11 Mar

next dog up

First, there was Rafael Palmeiro. Then Will Clark, followed by Palmeiro again, then Mitch Moreland and most recently Nathaniel Lowe. Now, it looks like Justin Foscue might join the list of Mississippi State products to start at first base on opening day for the Texas Rangers. An oblique injury may keep Lowe, the starter the past three seasons, on the shelf at the start of this season. Foscue, still learning the position this spring, reportedly stands a good chance of getting the nod on March 28, when the world champion Rangers open at home against the Chicago Cubs. Foscue — Texas’ No. 5 prospect — was held out of the Cactus League games over the weekend after reporting some pain in his side but was in the lineup today. He has hit .308 this spring in 26 at-bats. He batted .266 with 18 homers and 14 steals at Triple-A Round Rock in 2023, where he did play nine games at first. Defense might be the key for Foscue as he battles MLB veteran Jared Walsh, a non-roster invitee, for the first-base job the remainder of the spring. “It’s just (about) continuing to get reps in,” Foscue, a first-round pick out of MSU in 2020, told mlb.com. Palmeiro was the Rangers’ starter from 1989-93 and then again from 2001-03. In between, his former “Thunder and Lightning” partner Clark manned the spot (1994-96 and ’98). Moreland came along in 2013 and also opened at first in 2016. Lowe was acquired from Tampa Bay in a trade and took over in 2021, winning a Silver Slugger the next season. P.S. MSU alum Jordan Westburg, Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel and ex-Ole Miss standouts Errol Robinson and Anthony Servideo all played in a Baltimore split-squad game on Sunday. Only Westburg is on the big league roster.

07 Mar

who’s on first

Nathaniel Lowe, the Texas Rangers’ regular first baseman, got a day off Wednesday. Filling in for the ex-Mississippi State standout were a pair of Magnolia State products, both of whom are putting up good numbers this spring. Former State star Justin Foscue, the Rangers’ No. 5-ranked prospect, went 1-for-3 in Wednesday’s game against Colorado in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is batting .348 in 23 at-bats this spring. Blaine Crim, a Mississippi College alum, replaced Foscue at first base mid-game and went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer. He is hitting .333 with seven RBIs in 21 Cactus League ABs. Foscue, primarily a middle infielder in his three years of minor league ball, is getting time at first base this spring and could make the defending World Series champs’ roster as the backup to Lowe. A first-round pick in 2020, Foscue reached Triple-A in 2023 and batted .266 with 18 homers and 84 RBIs. Crim was a 19th-round pick out of MC in 2019 and has done nothing but rake in pro ball. He hit .289 with 22 homers and 85 RBIs at Triple-A Round Rock last season. Crim isn’t on the 40-man roster but appears poised to make the jump this season if a need arises. For the record, Lowe is entrenched at first base. He won a Gold Glove in 2023 and a Silver Slugger in 2022. Last season, the lefty hitter batted .262 with 17 bombs and 82 RBIs. He has 62 homers in three years with the Rangers.

24 Feb

spring flings

Who needs spring training? Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko, now a Chicago White Sox minor leaguer, homered in his first at-bat in the team’s Cactus League opener on Friday. Power is Elko’s thing. He blasted 28 homers across three levels of the minors in 2023 and has 33 in his two-year pro career. The first baseman/DH hit 46 in his four years at Ole Miss and helped the Rebels win the national championship in 2022. He reached Double-A last season and should get to Triple-A at some point in 2024. The season is several weeks away, but Elko looked ready on Day 1. Also making an appearance for the ChiSox was Southern Miss alum Chuckie Robinson, who went 0-for-1. The veteran catcher, who has some big league time, signed with Chicago as a minor league free agent this off-season. … Elsewhere in spring openers: Former Hattiesburg High standout Joe Gray Jr., now a Kansas City minor leaguer, went 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI for the Royals against Texas, which trotted out three Magnolia State products: Mississippi State alum Nathaniel Lowe, the World Series-champion Rangers’ regular first baseman, was 0-for-2; Mississippi College alum Blaine Crim, a minor leaguer, went 0-for-2; and ex-MSU standout Justin Foscue, now on the Rangers’ 40-man roster, was hitless in two at-bats. … Ex-Pascagoula High star Willie Joe Garry Jr., a Minnesota minor leaguer, was 0-for-1 with two walks and two runs for the Twins, while USM product Matt Wallner, a starting outfielder for the Twins, put up an 0-for-2. … MSU alum Konnor Pilkington allowed a run in his one inning of work for Arizona. … And former DeSoto Central standout Blaze Jordan, who reached Double-A in 2023, played some third base and went 0-for-1 for Boston.

15 Mar

that’ll leave a mark

The games don’t really count and the stats don’t necessarily mean a lot for individual players. That said, Tuesday was a tough day for several Mississippi-connected pitchers in Arizona. Start with the Los Angeles Angels-Cleveland game in Goodyear, where Mississippi State alums Jonathan Holder and Konnor Pilkington took some serious lumps. Holder, an MLB veteran trying to win a job with the Angels as a non-roster invitee, yielded two hits, three walks, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and three runs in 2/3 of an inning in relief. The Gulfport native’s ERA rose to 11.81 over six Cactus League games. Not promising. Pilkington, who debuted with the Guardians last year and pitched relatively well, has not had a good spring. The left-hander from Pascagoula surrendered three hits, a walk and a wild pitch and was charged with four runs (one earned) and the loss in one inning of relief. He has a 7.36 this spring. In Peoria, ex-Ole Miss star Mike Mayers, trying to stick with Kansas City as an NRI, gave up four hits, a walk and two runs and took the loss against Seattle. Mayers’ ERA grew to 8.64 in four appearances. Ouch. At Mesa, former George County High standout Justin Steele made his second start of the spring for the Chicago Cubs and allowed five hits, a walk and three runs — all on homers — and took the L vs. Colorado. Steele, who had a good first outing, sports a 5.79 ERA, though his spot in the Cubs’ rotation is secure. And on top of all that stuff, former State star Ethan Small, whose prospect status has declined in Milwaukee’s system, was optioned to Triple-A. The left-hander has a 7.20 ERA in four games; he made two rocky appearances in the majors last year.

29 Mar

ready for duty

Former Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison got his first Cactus League start today, worked three innings and likely made a good final impression. The left-hander, a 2018 first-round pick who is not yet on the 40-man roster and won’t break camp with the big club, allowed two walks, a hit and a run in the first inning against San Diego but sailed through the next two. He finished his spring with a 5.19 ERA and eight strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings over four games. He is generally rated among the team’s top two or three prospects and may get the big league call before the season is very old. “I’ve done a lot of work cleaning up some mechanical delivery things, and I feel my stuff is ready to play in the big leagues and I’m confident in my stuff,” Rolison said in an mlb.com story early in camp. “I’m ready to make an impact.” He has posted an 8-9 record with a 3.94 in his two minor league seasons and spent last summer in the Rockies’ alternate camp. … Drew Pomeranz, another former Ole Miss standout and first-round pick (2010), pitched an inning for the Padres and struck out the side. He did not allow a run and fanned nine in his four spring appearances. The veteran left-hander, 32, will be a key piece in San Diego’s bullpen. “I don’t care when I pitch,” he said in a recent interview. “I’m here to help the team win. … They want me to close, that’s fine. They want me to pitch the sixth, seventh, eighth, that’s fine, too.”

18 Mar

made in mississippi

Fans in Goodyear, Ariz., were treated to a noteworthy Mississippi matchup in the Cactus League on Saturday. Cody Reed, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College star from Horn Lake, opposed Chris Stratton, the ex-Mississippi State standout from Tupelo, as Cincinnati took on San Francisco. Both pitchers are trying to nail down a job on the big league roster. Reed, a left-hander, had the better day in a 5-4 Reds win, going four innings and allowing two runs – on solo homers in his final inning – with three strikeouts and no walks. “Throwing strikes – that was big for me,” Reed said in a video posted on mlb.com. “I got a lot of swing-and-misses today. … I feel good.” He has a 5.11 ERA this spring and a 6.75 in 22 big league games with the Reds over the last two seasons. Right-hander Stratton threw four shutout innings for the Giants before giving up four runs in the fifth. He allowed six hits with four punchouts and no walks as his spring ERA rose to 3.86. Stratton has appeared in 20 MLB games the last two years and has a 3.67 ERA. Reed-Stratton is a matchup we might be seeing again during the 2018 season, when as many as six Magnolia State products may be starting games in The Show. The others: Lance Lynn, Drew Pomeranz, Kendall Graveman and Brandon Woodruff.