Tag Archives: Mets

26 Aug

full speed ahead

Speed is the highlight tool in Jake Mangum’s bag. It was on full display Wednesday. The former Mississippi State star, playing center field for Double-A Binghamton, made three diving catches, one charging in, one going to his left and one to his right. (Check out the video on milb.com.) He also stole a base, his 12th of the season in 70 games for the New York Mets’ Double-A club, and just to show some versatility, belted his seventh home run in a 7-5 win at New Hampshire. Mangum is hitting .296 (.341 on-base percentage) with 21 doubles, four triples, 39 RBIs and 55 runs. The Flowood native was rated one of the fastest players in 2019 draft when the Mets took him – as an MSU senior – in the fourth round. Oddly enough, he has slipped off their Top 30 prospect chart. But if he keeps producing, that hardly matters. P.S. Loyd Star High alum James Beard was generally considered the fastest player in the 2019 draft, and he was picked in the fourth round, a few spots ahead of Mangum, by the Chicago White Sox. Now playing at Low-A Kannapolis, the 20-year-old Beard has nine steals and a .193 average in 63 games. … For the record, the top base-stealer among Mississippians in the minors in 2021 is Delvin Zinn, the ex-Itawamba Community College star now in the Cubs’ system. The fifth-year pro has 43 bags – 42 at High-A South Bend, one (in four attempts) in 17 games at Double-A Tennessee.

14 Aug

prospect watch

It has taken some time, but Joe Gray, Jr., the highly touted Hattiesburg High product, has started to shine in the Milwaukee system. MLB Pipeline recently identified a “surging prospect” for each big league team, and Gray was pegged among the Brewers’ farmhands. “Gray’s speed, outfield arm and power potential always made him a prospect, but it was an open question whether he would hit enough. He seems to have found a good blend of power and flexibility at the plate, leading to more impactful contact,” they wrote. Gray, a second-round pick in 2018 and Milwaukee’s No. 30 prospect, is now in High-A ball. The right-handed hitting outfielder went 4-for-5 for Wisconsin on Friday night and smacked his fifth home run. On the year, at two levels, he has 17 homers and 18 stolen bases. Look for him to reach Double-A Biloxi in 2022. … Ex-Mississippi State and Jackson Prep star Jake Mangum, the New York Mets’ No. 30 prospect, is batting .479 this month at Double-A Binghamton. For the season with the Rumble Ponies, Mangum is hitting .287 with five homers, four triples, 19 doubles and nine steals. … Southern Miss alum Matt Wallner, the No. 13 prospect in Minnesota’s organization, hit his 10th homer Friday and is batting .274 at High-A Cedar Rapids. P.S. Mississippians in the majors got a little homer happy on Friday. DeSoto Central product Austin Riley hit No. 24 for Atlanta; he ought to be getting consideration for MVP. (Two other former Mississippi Braves went deep in Atlanta’s comeback win at Washington: Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson each hit his 21st bomb of the season.) MSU alum Hunter Renfroe hit his 20th for Boston and also made a homer-robbing catch; he ought to be getting consideration for comeback player of the year. Ex-State standout Brent Rooker hit his fifth homer as part of a 4-for-5 night for Minnesota; he’s got his average up to .187.

04 Jun

on the bump

Throwing 44 pitches over three scoreless innings on Thursday, J.T. Ginn has taken the first official step of his pro career. The ex-Mississippi State standout from Brandon made his long-awaited debut for the Low-A St. Lucie Mets. He yielded two hits, two walks and an HBP while registering one strikeout against Fort Myers. It was Ginn’s first appearance in an actual game since February of 2020 with MSU. He had Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter. The New York Mets picked him in the second round of last summer’s draft; they figure to be very cautious this year with their No. 6-ranked prospect. At MSU, right-hander Ginn posted a 3.22 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 89 1/3 innings, most of those in 2019 when he was the SEC and national freshman of the year. He features power stuff: an upper 90s fastball, a nasty sinker and a hard slider. Elsewhere on minor league mounds: Former Southern Miss standout Kirk McCarty improved to 4-0 with a strong seven-inning outing for Triple-A Columbus in the Cleveland system. The 5-foot-8 lefty, who has a 4.04 ERA in six starts, allowed five hits and two runs with seven K’s to beat Indianapolis. He is in his fourth pro season. … Ole Miss product Chris Ellis saw his ERA jump to 9.26 in four starts for Triple-A Durham in Tampa Bay’s chain. The well-traveled Ellis, 28, was touched for two hits, two walks and two runs in just one inning; he escaped with a no-decision. Durham’s game against Norfolk was called in the eighth inning after Bulls pitcher Tyler Zombro was hit in the head by a line drive. He was hospitalized and in stable condition at last report.

03 Jun

rising to occasion

If there was doubt that Jake Mangum could handle the jump to Double-A, the ex-Mississippi State star has dismissed it. Mangum was hitting .206 at High-A Brooklyn when the New York Mets, forced by injuries to make some moves with their outfielders, promoted Mangum to Binghamton. In nine games, the 25-year-old switch-hitter is batting .368. He enjoyed his best night with the Rumble Ponies on Wednesday, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, three runs and two RBIs. He led off the 10th inning with a run-scoring three-bagger and scored what proved to be the deciding run in an 8-7 game on a sac fly. A fourth-round pick as a senior at State in 2019, Mangum didn’t hit much for power before arriving in Binghamton, where he has six extra-base knocks and is slugging .605. He has struck out just six times in 38 at-bats. True, nine games is a small sample size. And he’ll run into some outstanding pitchers in the Double-A East. But Mangum knows a little about hitting; he is the SEC’s all-time hits leader, after all. … Down in the Double-A South on Wednesday, Mississippi Braves catcher – and No. 3 Atlanta prospect – Shea Langeliers belted three homers at Pensacola and now leads the league with seven. After a sluggish start in his first Double-A campaign, the 23-year-old former Baylor star is hitting .284 with 13 RBIs. That’s nice, he says, but … . “The biggest role I have on this team is as a catcher,” he told milb.com. “Catching comes first, hitting comes second.” His arm – rated a 70 on the scouts’ 20-80 scale — is already big league-caliber. The bat is coming along.

14 May

they were everywhere

The leadoff batter, a product of East Central Community College, got it started with a home run. The veteran starter out of Ole Miss battled for five innings to keep the lead. The speedy center fielder from Taylorsville made two run-saving catches. And the rookie reliever from Ocean Springs worked a scoreless seventh inning. The fingerprints of Mississippians were all over the Chicago White Sox’s 4-2 win against Minnesota on Thursday night. The White Sox have won six straight and have baseball’s best record at 22-13. Tim Anderson, Lance Lynn, Billy Hamilton and Garrett Crochet are playing big roles. Anderson’s homer was his fifth of the year, and he is batting .315 with 15 RBIs. Lynn, on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff, threw 111 pitches, allowed just two hits and no earned runs in moving to 4-1 (1.30 ERA) on the season. “He just refuses to lose, and it’s inspiring to watch him,” manager Tony La Russa said in an mlb.com article. “He has the heart and guts of a champion.” Hamilton, a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder, made a leaping catch at the wall with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth and ran a ball down in the left-center gap with two on and one down in the eighth. Crochet, a big lefty with electric stuff, walked a couple and threw a wild pitch but yielded nothing else in notching his fourth hold and cutting his ERA to 0.84 in 10 appearances. “Everybody is believing in themselves and we are having fun while doing it,” the effervescent Anderson told the Chicago Tribune. The fun could last a long time on the South Side. P.S. San Diego has placed ex-Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz (1.98 ERA in 14 appearances) on the 10-day injured list with a lat strain. … Former Mississippi State and Jackson Prep star Jake Mangum hit his first career homer Thursday for High-A Brooklyn in the New York Mets’ system. The SEC career hits leader is off to a slow start (2-for-16) in his second pro campaign. Adding some power to his profile could be key to movement for Mangum, whose slugging percentage over 198 minor league at-bats is .298.

11 Apr

minor matters

Minor league camps are officially open in Florida and Arizona, and when the season finally cranks up in May, there are quite a few Mississippi-connected players who’ll be making delayed pro debuts, none more anticipated than right-hander J.T. Ginn’s. Ginn, the Mississippi State product from Brandon, is rated the No. 6 prospect in the New York Mets’ system though he has pitched in only one actual game since 2019. At State that year, the former two-way prep star posted a 3.13 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 19 walks in 86 1/3 innings and earned SEC freshman of the year honors. He made just one appearance for the Bulldogs in 2020 before sustaining an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery. Nevertheless, the Mets, impressed with Ginn’s three-pitch repertoire, took him in the second round as a draft-eligible sophomore and signed him for $2.9 million. He was invited to big league camp this spring (and worked out with Noah Syndergaard) but did not appear in any Grapefruit League games. Reports indicate it could be midsummer before Ginn officially debuts. … Other highly rated 2020 draftees who didn’t play last season (because there was no minor league ball) include State alum Justin Foscue (Texas’ No. 7 prospect), State product Jordan Westburg (Baltimore’s No. 7), ex-Ole Miss star Anthony Servideo (Orioles’ No. 27), former DeSoto Central standout Blaze Jordan (Boston’s No. 11), Biloxi High alum Colt Keith (Detroit’s No. 20) and UM product Tyler Keenan (Seattle’s fourth-round pick). Foscue and Westburg were in big league camp this spring and played in some exhibition games. P.S. Wyatt Toregas has been announced as the eighth manager of the Mississippi Braves. Toregas, who had a brief major league career as a catcher, had managed in Pittsburgh’s system for five years. He follows Chris Maloney, the Jackson native and ex-State standout who managed the M-Braves in 2018-19. The other skippers: Brian Snitker, Jeff Blauser, Phillip Wellman, Rocket Wheeler, Aaron Holbert and Luis Salazar. … Wellman will manage again in San Antonio, San Diego’s affiliate in the Double-A Central South Division. Former Jackson Mets star Al Pedrique will run the Jacksonville club, Miami’s affiliate in the Triple-A East Southeast Division.

27 Oct

good ol’ days

On this date in 1986, the New York Mets – led by a host of former Jackson Mets – won Game 7 of the World Series, claiming the franchise’s second and last championship to date. The Mets, who had stayed alive with their unforgettable comeback in Game 6, won the clincher over Boston 8-5 at Shea Stadium. The New York roster was replete with former JaxMets: Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Jesse Orosco, Kevin Mitchell, Roger McDowell, Lee Mazzilli, Wally Backman and more. Davey Johnson, the manager, managed the JaxMets to a Texas League crown in 1981, and coach Greg Pavlick played for the OJMs in the first game at Smith-Wills Stadium in 1975. The big Mets came to Smith-Wills for an exhibition against their Double-A club prior to the ’86 season. In Game 7 of the Series, the Mets fell behind 3-0 early but roared back to break the Red Sox’s hearts again. McDowell got the win, Orosco the final out and Strawberry hit a monstrous eighth-inning home run that made it a 7-5 game.

05 Sep

running on empty?

Wouldn’t it be strange if Billy Hamilton’s last act as a New York Met was a baserunning gaffe? The Taylorsville High product, who has made his living with his legs, was betrayed by his aggressiveness on Thursday, getting thrown out trying to steal third base with no outs in the bottom of the ninth and his team down a run. Hamilton was designated for assignment Friday, a move the Mets said was needed to add another pitcher to the active roster. But manager Luis Rojas also called Hamilton’s mistake on Thursday “not good baseball.” Hamilton, used mainly as a pinch runner and defensive replacement, was 1-for-22 at the plate this season and had three steals in four tries. He has 302 career steals, having been successful more than 80 percent of the time. But he has never gotten on base at a good rate. He has bounced from Kansas City to Atlanta to San Francisco to the Mets the last two seasons. Can he bounce back to the big leagues?

17 Aug

big league chew

Pitching on 20 days “rest,” Mississippi State product Dakota Hudson went four innings for St. Louis on Sunday and allowed just two hits and a lone run. Hudson had last pitched on July 26; St. Louis’ season was interrupted three days later by COVID-19 issues. Hudson (0-2, 5.40 ERA) was the tough-luck loser as the Cardinals fell to the Chicago White Sox 7-2 in their third game back from the hiatus. Hudson’s replacement, rookie Roel Ramirez, gave up the record-tying four straight home runs in the fifth inning. … If anyone was wondering, no Mississippi-connected hitters have been involved in any of the 10 occurrences of the back-to-back-to-back-to-back blasts. But … on June 8, 1961, when the Milwaukee Braves became the first team to do it, Jackson native Marshall Bridges, pitching for Cincinnati, yielded the last two homers to Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas. (Bridges actually had a nice MLB career: 23 wins, 25 saves, a 3.75 ERA and a World Series ring over seven seasons.) … Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz already has a career-best four saves for San Diego and may get even more opportunities now that Kirby Yates, the erstwhile closer, has gone on the injured list with an ailing elbow. Pomeranz has not allowed a run in nine appearances (7 2/3 innings) entering Monday’s play. … Former Petal High standout Anthony Alford hit his second career homer on Sunday in a rare start for Toronto. He is 2-for-10 this season. Alford’s first career homer was a memorable walk-off bomb last year. … Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson went on the bereavement list on Saturday, which means he’ll miss a minimum of three games for Miami. He is batting .208 in his first year with the Marlins. … Wondering what’s next for Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss star who was designated for assignment by the New York Mets on Sunday. The veteran second baseman, who got only 15 at-bats with the Mets after joining the club on July 30, could be traded or claimed on waivers by another club, but it seems more likely he’ll become a free agent — again. Over a two-year span, the one-time All-Star has been with five different teams. He batted .238 with 20 homers for Washington last season.

02 Aug

transaction watch

Billy Hamilton, the speedster from Taylorsville, is on the move again. The New York Mets have traded for the veteran center fielder, who had been in San Francisco’s alternate camp. Hamilton is valued for his defense and speed on the bases, a skill that has gained importance with the new extra-inning rule in MLB this season. “The guy is incredible, and he’s got tons of energy,” Mets pitcher Jared Hughes, who played with Hamilton in Cincinnati, told the New York Post. “He’s a good influence in the clubhouse. Everybody loves him.” Hamilton, a .242 career hitter with 299 steals, came up with the Reds in 2013 and spent last season with Kansas City and Atlanta. He joins fellow Mississippi native Brian Dozier (Tupelo/Fulton) on the Mets’ roster. … Former George County High standout Justin Steele, a left-hander, has been added to the Chicago Cubs’ 30-man roster. Steele, a fifth-round pick in 2014, has not pitched above Double-A. He has a 3.62 career ERA.