Tag Archives: Brewers

04 Oct

off to a wild start

There were crushing defeats in the MLB Wild Card Series. And then there was what happened to Milwaukee and former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams in a Game 3 on Thursday night. Williams – 14-of-15 in save opportunities with a 1.25 ERA in 22 games this season — surrendered the game-changing three-run homer to Pete Alonso in the ninth inning of the division-champ Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the wild-card New York Mets. The frenzied crowd at American Family Field, fired up by two Milwaukee bombs in the seventh, was crestfallen. Williams, a 2019 Biloxi alum whose “Airbender” changeup helped him win rookie of the year honors in 2020, and fellow former Shuckers Jackson Chourio (.455, two homers in the series), Sal Frelick (.364, Game 3 homer) and Garrett Mitchell (big Game 2 homer) are done. Among those celebrating for the Mets were former Mississippi Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson, the first-base coach, and former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons, the longtime MLB manager who is now the team’s bench coach. … Atlanta’s tumultuous and injury-plagued season ended Wednesday in San Diego, where M-Braves alum Max Fried, in perhaps his last Atlanta appearance, got whacked for six straight hits and five runs in the second inning of Game 2. Despite the efforts of ex-M-Braves star Michael Harris II (3-for-4 with a double and homer), the Braves could not recover and went down and out, 5-4. … Houston, another division champ playing at home, went out in two games to the surging Detroit Tigers. Former Shuckers ace Josh Hader faltered at a crucial time in Game 2 for the Astros, giving up a game-deciding three-run double in the eighth inning of the 5-2 defeat. Colt Keith, the rookie out of Biloxi High, and the amazing Tigers move on to face Cleveland (and ex-Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin) in the American League Division Series. … Baltimore, playing at home as the No. 3 seed in the AL, was swept by Kansas City. Former Mississippi State standout Jordan Westburg, an All-Star for the Orioles this season, is done, while the upstart Royals, with former Bulldogs Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier in tow, move on to play the New York Yankees in the ALDS. … Awaiting the Mets in the NLDS is Philadelphia and the raucous fans at Citizens Bank Park. Philly’s current roster includes ex-Shuckers standout Weston Wilson and M-Braves alum Kolby Allard, and Laurel native Bobby Dickerson is the team’s infield coach. The other NL semifinal matches two teams that have some history: San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers. On LA’s roster are former M-Braves Freddie Freeman and Evan Phillips. … All the division series openers are Saturday.

24 Sep

philly flashback

The last time the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated a division championship was 13 years ago, when the club’s “Sports Illustrated Five” featured a pair of Mississippi junior college alumni. The Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 6-2 on Monday night to claim their first National League East crown since 2011. That was the year that ex-Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee and former Holmes CC standout Roy Oswalt were members of a stellar rotation that appeared on the cover of SI’s preseason issue. Lee went 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA and Oswalt 9-10, 3.69, as the Phillies rolled to a 102-60 finish. Roy Halladay (a 19-game winner), Cole Hamels and Vance Worley rounded out the starting five, and Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins powered the offense. Alas, Philly lost in the NL Division Series to St. Louis (and a rookie right-hander named Lance Lynn). The lone Mississippi connection with the 2024 Phillies is veteran infield coach Bobby Dickerson, the Laurel native who has been on the staff for the last three seasons. P.S. Drake Baldwin, who played for the Mississippi Braves in 2024, and Jacob Misiorowksi, who pitched for Biloxi this season, were named minor league players of the year in their respective organizations by Baseball America. Atlanta prospect Baldwin, a catcher, hit .244 with four homers in 52 games for the Double-A M-Braves before finishing the season at Triple-A, where he belted 12 more bombs. Milwaukee prospect Misiorowski was 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA for the Double-A Shuckers; he struck out 127 batters in 97 1/3 innings, including time in Triple-A.

20 Sep

southern exposure

Behind a gem of an outing from former Mississippi State pitcher K.C. Hunt, Biloxi squared its Southern League Division Series at a game apiece with a 5-1 win against Montgomery on Thursday night. Hunt threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing just the one run on three hits and no walks with five strikeouts. A member of State’s 2021 national title team, Hunt was 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA over three levels in Milwaukee’s minor league system in 2024. Joining the Shuckers on Thursday was Cooper Pratt, the ex-Magnolia Heights star who celebrated his first game in Double-A by going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Shortstop Pratt, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect, hit .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals over two Class A levels this season. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel drove in the only run for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate. The decisive Game 3 of the series is tonight at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium. … In the other Southern League series, former Ole Miss standout Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a homer and scored twice as Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) beat Tennessee (Cubs) 12-5 to even that series at 1-1. Gonzalez, a 2023 first-round pick, hit .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 bags over two levels this year. P.S. MSU alum Jordan Westburg went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for Triple-A Norfolk as he began a rehab assignment in the Baltimore system. A 2024 All-Star, Westburg (.269, 18 homers, 58 RBIs) has been on the injured list (hand) since Aug. 1. The Orioles are battling the New York Yankees for the American League East title. … Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin got the final two outs (via strikeout) in the fifth inning, halting a Minnesota rally, and Cleveland went on to beat the Twins 3-2 in 10 innings and clinch a playoff berth in the AL. Sandlin has a 3.93 ERA in 66 games. … Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes had a good view of a history-making event on Thursday. He was catching for Miami as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homers, two steals and 10 RBIs, becoming the first player to record a 50-homer/50-steal season. BTW, Fortes hit his fourth homer of the year in the ninth inning of the Marlins’ 20-4 loss.

19 Sep

fitting finale

Lance Lynn’s season ended Wednesday when St. Louis put the veteran right-hander on the injured list with right knee inflammation. We’re now left to wonder if Ole Miss alum Lynn’s career might have ended, too. If so, he went out in fitting fashion, like the horse he has always been, throwing six innings and allowing a lone run in a 3-1 victory Tuesday against Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium. The burly, gray-bearded Lynn, 7-4, 3.84 ERA in 23 starts on the year, went 6-0 at Busch Stadium, where a large group of family members watched him work on Tuesday. Tuesday’s game was his 100th career appearance at Busch, per an mlb.com story, and he is 46-20 there all-time. The 37-year-old Lynn’s 13-year MLB career began with St. Louis in 2011, when he helped the Cardinals win the World Series. All told, he went 143-99 with a 3.74 ERA and 2,015 strikeouts, pitching for six different clubs. Drafted in the first round out of Ole Miss by St. Louis in 2008, Lynn’s 143 wins are tied for fourth-most (with Cliff Lee) among Mississippi natives or school alums who have pitched in the big leagues. Lynn signed a one-year, $11 million free agent contract with the Cardinals this past off-season, and the club holds an option to bring him back in 2025. Cards manager Oliver Marmol told mlb.com he couldn’t have asked for more than Lynn provided in 2024: “I think we picked the right guy to come in and help mold the culture in ways that matter.” So, will we see Lynn on the bump in the majors again? “If you ask me if I want to pitch, I never want to stop pitching,” he said after Tuesday’s game. “But I know there’s going to be a time when that’s going to happen.” P.S. Lucedale’s Justin Steele came off the injured list Wednesday and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the Chicago Cubs, who lost to Oakland 5-3 at Wrigley Field. Steele is 5-5, 3.03, in an injury-dampened season. … Props to Milwaukee and all the former Biloxi Shuckers who contributed as the Brewers clinched the National League Central crown on Wednesday. … Love these comments from Grae Kessinger, the former Ole Miss star now playing a reserve role with the playoff-bound Houston Astros: “It’s always good to contribute and help the team win. Every day, just come to win. What a fun group this is. Winning is all that matters.” On Tuesday, Kessinger, subbing for the ejected “Shoeless Jose” Altuve, scored the go-ahead run as the ghost runner in the top of the 10th inning and then made a sweet play behind second base to end the game, a 4-3 victory over San Diego. Kessinger has played in just 17 games and gotten just 15 at-bats.

13 Sep

short hops

A year after helping his rookie-level club win a league title, Cooper Pratt is chasing another championship in the High-Class A Midwest League. The 2023 Mississippi prep player of the year at Magnolia Heights knocked in the tying run and scored the game-winner Thursday as Wisconsin beat Quad Cities 7-6 to advance to the MWL Championship Series. Pratt, a .277 hitter at two levels in 2024, had three hits and scored three times for the Timber Rattlers, a Milwaukee affiliate. Pratt is the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect. … Former Mississippi State right-hander K.C. Hunt threw six shutout innings to notch his first Double-A win as Biloxi beat visiting Mississippi 8-1 in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Hunt, the Brewers’ No. 29 prospect, is 1-2, 2.20 ERA, for the Shuckers and 8-3, 2.03, overall this year. … Former Shuckers star Jackson Chourio hit his 20th home run for Milwaukee, becoming the youngest player, at age 20, to post a 20-homer/20-steal season in major league history. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Kemp Alderman belted his first Double-A homer for Pensacola (Miami affiliate) and now has eight bombs over four levels in his second pro season. … UM alum Tim Elko hit his eighth homer for Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox) and now has 50 in his three-season minor league career. … Former MSU star Brent Rooker hit his 36th homer for Oakland and extended his on-base streak to 22 games, best current streak in MLB. … UM product Grae Kessinger was recalled from the minors by Houston but did not play in Thursday’s win against the A’s. Kessinger, batting .262 in Triple-A, is 0-for-15 in his limited duty with the Astros this season. … Ole Miss and Southern Miss will meet at Trustmark Park on March 18 next season, and Mississippi State and Ole Miss will play the annual Governor’s Cup game on April 22 at the Pearl ballpark. MSU is slated to play Southern Miss in a home-and-home series in 2025 but no game in Pearl. MSU will play two non-conference games in Biloxi (March 11-12).

31 Aug

brewing a winner

A gaggle of former Biloxi Shuckers, products of Milwaukee’s rich farm system, had their fingerprints all over the Brewers’ impressive sweep of the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. The All-Shuckers Alumni outfield of Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Jackson Chourio combined for five hits, two RBIs and a run in a 10-inning 5-4 win in Game 1, which ex-Shuckers star Devin Williams closed out. In a 14-0 rout in Game 2, Mitchell homered, tripled, stole a base and scored three times; Frelick went 3-for-5 with two RBIs; and ex-Shuckers Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio drove in a run each. Shuckers fans know these names. Heading into this season, the Brewers, despite three straight winning seasons, were not pegged as a playoff contender. But after Friday’s sweep, Milwaukee owns a 79-56 record and a 10-game lead in the National League Central. “Let’s face it, there wasn’t enough bratwurst and beer in the world to convince anyone outside Milwaukee that this team would be running away with the division,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently wrote. Popular and successful manager Craig Counsell bolted for Chicago after last season, replaced by Pat Murphy. Stalwart pitcher Brandon Woodruff, the former Mississippi State standout, has been on the injured list all year, and fellow ace Corbin Burnes was traded to Baltimore. But the plucky Brewers have found a way, relying mainly on young talent that has risen through the system. Chourio, age 20, is a shining example. Entering this season, he was regarded as one of the top two or three prospects in the minors and got a huge contract before ever playing an MLB game. After belting 22 homers and stealing 43 bases for the Double-A Biloxi club last year, Chourio is batting .273 with 16 homers, 62 RBIs and 19 steals, a rookie of the year-type season. Worth noting: Former Mississippi Braves star William Contreras, an All-Star catcher in 2024, homered in both games for the Shuckers on Friday and has 20 on the season. … Interestingly enough, a former Shuckers standout helped fuel Atlanta’s big win at Philadelphia on Friday. Orlando Arcia — much to the chagrin of Phillies fans — smacked two homers in the Braves’ 7-2 victory, which trimmed Philly’s lead to 5 games in the NL East. Arcia, having a down year with the bat (.228), does have 15 homers and is a very good defensive shortstop.

30 Aug

worth noting

Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark isn’t the place you’d choose for your first major league start, but J.T. Ginn handled Thursday’s appearance at that launching pad relatively well. The ex-Mississippi State star from Brandon went to the bump for Oakland and retired the first eight Reds batters he faced before Will Benson homered. Ginn yielded another home run in the fourth inning and a couple runs in the fifth but left with a lead. The A’s couldn’t hold it and ultimately lost 10-9. Ginn allowed four hits and a walk and struck out four. In three MLB appearances, the 25-year-old righty has a 5.19 ERA and eight K’s in 8 2/3 innings. He was 15-16 with a 4.68 over four minor league campaigns prior to his call to The Show earlier this month. … MSU alum Gavin Collins is enjoying a career revival at Triple-A Memphis in the St. Louis organization. He went 2-for-2 with a three-run homer Thursday in the Redbirds’ 18-2 win against Iowa and is batting .271 with seven homers and 27 RBIs in 50 games. The versatile Collins, 29, who has played primarily catcher this year, was drafted by Cleveland back in 2016. He became a free agent in 2022, signed with Tampa Bay, got released and then batted .314 with 10 bombs in the independent American Association last season before signing with St. Louis. … Mississippi College product Blaine Crim and ex-MSU standout Justin Foscue homered for Triple-A Round Rock, providing all the offense in a 3-1 win over Oklahoma City. Crim has 17 homers, Foscue nine for the Texas farm club. … Ex-Southern Miss and Mississippi Braves star Hurston Waldrep allowed one run over five innings for Triple-A Gwinnett and has a 4.50 ERA in six games for the Stripers. The 2023 first-round pick may yet get another look in Atlanta, where he was shelled (13 runs in seven innings) in two outings earlier this season. … K.C. Hunt, signed as an undrafted free agent out of MSU by Milwaukee last year, will make his fourth start tonight for Double-A Biloxi, where he is 0-2 despite a 3.31 ERA. Hunt, the Brewers’ No. 29 prospect, has pitched at three levels this season and has a 7-3 record, 2.21 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings. … Kudos to Jason Heyward, the former M-Braves star who smacked a two-run double in his second at-bat for resurgent Houston, which beat Kansas City 6-3. Heyward, a 15-year MLB vet, was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers last week.

24 Aug

three stars

Hunter Renfroe joined the 500-RBI club — a pretty cool milestone — by driving in a pair of runs Friday night with his 12th homer of the year for Kansas City. The ex-Mississippi State standout from Crystal Springs walked twice and scored twice for the Royals, who beat Philadelphia 7-4 in an interleague matchup of playoff contenders. (If anyone is wondering, Dave Parker is the career leader in RBIs among Mississippi natives in MLB with 1,493. Ellis Burks had 1,206.)
David Mershon, a 2024 draftee thrown right into the Double-A fire, banged out two more hits for Rocket City and is batting .324 with three RBIs and five runs over 37 at-bats for the Los Angeles Angels’ affiliate. Mershon, a shortstop, was an 18th-round pick out of MSU, where he was an All-SEC performer.
Cooper Pratt belted his fourth homer, picked up two RBIs and scored twice for High-Class A Wisconsin. The ex-Magnolia Heights High shortstop, Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect, is batting .228 in 21 games for the Timber Rattlers. A second-year pro, he hit .295 with three homers in 73 Low-A contests before his promotion.
P.S. Jackson Prep product Will Warren will get a fourth crack at his first big league win today when he takes the bump for the New York Yankees against Colorado at Yankee Stadium. Warren, who has 24 minor league victories on his resume, is 0-1 with an 8.59 for the Yanks but pitched well (two runs in five innings) his last time out. … Former Mississippi Braves pitchers Julio Teheran and Nolan Kingham got the win and the save, respectively, for Monterrey in Game 1 of the Mexican League Championship Series. Teheran went five innings as the starter in the 9-5 win over Dos Laredos, Kingham got the last out with a punchout. Teheran, 3-0 with a 3.38 in the LMB postseason, threw a combo no-hitter for the 2010 M-Braves. Kingham, four saves in the postseason, was 6-1 for the 2021 M-Braves championship team.

14 Aug

checking the charts

There are lofty expectations for three recent Mississippi high school players of the year. In MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 minor league prospects list released on Tuesday, Konnor Griffin (Jackson Prep) is ranked No. 55, Braden Montgomery (Madison Central) No. 59 and Cooper Pratt (Magnolia Heights) No. 62. Griffin, drafted ninth overall by Pittsburgh last month, is rated the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect, despite not having played a pro game. He was the national prep player of the year for 2024. Montgomery, drafted 12th overall in July out of Texas A&M by Boston, is already No. 4 in the Red Sox’s system; he hasn’t yet been assigned to a team either as he recovers from an ankle injury. Pratt was drafted last year and is now Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect; he is batting .287 with four homers, 39 RBIs and 27 steals over two levels of Class A ball. … Roughly two dozen players with Mississippi ties appear in the Top 30 rankings of individual MLB clubs. Of note: Southern Miss alum Hurston Waldrep, who already has some big league time in his second pro season, is Atlanta’s No. 3. … Dakota Jordan, former Jackson Academy star drafted out of Mississippi State in July, checks in at No. 5 in San Francisco’s chain. … Jurrangelo Cijntje, the switch-pitcher drafted 15th overall out of MSU, is rated Seattle’s No. 7. … Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren, who has made two appearances with the New York Yankees this season, is the No. 5 prospect in that system. P.S. USM product Matthew Etzel, Tampa Bay’s No. 25 prospect, hit his first two homers for Montgomery in Tuesday’s 18-5 blowout of Pensacola in the Double-A Southern League. Etzel is batting .278 with eight homers and 42 steals overall in 2024, having been traded by Baltimore to the Rays last month. … East Union High’s Landon Harmon, the Class 2A Mr. Baseball this past season, is slated to participate in today’s MLB-sponsored High School All-America Game at Petco Park. … Mike Cubbage, former major league infielder who managed the 1986 Jackson Mets to a division title in the Texas League, has died at age 74.

11 Aug

rising to challenge

Tim Elko is fitting in just fine at the Triple-A level. The former Ole Miss standout belted a pair of home runs for Charlotte on Saturday and now has five in 11 games. He is batting .311 and slugging .667 with eight RBIs and 10 runs for the Knights. If the parent Chicago White Sox – who are awful and fairly desperate for offensive punch – decide to hold open auditions down the stretch, they might give Elko a call. He isn’t on the 40-man roster and isn’t a Top 30 prospect, but he has handled every test in pro ball so far. A 10th-round pick in 2022, the 25-year-old first baseman/DH has posted a .288 career average with 47 homers in the minors. He has 14 bombs between Double-A and Triple-A this season. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Elko left Oxford in 2022 after blasting a school-record 24 homers during the Rebels’ amazing run to the national championship. They erected a statue of Elko outside Swayze Field that confirms his status as one of the most popular players ever to suit up for UM. P.S. Ex-Mississippi State star Brent Rooker hit his 29th homer for Oakland on Saturday, the only run of the game in the A’s win against Toronto. If he weren’t stuck with the lowly A’s, Rooker (.290, 82 RBIs, .951 OPS) would likely get strong American League MVP consideration. … Biloxi Shuckers alum Devin Williams, who came off the injured list on July 28, notched his first save of the season, punching out the side in Milwaukee’s 1-0 win over Cincinnati. Williams has a 2.25 ERA with eight K’s in four games for the first-place Brewers. He had 36 saves in 2023.