team (the former Huntsville Stars) is no fluke. The Shuckers have nine players headed to next week’s SL All-Star Game. They feature a bunch of the Milwaukee Brewers’ top prospects, including the No. 1 (outfielder Tyrone Taylor, 3-for-5 with two RBIs on Sunday), the No. 2 (shortstop Orlando Arcia, 2-for-5, two RBIs), the No. 14 (outfielder Michael Reed, 2-for-5, RBI) and the No. 19 (ex-M-Braves outfielder Kyle Wren, 2-for-5, two runs). Starting pitcher Brooks Hall ain’t bad, either. The 6-foot-5 right-hander allowed just two hits over eight innings to run his record to 7-3. He beat Atlanta prospect Jason Hursh (2-5), who took a shutout into the sixth, when the Shuckers erupted for five runs. They scored three more in the seventh and tacked on another in the ninth, long after the M-Braves had raised the white flag. Tenacious, indeed.

27 May

powering the rangers

Texas is on fire, and Mitch Moreland is providing a lot of the fuel. The former Mississippi State standout from Amory has a 10-game hitting streak going during which he has batted .341 with four home runs and nine RBIs. The Rangers have won seven straight — eight of the last 10 — to reach 23-23 on the year. Since Moreland returned from the disabled list following minor surgery on his left elbow, the Rangers are 9-4. They were 7-7 while their lefty-hitting first baseman was out. Moreland hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning on Tuesday night as the Rangers beat Cleveland 4-3. It was his fifth of the year – the Rangers are 5-0 when he homers — and 70th of his career. He is batting .306 with 18 RBIs. … Pascagoula’s Joey Butler is actually hotter than Moreland, hitting .423 over his last 10 games for Tampa Bay. Butler was 3-for-4 with two runs in a 7-6 loss to Seattle on Tuesday; the Rays have dropped four straight. In 57 at-bats, Butler is hitting .333 with two homers and seven RBIs. He had only 17 MLB at-bats before this season, his eighth in pro ball. He was drafted out of UNO in 2008 by Texas. … Ole Miss product David Goforth got two outs on three pitches in his big league debut for Milwaukee on Tuesday. … Ex-State star Jacob Lindgren, who debuted with two scoreless innings on Monday, became only the second New York Yankees draft pick to make the majors in less than a year. The other was Deion Sanders.

26 May

tough enough

On April 9, after a 6-0 loss to Vanderbilt, Ole Miss certainly didn’t look like an NCAA Tournament team. The Rebels were 16-18 and 5-8 in the SEC. But the Rebels won the next two games against the then top-ranked Commodores, the start of a 14-7 charge to the end of the regular season. On Monday, Ole Miss received an at-large bid to the NCAAs, the 20th in program history. There are some who might say Ole Miss still doesn’t look like an NCAA Tournament team. The Rebels are 30-26. They finished one game above .500 in the SEC and, as a 6-seed, were bounced in the first round of the league tournament by Alabama. They were 11-15 away from Oxford. UM was 10th in the SEC in hitting (.269) and 13th in pitching (4.44 ERA). So, how’d the Rebels get in when teams like Nevada-Reno (41-15), Michigan State (34-23), North Carolina (34-24) and Southern Miss (36-18-1 and 2-0 vs. UM) were left out? Score one for strength of schedule. Ole Miss played the toughest slate in the country, according to a couple of different rankings. The Rebels were 11-11 against other tournament invitees, 7-6 against top 10 teams and 5-4 against No. 1 teams. Apparently, the selection committee was impressed enough to make Ole Miss a No. 2 seed in its regional. Of course, it’s not all mint juleps. There is a downside. UM must travel to Los Angeles to play in the bracket with the No. 1 overall seed, UCLA (42-14). The Rebels’ first game is against Maryland, a strong 3-seed which went 39-21 and reached the Big Ten Tournament final. P.S. Former Rebels star David Goforth, who has emerged as a bullpen ace in Milwaukee’s system, has been called up for the first time by the Brewers.