Tag Archives: Indians

12 Sep

life’s a pitch

You want good pitching … you need good pitching … especially in the heat of the playoff race. But good isn’t always rewarded; such is the fickle nature of baseball. Both Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn and ex-Picayune High standout T.J. House were good on Thursday. Only one could smile at day’s end. Firing furious fastballs at Cincinnati’s hitters, veteran right-hander Lynn went eight innings for St. Louis. He allowed just three hits (one by Billy Hamilton) and one run, struck out six and walked one. But the Cardinals, clinging to first place in the National League Central, were shut out by Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman. Lynn took the loss in the 1-0 game and is now 15-9 with a 2.73 ERA. Plying pinpoint placement against Minnesota, rookie left-hander House went seven innings for Cleveland. He allowed just four hits (one by Brian Dozier) and no runs with eight strikeouts and no walks. The Indians, trying to chase down an American League playoff berth, scored two runs and House got the victory, in Game 2 of a twinbill sweep, to improve to 3-3, 3.42. (For what it’s worth, House became the first Cleveland pitcher ever to go at least seven innings and allow one run or less with no walks in three consecutive starts.) “It’s really exciting to watch his development,” Indians manager Terry Francona told mlb.com. P.S. Former Harrison Central star Bobby Bradley was named the rookie level player of the year for 2014 by Baseball America. Bradley, an Indians farmhand, batted .361 with eight homers and 50 RBIs in the Arizona League. Also making BA’s classification all-star teams were Ole Miss product Auston Bousfield (Padres) in short-season Class A; former Mississippi State star Kendall Graveman (Blue Jays) in high Class A; and ex-Mississippi Braves closer Chasen Shreve in Double-A.

09 Sep

comes a time

October gets the hype, but heroes can be made in September, as well. There are a handful of Mississippians on teams that are still contending for MLB playoff berths. Some hold prominent positions, some just occupy supporting roles. But you never know who the moment will find or when it’ll happen. That’s what makes the playoff push so compelling. In the heated American League Central race, outfielder Jarrod Dyson (Southwest Mississippi Community College) and right-hander Louis Coleman (Pillow Academy) are trying to help Kansas City make the postseason for the first time since 1985. Among the teams trying to catch the first-place Royals is Cleveland, which has found a reliable starting pitcher in lefty T.J. House (Picayune High). Oakland, still in the hunt in the AL West as well as the wild card race, has a stable full of quality arms, including left-hander Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss), who can start or relieve in a pinch. Toronto, still standing in the AL wild card scrap, brought up minor league sensation Kendall Graveman (Mississippi State) to help in its bullpen. Graveman (see previous post) gave up a hit and a run in his MLB debut on Sept. 5. (Incidentally, he became the 25th Mississippi-connected player to appear in the big leagues in 2014.) In the National League, Washington may just be the best team out there, and Mississippians Tyler Moore (Mississippi State) and Aaron Barrett (UM) are contributing, Moore as a right-handed slugger off the bench and Barrett as a righty out of the pen. And for St. Louis, still in a dogfight in the NL Central, Lance Lynn (Ole Miss) already has won 15 games and will get the call in several more big ones. P.S. Desmond Jennings, the Itawamba CC product, may be shut down by Tampa Bay because of a nagging knee problem. Jennings hasn’t played since Aug. 28, and the Rays are fading fast from postseason contention. … A pair of Mississippi natives are on opposing sides in the Double-A Eastern League Championship Series. Jackson native and ex-Ole Miss star Cody Satterwhite has a 2.33 ERA and 15 saves for the Binghamton Mets, while Tupelo native and former MSU standout Chris Stratton (1-1, 3.52 in five starts) got the win for Richmond (Giants) in its division series clincher. … Houston native and Ole Miss alum Justin Henry (.251 in 73 games) is playing for Triple-A Pawtucket (Red Sox), which is in the International League finals.

01 Sep

all about arms

The lights were bright, the stage was big and T.J. House, the pride of Picayune High, rose to the occasion. On ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, before a sell-out crowd at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, in a key American League Central contest, rookie left-hander House worked seven innings for Cleveland, allowing one run on five hits with no walks. He stood to get the win, which would have been his third of the year, but the Indians’ bullpen blew the save in the ninth. Cleveland scored twice in the 10th to take a 4-2 lead before the game was suspended because of weather. It’ll be resumed in Cleveland on Sept. 22. … Among the marquee games today is Pittsburgh at St. Louis, with former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn taking the mound for the Cardinals, who have caught Milwaukee in the National League Central race. Pittsburgh is hanging on in third place. Lynn is 14-8 with a 2.79 and is trying to become only the second pitcher in MLB to win at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons. … In Atlanta on Sunday, former Mississippi Braves standout Alex Wood delivered perhaps his best career outing in the Braves’ 1-0 win over Miami. Wood went eight innings, allowed five hits and no walks and fanned 12. Then ex-M-Braves closer Craig Kimbrel blew through the Marlins in the ninth for his 41st save. Former M-Braves Phil Gosselin, Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons combined to go 7-for-11, but the only hit that produced a run for Atlanta was a home run (No. 21) by another ex-M-Braves star, Evan Gattis. Oh yeah, and former M-Braves right fielder Jason Heyward made yet another great catch. Doesn’t it seem like he does that everyday? … At Huntsville today, in the Double-A Southern League, the current M-Braves will pin their postseason hopes on right-hander Mitch Atkins (6-1, 3.56). The M-Braves need to beat Huntsville and get help from Mobile, which will try to halt Jacksonville’s nine-game win streak. If the Suns (a Miami affiliate) win again, they’ll also win the SL South. If the M-Braves do make the postseason, they’ll play at home on Saturday (Sept. 6) in the division series.

22 Aug

collision course

The Mississippi Braves are running some playoff fever as they return to Trustmark Park for their final homestand of the season. Question is, Are M-Braves fans feeling it, too? Baseball and high school football go head-to-head tonight. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd turns out to see the first-place M-Braves, who are averaging around 3,000 (announced) per game. The M-Braves are 36-24 after beating Mobile three straight on the road and hold a one-game lead over Jacksonville in the Southern League South. Mobile, the first-half champ, is 2 games behind. The M-Braves face Birmingham tonight in the opener of the five-game set. The M-Braves lead the league in batting (.264), though they are just sixth in runs, and are No. 2 in ERA (3.43). P.S. Down on the farm, former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney, an eighth-round pick by Atlanta this year, has a 4.12 ERA, a 2-2 record and one save in 16 games for short-season Danville. … Up on the farm, ex-M-Braves standout Joey Terdoslavich has homered in five straight games for Triple-A Gwinnett. He is batting .256 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs – and itching for a September call-up. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson is playing again. The Chicago White Sox shortstop prospect is 4-for-17 with two homers in six games in the rookie Arizona League. Anderson, a first-round pick in 2013, was batting .297 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 10 steals at high Class A Winston-Salem before suffering a wrist injury. … Former Harrison Central High star Bobby Bradley is killing it in the AZL, batting .374 with eight homers, 47 RBIs and 36 runs in 35 games. The lefty-hitting first baseman was a third-round pick by Cleveland in June.

21 Aug

numbers to crunch

5 1/3 — Shutout innings hurled on Wednesday by former Picayune High standout T.J. House, who notched his second win for Cleveland in a victory against Minnesota and lowered his ERA to 3.80 in 13 appearances as a rookie.
6 — Current hitting streak for Ole Miss product Seth Smith, who banged out two more for San Diego against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The streaky Smith, on another roll, is batting .364 over his last 10 games and is at .297 for the season.
8 — Outfield assists for Taylorsville High alum Billy Hamilton, who got one for Cincinnati against St. Louis, completing a double play after making a diving catch in right-center. Hamilton has been involved in three DPs and has just one error.
14 — Wins for ex-UM star Lance Lynn, who went seven strong innings for St. Louis to beat Cincinnati 7-3. Lynn is 14-8 with a 2.78 ERA in 26 starts.
20 — Stolen bases for former Southern Miss standout Brian Dozier, who reached that number for Minnesota against Cleveland and matched his home run total for the year.
30 — Saves for Mississippi State product Jonathan Papelbon, the Philadelphia closer who nailed down a 4-3 win against Seattle with a scoreless ninth. Papelbon has a 1.55 ERA.
70 — Hits for former Rebels star Chris Coghlan, who got one for the Chicago Cubs against San Francisco. The oft-injured Coghlan, batting .273, has his most hits in an MLB season since 2010.

13 Aug

rising above it

While the Colorado Rockies are sinking like a stone in the standings, Corey Dickerson’s star continues to rise. The Meridian Community College alum from McComb extended his hitting streak to seven games in the Rockies’ 4-1 loss at San Diego on Tuesday. (Colorado is an MLB-worst 46-73.) Dickerson, who homered for the third straight game, is 12-for-28 (.429) with the three bombs, 10 RBIs and seven runs during his hit streak, which began with a 4-for-4 effort on Aug. 6. His season numbers are outstanding: .321, 16 homers, 50 RBIs, 51 runs, 19 doubles and four triples. That’s 101 runs accounted for in 94 games. Yes, Coors Field is a hitter’s dream, but Dickerson’s road numbers are also good: .271, eight homers, 20 RBIs. The 25-year-old lefty-hitting outfielder has emerged as a leading candidate for allmississippibaseball’s Cool Papa Bell Award. P.S. There was nothing lucky about T.J. House’s 13th big league appearance. The former Picayune High star threw three shutout innings for Cleveland against Arizona on Tuesday before the game was washed out. The rookie left-hander, who can’t seem to catch a break, is 1-3 with a 4.13 ERA in 12 games, 11 starts.

07 Aug

number crunching

18 — Stolen bases by Brian Dozier. The Southern Miss product got No. 18 on Wednesday against San Diego and, with 19 home runs, is fast approaching a 20-20 season.
12 — Home runs for Seth Smith. The ex-Ole Miss star belted his 12th, a 10th-inning game-winner for San Diego, against Minnesota.
12 — Number of Mississippi-connected players currently in the big leagues. A total of 24 have appeared in MLB games this season; four are on the disabled list, one (Joey Butler) is in Japan and the others are in the minors.
10 — Starts for T.J. House. The rookie left-hander out of Picayune High will make No. 11 today for Cleveland against Cincinnati. He has a respectable 4.09 ERA but just a 1-2 record.
4 — Hits by Corey Dickerson. The Meridian Community College alumnus, now batting .320, came up a home run shy of the cycle for Colorado against the Chicago Cubs.
3 — Hits by Chris Coghlan. The former Ole Miss standout, now batting .302, also came up a homer shy of the cycle for the Chicago Cubs against Colorado.
3 — Home runs for Zack Cozart. The UM product hit his third for Cincinnati against Cleveland. He hit 12 homers in 2013.
1 — Errors by Seth Smith. The Jackson native, who flips between left and right field for San Diego, committed his first of the year against Minnesota.

02 Aug

hard knock life

It has been a season of hard knocks for many Mississippi-connected pitchers in the big leagues. Former Mississippi State standout Paul Maholm is the latest to suffer misfortune; he tore an ACL trying to make a play at first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night and has landed on the disabled list, possibly done for the year. He wasn’t having a very good year, either: 4.84 ERA in 30 games. Cliff Lee, the Meridian Community College product with Philadelphia, also may be done for the year with his latest elbow problem. On Friday, Washington sent Ole Miss alum Aaron Barrett to the minors. Barrett has a 3.21 ERA overall but an ugly 9.45 over his last 10 appearances since being called for a controversial balk and altering his mechanics (see previous post). Ex-UM star Drew Pomeranz of Oakland broke his right (non-throwing) hand punching a chair on June 16 and is now in the minors despite his 2.91 ERA. Former Picayune High standout T.J. House has been up and down a dizzying number of times for Cleveland. The lefty (4.50 ERA) is back on the Indians’ roster today to start against Texas. Louis Coleman, the Pillow Academy product, has put up a 7.48 ERA in a couple of stints with Kansas City and is now back in the minors. And Ole Miss alum Phil Irwin got one start for Texas last month, yielded three runs in four innings and was shipped out again.

28 Jul

stealing the show

Silento Sayles is starting to get on base with more regularity. That’s bad news for catchers in the Arizona League. The former Port Gibson High star, who set a national high school stolen base record in 2013, swiped seven bags in seven tries in a recent four-game stretch for the AZL Indians, Cleveland’s rookie club. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Sayles is batting .295 (.413 on-base percentage) with 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts and 16 runs through 17 games. Though he still has a long way to go, the 19-year-old Sayles is certainly an intriguing prospect. He has shown improvement in his second pro season; he batted just .186 in 31 games in the AZL last season and was 5-for-8 in steals. Cleveland picked Sayles, an outfielder, in the 14th round in 2013 after his amazing senior year at Port Gibson. He batted .541 and stole 103 bases, including a hard-to-imagine 12 in one game. Even Billy Hamilton didn’t do that.

07 Jul

razing arizona

Mississippians Bobby Bradley and Silento Sayles could be a Thunder and Lightning act for the Arizona League Indians. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Bradley, a third-round pick by Cleveland out of Harrison Central High last month, is batting .351 with a home run, four doubles, nine RBIs and a .541 slugging percentage in nine games. The 5-9, 185-pound Sayles, a 14th-round pick out of Port Gibson High in 2013, is hitting .290 with four stolen bases in five tries and six runs in 10 games. Bradley, a third-team prep All-America selection by Baseball America, is a left-handed power hitter who belted six homers for Harrison Central this season. Sayles, a second-team All-America pick by BA last year, is a burner who set a high school record with 103 stolen bases as a senior. This is his second tour in the rookie level AZL; he hit just .186 with five steals in 31 games in 2013. The AZL Indians are off to an 8-6 start.