Tag Archives: Cubs

13 Jul

three stars

Former Mississippi State star Paul Maholm, in his first start in almost two months, pitched into the seventh inning, allowing two hits and no runs, for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. The Dodgers, now in first place alone in the National League West, beat San Diego 1-0 on a sac fly in the ninth. … Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs but couldn’t power the Chicago Cubs past homer-happy Atlanta, which won 11-6 at Wrigley Field. The hot-hitting Coghlan is up to .269. … Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier went 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI and threw out a runner at the plate to help Minnesota beat Colorado 9-3. P.S. MSU alum Hunter Renfroe and Mississippi Braves second baseman Jose Peraza are on the rosters for today’s All-Star Futures Game (4 p.m., MLB Network) in Minneapolis. Crystal Springs native Renfroe, who’ll play for the U.S. team, is batting .283 with 19 homers this year at two levels in the San Diego system. Venezuela native Peraza, with the International squad, is hitting .365 in 19 games with the M-Braves and .347 overall with 39 stolen bases in 2014.

10 Jul

sounds like a yes

Under the category of “Duh,” we have this: When asked about whether he would welcome a trade from Philadelphia, the unabashed Jonathan Papelbon reportedly replied: “Some guys want to stay on a losing team?” Former Mississippi State star Papelbon racked up his 22nd save on Wednesday night as the Phillies (40-51, last in the National League East) beat Milwaukee 4-1. He reduced his ERA to 1.24 and has just two blown saves. Papelbon, who recently topped the 300 career save mark, is in the third year of a 4-year, $50M contract (with an option in 2016), which might make him hard to deal. Still, a quality closer is a valuable commodity in September and beyond. P.S. On the topic of trades, former MSU standout Tyler Moore might be a chip that NL East leader Washington can throw in. Moore is batting .305 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 34 games at Triple-A Syracuse; there appears to be no room for him (other than as a pinch hitter) with the Nationals. … Ole Miss product Seth Smith, who recently got a new contract from San Diego, hit his 10th home run on Wednesday; the Jackson native has reached double digits in five of his six full MLB seasons. … Ex-UM star Lance Lynn notched his 10th win as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 5-2 in an NL Central showdown. … Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan saw his nine-game hit streak end in the Chicago Cubs’ 4-1 loss to Cincinnati. But over his last 10 games, Coghlan is batting .400 with two homers, six RBIs and 10 runs. … Taylorsville product Billy Hamilton has seven hits, three walks, seven RBIs, three runs and two steals in the four games (all wins) of the Reds’ current five-game series with the Cubs. However, Hamilton left Wednesday’s game with a tight hamstring and could sit today’s series finale. … Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson (hitting .327) sat out Colorado’s game on Wednesday with a sore left wrist. … If the Cardinals have to put catcher Yadier Molina (thumb) on the disabled list, former MSU star Ed Easley, now at Triple-A Memphis, might get that long-awaited first call-up. Easley, on a recent tear, is batting .259 with five homers and 20 RBIs. … The MLB DL includes Mississippians Cliff Lee, Mitch Moreland (out for the season), Drew Pomeranz and Alex Presley, and down in the minors, ex-East Central CC standout Tim Anderson is out (possibly until mid-August) with a broken right wrist. The Chicago White shortstop prospect is batting .297 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 10 steals at high Class A Winston-Salem.

08 Jul

number crunching

1 — Major league starts by Phil Irwin, the Ole Miss alumnus who’ll make his second tonight for Texas against Houston. It’ll be his Rangers debut.
4 — Hits by Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan (now batting .252) and RBIs by Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (34 for the season) in Monday’s Chicago Cubs-Cincinnati game, won by the Reds 9-3.
4 — Runs allowed (in three games) by former UM standout Aaron Barrett since a controversial balk call against him on June 30. Barrett, pitching for Washington, had yielded just five runs in 30 previous appearances.
5 — Number of Mississippi Braves alums slated to play in All-Star games next week: Current M-Brave Jose Peraza (Futures); Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman, Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran (MLB); and Gwinnett’s Phil Gosselin (Triple-A).
5 — Home runs in 2014 for ex-Rebels star Alex Presley, who hit his latest Monday to help Houston stop a seven-game losing streak with a 12-7 victory over Texas.
9 — Consecutive seasons of at least 20 saves for former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, who reached that number Monday in Philadelphia’s 3-2 win against Milwaukee.
10 — Starts by Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee (4-4, 3.18), who won’t make another for the Phillies until after the All-Star break. He has been on the disabled list since May 19.

05 Jul

fireworks

Mississippians do love fireworks. And Mississippians in the majors did their part to contribute to the noise on the Fourth of July, cracking out eight hits on the day, two of them bombs, and getting some sizzle from the mound, as well. Eight Magnolia State-connected position players got into games on Friday and collectively went 8-for-26 (.308) with the two home runs, three RBIs and nine runs. A pretty good day to be sure, and consider that the state’s best hitter, Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson (.337), did not play for Colorado, the left-handed slugger sitting against Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw. Itawamba CC’s Desmond Jennings sparkled with a three-hit game, and he also scored three times for Tampa Bay. Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan scored three for the Chicago Cubs and went 2-for-4, raising his average to .219. Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier smoked a home run (No. 16) for Minnesota, and Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton lit off one (No. 5) for Cincinnati. Former Ole Miss standout Seth Smith went 1-for-3 with a run for San Diego. UM alum Zack Cozart of the Reds had the only real dud of a day, going 0-for-4 — though his team did win its game. Former Rebels star Alex Presley was 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter for Houston, and Southwest Mississippi CC product Jarrod Dyson got in late for Kansas City, as he often does, as a defensive replacement. Ex-Ole Miss ace Lance Lynn provided the pitching sparks, throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings for St. Louis in a victory over Miami. Lynn has nine W’s on the year. For the day, this Mississippi nine helped their clubs go 6-2. Now that’s a blast.

21 Jun

eye on …

Chris Coghlan has been playing more regularly for the Chicago Cubs of late, and his bat is waking from its slumber. Coghlan, the former Ole Miss standout, tripled and homered for the Cubs on Friday in a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh. The left-handed hitting outfielder boosted his average to .219, which might not sound so hot until you consider that he was at .125 on May 21. Brought up from Triple-A Iowa in early May, Coghlan has been in 35 games (73 at-bats) and produced two homers, four RBIs and seven runs all told. He is batting .282 in June. Coghlan, who just turned 29, is a career .267 hitter and hit .321 back in 2009 when he won National League rookie of the year honors with the Florida (now Miami) Marlins. P.S. Southern Miss product Brian Dozier delivered his second career walk-off hit for Minnesota, which beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Friday. … Ex-Ole Miss star Seth Smith belted two monster homers — and just missed a third — for San Diego, ending a 20-game long ball drought. He has eight on the year. The Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5. … Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson went 4-for-5 with his ninth homer but Colorado fell to Milwaukee 13-10 in a Coors Field slugfest. … Ryan Buchter and Juan Jaime joined the list of former Mississippi Braves to play in the big leagues when they pitched for Atlanta against Washington. That brings the number to 87. Buchter, who was up at the start of the season but didn’t play, got the win as the Braves won 6-4 in 13 innings.

03 Jun

ups and downs

Former Delta State star Eli Whiteside is back in the big leagues, promoted by the Chicago Cubs today when No. 1 catcher Welington Castillo went on the disabled list. Whiteside, who last appeared in the majors in 2012 (see previous post), was batting .171 at Triple-A Iowa. He is not in tonight’s lineup, but when he does get in, he’ll be the 24th Mississippian to appear in the majors in 2014. … Meanwhile, former Mississippi State standout Tyler Moore is going back to Triple-A Syracuse, sent down by Washington when Ryan Zimmerman was activated from the DL. Moore, an outfielder/first baseman, has been on an elevator ride: He started the season in Syracuse, was recalled on April 6, went down on May 7, was recalled on May 11 and now is shipped out again. He was batting .214 with three homers in 70 at-bats for the Nationals.

30 May

staying with it

Watched a few innings of the Pacific Coast League game of the week on TV Thursday night. Eli Whiteside, the ex-Delta State star from New Albany, was catching for Iowa (Chicago Cubs) and Mississippi State product Ed Easley was behind the plate for Memphis (St. Louis Cardinals) at AutoZone Park. These are two guys who must really love the game. They are backup catchers in Triple-A. Both are scuffling in their limited time: Whiteside is batting .168, Easley .204. Whiteside, who’ll be 35 in October, is in his 15th pro season. He has 208 MLB games under his belt and won a World Series ring with San Francisco in 2010. The Cubs are the seventh organization Whiteside has played for. He last appeared in the majors — briefly — in 2012. Easley, 28, is in his eighth season. He has yet to play in a big league game. He hit .334 with six homers and 49 RBIs in Triple-A for Arizona in 2013, never got a call-up, then signed with St. Louis in the off-season as a minor league free agent. The chances that either Whiteside or Easley will get called to the big leagues this season are pretty slim. Yet they keep plugging away at the game’s most demanding position. There is something admirable about that kind of devotion. P.S. Tony Sipp has shown that he still has some gas in the tank. The Pascagoula native has not allowed a run in 9 2/3 innings over eight appearances with Houston. Sipp, given his release from a minor league contract with San Diego so that he could sign with the Astros, has yielded just one hit and one walk with 13 strikeouts for a club that is suddenly playing well. The Moss Point High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alum is in his 11th pro season.

16 May

the other guys

With all due respect to the Mississippi Braves, sometimes the talent on the visiting team can be the attraction at Trustmark Park. The Tennessee Smokies are currently in Pearl, and this club features several of the Chicago Cubs’ top prospects. Foremost among this group is third baseman Kris Bryant, who was picked second overall in the 2013 draft (after blasting 31 homers in college last season) and is already knocking on Wrigley Field’s door. Bryant, 6 feet 5, 215 pounds, is batting .324 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs for a 23-17 team. Right fielder Jorge Soler, rated as high as No. 4 on the Cubs’ prospect chart, is hitting .333 with seven RBIs in seven games, though he did exit Thursday night’s contest with an undisclosed injury. Right-hander C.J. Edwards (1-2, 2.61 ERA in four starts) and former M-Braves standout Arodys Vizcaino, also top 10 prospects, are on the Smokies’ pitching staff. Another player of note is catcher Rafael Lopez, batting .330 with four homers, including one on Thursday. By the way: The M-Braves (21-19) won Thursday’s game 6-5 on a walk-off hit in the 11th inning by former big leaguer Cedric Hunter, who is having a solid season. The five-game series continues with Game 2 tonight. P.S. Ole Miss alumnus Zack Cozart, hovering beneath the Mendoza Line most of the season with Cincinnati, got three hits (and two RBIs) in Game 1 of a twinbill on Thursday and climbed to .208. He is batting .278 over his last 10 games, which might be a good sign. Cozart is valued more for his defense at shortstop, but he needs to hit a bit better. He batted .254 last year with 12 homers. He has just one homer this year.

10 May

scatter shots

The Mississippi Braves, starting to make a move (perhaps) in the Southern League South, settle in tonight at Trustmark Park for a 10-game homestand. The M-Braves have won 10 of 14 to climb to 17-17. Prized prospect J.R. Graham (0-1, 2.42) goes to the mound against Montgomery. Pitching has carried the club. The M-Braves rank third in the SL in ERA and fourth in WHIP. Williams Perez, 22-year-old right-hander from Venezuela, has been a rotation revelation with a 1.50 ERA (but just a 2-3 record). Aaron Northcraft is 3-1, 2.82, David Bromberg 1-2, 2.01, Jason Hursh 2-2, 3.41. Closer Shae Simmons has eight saves and 1.13 with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings. Shortstop Elmer Reyes continues to rake at .347 with 16 RBIs, and M-Braves vet Mycal Jones has three homers in 13 games since rejoining the club. … Looking for some offense, St. Louis called up Pascagoula native Joey Butler, who was batting .360 with four home runs at Triple-A Memphis. The former ’Goula High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout, who debuted with Texas in 2013, didn’t play Friday. Maybe he should have: The Cardinals went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and lost to Pittsburgh 6-4. … Mississippi State product Paul Maholm fell to 1-3 in his six starts for Los Angeles as San Francisco beat the Dodgers 3-1. Maholm allowed three runs on three hits (one homer) and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander’s ERA is now 4.71. He may not keep his spot in the rotation much longer. … Milwaukee recently re-signed Tim Dillard, the former Itawamba CC star from Saltillo. The 12-year pro, who has some big league time, is currently in Triple-A. … Good sign for Chris Coghlan? The Ole Miss alum got a ninth-inning hit off Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel on Friday and scored the game-tying run for Chicago. Alas, the hapless Cubs lost in the 10th (on yet another clutch hit by former M-Braves star Freddie Freeman). … Ex-UM standout Seth Smith was robbed of his third homer on Friday night in San Diego, but he did get three hits in the Padres’ 10-1 win over Miami and raised his average to .309. … Belhaven University is really good at home: an eye-popping 31-4 this season. But the Blazers, hosting the NAIA’s Jackson Bracket at Smith-Wills Stadium, aren’t the top seed in the regional. That would be Oklahoma Wesleyan, which brings a 52-6 record and a No. 3 national ranking to town. Belhaven (40-19) plays Oklahoma City in Monday’s second game, after Sterling and Houston-Victoria tangle in the opener. The winner of the latter gets Oklahoma Wesleyan in Monday’s late game.

04 May

it’s the big leagues

It’s a tough situation to walk into, but it’s also a safe bet Chris Coghlan isn’t concerned about the Chicago Cubs’ place in the standings. The former Ole Miss star is back in the big leagues, having been called up by the last-place Cubs to replace another outfielder, Ryan Sweeney, who went on the disabled list. Former National League rookie of the year Coghlan was hitting just .243 at Triple-A Iowa, but he is a career .270 hitter in the majors with 21 homers and 27 steals over parts of five years, all with the Florida/Miami Marlins. He signed a minor league deal with Chicago in the off-season. A left-handed hitter, Coghlan can play any of the outfield spots and even has experience at second and third base. With the Cubs facing St. Louis right-hander Lance Lynn, another Ole Miss product, at Wrigley Field tonight, Coghlan could be in the lineup. P.S. Brian Dozier is building a case for making the American League All-Star team. The ex-Southern Miss standout from Tupelo, now the Minnesota Twins’ second baseman, leads the league in runs (29) and has eight home runs and nine stolen bases. Dozier is batting just .246 but has a .365 on-base percentage and has reached in 11 straight games through Saturday. He is also playing great defense. Of course, the July 15 All-Star Game is at Minnesota’s Target Field, so Dozier would figure to get lots of support in the voting from hometown fans.