Fall Stars Game Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

11 Nov

sudden impact

Drake Baldwin didn’t spend much time in Double-A Mississippi. He didn’t need much minor-league seasoning, as it turned out. In just his third full professional season, the Atlanta Braves catcher claimed the National League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday, getting 21 of the 30 first-place votes in the BBWAA balloting. Drafted in 2022 out of Missouri, Baldwin was a quick study in pro ball. He reached Double-A at the end of the 2023 season and returned briefly at the start of 2024. He hit .260 with five home runs and 38 RBIs over 66 games for the M-Braves. He made Atlanta’s opening day roster — as the system’s No. 1 prospect — this past spring and hit .274 with 19 homers and 80 RBIs while sharing catching duties with oft-injured Sean Murphy. “When (former M-Braves catcher Brian McCann) came up it was the same way,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told mlb.com, comparing the former All-Star to Baldwin. “(McCann was) above his years behind the plate and as an offensive player, and Drake’s right there with him.” Baldwin is the fourth M-Braves alum to win NL rookie of the year honors, joining Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Craig Kimbrel. Former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams and ex-Jackson Mets standout Darryl Strawberry also won that award. … A’s slugger Nick Kurtz won the AL rookie award; ex-Jackson Prep star Will Warren of the New York Yankees got one third-place and one fourth-place vote. P.S. Marcus Thames, former big league slugger from Louisville, has been named a hitting coach on the Kansas City Royals’ staff for 2026. Thames served as hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox the past two seasons and was with the New York Yankees, Miami and the Los Angeles Angels before that. … Madison Central High alum Braden Montgomery, the White Sox’s No. 1 prospect, went 0-for-1 with two walks and ex-Mississippi State standout Cade Smith, the Yankees’ No. 19, pitched a clean inning in Sunday’s Fall Stars Game in the Arizona Fall League. … Several players with Mississippi ties became minor league free agents last week: Billy Hamilton (who was in the Chicago Cubs’ system at the end of the 2025 campaign), Dakota Hudson (Angels), Spencer Turnbull (Royals) and Jacob Waguespack (Philadelphia). … Of note: MLB teams must set their reserve lists/40-man rosters for 2026 by 3 p.m. CST on Nov. 18. The Rule 5 draft for unprotected minor leaguers is on Dec. 10.

07 Nov

on this date

Jake Gibbs, the Ole Miss icon who played parts of 10 years in the big leagues, was born on this date in 1938. A two-sport All-America pick at UM, Gibbs chose to pursue baseball and shifted from third base to catcher in the New York Yankees’ minor league system. He reached the big leagues in 1962 and played until 1971, batting .233 with 25 home runs in 538 games, primarily as a backup. His best season was 1970, when he hit .301 with eight homers and 26 RBIs over 49 games behind Thurman Munson. Gibbs became Ole Miss’ baseball coach in 1972 and his first team won the SEC championship. He won 485 games over 19 seasons. P.S. Former Mississippi prep stars Braden Montgomery and Cade Smith have been chosen to play for the American League team in Sunday’s Fall Stars Game in the Arizona Fall League. Mississippi Braves alum Nacho Alvarez Jr. made the National League roster. … Ex-Southern Miss star Chuckie Robinson was outrighted to Triple-A by Atlanta. Robinson, a catcher who got one at-bat with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, was claimed off waivers by the Braves in late September but was never activated to the 26-man roster. He has been in pro ball for 10 years, with 52 MLB games under his belt. … Justin Dean, former M-Braves standout who played for the champion Dodgers in the World Series, was claimed off waivers by San Francisco. He played parts of four seasons (2021-24) in Pearl.

08 Nov

odds and ends

Former Ole Miss standouts Derek Diamond and Kemp Alderman made the National League roster for Saturday’s Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game (7 p.m., MLB Network), though Alderman will not participate. Right-hander Diamond, a 2022 draftee by Pittsburgh, has a 2.45 ERA in seven AFL games; he pitched at the High-Class A level this past season. Alderman, a Miami prospect drafted in 2023, is second in the league with six homers but is not currently active. The list of Mississippians who have participated in the AFL’s showcase game en route to the big leagues over the years includes Austin Riley, Hunter Renfroe, Colt Keith, Brian Dozier, Chris Stratton, Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart, Anthony Alford and Braxton Lee. … Also on Saturday, Ole Miss product Tim Elko will suit up for Team USA in the opener of the World Baseball Premier 12 Tournament in Mexico. The U.S. plays Puerto Rico. Elko had been playing in the AFL following a strong season in Double-A and Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox. Mississippi Braves alum Drake Baldwin, a touted catching prospect, is also on the Team USA roster. … Former Mississippi State stars Brent Rooker and Jordan Westburg along with Biloxi High alum Colt Keith are among the American League finalists for Silver Slugger Awards, honoring the top hitters at each position in each league. The winners will be announced on Tuesday. Rooker, who hit 39 home runs this year with the Athletics, is a finalist at DH; Westburg, a 2024 All-Star with Baltimore, is up for the award as a utility player; and Keith, who batted .260 as a rookie with Detroit, is one of three candidates at second base. Other finalists include former M-Braves Freddie Freeman (first base, Los Angeles Dodgers), William Contreras (catcher, Milwaukee) and Shea Langeliers (catcher, A’s). … Cooper Pratt, the former Mississippi prep player of the year at Magnolia Heights, won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove award at shortstop, one of just nine honorees from all of the minors. The second-year pro made only eight errors in 338 chances at two levels of A-ball in Milwaukee’s system. The Brewers’ No. 2-rated prospect by MLB Pipeline, he also batted .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals. … Former Madison Central standout Regi Grace was among the 500-plus players who became minor league free agents this week. Grace, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, was 1-4 with a 4.19 ERA in 31 games at the Double-A level in Minnesota’s system. Drafted by the Twins in 2018, Grace has a 3.94 career ERA. Onetime big league pitchers Konnor Pilkington, a Mississippi State alum, and Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, also hit the market, as did ex-MSU standout Hunter Stovall. Stovall, 28, is a .277 career hitter who spent the last two seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A team. … Former Biloxi Shuckers Sal Frelick, Milwaukee’s right fielder, and Brice Turang, Brewers second baseman, won 2024 Gold Gloves in the National League, while Mississippi Braves alum Dylan Moore, who played six different positions for Seattle, picked one up as a utility player in the American League. All three were first-time winners. … Dave Parker, the Grenada native and seven-time MLB All-Star, is up for the National Baseball Hall of Fame again as part of the Classic Baseball Era ballot. The electees will be announced Dec. 8. MLB Network’s Dan Plesac, who played with Parker in Milwaukee, says “The Cobra” should be in the Hall, calling him a “marvelous teammate” who was “full of life” and “brought energy to the clubhouse.” Over a 19-year career (1973-91), Parker batted .290 with 339 home runs, 1,493 RBIs, 154 stolen bases and 143 outfield assists. Parker “knew he was good,” Plesac said in a recent broadcast, “and he was good.”