Tag Archives: minor league baseball

26 Jun

early returns

Year 2 is going better for Blake Anderson, the first Mississippian picked (36th overall) in the 2014 MLB draft. The catcher from West Lauderdale High is batting .364 (8-for-22) with three RBIs in five games for Miami’s Batavia club in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. Anderson hit just .108 in 26 games in the rookie Gulf Coast League last year. Meanwhile, Austin Riley, the first Mississippian picked this year (41st overall by Atlanta) out of DeSoto Central, is 0-for-8 in three games for the Gulf Coast League Braves. Other starts of note: LaDarious Clark, who played at Southeast Lauderdale and East Mississippi Community College, went 4-for-5 (with two triples) on Thursday, boosting his average to .360 in seven games at Spokane in the short-season Class A Northwest League. Clark was picked in the 12th round this year by Texas. Ti’Quan Forbes, the 2014 Mr. Baseball from Columbia and a second-rounder last summer, is also playing on that club, hitting .227 to date. … Ole Miss alum Scott Weathersby, picked in Round 10 this year by Houston, yielded two runs in two innings in his debut at Tri-City in the short-season New York-Penn League. … Ex-Rebels star Sikes Orvis (17th round, Chicago White Sox) is 2-for-20 at Great Falls in the rookie Pioneer League. … Northwest Mississippi CC product Dalton Dulin (17th round, Washington) is 5-for-11 for Auburn in the NYPL. P.S. Former Ole Miss ace Lance Lynn, back on the bump Thursday for St. Louis after 18 days on the disabled list, allowed two hits in six shutout innings to beat Miami. He is 5-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.84. ”That was a good one to come back to,” he told The Associated Press after the Cardinals’ 5-1 win.

20 Jun

starry, starry nights

The stars are coming out in the minor leagues. JaCoby Jones, the former Mr. Baseball from Richton, is slated to play in the Florida State League All-Star Game today in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Jones, a shortstop at high Class A Bradenton in the Pittsburgh system, is batting .259 (despite a recent slump) with eight homers and 40 RBIs. Selected in the third round of the 2013 draft out of LSU, Jones is rated by Baseball America as the Pirates’ 13th best prospect. He was a South Atlantic League postseason All-Star in 2014 after batting .288 with 23 homers for West Virginia. … Ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Holder, a New York Yankees farmhand pitching for Tampa, is also in the FSL game. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson is on the North Division roster for the Double-A Southern League All-Star Game on Tuesday in Montgomery, Ala. Anderson, a top-rated prospect for the Chicago White Sox, is hitting .298 with 27 RBIs and 22 steals for Birmingham. A host of Biloxi players and several Mississippi Braves are on the South roster. … Left-hander Cody Reed, ex-Northwest Mississippi Community College standout from Horn Lake, is on the Carolina League All-Star team for the game against the California League All-Stars, also on the docket for Tuesday. Reed is 5-5 with a 2.14 ERA for Class A Wilmington in the Kansas City system. … Anthony Alford, another former Mr. Baseball from Petal, is in the Class A Midwest League All-Star Game, also set for Tuesday. Alford plays for Lansing in the Toronto system and is hitting .284 with 11 bags in his first full pro campaign. … Delta State product Carlos Leal, a catcher with Wisconsin (Milwaukee system), and ex-Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull, a pitcher for West Michigan (Detroit), are also ticketed for the MWL classic. P.S. Brian Dozier isn’t in the top five at second base in the fan voting for next month’s MLB All-Star Game. What a shame. The former Southern Miss standout is batting .264 (.346 on-base) with 13 homers, 32 RBIs, 22 doubles, three triples and 54 runs for Minnesota. As a USA Today columnist writes, Dozier “is becoming a star before our eyes.” Surely he’ll get All-Star consideration from fellow players and American League manager Ned Yost.

06 May

something new — sorta

The first of presumably many Mississippi Braves-Biloxi Shuckers games will go down tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Perhaps a rivalry will develop, who knows? The teams are in the same division – the South – in the Southern League, and the Shuckers (a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) are tied for first with a 16-9 record despite playing only road games. (This five-game series was supposed to be played on the Coast, but MGM Park isn’t finished yet.) The M-Braves are 11-12 and in the midst of a 15-game homestand. Intra-state battles among professional clubs were once a common thing in Mississippi. The last time Biloxi had a minor league team was in 1908, when the Gulfport-Biloxi Sand Crabs played in the Cotton States League, which included the Jackson Senators, as well as teams in Vicksburg, Columbus and Meridian. The Cotton States League, a low-level minor league which operated off and on from 1902-55, also had teams at various times in Cleveland, Clarksdale, Greenville, Greenwood, Hattiesburg, Natchez, Yazoo City, Laurel and Brookhaven. In 1921, the Mississippi State League consisted of four Magnolia State cities: Jackson, Clarksdale, Greenwood and Meridian. Jackson, Meridian and Vicksburg also had teams at times in the Southeastern League, which operated in the early to mid-1900s. As recently as 2000, the independent Texas-Louisiana League included the Jackson DiamondKats and the Greenville Bluesmen. In 1997, the indy Big South League featured teams in Meridian, Greenville and Tupelo. Still, Game 1 of the Mississippi-Biloxi series is something special. The pitching matchup tonight could be a good one: Jason Hursh (0-1, 8.50 ERA), an Atlanta prospect, against Brooks Hall (3-0, 0.96). The Shuckers’ Orlando Arcia, rated the Brewers’ No. 1 prospect by mlb.com, is second in the SL in hitting at .381, and Nick Ramirez is tied for the league lead with six home runs. P.S. Former M-Braves star Jose Peraza, Atlanta’s top prospect, is on a roll at Triple-A Gwinnett. The second baseman is batting .394 over his last 10 games and is at .320 for the year, with two triples, nine steals and 12 runs in 25 games.

04 Apr

they’re everywhere

Former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman was back in the captain’s chair on Thursday night and surely enjoyed the view. In his first game as manager of the Arkansas Travelers — the Los Angeles Angels’ Double-A team — Wellman picked up a 20-7 win over Texas League rival Midland. Wellman, who managed the M-Braves from 2007-10 and won a Southern League pennant in 2008, is among a large group of Mississippi-connected managers in the minor leagues this season. The others: Brian Snitker (Braves-AAA), Jonathan Schuerholz (Braves-A), Rocket Wheeler (Braves-rookie), Scooter Tucker (Indians-A), Rick Sweet (Brewers-AAA), Wally Backman (Mets-AAA), Pedro Lopez (Mets-AA), Al Pedrique (Yankees-A), Travis Chapman (Yankees-rookie), Joe Mikulik (Rangers-A) and Gary Allenson (Blue Jays-AAA). Among the coaches in the minors in 2014 are Mississippi natives Stu Cliburn, Larry Herndon and Marcus Thames, former Ole Miss standout Jeff Fassero and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product Greg Hibbard. There are also some ex-Jackson Mets players and coaches (Blaine Beatty, Jody Davis, Neil Allen, Dwight Bernard, Glenn Abbott); ex-Jackson Generals (Dave Hajek, Chris Holt, Scott Elarton); and a former Jackson Senator (Jeff Ware).