03 Feb

buying local

The Mississippi Mud Monsters’ latest signing has a true homecoming feel. Davis Bradshaw, a Florence native who played at McLaurin High just down the road from Trustmark Park, has been added to the new independent team’s roster, per the Frontier League transactions page. Bradshaw, 26, can flat-out hit. He batted .303 over six seasons in the Miami system, reaching the Double-A level in 2022, when he visited Trustmark as a member of the Southern League’s Pensacola club. The left-handed hitting outfielder batted a crazy .756 as a senior at McLaurin High in 2017 and followed that with a .442 season at Meridian Community College. He is primarily a singles hitter — five homers in 1,308 at-bats in pro ball — who swiped 55 bases in the minors. He played just 21 games in the Marlins’ system during an injury-tinged 2024 and was released last summer. … The Mud Monsters added to their on-field staff last Friday when they announced Jamie McOwen as hitting coach. McOwen, a Florida native, is a longtime minor league and indy league player who once had a 45-game hitting streak in A-ball. He joins pitching coach Robert Carson III, a Hattiesburg native, on manager Jay Pecci’s staff. … The team also has signed catcher Victor Diaz. Diaz, 23, from the Dominican Republic, played in the Houston system in 2024, batting .197 with five homers in 41 games at the rookie and Low-Class A levels. The 5-foot-10, 235-pound Diaz has been in pro ball since 2019. Bradshaw and Diaz join ex-DeSoto Central star Kyle Booker, former Mississippi State standout Brayland Skinner and Ryan Cash on the “Mud-sters” roster. The team will begin its inaugural season on May 8 at the Pearl ballpark. P.S. Kudos to Mississippi College. The Choctaws were three outs from going 0-3 in their weekend trip to Houston before rallying for seven runs in the ninth inning on Sunday to pull out a 13-10 win against Arkansas Tech. MC pounded out 15 hits and drew eight walks in the game at Daikin Park. Bryce Capobianco (2-for-5 on the day) led off the ninth with a triple, Bryce LaRocca (3-for-6) hit a two-run single, J.T. Vance (2-for-5) had a go-ahead double and Korey Cooper (3-for-5) capped the rally with a two-run home run. NCAA Division II MC has had four straight losing seasons under coach Jeremy Haworth, now in his 10th campaign. He won a Gulf South Conference title in 2018, his third season.

31 Jan

a growing list

Coming off an outstanding first full season in pro ball, Matthew Etzel is the latest Mississippian in the minors to get an invitation to major league spring training. The former Southern Miss star will go camping next month with Tampa Bay, which acquired the 22-year-old outfielder in a trade with Baltimore last summer. Etzel, drafted out of USM in 2023 by the Orioles, batted .272 with 11 homers, 66 RBIs, eight triples and 45 stolen bases in 2024, playing for three different teams. He finished the season at Double-A Montgomery. He joins a growing list of non-roster invitees with state ties:
Tim Anderson (East Central CC), Los Angeles Angels;
Gavin Collins (Mississippi State), St. Louis;
Blaine Crim (Mississippi College), Texas;
Tim Elko (Ole Miss), Chicago White Sox;
Matthew Etzel (USM), Tampa Bay;
Jacob Gonzalez (UM), Chicago White Sox;
Dakota Hudson (MSU), Los Angeles Angels;
Cooper Johnson (UM), Texas;
Braden Montgomery (Madison Central), Chicago White Sox;
Konnor Pilkington (MSU), Washington;
Drew Pomeranz (UM), Seattle;
Cooper Pratt (Magnolia Heights), Milwaukee;
Ethan Small (MSU), San Francisco;
Tyler Stuart (USM), Washington;
R.J. Yeager (MSU), St. Louis.
P.S. The Mississippi Mud Monsters have hired Robert Carson III, former Hattiesburg High standout and ex-big leaguer, as their pitching coach. Carson pitched in 31 games for the New York Mets in 2012-13 and spent seven seasons in independent leagues, most recently in 2021. He been an indy league pitching coach the last three years. The independent Mud Monsters will start their inaugural season in the Frontier League in May at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The “Mud-sters” have announced three signees to date, none of them pitchers.

29 Jan

winter warriors

The Charros de Jalisco, with Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton batting leadoff and playing center field, won the Mexican Pacific League championship on Tuesday night and advanced to the Caribbean Series. The MPL champs will play Friday (10 p.m., MLB Network) against the champion of the Puerto Rican Winter League — Indios de Mayaguez — in Mexicali, Mexico. Hamilton, a longtime major leaguer with 326 career stolen bases, batted .246 with a league-best 38 steals and 49 runs in 64 games for Jalisco this season. He hit .243 in the MPL postseason, scoring 12 runs and swiping six more bags. The 34-year-old Hamilton last played in the big leagues in 2023 (three games with the Chicago White Sox). Former Mississippi Braves and big league star Julio Teheran pitched for Jalisco this season. … Incidentally, the dramatic home run by Junior Caminero that won the Dominican Winter League title on Monday night — and became a viral sensation — was hit off former M-Braves closer Jairo Asencio. Asencio played under the name Luis Valdez in 2008, when he saved 28 games for the Southern League champion M-Braves. Caminero’s Leones de Escogido team plays Venezuela on Friday (3:30, MLBN) in Mexicali. … The Venezuelan Winter League champ is the Cardenales de Lara. Former M-Braves Gorkys Hernandez — who spent parts of six years in the big leagues — and Hendrik Clementina played for Lara this season. Rosters for the Caribbean Series have not been announced. P.S. Regi Grace, former Madison Central High standout, has signed with Washington of the independent Frontier League. Grace put up a 3.94 ERA in 133 career games over six seasons in the Minnesota system, working at the Double-A level in 2024.

18 Jan

familiar names

During his introductory teleconference on Tuesday, new Mississippi Mud Monsters manager Jay Pecci said he would “lean heavily” on players with local ties in constructing his roster for 2025. True to his word, two of the first three players the club has signed are Mississippi prep products: former DeSoto Central High star Kyle Booker and Lake Cormorant High alum Brayland Skinner, who played on Mississippi State’s College World Series winner in 2021. The signings were announced on the Frontier League website. The Mud Monsters, who will begin their inaugural season in the independent FL on May 8 at Trustmark Park in Pearl, also have signed Ryan Cash, a four-year indy league veteran. Outfielder Booker, 22, who played at Tennessee and Oral Roberts (.294 career average), spent the 2024 campaign in the Frontier League, batting .203 in 27 games. Skinner, 25, also an outfielder, played at State in 2021-22 and then at Memphis. He participated in the MLB Draft League in 2023 and played in the FL last season, batting .298 with eight homers and 49 RBIs in 90 games. Infielder Cash, 27, played college ball at Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts. He hit .250 in 81 games in the FL last season, having previously played in two other indy leagues. P.S. The Mud Monsters and Belhaven University announced Friday that the Blazers will play their home games at Trustmark Park through the 2030 season. BU, an NCAA Division III school, has played some home games at the Pearl ballpark the past few seasons after their long tenure at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium ended.

13 Jan

mud monsters name manager

Jay Pecci, 48, a former Stanford star with a wealth of professional playing and coaching experience, has been hired as the first manager of the Mississippi Mud Monsters. “Mississippi has a passionate sports community, and I look forward to helping build a winning culture that fans can be proud of,” Pecci said in a press release by the club. Pecci coached and managed in the New York Mets’ minor league chain for the past several seasons. An infielder at Stanford, he was drafted by Oakland in the 11th round in 1998 and played seven years in affiliated ball, reaching the Triple-A level, and then eight more in independent and foreign leagues. The Mud Monsters will begin their inaugural season in the independent Frontier League on May 8 at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The team has yet to announce any player signings for the 2025 campaign.

05 Dec

to do list

Having chosen a nickname and a logo, released a schedule for 2025 and named a general manager, the Mississippi Mud Monsters’ next — and perhaps most-anticipated — task is putting together a team, starting with the hiring of a field manager. Andrew Seymour, who spent the previous six seasons as GM of the Palm Beach Cardinals, a Class A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, has taken the administrative reins as GM of the Mud Monsters, who’ll begin play in the independent Frontier League next May at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. Frontier League teams, of which there are 18, have been announcing player signees for 2025 since their season ended in mid-September. Banks Tolley, ex-St. Andrew’s High and Appalachian State star, signed with Schaumburg of the FL last month after playing briefly in the league last summer. It’s likely the Mud Monsters will attempt to recruit players with ties to baseball-rich Mississippi. (Incidentally, Tyreque Reed, a Houlka native who played at Itawamba Community College and several years in the minors, led the Frontier League in hitting this past season with a .341 average for Washington. He is not currently listed on the Wild Things’ roster. Ex-Belhaven All-America pitcher Brett Sanchez played for the FL’s Joliet team in 2024.) The Mud Monsters’ first home game is set for May 8 against the Florence Y’alls. P.S. Catching up with: Former William Carey star Patrick Lee, who played in the Detroit system in 2024, is in the Puerto Rican (Roberto Clemente) Winter League, batting .278 in seven games with five runs and four steals for San Juan. … Harrison Central High alum and ex-big leaguer Bobby Bradley has hit four homers in 19 games for Navojoa in the Mexican Pacific League. He has five homers and 20 RBIs all told in the MPL this winter after hitting 13 in the summer Mexican League. … Former Magee High standout Brennon McNair, a Kansas City prospect, is hitting .205 with two homers, five RBIs and three steals for Brisbane in the Australian Baseball League. … The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, now called the HBCU Athletic Conference, will not play its season-ending tournament at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium in 2025, ending a three-year run there. Tougaloo and Rust are members of the NAIA-level league.

23 Nov

here and there

Ethan Small, the former first-round MLB draft pick out of Mississippi State, is looking for a new team after San Francisco did not offer the left-hander a contract for 2025. Originally drafted by Milwaukee in 2019, Small made just four big league appearances with the Brewers in 2022 and ’23 before being traded to the Giants last February. He was shelved with an injury much of the season, posting a 4.85 ERA in 14 appearances in the minors. The 27-year-old Small was among a wave of players cut loose by MLB clubs on Friday. He has worked as both a starter and reliever in the minors with some success in both roles (3.22 career ERA). The former SEC pitcher of the year will land somewhere next season; lefties are always in demand. … Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman was ranked No. 21 in MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 30 prospects in the recently concluded Arizona Fall League. Alderman, a Miami farmhand, hit .306 with six homers in nine games in the AFL — he left the league early to get married — and was pegged as the All-AFL designated hitter. He batted .242 with eight homers in 2024, his first full minor league season. … Former UM slugger Tim Elko has struggled at the plate for Team USA in the World Baseball Premier 12 tournament. Elko is 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts for the American side, which is 4-4 overall in the international competition heading into tonight’s bronze medal game vs. Venezuela in Tokyo. Elko batted .289 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox this season and also played well in the AFL before being recruited to Team USA. … Former big leaguer Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High standout, continues to lead the Mexican Pacific League in stolen bases with 21 through 34 games. Hamilton, 34, is batting .257 with 10 extra-base hits and 23 runs for Jalisco. He last played in the majors in 2023. … Brennon McNair, the Magee High alum now in the Kansas City Royals’ system, is 4-for-21 with a homer, three RBIs and three steals in six games for Brisbane in Australia’s winter league. … Banks Tolley, ex-St. Andrew’s High star, has signed with Schaumburg of the independent Frontier League after playing briefly in the league last summer. At Appalachian State last season, Tolley was a third-team All-America pick by d1baseball.com. The Mississippi Mud Monsters, a Frontier League newcomer for 2025, have yet to announce any signees (or a manager) for their inaugural season.

12 Nov

ring the bell

It’ll come as no surprise if Brent Rooker is awarded the Silver Slugger at DH in the American League. The former Mississippi State star hit .293 with 39 homers, 112 RBIs, 82 runs, 26 doubles, 11 steals, a .927 OPS and a 5.6 WAR for the (no longer Oakland) Athletics. All of those numbers were easily career-highs for the fifth-year big leaguer. He was tied for fourth in the AL in homers and ranked third in RBIs. No other Mississippian (native or school alum) came close to Rooker’s production this season, making Rooker a slam-dunk choice for the Cool Papa Bell Award. Other winners of the Bell — given here for the best performance by a Mississippian in MLB — include Justin Steele, Austin Riley, Tim Anderson, Corey Dickerson, Mitch Moreland, Brian Dozier, Desmond Jennings, Lance Lynn, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Chris Coghlan. For the record, Rooker made $750,000 this past season; he is due for a big jump in salary arbitration. P.S. Vicksburg native Dmitri Young was a guest on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show today and did an engaging interview ranging from his baseball card collection to his rising star nephew Quentin to his first MLB game against studio host Al Leiter. Young hit 171 homers in a 13-year big league career. … Jared Johnson, who powered Class 1A Smithville High to a state championship back in 2019, has been traded by Atlanta to the A’s for infielder Nick Allen. Johnson, 23, posted a 2.60 ERA as a reliever at High-Class A Rome in 2024 and has a 3.98 over his five minor league campaigns. The 6-foot-2 right-hander has 225 strikeouts in 183 1/3 career innings. Allen is a good defensive shortstop who hasn’t hit in limited big league time. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Jackson Chourio, now with Milwaukee, was named a finalist for National League rookie of the year. He hit .275 with 21 homers and 22 steals. … Shuckers alum Brice Turang, a Gold Glove winner at second base, won the NL’s Platinum Glove as the best overall defensive player in the league. Turang was a first-round pick by Milwaukee in 2018 and played for the Double-A Shuckers in 2021. He posted a .989 fielding percentage with just seven errors at second base in 2024. He had 379 assists and a hand in 78 double plays. He led all major league players with 22 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024 per mlb.com and all NL fielders in Baseball Reference’s Defensive Wins Above Replacement stat. … Louisville native Marcus Thames apparently will be retained as hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox, who recently named Will Venable as their manager for 2025. The ChiSox went 41-121 last season, worst record in modern MLB history. … Brett Wellman, son of former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman, has been named manager of the Down East Bird Dawgs, who’ll join the Mississippi Mud Monsters as an expansion team in the independent Frontier League next year. Brett Wellman, a bullpen catcher for the M-Braves when his dad was manager, played three years in the Toronto system.

28 Oct

save the date

Mississippi’s new pro team has announced a schedule for 2025, with opening day set for May 8 at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The Mud Monsters, yet to announce a manager or a roster, will play a 96-game schedule — 48 home dates spread over nine homestands — in the independent Frontier League, an 18-team league comprised mainly of teams in the Midwest and East Coast (plus three in Canada). The Mud Monsters’ inaugural game will be against the Florence (Ky.) Y’alls. The Mud Monsters are moving into the 5,500-seat stadium vacated by the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Diamond Baseball Holdings, the franchise owner, has moved the club to Columbus, Ga., presumably because of flagging attendance. (Baseball America noted that the 20-year-old Pearl ballpark needed some upgrades to meet MLB’s minor league standards.) … The Mud Monsters will be the seventh pro team to play in central Mississippi going back to 1953, when the original Jackson Senators pulled up stakes after their downtown stadium was destroyed by a tornado. Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium hosted the Mets, Generals, DiamondKats and Senators before the M-Braves arrived in Pearl in 2005. The Mud Monsters franchise is owned by Joseph Eng, an executive with Billtrust who also owns a franchise in the indy American Association. TBH Sports and Entertainment has been managing the ballpark, which is owned by Bloomfield Equities, a subsidiary of Yates Construction, which built the stadium.

08 Sep

aloha from pearl

Good-bye, Mississippi Braves. Hello, Frontier League team to be named later. The M-Braves — Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves — will play their final game at Pearl’s Trustmark Park today (2:05 p.m. vs. Tennessee). On Monday, fan voting will begin to pick a name for a new team that will play there in the independent Frontier League. (Visit ondeck2025.com.) Pearl city officials and the stadium management group have announced that Trustmark Park will have a pro team in 2025. As currently configured, the Frontier League, officially an MLB-supported Partner League, has 16 teams, 13 in the U.S., three in Canada, none in the South. If you’re scoring at home, this team will be the third independent club to come to central Mississippi (Jackson or Pearl) since 2000. (Several other cities in the state hosted indy teams at various times in the 1990s, but all are long gone.) Since 1990, fans in the metro have said good-bye to the Mets and Generals, both MLB affiliated teams, and the DiamondKats and Senators, both independent clubs. All four played at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium, and all four suffered from poor attendance that impacted their bottom line. That’s why the M-Braves are leaving, as well, bound for Columbus, Ga., after a 20-year run at Trustmark Park. The M-Braves — who drew an announced crowd of 5,300-plus for Saturday’s doubleheader — have averaged just over 2,000 fans a game for the past several seasons, ranking near the bottom in all of Double-A baseball. The league average in the Frontier League this season was 2,305. Six teams drew under 2,000, including a Brockton, Mass.-based club that averaged 1,116. The team in Schaumburg, Ill., averaged a reported 4,627 to lead the league. … For the record, a new college summer league — the Legacy League — is scheduled to operate at Smith-Wills next year: eight teams playing a 40-game slate from May into July.