Tag Archives: Meridian Community College

26 Oct

jogging the memory

Kept seeing and hearing Cliff Lee’s name pop up after Corey Kluber’s brilliant performance for Cleveland in Game 1 of the World Series. Former Meridian Community College star Lee, who last pitched in the big leagues in 2014, never won a World Series ring but did post some impressive postseason numbers that are worth recounting. The stoic left-hander was 7-0 in the postseason at one point and finished 7-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 11 starts; he struck out 89 and walked 10 in 82 innings. He was never better than in Game 1 of the 2009 Series, when he was pitching for Philadelphia against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Lee went nine, allowed six hits and a lone unearned run, struck out 10 and walked none. Excellent. He beat the Yankees again in Game 5 of that Series, but those were the only games the Phillies won. Lee won 143 games and a Cy Young Award (with Cleveland in 2008) over his 13 big league campaigns. He averaged 7.6 K’s and just 1.9 walks per nine innings for his career. Baseball America once wrote of Lee that he “will be remembered as a pitcher who had arguably the best control and command of any lefthander of this generation.”

28 Sep

‘boy can play’

This audition, if that’s what it is, is going rather nicely for Hunter Renfroe. The Crystal Springs native and Mississippi State alum belted two homers and drove in a San Diego rookie record seven runs on Tuesday in a 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Boy can play,” winning pitcher Paul Clemens, the former Mississippi Braves star, told mlb.com. “Boy can play the game.” Renfroe, who hit 30 bombs in Triple-A this year, is 6-for-17 with three homers and eight RBIs since his call-up. His second homer on Tuesday was a grand slam and came against fellow Mississippian Louis Coleman. Renfroe is wearing No. 71; he figures to have a lower number next season, when he figures to start in right field for the Padres. Elsewhere in MLB: McComb’s Jarrod Dyson, batting leadoff for Kansas City, sparked the Royals’ 4-3, 11-inning win over Minnesota, scoring a run and driving in a run. The Royals remain alive, barely, in the American League wild card race. … Former Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan, bidding for a spot on the Chicago Cubs’ postseason roster, went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in a 6-4 win that eliminated Pittsburgh from postseason contention. Ex-State standout Adam Frazier, having a fine rookie year (.299) for the Pirates, drew a walk and scored a run. … Texas, 93-65 and vying for best record in the AL, beat Milwaukee 6-4, with State product Mitch Moreland contributing a 1-for-4 effort and flawless defense at first base. … UM alum Seth Smith drove in a run for Seattle, but the Mariners squandered a lead and lost to Houston 8-4 in a key game between AL wild card contenders. … In a game that meant essentially nothing, East Central CC alum Tim Anderson went 3-for-5 with his eighth homer to power the Chicago White Sox to a 13-6 victory against Tampa Bay, which got two hits from Meridian CC’s Corey Dickerson. … Boston announced that ex-Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz (sore forearm) won’t start again this season and will work out of the bullpen in the postseason — if he makes the roster. Left-hander Pomeranz, who has worked a career-high in innings between San Diego and Boston, is 3-5 with a 4.68 ERA for the Red Sox.

25 Sep

highs and lows

It was a day of firsts for Hunter Renfroe. The former Mississippi State standout, batting cleanup for San Diego for the first time on Saturday, hit his first MLB home run and his first double. Renfroe’s memorable homer, in his fourth game, came against San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner, no less, a solo shot off a 93-mph fastball on a 1-2 pitch. Renfroe, playing right field, also committed his first error, though it was inconsequential in the Padres’ loss. … Billy Hamilton has been knocked from his perch atop the MLB stolen base leaders. While the Taylorsville High product has been idled by injury, Milwaukee’s Jonathan Villar has caught and passed him. Villar got his 59th bag on Saturday. Hamilton, out for the season (oblique injury) in Cincinnati, will finish with 58, a career-high. He got 57 last year and 56 in 2014. … Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson continues to rake for Tampa Bay, the one American League East team with no postseason shot. Dickerson, in his first year with the Rays, is batting .386 over his last 15 games with five homers, 10 RBIs and seven runs. With 23 homers on the season, he is one shy of his career-best, set two years ago in Colorado. His 36 doubles are already a best.

22 Sep

numbers of interest

Hunter Renfroe’s debut with San Diego on Wednesday night – the former Mississippi State star drew an intentional walk in his only at-bat – runs the number of Mississippians (natives or college alums) who have debuted in MLB in 2016 to nine. The others: Chad Girodo, Chris Stratton, Tim Anderson, Cody Reed, Adam Frazier, Mike Mayers, JaCoby Jones and Jonathan Holder. … The number of Mississippians to play in the big leagues this year hit 27 with Renfroe’s arrival. Three other 40-man roster members have been on the disabled list most of the season. … The Magnolia State group has hit a collective 147 home runs, including ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson’s 22nd on Wednesday. Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier leads the way with 41, and former State standout Mitch Moreland also has 22. The 147 includes the one hit by pitcher Drew Pomeranz, the Ole Miss product, who went deep while with San Diego; he is now in Boston. … Kudos: Former Mississippi Braves star Evan Gattis hit his 100th career homer on Wednesday. He has hit 57 of those with Houston the last two years; the first 43 came in an Atlanta uniform.

15 Sep

better late …

The Corey Dickerson the Tampa Bay Rays thought they were getting in an off-season trade has emerged the last few weeks. The former Meridian Community College star from McComb has 15 hits in his last 27 at-bats and is batting .315 with five home runs and 19 RBIs over his last 30 games. Dickerson went 3-for-4 with his 20th homer of the year on Wednesday as the Rays – long ago reduced to the role of spoiler in the American League East – beat Toronto 8-1. Dickerson, a lefty-hitting outfielder acquired from Colorado in the Jake McGee trade, batted .299 in three seasons with the Rockies, playing half his games at hitter-friendly Coors Field. His recent hot streak has lifted his 2016 average to .247. On June 20, he was at .198. Tampa Bay, which has had myriad problems, was expected to be much better than its 62-83 record — and maybe there is hope for 2017. Dickerson’s homer on Wednesday was the 200th for the team, a single-season club record. “It’s something we can build off of,” Dickerson told mlb.com. P.S. Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier hit his 41st homer on Wednesday (for a Minnesota team that has 54 wins), moving a bit closer to the long-standing MLB record for homers by a player who was primarily a second baseman. Davey Johnson – the old Jackson Mets manager – hit 43 bombs in 1973 for Atlanta. With 81 extra-base hits, Dozier needs three more to match Tony Oliva’s Twins record, set in 1964. … A rough season in Cincinnati has been made even more frustrating of late for Mississippians Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart and Cody Reed, all forced to sit because of injuries. Taylorsville’s Hamilton has an oblique, Ole Miss product Cozart a knee and ex-Northwest Mississippi CC star Reed a back problem.

23 Aug

catch as catch can

Who’s next? It might be Stuart Turner, the former Ole Miss star who is playing his second season at the Double-A level (Chattanooga) in the Minnesota system. Southwest Mississippi Community College product Kade Scivicque, now in high-A ball (Carolina) in the Atlanta organization, appears to be rising fast. Or it could be one of the five Mississippi-connected catchers who entered pro ball this summer. This much we know: There are no Mississippians (native or college alum) playing catcher in the big leagues in 2016. Ex-Mississippi State standout Ed Easley, who caught three games for St. Louis, was the only one to appear last season. He was released out of Triple-A in June. Mississippi has produced a few big league catchers of note – Jake Gibbs, Barry Lyons, Jerry Moses – but it is not a position of tradition for the state. Turner, who won the Johnny Bench Award at UM, was a third-round pick by the Twins in 2013 but isn’t currently listed among their Top 30 prospects by mlb.com. He is batting .237 with five homers at Chattanooga. It was interesting, to say the least, when MLB teams picked five catchers out of Mississippi in this year’s draft and inked another as a free agent. (Dustin Skelton of Magnolia Heights, a 36th round pick by Toronto, didn’t sign and is now at State.) Of those in the pro ranks, State alum Gavin Collins (13th round, Cleveland) and Southern Miss’ Chuckie Robinson (21st round, Houston) have had the most success, both in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. For the record, Collins has played mostly third base. UM’s Henri Lartigue, picked in the seventh round by Philadelphia, also is in the NYPL, and State’s Jack Kruger (20th round, L.A. Angels) is in the rookie Pioneer League. Jackson State’s Carlos Diaz, recently signed by the Chicago Cubs, is toiling in the Arizona League, the beginner’s level. One of the big surprises in recent drafts came in 2014, when West Lauderdale High catcher Blake Anderson was selected 36th overall by Miami. But Anderson has been injured most of this year and hasn’t played above short-season A-ball. There are a handful of other catchers in the pipeline. Ole Miss alum Will Allen also was drafted in 2014 – 13th round by Detroit – and is having a solid season (.263, four homers, 68 RBIs) at low Class A West Michigan. Delta State’s Carlos Leal was picked in 2014 as a pitcher and converted to catcher by Milwaukee. But after hitting .309 in low-A ball in 2015, he has missed all of this season with an injury. Meridian CC product Wade Wass is in Double-A, though he is batting just .191 in 36 games for the Los Angeles Angels’ Arkansas club. Keep an eye on Scivicque, a 2015 draftee (from LSU) recently acquired by Atlanta from Detroit. He was hitting .282 with six homers at the high-A level for the Tigers. Atlanta’s system is thin on catchers, so he might move quickly. Here in Mississippi, the watch is on.

15 Aug

dispatches

First, the good stuff. Brian Dozier hit career homer No. 100 on Saturday, then started on his second hundred Sunday. The former Southern Miss star hit his 26th of the year for Minnesota in a loss against Kansas City. Mississippi State product Adam Frazier went 4-for-5 with a couple of runs for Pittsburgh in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers; the rookie is batting .348. Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High standout, went 3-for-4 in Cincinnati’s loss to Milwaukee, lifting his average to .264 and his on-base percentage to .318. Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson snapped an 0-for-17 funk with his 16th homer of the year for Tampa Bay in a win against the New York Yankees; it was his first bomb since July 29. And ex-East Central CC star Tim Anderson went deep for the sixth time in the Chicago White Sox’s loss to Miami. Now, the bad stuff. Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi CC alum from Horn Lake, was KO’d in the second inning of the Reds’ loss. He allowed five hits — including a 12th homer in his 10 starts — walked three, hit a batter and left trailing 6-0. He is 0-7 with a 7.36 ERA. He may well be headed back to the minors to regain some confidence in his stuff.

02 Aug

hard knocks

It has been a disappointing season for reigning World Series champion Kansas City, and Desmond Jennings added a little to it on Monday night. Former Itawamba Community College standout Jennings broke up Danny Duffy’s no-hit bid with a leadoff double (on a 1-2 pitch) in the eighth inning. It was the only hit Tampa Bay got against the Royals, who won 3-0 behind Duffy’s 16-strikeout effort. The Royals’ last no-hitter was thrown by Bret Saberhagen in 1991. KC is 50-55, fourth in the American League Central. For the record, it has been a disappointing season for Jennings and the Rays, as well. Jennings, whose 2015 season was wrecked by injuries, was playing his first game since June 30 because of a hamstring issue. A toolsy talent, he is batting .204 with seven homers, 19 RBIs and two steals. Tampa Bay, expected by many to contend for a playoff berth, is an awful 42-62. Meridian CC product Corey Dickerson, acquired from Colorado in the off-season to add some thump to the lineup, has hit 15 homers but is batting just .235. Rotowire.com projected Dickerson as a .286 hitter this season. He hit .304 in 65 games for the Rockies in 2015 and .312 in a full season in 2014. P.S. Orlando Arcia, who led Biloxi to a Southern League division title in 2015, is expected to make his MLB debut tonight as the starting shortstop for Milwaukee. Arcia, rated the No. 13 overall prospect by mlb.com, is batting .268 with eight homers, 53 RBIs and 15 steals for Class AAA Colorado Springs. He hit .307 with eight homers, 69 RBIs and 25 steals for the Double-A Shuckers last season, and he is a top-shelf defensive player.

01 Aug

meanwhile, down on farm

Cleveland’s trade for New York Yankees relief ace Andrew Miller had a trickle-down effect in the Indians’ organization. Joey Butler, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star from Pascagoula, was removed from the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Miller and designated for assignment on Sunday. Butler, 30, an outfielder, has been playing at Triple-A Columbus all season, hitting .238 with eight homers and 40 RBIs. The Indians claimed Butler on waivers in the off-season from Tampa Bay, where he played well in 2015 (.276, eight bombs in 88 games) in his first real opportunity in the big leagues. The Indians reportedly liked what they saw from Butler in spring training, so he might stay in the organization. He is a .288 hitter with 90 homers over his minor league career, which dates to 2008, when he was drafted by Texas out of UNO. P.S. The all-Mississippi home run race heated up on Sunday. Surging Mitch Moreland, the former Mississippi State standout, clubbed his 18th for Texas, but Southern Miss product Brian Dozier belted a pair for Minnesota to end the day with 19. (Dozier, not a noted slugger at USM, has 94 homers in four-plus MLB seasons.) Ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart (Cincinnati) has 15 homers this year, as does Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson (Tampa Bay). … Continuing on a home run theme, former Mississippi Braves star Jose Peraza hit his first big league homer for the Reds and Jeff Francoeur crushed his 160th for Atlanta. It was Francoeur’s first homer at Turner Field as a Brave since 2009.

20 Jul

odds and ends

Interesting matchup in Cincinnati on Tuesday night: Cody Reed, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College star, vs. Tyrell Jenkins, the Mississippi Braves ace of 2015, both rookies seeking their first major league win. Both pitched relatively well, though neither was involved in the decision as Atlanta won in 11 innings. Jenkins went six innings and allowed two runs for the Braves. Reed also went six and allowed two unearned runs. The lanky left-hander with the trademark specs reduced his ERA to 6.75. … Former Ole Miss star and 2016 All-Star Drew Pomeranz is slated to make his Boston debut tonight against San Francisco at Fenway Park. Pomeranz won eight games for lowly San Diego before he was traded. … Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson went 3-for-5 on Tuesday in his return to Coors Field, where he was a career .354 hitter while with Colorado. He is batting .230 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs for Tampa Bay. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Brian Dozier hit his 16th home run for Minnesota; he leads Mississippians in the majors in homers. … Baltimore has brought up Starkville native Julio Borbon, a career .272 hitter who last appeared in the big leagues in 2013. The former Tennessee star was playing at Double-A Bowie. … Former State star Kendall Graveman has won five straight decisions for Oakland to even his record at 6-6. … MSU product Hunter Renfroe homered on Sunday and Monday for Triple-A El Paso (San Diego) and now has 23 bombs on the season. … USM alum Mason Robbins is bobbin’ along at .305 for Class A Winston-Salem (Chicago White Sox), while brother Walker Robbins, also a Leakesville native, has lifted his average to .125 with a three-game hit streak in the rookie Gulf Coast League (St. Louis). … Former State All-America Dakota Hudson, the 34th overall draft pick by St. Louis last month, made his long-awaited debut on Monday and struck out three in one inning of work for the GCL Cardinals. … USM product Chuckie Robinson, a 21st-round pick by Houston, is hitting .388 with a homer and six RBIs at short-season Class A Tri-City.