Tag Archives: Cardinals

31 Jul

lightning strikes twice

Deadline trades — and there were a slew of them this week — can be risky, but they can also make a big difference in a team’s championship chase. To wit: Former Meridian Community College standout Cliff Lee was involved in deadline deals in back-to-back seasons that proved very rewarding. Both times the lanky left-hander helped his new club reach the World Series. In 2009, the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies traded four prospects to Cleveland for Lee, the 2008 Cy Young Award winner, and an outfielder. Lee went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA as the Phillies won the National League East. In the postseason, he was 4-0 with a 1.56 and beat the New York Yankees twice in the World Series. Alas, the Phils fell in six games. In 2010, Lee had moved on to Seattle. That July, Texas sent three prospects along with big leaguer Justin Smoak to the Mariners to get Lee for the stretch run. He went 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA for the Rangers, 2-1 with a 1.93 in four September starts, helping them win the American League West. In the 2010 postseason, Lee posted a 3-2, 2.78, ledger as Texas reached the World Series. Both of his losses came in the Series, won by San Francisco. … Lee won 143 games in a 13-year big league career and was 7-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 11 postseason starts. He did not win a ring, however. P.S. At a press conference in Pittsburgh today, Jackson Prep alum Konnor Griffin formally signed with the Pirates for a $6.5 million bonus, the highest for a Mississippi-connected player in the bonus pool era (since 2012) of the MLB draft. The consensus national high school player of the year was the ninth overall pick. “The (Pirates) team is on a great track right now hopefully getting to the playoffs,” Griffin said at his signing. “There are a lot of great things I’m seeing here.” If Griffin, an outfielder/shortstop, plays this season, it’ll likely be at Low-Class A Bradenton. The rookie league season has ended. … Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren was optioned back to Triple-A by the New York Yankees after making an impressive MLB debut at Philadelphia on Tuesday (see previous posts). … Lance Lynn, the 37-year-old right-hander out of Ole Miss, went on the injured list with knee inflammation today, a day after notching his sixth win for St. Louis against Texas. Lynn (6-4, 4.06 ERA) is 2-0 in his last three starts while allowing just three runs in 16 innings for the Cardinals, who are still in the National League wild card race.

24 Jul

duel for the ages

On paper, it was the must-watch pitching matchup of the night in the big leagues. Lance Lynn, 37, the graybeard out of Ole Miss, a veteran of 336 big league starts, against Paul Skenes, 22, the rookie from LSU with the trendy mustache, taking the mound for just 12th time. And it was a great duel — while it lasted. St. Louis ultimately handed Skenes (6-1) his first loss, 2-1 on Tuesday night at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. It was scoreless through four innings. Lynn lasted just one more frame (86 pitches) but left with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Nolan Arenado homer. The Pirates tied it in the eighth against the St. Louis bullpen, and then the Cardinals pushed across the winning run against Skenes in the ninth. Skenes, frequently hitting 100 mph, went 8 1/3, allowed just four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts. The All-Star Game starter has 97 K’s in his 12 games. Lynn, still pumping his four-seamer up to 95 mph, allowed four hits and three walks and fanned two, including career K No. 2,000. “His competitive nature has allowed him to really accomplish cool things in this game,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol told mlb.com. Lynn’s record this season stays at 5-4 (141-99 career), his ERA dips to 4.17. The Cardinals, running second in the National League Central, moved to 53-48, 2 games better than the third-place Pirates. P.S. On the trade candidate watch: Ex-Mississippi State star Brent Rooker belted his 23rd homer for last-place Oakland, his fifth bomb in his last seven games; he is batting .291. Ocean Springs High product Garrett Crochet worked just four innings (74 pitches) for the Chicago White Sox, allowed two runs and took a loss; he is 6-7 with a 3.07 for the last-place ChiSox.

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.

19 Apr

watch for it

A couple of former Mississippi high school stars will face off tonight as opposing pitchers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Both Garrett Crochet (Ocean Springs alum) of the Chicago White Sox and Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central) of the Phillies — the former in a new role, the latter with a new team — have had very good results to date. But they will face very different challenges in this game. Left-hander Crochet, a former first-round pick out of Tennessee, is 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA over four starts in his first season after converting from reliever to starter. He goes against a Phillies team that is 11-8 and trots out a lineup loaded with sluggers (see Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, et al). Turnbull, a former second-rounder out of Alabama, is 1-0, 1.80, in three starts with the Phillies as he attempts to bounce back from a couple of injury-wracked seasons with Detroit. The right-hander faces a 3-15 White Sox team that has some of the worst offensive numbers in the big leagues. It’s worth noting that several Chicago batters have experience against Turnbull from his time with the Tigers (see Eloy Jimenez, three home runs), while few of the Phillies have ever faced Crochet. Citizens Bank is a hitters park, so perhaps we shouldn’t expect a pitchers’ duel. P.S. Where are they now: Ex-big leaguer Bobby Bradley (Harrison Central), who played independent ball last year, is playing for Tijuana in the Mexican League. … Gavin Collins (Mississippi State), another indy baller in 2023, is now at Triple-A Memphis in the St. Louis system. … Thomas Dillard (Ole Miss), also an indy leaguer in 2023, has signed with Celburne of the independent American Association. … Onetime big leaguer Chris Ellis (Ole Miss/Mississippi Braves) recently signed with Long Island of the indy Atlantic League; he did not pitch in 2023. … Patrick Lee (William Carey) has joined Evansville in the indy Frontier League. … Dalton Moats (Delta State) has re-upped with Kansas City of the American Association, where he pitched in 2023.

05 Jan

head for rockies

Mississippi State alum Dakota Hudson, who has a 38-20 career record in the majors, has signed with Colorado, which needs pitching help. Hudson, 29, once a regular member of St. Louis’ rotation, didn’t make the club out of spring training last year but did eventually get called up, posting a 6-3 record and 4.98 ERA in 18 appearances, 12 starts. The right-hander, a first-round pick in 2016, has a career 3.84 ERA in six seasons and joins a Rockies staff that finished last in MLB with a 5.68 in 2023. … The Rockies might still hold out hope that ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison can contribute someday. The 26-year-old lefty was a first-round pick in 2018 but has been derailed by injuries, pitching in just four games since 2021. Yet to make his MLB debut, he is no longer on Colorado’s 40-man roster. P.S. If you’re keeping score, Hudson joins Lance Lynn (St. Louis), Chris Stratton (Kansas City) and Hunter Renfroe (Royals) as Mississippi-connected free agents to sign big league contracts this off-season. Still available: Adam Frazier, Tim Anderson, Brandon Woodruff and Spencer Turnbull.

21 Nov

market report

The Brandon Woodruff situation is intriguing. It was reported Monday that the former Mississippi State star, a free agent, is attracting attention from “a majority” of MLB clubs. He is a 30-year-old two-time All-Star with a career record of 46-26 and a 3.10 ERA. Of course, he may not be able to pitch in 2024 because of recent shoulder surgery. For that reason, cost-conscious Milwaukee non-tendered the big right-hander from Wheeler, who was due a raise for next season from the $10.8 million he made in 2023. When he was healthy last season, Woodruff was good: 5-1, 2.28. He figures to be quite a catch for a club that can afford to wait for his return. Injuries also have impacted the future of two other Mississippi products. Dakota Hudson and Spencer Turnbull also became free agents when their 2023 clubs did not offer a contract for next season. Ex-State star Hudson, who is 38-20, 3.84, for his MLB career, missed most of the 2021 season after suffering an arm injury late in 2020. A 16-game winner in 2019, he has struggled to recapture that form. He had some good moments in 2023 but apparently not enough for St. Louis — which needs starting pitching — to keep him around. Hudson is only 28; he also could be a nice catch. Turnbull, the former Madison Central High standout, threw a no-hitter in May of 2021 and was 4-2, 2.88, for Detroit that season when he went down with an arm injury. He hasn’t been the same since. He missed all of 2022 and was ailing most of last season, when he posted a 7.26 ERA in limited MLB time. At 31, he may still have some value as a back-end starter. So many teams need starting pitchers. To wit: Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn, 36 and coming off very uneven season with the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, has signed as a free agent with the Cardinals, his original club, for one year and $11M.

15 Oct

a touch of history

If history — and coincidence — serve as a guide, a Mississippian will have an impact in tonight’s American League Championship Series opener. Houston, with Mississippi State alum J.P. France and ex-Ole Miss standout Grae Kessinger on its roster, hosts Texas, with former State stars Nathaniel Lowe and Chris Stratton on board, in Game 1 at Minute Maid Park. Way back on Oct. 15, 1946, in Game 7 of the World Series, Pascagoula native Harry “The Hat” Walker famously drove in Enos Slaughter with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, propelling St. Louis to a 4-3 win against Boston at Sportsman’s Park. The hit was Walker’s seventh and produced his sixth RBI of the Series. Shaw native and MSU alum Boo Ferriss started that game for the Red Sox and pitched well into the fifth inning. On Oct. 15, 2013, ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn pitched 5 1/3 innings and got the win as St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 and went up 3-1 in the National League Championship Series. It was Lynn’s second win in the NLCS, which the Cardinals won in six. On Oct. 15, 2019, former MSU standout Dakota Hudson, starting for St. Louis, had the dubious honor of allowing all seven runs in Washington’s 7-4 win that finished off a four-game sweep in the NLCS. Hudson retired only one of the eight batters he faced, yielding five hits and a walk. Three of the runs he was charged with were unearned because of an error. Just for the record, on Oct. 15, 2011, the Rangers beat Detroit 15-5 to clinch a second straight trip to the World Series. Amory native and State product Mitch Moreland was on that club, though he did not play in the Game 6 clincher. P.S. Former MSU pitcher Kendall Graveman did not make the Astros’ ALCS roster because of a shoulder problem. … Milwaukee has announced that MSU product Brandon Woodruff will have shoulder surgery and miss most if not all of the 2024 season. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Mike Mayers, an MLB vet who finished 2023 in the Chicago White Sox’s system, has become a minor league free agent. … Ex-MSU pitcher Chris Young was fired as the Cubs’ bullpen coach.

29 Sep

building blocks

The 2023 phase of Baltimore’s long-term rebuild, which culminated Thursday night in a division title, included the off-season signing of free agent Adam Frazier and the late June call-up of rookie Jordan Westburg. The two Mississippi State alumni made solid contributions as the Orioles, predicted to finish near the bottom of the American League East, won their first division title since 2014 — back in the Buck Showalter era — by beating Boston 2-0 at Camden Yards. The young Orioles also clinched home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. Westburg, a 2020 first-round pick who started at second base Thursday, is batting .259 with 21 extra-base hits, 23 RBIs and 25 runs in 65 games. He was raking in Triple-A when the O’s brought him up. Frazier, an eight-year veteran signed for $8 million for 2023, pinch hit for Westburg in the eighth inning, walked and scored the big second run. The lefty-hitting Frazier is hitting .242 with 13 homers, 60 RBIs, 59 runs and 11 steals in 138 games. Both also made numerous highlight-reel plays on defense at various positions. Two years after losing 100 games, the Orioles celebrated their 100th win in a raucous clubhouse Thursday. “Pretty damn awesome,” Frazier said in an mlb.com article. P.S. In Atlanta, the Braves whipped the Chicago Cubs for the third straight night and clinched home field through the World Series, should they get there. Ex-DeSoto Central High standout Austin Riley went 3-for-4 — single, double and triple — and scored three times in the Braves’ 5-3 win. Now hitting .282, Riley has 116 runs, third on the team and fifth in the National League. The fading Cubs, in a 6-13 skid, fell to fourth in the NL wild card standings, a half-game behind Miami; the Marlins’ game against the New York Mets was suspended (until Monday?) with Miami leading 2-1 in the ninth. … In the AL West, where nothing is settled, third-place Seattle walked off division-leader Texas 3-2 on a clutch knock by J.P. Crawford; Mississippi Braves alum Dylan Moore scored the winning run in the ninth. The Mariners are 3 games back of the Rangers in the division and 1 game back of Houston in both the division and the AL wild card race. The Astros are third in the wild card standings — a game back of Toronto — and will throw J.P. France (11-6, 3.83), the rookie out of MSU, in tonight’s game at Arizona, which will start Cy Young candidate Zac Gallen (17-8, 3.49). The Diamondbacks are second in the NL wild card standings, just ahead of the Marlins and Cubs. … A pair of former first-round draftees out of MSU faced off — sorta — in the inconsequential St. Louis-Milwaukee game. Ethan Small (28th overall pick, 2019) notched his first MLB save in his fourth appearance over two years as the playoff-bound Brewers beat the also-ran Cardinals 3-0. St. Louis starter Dakota Hudson (34th overall, 2016) allowed all three runs in five innings of work to fall to 6-3, 4.98, this season.

16 Aug

crowd-pleaser

Matt Wallner will strike out. He struck out three times for Minnesota on Tuesday night. Matt Wallner will also hit home runs, big ones, like the game-turning grand slam the ex-Southern Miss star stroked Tuesday night for the Twins in a 5-3 win over Detroit. “That’s not one we will forget. That was more than a nice swing,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told mlb.com. Wallner’s 450-foot bomb to right-center field was his first career slam in the big leagues, and it earned the Minnesota native and lifelong Twins fan a curtain call from the 30,000-plus at Target Field. The win kept the first-place Twins 4.5 games ahead of Cleveland in the American League Central. Wallner said in a postgame TV interview that his swing felt terrible at the start of the night, but that changed in the sixth inning when he sent a pitch from Will Vest into the upper deck. “Just felt like I hit it about as good as I could,” the lefty-hitting outfielder said in an Associated Press article. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Wallner has struck out 36 times in 104 at-bats over 38 games for Minnesota this season. He also has belted nine homers, five in his last 15 games. Lots of K’s, lots of bombs: That’s the yin and yang of many contemporary sluggers. Wallner mashed a school-record 58 homers in three seasons at USM, a show of power that got him drafted 38th overall in 2019. He made his MLB debut last September and, of course, homered in his first game. P.S. Mississippi State product Dakota Hudson improved to 3-0 in three starts since returning to St. Louis’ rotation. He went 6 2/3 (two runs) in a 6-2 win against Oakland. … Former Madison Central High standout Spencer Turnbull, on a rehab assignment for Detroit, allowed six runs in five innings for Triple-A Toledo. … Drew Lugbauer, the Mississippi Braves’ all-time home run king, hit a homer in his first game for Triple-A Gwinnett. Lugbauer, promoted on Tuesday, hit 68 homers over three seasons for the Double-A M-Braves. … At Trustmark Park, Biloxi’s Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee’s No. 4 prospect, yielded one hit in six dominant innings as the first-place Shuckers beat the last-place M-Braves 3-0 in the Southern League. Looking like a right-handed Chris Sale, the 6-foot-7 Misiorowski struck out 12 batters. The M-Braves fanned 17 times all told.

10 Aug

in good time

Bryson Ware, former Germantown High All-Stater, started slowly at Auburn but erupted as a senior in 2023 to hit a school-record 24 home runs and earn second-team All-SEC laurels. Similarly, Ware mustered just two singles in the first 28 plate appearances of his pro career before smashing a ninth-inning home run on Wednesday for Clearwater, Philadelphia’s Low-Class A affiliate. The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Ware was an eighth-round draft pick by the Phillies last month and debuted in the rookie Florida Complex League, going 2-for-16 before getting a promotion earlier this week. (Among his teammates on what is an outstanding Threshers club — 69-34 overall in the Florida State League — is former South Panola High star Emaarion Boyd, a second-year pro. Boyd is batting .277 with 47 steals.) Ware began his college career at Pearl River Community College, where he batted .321 with five homers in 16 games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He signed with Auburn but didn’t have a big impact his first two years on The Plains. He retooled his swing after the 2022 season, per a story on auburntigers.com, and won the third base job entering the 2023 season. “He’s stayed in the fight,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson, a fellow Mississippian, said back in the spring. Ware hit .350, drove in 63 runs, scored 66 and helped steer the Tigers into the NCAAs for the second straight season. … Ex-Mississippi State star Dakota Hudson picked up his second win in as many starts since returning to St. Louis’ rotation. The right-hander went five innings, allowing two homers to Jose Siri and three runs all told, as the Cardinals beat Tampa Bay 6-4. Hudson beat Minnesota, another playoff contender, in his previous start; he is 3-0 with a 4.31 ERA on the season.