Tag Archives: Dodgers

16 Aug

mad skills

In Baseball America’s recent rankings of the Best Tools in the major leagues, Aaron Hicks, Kevin Kiermaier and Alex Gordon were 1-2-3 in the American League’s Best Outfield Arm category. In the NL, it was Yoenis Cespedes, Mississippi’s own Hunter Renfroe and Yasiel Puig. The MLB leader in outfield assists is … none of the above. Jarrod Dyson, the ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star from McComb, tops that list with 11. The Seattle center fielder got one on Tuesday night, cutting down Baltimore’s Manny Machado at the plate in the Mariners’ 3-1 victory in a meeting of AL playoff contenders. Dyson has 47 assists in his eight-year career, and he hasn’t played regularly for much of that time. Dyson did show up in three of the Baseball America Best Tools rankings, which are based on a poll of managers, coaches and scouts. He was the AL’s Best Bunter – he put down a nice sacrifice on Tuesday – and ranked second in Best Baserunner and Fastest Baserunner. … It’s impressive that the names of four Mississippi natives show up in the rankings. In addition to Dyson and Crystal Springs’ Renfroe, Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton was No. 1 in the NL’s Fastest Baserunner – duh – and Best Baserunner categories and No. 3 in Best Defensive Outfielder, and Amory’s Mitch Moreland was second in the AL’s Best Defensive First Baseman chart. P.S. East Central CC product Tim Anderson led off with a first-pitch home run against Alex Wood in Tuesday night’s Chicago White Sox-Los Angeles Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium. It was Anderson’s 14th homer and fifth in nine games. It was the only run former Mississippi Braves ace Wood would allow in seven innings, but he took a no-decision in the Dodgers’ 6-1 win. He is 14-1 for a team that is now a jaw-dropping 84-34. … Ole Miss alum Colby Bortles homered in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game in York, N.Y. Bortles has only one homer in 35 regular season games for Connecticut in the Detroit system. A 2017 draftee, he is batting .273 with 15 RBIs.

06 Jul

fine wood-work

Atlanta fans cringed again on Wednesday night when Alex Wood, the Mississippi Braves alumnus who was once a hot young commodity in the ATL, won for the 10th time without a loss this season in sparking the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 1-0 win over Arizona. Wood, likely to be picked as an All-Star Game replacement, is the first Dodgers starter to hit 10-0 since Don Newcombe in 1955. “It’ll be cool to even be mentioned with him, so it’s pretty neat,” the 26-year-old left-hander told The Associated Press. Wood’s seven scoreless innings on Wednesday cut his ERA to 1.67. A second-round pick by Atlanta out of Georgia in 2012, Wood went 4-2, 1.26 ERA in 10 games for the M-Braves in 2013 and made his big league debut that same season. In July 2015, the Braves sent Wood to the Dodgers as part of the regrettable deal for Hector Olivera and two other players no longer in Atlanta’s system. (Former M-Braves Luis Avilan and Jose Peraza also went to LA in that three-team trade.) … A scan of MLB box scores on any given morning shows a remarkable number of ex-M-Braves making contributions on clubs other than Atlanta, where only a handful are playing. To wit: Gregor Blanco went 1-for-4 for the Diamondbacks in the loss to LA; Peraza had a hit for Cincinnati; Mallex Smith was 4-for-4 with three runs for Tampa Bay; Gorkys Hernandez had three hits and Cory Gearrin a hold for San Francisco; Andrelton Simmons had a couple of hits for the Angels; Evan Gattis went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run in Houston’s 10-4 win against the Braves; Tommy LaStella reached on an HBP and scored a run for the Chicago Cubs; Chasen Shreve threw two scoreless innings for the New York Yankees; Mike Minor improved to 5-1 with a relief win for Kansas City; Ryan Buchter notched a hold for San Diego. Not mentioned: Craig Kimbrel, Martin Prado, Brian McCann, Jason Heyward, Yunel Escobar … . Some of those guys are sorely missed.

24 May

tough luck

By the numbers and under the circumstances, it was Lance Lynn’s best start of the season and among the best in his seven-year big league career. Alas, the Ole Miss product got a no-decision and his team, the St. Louis Cardinals, took a loss, 2-1 in 13 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night. Lynn went up against Clayton Kershaw in a battle of aces at Dodger Stadium and certainly held his own. In eight innings – 123 pitches – Lynn allowed just two hits and one run – a homer by Yasmani Grandal in the first inning – while striking out 10. Kershaw went nine, also struck out 10 and yielded just three hits. But a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth cost him a run and sent the game into extra innings. “(Y)ou knew when we headed into this, I figured it was going to be a well-pitched game on both sides,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told The Associated Press. “It was just going to be who got that big hit, and it was them.” Specifically, that would be a Logan Forsythe RBI double in the 13th. Lynn, a pending free agent who missed 2016 after Tommy John surgery, is 4-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 50 punchouts in 53 1/3 innings. P.S. Mark it down: Former Petal High star Anthony Alford got his first MLB hit on Tuesday, a pinch double in the seventh inning for Toronto against Milwaukee’s Rob Scahill.

15 Dec

there and here

While wondering if Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier will soon be a Los Angeles Dodger, here’s more stuff to chew on: D.J. Davis, seemingly in need of some positive reinforcement, hit his first home run of the Australian Baseball League season today. The former Stone County High standout launched a three-run bomb – boosting his RBI total to seven – for Canberra in a 5-2 win against Perth. Davis, a first-round pick in 2012 by Toronto, is coming off a rough year in A-ball and is batting just .125 (6-for-48) in the ABL. … East Mississippi Community College product LeDarious Clark (a Texas farmhand) has eight hits – including his first ABL homer – over his last five games to boost his average to .250 for Adelaide. He is second in the league (to Atlanta prospect Ronald Acuna) with nine steals. … Ex-Picayune High star T.J. House has signed a minor league contract with Toronto. House, a left-hander, posted a 4.44 ERA over parts of three seasons with Cleveland, which drafted him in 2008. He spent most of 2016 at Triple-A Columbus, where he had a 3.98 ERA. A starter for most of his career, House worked out of the bullpen the latter half of last season. … Mitch Moreland played on some good teams during his seven seasons in Texas but none could compare with what Boston will trot out in 2017. “I’m super excited,” Amory native Moreland said in a recent mlb.com story. “I’ve always been a fan of Boston, the fans, the background, history of the team.” The lefty-hitting first baseman hit .233 with 22 homers and won a Gold Glove for the Rangers in 2016. He should be a good fit on a Red Sox club that shapes up as a real threat to steal the Chicago Cubs’ crown.

07 Oct

it’s been too long

The last time San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs played in the postseason, a former Mississippi State star stole the show. The year was 1989 and the player was Will Clark, who went 13-for-20 with two homers, eight RBIs and eight runs as the Giants won the National League Championship Series in five games. Clark, on the recently announced “Today’s Game Era” Hall of Fame ballot for 2017, hit .333 with 23 homers for San Francisco in 1989, his fourth year in the big leagues, and .303 with 284 for his career. The Giants and Cubs meet again today in the NLDS, and there’s a Mississippi college alum in uniform. Former Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan isn’t a steal-the-show kind of player – though he was the NL rookie of the year in 2009 — but he could still have an impact for the Cubs. Coghlan, a veteran of eight MLB campaigns, was a hot hitter down the stretch, batting .280 over his last 14 games. He finished the year at .252 in 48 games for the Cubs. He’s got some pop from the left side – six homers in 2016, five while with Oakland – and he has played six different positions in his career. Cubs manager Joe Maddon will find a use for him. The Giants don’t have an MSU alum to turn to, but they do have Wild Card Game hero Conor Gillaspie, the son of former Bulldogs star Mark Gillaspie. Conor was born in Nebraska and went to Wichita State. P.S. Louis Coleman, the ex-Pillow Academy star from Greenwood, did not make the Los Angeles Dodgers’ NLDS roster. Coleman, a right-handed reliever, posted a 4.69 ERA in 61 games this year and had some rough outings down the stretch. He has a career 3.51 ERA over six seasons.

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.

04 Aug

random numbers

37 – Stolen bases for Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who got one as a pinch runner on Wednesday in Cincinnati’s 5-4 loss to St. Louis. Hamilton’s total ranks second in MLB, three behind Jonathan Villar. Hamilton, who set the all-time minor league record with 155 steals in 2012, swiped 57 bases for the Reds in 2015 and 56 in 2014.
11 – Home runs allowed in eight starts by Northwest Mississippi Community College alum Cody Reed, the rookie left-hander who gave up another in Cincinnati’s loss to St. Louis. Reed, one of the Reds’ top-rated prospects, fell to 0-6 with a 7.30 ERA.
6 – RBIs by former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier in the last three games, all wins for Minnesota against Cleveland. Dozier, who has a 12-game hit streak, is 5-for-16 with two homers and four runs scored in the series, helping the Twins score 35 times against the Indians’ vaunted pitching staff.
14 – Number of players the Los Angeles Dodgers currently have on the disabled list, which now includes Greenwood native and ex-Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman. Coleman, out with right shoulder fatigue, has appeared in a career-high 50 games in his first season with the Dodgers after five in Kansas City. He has a 3.70 ERA.
2 – Number of former Mississippi Braves to make their MLB debut on Wednesday. Rob Whalen started and got the win for Atlanta against Pittsburgh, and James Hoyt worked a scoreless inning in relief for Houston. By one count, that makes 111 M-Braves alums who have advanced to The Show since the Double-A club arrived in Pearl in 2005.
6 – Runs, matching a season-high, yielded by Mississippi State product Kendall Graveman, who lasted just four innings in Oakland’s 8-6 loss to the L.A. Angels. Graveman, who had won four straight starts in July, now has a loss and a no-decision in his last two. He is 7-7, 4.46.
9 – Hits in his last four games for Petal High alum Anthony Alford, who has boosted his average to .232 at Class A Dunedin in Toronto’s system. The Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect (by Baseball America) entering this season, Alford has been sidetracked by injuries. The 22-year-old outfielder has five homers, 30 RBIs and 14 steals in 68 games.

21 Apr

check and check

It had been a while since Kendall Graveman last posted a win. It had been a whole lot longer since he took a bat to home plate. The former Mississippi State standout now with the Oakland A’s did both at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night. Graveman beat New York for his first win since last July 4 – a span of 10 starts – and, because the A’s had to put their DH on the field, he batted for the first time since he was in high school in Alabama, eight years ago. He struck out against Nathan Eovaldi. What Graveman did on the bump made that AB totally irrelevant. The right-hander went 6 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits and a run with a career-best eight strikeouts in the 5-2 victory. Graveman is 1-1 with a 2.04 ERA in three starts for the A’s. Former Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan drove in the game-tying run, scored the go-ahead run and made a big defensive play at third base in the seventh inning. P.S. Also notching a big win on Wednesday was Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz, who struck out a career-high 10 in San Diego’s 8-2 decision against Pittsburgh. Lefty Pomeranz, 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in his first season with the Padres, yielded four hits and an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings. … So far, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ idea of trying Jordan Schafer as a pitcher is working just fine. The former Mississippi Braves and big league outfielder, a left-hander, has a 0.00 ERA and six strikeouts over seven innings for Double-A Tulsa. He is a .228 career big league hitter.

18 Apr

on this date

On this date 70 years ago, Clay Hopper, a veteran minor league skipper from Greenwood, managed his first game with the Montreal Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ top farm team. Playing at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J., the Royals won 14-1, taking the first step toward winning the International League pennant. Of course, Hopper’s Royals debut was overshadowed more than a little bit by another: Jackie Robinson’s. In his first game in so-called organized baseball, Robinson went 4-for-5 with a three-run homer, four runs and two steals. He would go on to win the IL’s Most Valuable Player award and then break the color barrier in the major leagues in 1947. Hopper, who played at Mississippi A&M (State) under Dudy Noble, had asked in spring training of 1946 that Robinson not be assigned to his Montreal club but was overruled. From most accounts, Hopper and Robinson got along fine. Hopper won the IL manager of the year award and was named minor league manager of the year by The Sporting News following that ’46 campaign. He managed another 10 years in the minors and made the IL’s Hall of Fame in 2009, some 33 years after his death. P.S. The Kansas City Royals reportedly are considering keeping outfielder Jarrod Dyson in the minors a while longer as he rehabs from an oblique strain suffered in his first at-bat of spring training. The McComb native and former Southwest Mississippi Community College star is batting .250 with three steals and six runs in six games at Triple-A Omaha.

14 Jan

whatever happened to …

Jordan Schafer, the former Mississippi Braves outfielder of some renown, has signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to various reports. Schafer, a lefty-hitting center fielder with plus speed, played 27 games for Minnesota in 2015, went on the disabled list in May and then was released, spending the rest of the year out of the game. Schafer arrived in Mississippi in 2008 as Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect and with a swagger to match. A few days into the season, he was slapped with a drug suspension. He struggled upon his return but bounced back to have a good last month and helped the club win a Southern League pennant. He hit .269 with 10 homers, 51 RBIs and 12 steals that season. He won the center field job in Atlanta the next spring and famously homered in his first at-bat. But then he slumped and got hurt and his career became a series of ups and downs. He wound up back in Pearl for a while in 2010, was traded to Houston, then reacquired by the Braves, then claimed off waivers by Minnesota. Schafer, 29, has 103 career MLB steals but has hit just .228 over parts of six seasons. P.S. Anthony Alford has received an invite to Toronto’s big league spring camp for a second straight year, and this time the former Petal High star will be joined on the non-roster list by Mississippi State alum Chad Girodo. Alford is the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect and figures to play in Double-A this season. Girodo, a lefty reliever who reached Triple-A last summer, has a 2.30 ERA over three seasons and was a standout in the 2015 Arizona Fall League.