Tag Archives: Jarrod Dyson

16 Sep

these are the moments

Jarrod Dyson seized the moment on Monday night, helping Kansas City win one of those games that can define a team’s season. In the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium, with the Royals down a run and two outs, pinch-runner Dyson, the former 50th-round draft pick from Southwest Mississippi Community College, stole third base and kept going when the pitch by the Chicago White Sox’s Jake Petricka bounced past the catcher. Dyson beat the throw back to the plate. Tie game. Kansas City, which had trailed 3-0 in the seventh, won it moments later when Terrance Gore, another burner, scored from second on an infield hit. The Royals, seeking their first postseason berth since 1985, are 82-67, 1½ games back of Detroit in the American League Central and a game back of leader Oakland in the wild card standings. Dyson now has 34 steals in 41 tries and has scored 31 runs while batting .272 in his utility role. “Dice is daring,” Royals manager and former Jackson Mets catcher Ned Yost told mlb.com. “Dice has larceny in his blood.” P.S. Jonathan Papelbon, the Mississippi State product, was suspended for seven games and fined for his antics in Sunday’s game at Philadelphia (see previous post). The Phillies issued a statement supporting MLB’s action against their closer, and Papelbon, in a statement issued by his agent, apologized for his behavior and said he would not appeal.

11 Aug

it takes a thief

The stolen base has been a big weapon for streaking Kansas City, and the Royals’ master thief is Jarrod Dyson, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College star. The Royals, who have climbed to within a half game of Detroit in the American League Central, lead the league with 101 steals. Dyson, an outfielder who doesn’t even play everyday, leads the team with 26 bags. He got three of the team’s seven in Sunday’s 7-4 win over San Francisco that was KC’s seventh straight. “That’s what we do,” Dyson told the Kansas City Star. “We abuse everybody.” The 5-foot-9 McComb native does a lot of little things for the Royals. One day he’ll start in center, the next he might pinch run, the day after that he’ll get in late for defensive purposes. He has been swinging the bat well, hitting .412 over his last 10 games. In 192 at-bats over 85 games overall, Dyson is batting .286 with 16 RBIs and 22 runs. He has made 175 putouts (he had 10 on Sunday) with three assists and three errors in 76 games in the outfield. And on the bases, he has only been caught stealing four times in his 30 attempts. (By comparison, Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton has been nailed 18 times in 61 tries for Cincinnati.) Dyson has been in the big leagues for most of the last five years, batting .259 with 110 bags. KC got him as a 50th-round pick. At this point, that looks like another steal.

20 Jul

from the top

Jarrod Dyson, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College standout from McComb, got a rare start in the leadoff spot for Kansas City on Saturday. He went 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk and the only run the team scored in a 2-1 loss to Boston. Just looking at his stats — .294 average, 18 stolen bases in 68 games, few of them starts — it would seem that Dyson should lead off more often for the Royals, who are chasing an elusive playoff berth. At any rate, it is interesting to note that seven different Mississippi-connected players have hit leadoff for their MLB club just over this weekend. Interesting, too, is that they don’t all have the same skill set. Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati) and Itawamba CC product Desmond Jennings (Tampa Bay) have, like Dyson, sprinter’s speed. Brian Dozier, the ex-Southern Miss star, can run a little but what he does best is get on base and get home for Minnesota; he leads the American League in runs with 71. Meridian CC alumnus Corey Dickerson (Colorado) is a .332 hitter who has more pop (11 homers) than speed, similar to Ole Miss alum Seth Smith (San Diego), who is batting .278 with 11 bombs. Former UM star Chris Coghlan (Chicago Cubs), enjoying a resurgent season, has modest power and speed but is hitting .273 for a Cubs team that is searching for answers. P.S. Regardless what he does the rest of his career, Chasen Shreve should always remember what he did in his big-league debut for Atlanta on Saturday. The former Mississippi Braves closer — the 88th alum to make The Show — struck out Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard in a lefty-on-lefty matchup in a one-run game.

26 Jun

getting lucky

Jarrod Dyson is on the board. In the fifth inning on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, Dyson went yard for the Kansas City Royals. “I get lucky every 1,000 at-bats,” the McComb native and ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star told mlb.com. Actually, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Dyson has hit four homers in 715 career ABs. Point is, he doesn’t get many. The one he hit Wednesday off Dan Haren of the Los Angeles Dodgers was his first in just over a year. Dyson has been hot of late, batting .343 over his last 10 games; he’s at .303 for the year and has 12 stolen bases. But his team has gone cold. A 10-game win streak had propelled Ned Yost’s Royals into first place in the American League Central. But the former Jackson Mets catcher has seen his club drop six of seven since and fall 4 games back of Detroit. P.S. Ti’Quan Forbes, the state’s Mr. Baseball from Columbia High, is off to a hot start in his pro career. Forbes, a second-round pick by Texas, is 8-for-24 for the rookie-level Arizona League Rangers. He has a double, a triple, two RBIs, six runs and a steal in five games. Blake Anderson from West Lauderdale, the first Mississippian drafted (by Miami), is 0-for-8 in two games for the Gulf Coast League Marlins.

30 Apr

no doubt about it

We have replay confirmation: It left the yard. Actually, there wasn’t any doubt about Billy Hamilton’s first major league home run. “It wasn’t one of those wall-scrapers,” the former Taylorsville High star said of Tuesday night’s blast, which landed fairly deep in the right-field seats at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark. Without seeing it, one would have been justified in assuming that the wispy Hamilton’s first homer was an inside-the-parker. He is considered the fastest man in baseball. And for the record, two of his three hits on Tuesday were of the infield variety. He also stole his 10th base, drew a walk, scored twice and made a diving catch in center field as the scrambling Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2. Hamilton has lifted his average to .244 with a recent hot streak. Also of note: Hamilton hit 13 homers in his minor league career. … Meanhwile, Mississippi’s other homegrown speed demon in MLB, Jarrod Dyson, went 2-for-4, stole his fifth bag and scored a run to help Kansas City beat Toronto 10-7 and climb over .500 (13-12). Dyson, from McComb and Southwest Mississippi Community College, is batting .375 in limited playing time in center field for KC. … Unfortunately, the Reds and Royals don’t play this season. It would be fun to see Hamilton and Dyson on the same field. A stopwatch would be a required accessory.

16 Mar

box score browsing

It’s mid-March. MLB’s Opening Day approaches. Rosters are taking shape. A little box score scanning this morning reveals that no Mississippian in the majors is hotter than Jarrod Dyson. The ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star is hitting .364 with a home run (on Saturday) and six steals. Surely the speedy outfielder has nailed down a role with Kansas City, which is starving to make the playoffs. On the subject of speedy outfielders, Cincinnati has to be pleased with what it has seen from Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, expected to take over as leadoff batter and center fielder this season. Hamilton is hitting .276 with seven steals and nine runs … Others enjoying a good spring to date: Meridian CC product Corey Dickerson (.371, a homer, five RBIs for Colorado); Itawamba CC alumnus Desmond Jennings (.346, a homer, five RBIs, two steals for Tampa Bay); former Mississippi State star Tyler Moore (.306, a homer, six RBIs for Washington); Ole Miss product Seth Smith (.286 for San Diego); ex-Meridian CC standout Cliff Lee (1-1, 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 innings for Philadelphia); and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC alum Tony Sipp (0.00 ERA in seven innings for the Padres). … Also of note: Southern Miss product Brian Dozier hit his first homer on Friday and is batting .269 for Minnesota; former MSU star Mitch Moreland has six RBIs and a .250 average for Texas; Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz has 11 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings for Oakland; and Pascagoula native Joey Butler, a longshot to make the St. Louis club, is hitting .235 with two RBIs in 17 at-bats. Former Rebels Alex Presley (.160 for the Twins) and Chris Coghlan (.211 for the Chicago Cubs) are struggling, as is MSU product Paul Maholm (7.04 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers). P.S. Former Mississippi Braves shortstop Brandon Hicks is having a terrific spring as a non-roster player with San Francisco. Hicks is batting .370 with a homer and six RBIs in 27 ABs. … Generally, it was a good weekend for the state’s Big 3 college teams in their conference openers. USM and State both took two of three, with the Bulldogs halting Georgia’s 11-game win streak with a Saturday sweep, and Ole Miss handed top-ranked South Carolina its first loss on Friday, though the Rebels lost the series.