two months out
Here’s what we know: Two months from today, the Mississippi Braves will open their 2021 season at home as part of the new Double-A South. What we don’t yet know is who the players will be — or who will manage them. Just guessing, there could be as many as six of Atlanta’s top 20 prospects stationed in Pearl come May 4. Catcher Shea Langeliers (rated No. 4 in the system by mlb.com), shortstop Braden Shewmake (No. 5), pitcher Freddie Tarnok (No. 11), outfielder Trey Harris (No. 13), third baseman C.J. Alexander (No. 18) and first baseman/outfielder Greyson Jenista (No. 20) appear to be at the Double-A stage of development. Shewmake, Harris, Alexander and Jenista all spent time with the M-Braves in 2019, when minor league teams last played. Langeliers and Shewmake were first-round picks out of major colleges in 2019 and look to be on the big league fast track. Langeliers, who played in low-A ball in 2019, is said to have the best arm among all catchers in the Braves’ system; he could be Atlanta’s regular catcher next year. Shewmake, long, lean and athletic, is projected to make the majors this season. Both are in big league camp as non-roster invitees, along with Tarnok, Harris and Alexander. Minor league camps haven’t yet opened. The 2021 season will be the M-Braves’ 16th at Trustmark Park. They’ve cranked out a lot of big leaguers but have won just one league championship, in 2008, Season 4. They would seem due for another. … Biloxi, also in the reconfigured Double-A South, also opens on May 4, at Birmingham. The Shuckers have announced the return of manager Mike Guerrero for his fifth season. It would not be a surprise to see ex-Mississippi State star Ethan Small, a top Milwaukee prospect, begin 2021 at Biloxi.