Tag Archives: Cubs

20 Aug

whatever happened to …

Ernesto Mejia, who had a monster year for the Mississippi Braves in 2011 (.297, 26 homers, 99 RBIs), is playing in Japan for the Seibu Lions and has hit 90 homers over the last three seasons. He is batting .262 with 26 bombs and 80 RBIs in 2016. … Tommy La Stella, who had a big year for the M-Braves in 2013 (.343), is back in the Double-A Southern League with Tennessee. La Stella was sent to the minors — despite his .298 average — by the Chicago Cubs when they acquired Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan at the trade deadline. La Stella initially refused to report but finally did so on Wednesday. He has a hit in his only at-bat for the Smokies. … Willie Cabrera, who played for the M-Braves from 2008-11, is in his fifth season in the independent American Association. Playing for the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Cabrera is batting .326 with eight homers and 26 RBIs. He hit .281 during his tenure with the M-Braves and also got some time in Triple-A. … Jordan Schafer, the former M-Braves outfielder (and No. 1 prospect in Atlanta’s system in 2008), is currently on a rehab assignment in rookie ball for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now a pitcher, the left-hander has a 3.15 ERA over 31 games in Double-A Tulsa and an 11.81 in five games at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

12 Aug

crazy good

Chris Coghlan, the former Ole Miss standout, has a grand total of 10 hits for the Chicago Cubs this season. The one he got on Thursday night at Wrigley Field may stick in the memory for a while. Batting in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and the Cubs down 2-0 to St. Louis, Coghlan looked back at the umpire and tried to call time before a pitch by Carlos Martinez. Time wasn’t granted. Coghlan swiveled back toward Martinez, re-gripped the bat as the pitch — a changeup – was en route and smacked a two-run single into right field. “Crazy,” he called it after the Cubs had secured a 4-3 win in extra innings. The first-place Cubs have been on a crazy roll with 10 straight wins, though Coghlan’s contributions have been limited. The 31-year-old veteran has just seven at-bats in August. In 24 games since he was reacquired from Oakland, he is batting .208 with four RBIs. But … it takes a bench to win a championship, and the Cubs have a deep one. For his part, Coghlan can play almost anywhere — a quality Cubs manager Joe Maddon seems to really like — and he is a .259 career hitter with some pop from the left side. (He hit five homers for the A’s but none since rejoining the Cubs.) He’ll have more moments, though it’s unlikely any will be quite as crazy as Thursday’s. P.S. Picayune High product T.J. House was sent back to Triple-A by Cleveland, a first-place club in the American League. House made three appearances during his call-up, allowing one run in one inning of work.

22 Jun

where you lead

Scoring first is a big deal in the big leagues — or at any level of the game, really. The team that scores first wins a large percentage of the time. On Tuesday, three Mississippi-connected players in MLB, all batting leadoff, scored the first run of their game, all in the first inning. It worked out well for two of the three. Tim Anderson, the rookie out of East Central Community College, led off the game with a home run – his first — for the Chicago White Sox. They beat Boston 3-1 at Fenway Park. Anderson, 2-for-4 on Tuesday, is batting .292 with seven runs in 11 games. Ole Miss product Zack Cozart walked to start the game for Cincinnati. He would score on a three-run homer by Jay Bruce, and the Reds went on to derail Texas 8-2 at Globe Life Park. Cozart went 2-for-4, including his 11th home run, drove in three runs and scored three. He is batting .284. At Wrigley Field, ex-Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan, getting a look in the leadoff spot for the Chicago Cubs, singled off St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright in the bottom of the first. He would come around to score, but the Cubs couldn’t hold that lead, falling 4-3. Coghlan, 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs, is batting .294 (.455 on-base percentage) with seven runs in 10 games since the Cubs reacquired him from Oakland. He was batting .146 (with five homers) for the A’s. P.S. Former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss standout Cody Satterwhite is now on the roster of the Hanshin Tigers in Japan but has yet to pitch. Satterwhite was released earlier this month by the Los Angeles Angels so he could sign with Hanshin. The right-hander, 29, had a 1.50 ERA in 25 innings at Triple-A Salt Lake in his seventh pro season.

12 Jun

draft doodles

There were 29 players picked from state schools over the three days of the MLB draft, 11 of them from Mississippi State, including the only first-rounder, right-hander Dakota Hudson. Ole Miss saw six players drafted, Southern Miss and Delta State three each. Four high school players were selected, and two junior college players, a surprisingly low number. … St. Louis, which drafted Hudson, and the Chicago Cubs picked three each from the state, and several organizations made two picks, including San Diego, which chose two of the high school players, Oxford’s Grae Kessinger and Starkville’s A.J. Brown. Both are likely to be at Ole Miss this fall, Brown to play football. … Milwaukee, whose Double-A club is in Biloxi, also picked two, including MSU lefty Daniel Brown and Pearl River Community College outfielder Zach Clark, who had great numbers this season. Atlanta, parent organization of the Mississippi Braves, didn’t chose any Magnolia Staters. … Five catchers were picked, including State’s Gavin Collins, who played mostly third base this year, by Cleveland. The Bulldogs’ Jack Kruger, who shared catching duties with freshman Elih Marrero, was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels. … USM catcher Chuckie Robinson was drafted in the 21st round, 637th overall, by Houston. He might be a player to watch. A sturdy 5 feet 11, 225 pounds, the Illinois native batted .288 with seven homers and 44 RBIs in 2016, helping the Golden Eagles win the C-USA Tournament. More good numbers: He struck out only 33 times in 208 at-bats and threw out 23 of 36 runners trying to steal. And there’s this: Robinson’s father and grandfather played pro ball.

10 Jun

look who’s back

Chris Coghlan must be one happy dude. When Thursday dawned, the former Ole Miss standout was batting .146 for a last-place team. By day’s end, he was a member of the team with the best record in baseball. Coghlan, who recharged his sagging career with the Chicago Cubs in 2014-15, was reacquired by the club from Oakland, where he had been shipped in February. Injuries have struck the Cubs, and Coghlan can play a lot of positions. He wasn’t hitting much for the A’s, but perhaps he’ll recapture some magic with Chicago. He batted .250 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs last season and .283 with nine and 41 in 2014. The Cubs are in Atlanta tonight. P.S. It was, as expected, a rather quiet first day of the MLB draft for Mississippians. Mississippi State right-hander Dakota Hudson went at the end of Round 1, 34th overall, to St. Louis, and Ole Miss outfielder J.B. Woodman was picked in the second round, 57th overall, by Toronto. Things should pick up today for Magnolia State players.

12 May

good stuff

As the fifth overall draft pick in 2010 out of Ole Miss, Drew Pomeranz entered pro ball with some hefty expectations. The big left-hander is starting to live up to them. Pomeranz, now with San Diego, blanked the mighty Chicago Cubs over six innings at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night, striking out 10 and propelling the Padres to a 1-0 win. It was just the second time this season the Cubs have been blanked. Pomeranz, now 4-3 with a 1.80 ERA, threw five shutout innings at the New York Mets in his previous start and has allowed just one run over his last 18 innings. “In pro ball, this is the best I’ve ever felt in a stretch,” he told mlb.com. While people in the game rave about his stuff, the 6-foot-6 Pomeranz has been traded three times in six years. His career MLB numbers are 18-27, 3.80 as he has bounced between starting and relieving. He may finally have found his place. P.S. The Padres’ lone run in the game – the second in their sweep on Wednesday – came on a monstrous homer by former Mississippi Braves standout Christian Bethancourt, his third of the year.

25 Feb

changing places

Chris Coghlan, whose playing time figured to be limited with the Chicago Cubs this year, is off to Oakland, where the ex-Ole Miss star might find greener pastures. Coghlan, a lefty-hitting outfielder, was traded today for pitcher Aaron Brooks. Penciled in as a fourth outfielder (at best) for the Cubs, Coghlan, who hit .250 with 16 homers in 2015, could battle Khris Davis and Coco Crisp for the starting job in left field with the A’s. Crisp, a switch-hitter, hit .175 in an injury-dampened 2015 season. Davis, a right-handed hitter with power, was acquired recently from Milwaukee. Sam Fuld is also in the picture. Oakland appears set with Josh Reddick in right and Billy Burns in center. Coghlan, the 2009 National League rookie of the year with the Florida Marlins, revived a slumping career in Chicago the past two seasons, posting a .346 on-base percentage and a .447 slugging average. He credits a new approach. “When you value (slugging percentage) and on-base, now you swing at pitches that you can slug and you take pitches that you can’t slug,” he recently told mlb.com. If it worked at Wrigley Field, it ought to work at O.Co Coliseum.

12 Jan

from the stove

Having agreed to terms with free agent Gerardo Parra, Colorado may look to deal an outfielder, and Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson is a candidate to be moved. Not only is Dickerson a quality left-handed bat, but he is four years from free agency. Baltimore, where Parra finished 2015, is a possible destination. … Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan, who figures to see limited playing time with the talent-laden Chicago Cubs, might be a fit in Baltimore, some have speculated. Coghlan has enjoyed a career resurgence with the Cubs the last two years. … Former Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart’s time in Cincinnati could be coming to an end soon. The Reds are in the process of signing 21-year-old Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, the 2014-15 Serie Nacional rookie of the year. Rodriguez is labeled “a glove-first prospect with good speed” whose bat still needs some polish. He’ll likely start 2016 in the minors but could eventually push Cozart out of his starting role. There already had been rumors that Cozart might be dealt this season by the rebuilding Reds. … Southern Miss and William Carey alum Dan Jennings, the ex-Miami Marlins GM and manager, is now a special assistant to the president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals. (Can he help concoct a trade involving closer Jonathan Papelbon, the controversial ex-Mississippi State standout? Probably not.) … Months of wheeling and dealing by Atlanta’s front office has left just 11 Mississippi Braves alumni on the Braves’ current 40-man roster. Only three of those are position players: Freddie Freeman, Daniel Castro and Mallex Smith. The latest to go was power-hitting outfielder Joey Terdoslavich, put on waivers last week and claimed by Baltimore, which really must have a need for outfielders.

22 Oct

a bright spot

Considering the Chicago Cubs’ star-crossed relationship with the World Series – no titles since 1908, no appearances since 1945 – it’s more than a little ironic that one of the greatest single-game pitching performances in World Series history was delivered by a Cubs hurler. In Game 3 of the ’45 Series, Waynesboro native Claude Passeau threw a one-hit shutout against Detroit. Baseball Digest, in its September/October issue, rated it among the top 10 Series pitching feats of all-time, in the company of legendary games thrown by Don Larsen, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. Passeau, who played at Moss Point High and Millsaps, faced just 28 batters in the 3-0 win at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium that gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the series. The Tigers lineup Passeau shut down included Hank Greenberg, Rudy York (who had the lone hit, a second-inning single), Doc Cramer and Meridian native Skeeter Webb. Passeau, a 162-game winner in a big league career that ended in 1947, also pitched well in his other Series start that year, departing in the seventh inning of Game 6 with a 5-3 lead. The Cubs won 8-7 in 12 innings, then lost Game 7 9-3 at Wrigley, still the last World Series game played at the Friendly Confines. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan, who had a good year with the Cubs (.250, 16 homers, 41 RBIs), didn’t produce in the postseason, going 1-for-12 overall, 0-for-7 in the National League Championship Series. Coghlan got one start against the New York Mets, in Game 2 at Citi Field on Sunday, and was robbed of a home run by Curtis Granderson. … A Butera is going to the 2015 World Series. Sal Butera, who managed the Jackson Generals to a Texas League championship in 1993, is a scout for Toronto and is currently in uniform as a coach. Son Drew is Kansas City’s backup catcher. The Royals lead the Blue Jays 3-2 in the American League Championship Series. Sal won a ring as a backup catcher with Minnesota in 1987.

18 Oct

cue the highlights

It was a week of chill. Seafood, sunshine and siestas. And baseball on the tube. Lots of it. The past week gave us three Game 5’s in MLB division series play, plus an historic Game 4 clincher at Wrigley Field. There was a season’s worth of highlights in a few short days. We’re left with two former Jackson Mets catchers – Ned Yost and John Gibbons – matching wits as managers in the American League Championship Series, and two Mississippians – Jarrod Dyson and Chris Coghlan – still playing. Alas, the season is over for Tony Sipp, who was almost perfect for Houston; Mitch Moreland, who had a rough ALDS for Texas; and Lance Lynn, who pitched just one inconsequential inning for St. Louis.
To recap the week: On Monday, Pascagoula native Sipp was saddled with a hard-luck loss in the Astros’ pivotal Game 4 loss to Kansas City. That was the game in which the Astros squandered a four-run lead in the eighth inning, hurt by a weird hopper that ticked off Sipp’s glove and bounded past shortstop Carlos Correa for an error. The lone run charged to Sipp was unearned. That same day, ex-Ole Miss standout Coghlan had a hit and a run in the Chicago Cubs’ Game 3 win against St. Louis. … On Tuesday, the Cubs took the series by winning Game 4; it was the first series-clinching win ever at Wrigley. Coghlan, in the postseason for the first time in his career, didn’t play but celebrated with gusto. Lynn, the former Ole Miss ace, had originally been scheduled to start Game 4 for St. Louis, but the Cardinals went with John Lackey on short rest. He got shelled early. … On Wednesday, Toronto beat Texas in a Game 5 that already has become a TV special. Gibbons’ Blue Jays came from behind in the wild and wacky seventh inning, aided by errors on three consecutive plays by the Rangers. Former Mississippi State star Moreland made one of the errors; he also went 0-for-3 in the game and finished the ALDS 0-for-13. That same day, Yost’s Royals beat Houston to win that ALDS in the fifth game. Sipp pitched again. All told, the left-hander made six appearances in his first postseason and allowed no earned runs on a hit and a walk with four strikeouts. Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi Community College product from McComb, got into two ALDS games for the Royals and stole two bases. That’s what he do. … On Thursday, the New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of that series to advance to play the Cubs for the NL pennant. The Mets won the series opener on Saturday and will throw the brilliant Noah Syndergaard tonight against Cubs ace Jake Arrieta. Coghlan is in the lineup for the Cubs, playing right field. … Meanwhile, Yost and Gibbons are plotting strategies for their next meeting in the ALCS, set for Monday at the Rogers Centre launching pad. Yost’s Royals are up 2-0, bidding for a second straight World Series trip.