Tag Archives: Mississippi Braves

29 Jul

of local interest

An interesting subplot when Atlanta and Milwaukee get together is the performance of the players who came through Mississippi on the respective Double-A clubs. Both the Braves and Brewers have built winning teams with a heavy reliance on homegrown talent, though Atlanta’s lineup for tonight’s game at Milwaukee is missing several former Mississippi Braves stars. Ronald Acuna, Michael Harris and Ozzie Albies are out with injuries, leaving only Austin Riley and recent call-up Nacho Alvarez as M-Braves alums in the lineup. Third baseman Riley has started to rake after a sluggish start to 2024; he is batting .254 with 14 homers for a team that leads the National League wild card race despite a ridiculous rash of injuries. Alvarez, playing second base in Albies’ absence, has scuffled with an .087 average. The Brewers, first in the NL Central, will trot out four recent Biloxi Shuckers stars: Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick. Turang, the second baseman and leadoff batter, is among the league’s top base stealers with 31, and left fielder Chourio, only 20, a rookie of the year candidate, is batting .259 with 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 12 bags. Interestingly enough, the Braves have a former Shuckers standout at shortstop — Orlando Arcia — and the Brewers start an M-Braves product — William Contreras, a 2024 All-Star — at catcher. Milwaukee got a lift on Sunday when closer Devin Williams, a Shuckers alum, came off the injured list and threw a scoreless inning. He’ll likely get in tonight if the Brewers have a late lead. Two former M-Braves will be in Atlanta’s bullpen: right-handers A.J. Minter and Darius Vines, just recalled today from Triple-A. … The three-game series that begins tonight at American Family Field marks the first meeting of the Braves and Brewers this season. P.S. Cooper Pratt, the 2023 Gatorade player of the year at Magnolia Heights, was promoted by Milwaukee from Low-Class A Carolina to High-A Wisconsin. Pratt, a shortstop, hit .295 (.394 OBP) for Carolina with three homers, 36 RBIs and 25 steals.

29 Jul

worth noting

Seven of the nine players picked out of the Magnolia State in the first two days of the MLB draft reportedly have signed. The exceptions are Jackson Prep product Konnor Griffin (ninth overall by Pittsburgh) and Mississippi State alum Dakota Jordan (fourth round, 116th overall, San Francisco). The slot value of those picks, per mlb.com’s Draft Tracker, are $6.22 million for the ninth pick and $624,800 for No. 116. The signing deadline is Thursday. Griffin has a college commitment to LSU in hand, and Jordan has two years of college eligibility remaining. Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery, the 12th overall pick out of Texas A&M by Boston, also has not signed. All told, 15 of the 21 players picked from Mississippi schools have signed; Hunter Elliott (20th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) reportedly is returning to Ole Miss. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Tyler Stuart, formerly the New York Mets’ No. 17 prospect, was traded to Washington for big league outfielder Jesse Winker. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander, was 3-7 with a 3.96 ERA in Double-A for the Mets; he has a 3.09 career ERA in pro ball. … Justin Dean stole four bases on Sunday, setting a Mississippi Braves single-season record with 44 bags. Dean, who has spent parts of the last four years with the Double-A M-Braves, has 195 career steals, 114 with the M-Braves. … Former Magee High star Brennon McNair delivered a walk-off hit for Low-A Columbia on Sunday. The Kansas City Royals farmhand, 21, is 5-for-15 in his last four games, lifting his average to .209 with six homers and 24 RBIs. … Right-hander Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, recently was added to Philadelphia’s active roster from the injured list. Rucker, who has a career 4.96 ERA, grew up in Washington state and was drafted out of BYU by the Chicago Cubs. … Fun fact: Greenville native George Scott hit 271 home runs in the big leagues but only one inside-the-park job. It happened on this date in 1967, for Boston, at Fenway Park, against Minnesota’s Jim Perry. Scott, a two-time All-Star, was a big dude but could run a little: 69 steals, 60 triples in 14 MLB campaigns.

28 Jul

three things

1) Having lost six straight, Atlanta was in desperate need of some positive energy on Saturday, and rookie right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach brought it. Schwellenbach stifled the New York Mets for seven innings in what was, considering the circumstances, perhaps the best performance of the season by a Braves starter. Maybe it will be a turning point. In the 4-0 win at CitiField, Schwellenbach allowed just two hits, no walks and struck out 11. He improved to 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 10 starts. Fans of the Mississippi Braves might recall his sparkling Double-A debut on May 15, when he tossed six shutout innings with nine K’s against Biloxi. He is the latest in a virtual parade of former M-Braves pitchers who have had significant impact as rookies in Atlanta over the past eight years as the team rose to the top in the National League East. It’s been cool to see. To wit: Sean Newcomb and Max Fried in 2017, Mike Soroka in 2018, Ian Anderson in 2020, Spencer Strider in 2021-22, Bryce Elder in 2022, Jared Shuster and AJ Smith-Shawver in 2023.
2) Former Biloxi High star Colt Keith might be clawing his way into consideration for American League rookie of the year. Keith, Detroit’s second baseman, went 2-for-4 with a homer, a triple and three RBIs in the Tigers’ 7-2 win against Minnesota on Saturday. The lefty-swinging Keith, 22, is batting .259 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs — .318 with eight bombs and 21 RBIs over the last 30 games. He got a rich contract in the off-season before ever playing a big league game, and he has held up his end. And the Tigers are 52-54, still lurking in the wild card race.
3) Nick Fortes hits at the bottom of the lineup for a team at the bottom of the standings. But the ex-Ole Miss catcher, who stays in the Miami lineup because of his defensive skills, has actually heated up with the bat this month. He went 2-for-4 with a squeeze-bunt hit and a run in the Marlins’ 7-3 win against Milwaukee on Saturday, raising his average to .203. He has just two homers and 17 RBIs in 74 games for a 38-66 club. However, in his last seven games he is batting .409 and in his last 15 he’s at .327.

22 Jul

spotlight on …

After making a smooth transition to Mississippi State and the SEC a year ago, Colton Ledbetter has moved seamlessly into the High-Class A level of pro ball in 2024. Ledbetter, a second-round draft pick by Tampa Bay last summer, is batting .268 with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, 44 runs and 25 stolen bases at Bowling Green. He jumped to the South Atlantic League after playing just 18 games in Low-A last year. The 22-year-old outfielder, who bats from the left side, is ranked No. 14 on the Rays’ prospect chart by MLB Pipeline. An Alabama native, Ledbetter spent his first two years of college ball at Samford, a mid-level NCAA Division I program. He transferred to MSU in 2023 and batted .320 with 12 homers, 52 RBIs and 17 bags for the Bulldogs. Tampa Bay, reportedly impressed with Ledbetter’s all-around athleticism as well as his hit tool, made him the 55th overall pick in the 2023 draft. It might not be long before he jumps to Double-A. … Ledbetter ranks 13th in the SAL with his 25 steals, including one on Sunday. Former Southern Miss star Matthew Etzel had 31 steals for Aberdeen (Baltimore system) in the SAL and has added nine more at Double-A Bowie, a total (40) that tops all Mississippi products in the minors. Cooper Pratt, ex-Magnolia Heights star, has 22 steals for Carolina (Milwaukee) in the Low-A Carolina League. P.S. Right-hander Drue Hackenberg, Atlanta’s No. 9 prospect, struck out a club-record 16 batters in seven innings Sunday for the Mississippi Braves, who won at Pensacola 5-1 in 11 innings. Hackenberg, a 2023 draftee, has a 3.43 ERA in four Double-A starts. Tyler Tolve’s 11th-inning homer, his 10th of the year, was the game-turning hit. Justin Dean stole three bases for the M-Braves and leads the Southern League with 40.

21 Jul

sudden change

Down goes Ozzie Albies. Up comes Nacho Alvarez. That’s what mlb.com’s Mark Bowman has reported. Having lost second baseman Albies, a former Mississippi Braves shortstop, for eight weeks with a broken wrist on Sunday, the Braves apparently will replace him with Alvarez, the M-Braves’ 2024 opening day shortstop. Alvarez, drafted in 2022 out of a California juco, rose quickly on the Braves’ prospect charts. He moved from third base to short this season and batted .265 with no homers, 15 RBIs and 16 steals in 48 games with the Double-A M-Braves. After a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett in early June, he really took off. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound righty hitter batted .336 with seven homers, 24 RBIs and five bags in 28 games with the Stripers. Alvarez has never played second base in pro ball. When he debuts, possibly Monday vs. Cincinnati, Alvarez will join Albies, Braden Shewmake, Vaughn Grissom, Dansby Swanson, Johan Camargo, Luis Hernandez, Yunel Escobar, Diory Hernandez, Brandon Hicks, Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Pastornicky, Andrelton Simmons, Ed Lucas, Daniel Castro and Dylan Moore as M-Braves shortstops to make the big leagues.

20 Jul

twin valleys

The Chicago Cubs, trying to stay relevant in the playoff chase, sent their hottest pitcher to the Wrigley Field mound on Friday. Visiting Arizona sent Justin Steele to the showers in the fifth inning. Not what the Cubs were expecting. The Diamondbacks, also aiming for a second-half push, rolled to a 5-2 win, stopping Lucedale native Steele’s streak of quality starts at seven. The left-hander allowed five runs in his 4 2/3 innings and fell to 2-4, his ERA rising to 3.07. He had allowed just one run in 16 innings in winning his previous two starts. The Diamondbacks got to him for nine hits, two walks and an HBP. “It’s a good lineup over there,” Steele said in an mlb.com piece. “Obviously — they were in the World Series last year.” The Cubs fell to 47-52, last in the National League Central and 3.5 games back of the wild card cut. … Meanwhile, Chicago’s other team, the White Sox, suffered what was not a wholly unexpected result in their first game after the All-Star break. The worst team in baseball lost at Kansas City 7-1. Former Southern Miss standout Chuckie Robinson, called up from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday, watched from the bench as the ChiSox fell to 27-72. Maybe he can help. The 29-year-old catcher was batting .246 with seven homers and 32 RBIs for the Knights. Now in his eighth pro season, Robinson got into 25 games with Cincinnati is 2022, batting .136 with two homers. P.S. Down in the minors, Mississippi State product Preston Johnson threw two innings as part of a four-man no-hitter by Aberdeen, Baltimore’s High-Class A affiliate. A 2022 draftee, Johnson has a 5.64 ERA this season. … David Fletcher, erstwhile MLB infielder and current Mississippi Braves knuckleballer, notched his first win of the season as Atlanta’s Double-A club rallied to beat Pensacola 5-4. Fletcher (1-2, 4.82) allowed four runs (three earned) in six innings. … Ole Miss alum Josh Mallitz, a right-hander, has signed as an undrafted free agent with San Diego, per Baseball America.

16 Jul

of local interest

One player who cut his teeth in the minors in Mississippi will throw the first pitch in tonight’s MLB All-Star Game and another will catch the much-anticipated first offering from Paul Skenes in the bottom of the first inning. There’s a former Mississippi prep standout and another who starred in college in the Magnolia State on the American League squad. Corbin Burnes, who pitched for Double-A Biloxi in 2017, will start for the AL at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. William Contreras, who caught for the Mississippi Braves in 2019, is the NL’s starting catcher. Former M-Braves star Freddie Freeman (class of 2009) is a reserve on the NL roster. Ocean Springs High alum Garrett Crochet likely will pitch for the AL at some point, and ex-Mississippi State star Jordan Westburg — who finished second in the fan voting at third base — is a reserve infielder for the AL. Those two are among the 39 first-time All-Stars. “It means just as much to (my family) as it does to me because they’re the ones who sacrificed so much through my youth and amateur baseball career,” Westburg, a Texas native, told masnsports.com. There are other reasons to watch the 94th Midsummer Classic (7 p.m., Fox), of course: rookie sensation Skenes, Aaron Judge, Home Run Derby champ Teoscar Hernandez, Gunnar Henderson, Elly De La Cruz, Mason Miller, Jose Ramirez … to name a few. For the Mississippi baseball aficionado, there are several All-Star anniversaries of note. In 1934, in the second All-Star Game 90 years ago, adopted Mississippian Dizzy Dean made the first of his four appearances, pitching three innings (one run) in the NL’s loss at the Polo Grounds. In 1974, Don Kessinger, former Ole Miss player and coach, made the last of his six All-Star appearances, going 1-for-1 with an RBI for the NL squad. (Kessinger turns 82 on Wednesday.) In 1984, Jackson native Chet Lemon played in his third and final All-Star Game, going 1-for-2 (and getting picked off) for the AL. In 1994, ex-MSU standout Will Clark played in his sixth and last Midsummer Classic, going 2-for-2 for the NL team. Clark was 5-for-13 in his All-Star career. In 1999 — 25 years ago — MSU product Rafael Palmeiro went 1-for-2 with an RBI for the AL stars at Fenway Park, where the All-Century Team (with Ted Williams) was honored pregame. In 2004, Gulfport native Matt Lawton went 1-for-2 for the AL in the second of his two All-Star Games. The only other time the Texas Rangers hosted the All-Star Game was in 1995, when former State standout Buck Showalter, then with the New York Yankees, managed the AL team in a 3-2 loss. P.S. Purvis High’s Jacob Parker hit a literal last-second blast to earn a tie for the title in the high school home run derby final held at Globe Life on Monday night. The State commit hit 24 homers (with a metal bat) in the preliminary round on Saturday.

14 Jul

launch mode

Eighty-five games into his rookie campaign, Colt Keith may just have had his signature moment of 2024. The ex-Biloxi High standout launched a game-tying, two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday as Detroit pulled off an amazing comeback and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-9 in 10 innings. “That’s one of the coolest moments yet,” Keith, 22, told mlb.com. He’ll be hard-pressed to top it. Keith’s homer, a yanked 364-footer, came off Dodgers closer Evan Phillips, the former Mississippi Braves hurler. It capped the Tigers’ five-run ninth, and they won it on a Gio Urshela bomb in the 10th. Keith went 3-for-4, raising his average to .253. The homer was his ninth. He has 37 RBIs. He arrived in the regular lineup at second base this spring as Detroit’s top prospect, having hit 38 homers over three minor league seasons since being drafted in the fifth round in 2020. He was given a big contract in January, a six-year, $28.6M deal with options and bonuses that could make it worth much more. But on May 19, he was batting .197. He didn’t have an MLB home run as of May 23. Apparently, he has figured some things out. A powerfully built left-handed hitter, Keith is batting .407 his last seven games, .311 with seven homers his last 15. If there were doubters in Detroit, they’ve been silenced. P.S. Purvis High’s Jacob Parker hit 24 homers in two rounds of Saturday’s high school home run derby at Globe Life Field in Texas and advanced to Monday’s final against Josiah Hartshorn. … Former M-Braves catcher Drake Baldwin — Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect (by MLB Pipeline) — homered in Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life. … And current M-Braves catcher Tyler Tolve slammed a walk-off homer in the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory over Birmingham at Pearl’s Trustmark Park.

13 Jul

three stars — plus one

Adam Frazier: The former Mississippi State standout, in one of several marquee games on the MLB docket Friday, went 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI as Kansas City beat fellow American League wild card contender Boston 6-1 at Fenway Park. Frazier led off the game with a single and scored the first run, then rapped an RBI single in the second inning and later scored to give the Royals a 4-0 lead. Frazier is batting .213 for Kansas City (52-43).
Kemp Alderman: The Ole Miss product from Decatur went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and five RBIs to pace Low-Class A Jupiter to a win in the Florida State League. The 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner has a six-game hit streak (10-for-24) with three homers and 10 RBIs in that span for the Miami affiliate. He is at .247 on the season.
Tim Elko: The ex-Ole Miss slugger banged out three hits and scored a run in Double-A Birmingham’s 7-4 win against Mississippi at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Elko, who is 5-for-15 in the Southern League series, is batting .298 on the season with eight homers and 36 RBIs for the Chicago White Sox’s farm club.
Kellum Clark: The MSU alum from Brandon went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run for High-A Brooklyn in the South Atlantic League. After a frigid start for the Cyclones — a New York Mets affiliate — Clark has nine hits in his last four games and is batting .417 in July. He’s at .210 for the season with six RBIs and nine runs in 22 games.
P.S. Former Ocean Springs High star Garrett Crochet, in a possible tune-up for an MLB All-Star Game start, threw two perfect innings for the White Sox against Pittsburgh. The big left-hander, throwing 22 of 28 pitches for strikes, struck out four. He has a 150 K’s and a 3.02 ERA. … Atlanta moved Southern Miss alum Landon Harper from Double-A Mississippi back to High-A Rome. Harper has a 1.17 ERA in 10 games with the M-Braves. … In the HBCU Swingman Classic at Globe Life Field, Jackson State alum Robert Tate Jr. tripled and scored a run, JSU’s Lenny Montesano went 1-for-2 and Tigers ace Christian Womble allowed a run in two innings with four K’s for the victorious AL stars. Mississippi Valley State’s Dreylin Holmes was 2-for-2 with a run and JSU alum Rodney Hibler Jr. hit a sac fly for the NL squad.

07 Jul

star gazing

Garrett Crochet, the Ocean Springs High product who leads the American League in strikeouts, was justly rewarded with a spot on the American League All-Star team. Crochet is 6-6 with a 3.08 ERA and 146K’s for the Chicago White Sox. The rosters were announced Sunday on ESPN; there will be changes before the game is played on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Also making the AL team was former Biloxi Shuckers pitcher Corbin Burnes, now with Baltimore. He is 9-3, 2.32. Former Mississippi Braves star Freddie Freeman, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, made the National League roster as a reserve. Ex-M-Braves catcher William Contreras, now with Milwaukee, previously was voted in as a starter by fans. … The full list of Home Run Derby (July 15) participants has yet to be revealed. It would be a treat to see Nathaniel Lowe of the hometown Texas Rangers, Brent Rooker, Hunter Renfroe or Austin Riley in the derby. Each of those Mississippi products has light-tower power. … Magnolia Heights High product Cooper Pratt is slated to participate in the July 13 All-Star Futures Game for minor league prospects at Globe Life. He is No. 4 on Milwaukee’s chart. … The All-Star festivities get started on July 12 with the HBCU Swingman Classic. The Magnolia State will be well-represented with six Jackson State players and one each from Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State on the rosters. This is the second annual all-star game for players from NCAA Division I historically black schools. JSU’s Joseph Eichelberger, Robert Tate Jr., Lenny Montesano, Rodney Hibler Jr., Christian Womble and Isaiah Williams are joined on the rosters by Valley’s Dreylin Holmes and Alcorn’s Garrett Palladino. Former big leaguers Ken Griffey Sr. and Lloyd McClendon will manage the two teams. … Of note: The only other time the Texas Rangers hosted the All-Star Game was 1995, when former Mississippi State standout Buck Showalter managed the AL team in a 3-2 loss at The Ballpark in Arlington. He was manager of the New York Yankees, who had the best record in the AL when the 1994 season was halted by a players strike.