Tag Archives: Mississippi Braves

16 Aug

soaring ever higher

Third time was a charm for Hurston Waldrep, not that his first two MLB appearances this season were clunkers. The Southern Miss alum (3-0) hurled six shutout innings Friday night in Atlanta’s 2-0 win against Cleveland. The rookie right-hander gave up a run — just one — in each of his first two games and now has a 1.02 ERA over 17 2/3 innings. A 2023 first-round draft pick out of Florida who pitched well for the Double-A Mississippi Braves in 2023-24, Waldrep made two rocky starts in Atlanta last season and then went back to the minors. He spent the first four months of this season at Triple-A Gwinnett, refining his breaking stuff. That work appears to be paying dividends. “He’s a pitcher who knows who he is,” Braves catcher Sean Murphy said in an mlb.com piece. Featuring a brilliant splitter among other effective pitches, Waldrep allowed two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts vs. the Guardians. On the season, he has 17 strikeouts, five walks and an 0.79 WHIP. Waldrep went 7-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 27 games at USM in 2021-22, then helped Florida reach the CWS finals in ’23. … On the topic of former Golden Eagles pitchers: Nick Sandlin, on the injured list for Toronto since July 8, has begun throwing again, per reports, after a setback in his rehab work. In 19 games with the Blue Jays, Sandlin has a 2.20 ERA. … Dalton Rogers improved to 4-3 with a 4.43 ERA at Double-A Portland, yielding one run in 5 1/3 innings Friday against Somerset. Left-hander Rogers is in his fourth season in the Boston system. … Justin Storm, a 2023 draftee, notched his third hold of the season with two scoreless innings for High-Class A Beloit (Miami). The 6-foot-7 lefty has two wins, five saves and a 3.71 ERA. P.S. Ex-USM outfielder Matthew Etzel was promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville by Miami but did not play in Friday’s game. Etzel is batting .236 with five homers, 36 RBIs and 18 steals this season, having already played for three different teams and at two levels. The lefty-hitting Etzel, who goes 6-2, 211, was traded by Tampa Bay to Miami in July. Drafted by Baltimore in 2023, he was traded by the Orioles to the Rays last summer. It’s not like he can’t play: He is a .268 career hitter with 84 bags in 210 minor league games.

15 Aug

big knocks

Continuing his second-half revival, Michael Harris II doubled in the tying run and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Thursday night as Atlanta beat the New York Mets 4-3. The Braves have won six of eight, showing some signs of life in what’s been a rough year. It was looking like a lost year — offensively — for former Mississippi Braves star Harris before he made some swing adjustments and turned things around in mid-July. Since the All-Star break, the lefty-hitting center fielder is batting .381 with seven homers, 16 RBIs and 18 runs. He has 14 hits in his last seven games and is batting .250 for the year with 13 homers, 60 RBIs and 14 steals. And he still knows no peer with his glove. Called up from the Double-A M-Braves after just 43 games at that level in 2022, he won National League rookie of the year that season and has been highly productive before hitting a wall to start 2025. … There were several others with Mississippi ties who got big knocks in clutch situations on Thursday:
Biloxi High alum Colt Keith, on his 24th birthday, drove in the tying run for Detroit in the sixth and scored the winner in the 11th as the Tigers beat Minnesota 4-3; Keith, a second-year big leaguer, is batting .260 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs.
Justin Foscue, former Mississippi State star, delivered the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning double as Triple-A Round Rock (Texas system) knocked off Sacramento 3-2; Foscue is batting .260 with 12 homers, 49 RBIs.
Cooper Pratt, Magnolia Heights product, hit a three-run homer in a five-run seventh inning that propelled Double-A Biloxi (Milwaukee) to a 14-8 win over Columbus; Pratt is batting .238 with seven homers, 51 RBIs, 25 steals.
Connor Hujsak, ex-MSU standout, drove in the tying run in the seventh inning — and threw out the potential winning run at the plate in the 10th — as Low-Class A Charleston (Tampa Bay) beat Hickory 2-1 in 10; Hujsak is batting .227 with five homers, 45 RBIs.
Andrew Fischer, an Ole Miss alum making his pro debut, drove in two runs in the eighth — on his third hit — that put High-A Wisconsin (Milwaukee) ahead in an 8-6 victory against Great Lakes.

13 Aug

straw’s record falls

There’s a new king of Queens: Darryl Strawberry, Jackson Mets star of 1982, has been displaced as the New York Mets’ all-time home run leader by Pete Alonso, who hit No. 253 — and then 254 — on Tuesday night in a romp against Atlanta. Strawberry’s record stood for almost 35 years. The biggest star to come out of the JaxMets’ 16-year run at Smith-Wills stadium, “Straw” hit a franchise record 34 bombs for the Texas League club in ’82. He was in New York the next year, won rookie of the year honors and stayed with the team until 1990, hitting 252 bombs over those nine seasons. For the record, the most homers by a Jackson Generals alum in a Houston Astros uniform is 326 by Lance Berkman. That ranks second on the Astros’ all-time list behind Jeff Bagwell. Berkman hit 24 homers for the 1998 Gens and made The Show the next year. Mississippi Braves alum Freddie Freeman hit 271 homers for the Atlanta Braves, ranking sixth all-time on their impressive list. (Hank Aaron, of course, is far-and-away No. 1.) Freeman hit just two homers in 41 games for the M-Braves in 2009, playing hurt part of that time. … Brandon Woodruff will start today for Milwaukee, which pounded Pittsburgh — and Paul Skenes — 14-0 Tuesday for its 11 straight win. Former Mississippi State and Wheeler High star Woodruff is 4-0 since coming off the injured list on July 6, and the Brewers are 6-0 in his starts and 25-4 since he returned after a year on the shelf. Interesting to note that back in early April, Milwaukee was No. 22 in USA Today’s MLB power rankings. The Brewers are now No. 1 — with the best record in the majors. It’s been that kind of magical run for this club, which features several Biloxi Shuckers alumni, Woodruff among them. P.S. Down on the farm: Brewers No. 3 prospect Cooper Pratt, a Magnolia Heights grad, homered and delivered a walk-off single in the ninth as Biloxi beat Columbus 7-6 at Keesler Federal Park. Pratt, who has faced some challenges in Double-A, is batting .237 with six homers, 48 RBIs and 24 steals. … Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko homered twice for Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox system) and now has 25 on the year, including four in the big leagues. … Landon Tomkins, a Northwest Rankin and Hinds Community College product, got a win in relief in his Double-A debut for Altoona (Pittsburgh). … Luke Hill, 2025 draftee out of Ole Miss, got a hit in his first pro game with Low-Class A Lynchburg (Guardians).

10 Aug

worth noting

Hurston Waldrep sure knows how to capture the moment. Last Sunday, the ex-Southern Miss and Mississippi Braves standout was the winning pitcher for Atlanta in the historic Speedway Classic. On Saturday, he threw six strong innings to get his second career MLB win in the first game of a twinbill, which also happened to be the debut for Jen Pawol, the first woman to umpire an MLB regular season game. (She’ll be behind the plate today.) Waldrep is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA and — probably? — has earned a spot in the Braves’ rotation. … Former M-Braves Michael Harris II and Drake Baldwin combined for eight hits and eight RBIs as the Braves swept Miami on Saturday at Truist Park. … M-Braves alum William Contreras and ex-Biloxi Shuckers star Brice Turang homered — 10th of the season for each — and Milwaukee beat the New York Mets for its eighth straight win. … Jacob Gonzalez, former Ole Miss All-American, homered for the second straight day and went 2-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs to power Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox system) to a victory. … Chuckie Robinson, Southern Miss product, put up a 2-for-4 — eight hits in his last five games — scored twice and threw out a base-stealer for Triple-A Oklahoma City (Los Angeles Dodgers) in a win against El Paso. … K.C. Hunt, ex-Mississippi State standout, threw six shutout innings for his seventh win as Double-A Biloxi (Milwaukee) beat Knoxville. … Konnor Griffin, the No. 1 prospect out of Jackson Prep, banged out three hits and scored three times as High-Class A Greensboro (Pittsburgh) rang up 27 runs against Asheville. … Emaarion Boyd, the speedster from South Panola, stole his 40th bag, drove in a run and scored one for High-A Beloit (Miami) in a 2-1 victory against Quad Cities. P.S. Kevin Roberts Jr., a Meridian native now playing at Jackson Prep, will play in the MLB-sponsored High School All-American Game on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The game features players, many of them top draft prospects, from the prep class of 2026. A Florida commit, Roberts hit .406 for Prep in 2025.

09 Aug

ecstasy and agony

When it ended, on an unforgettable, jaw-dropping play, Brandon Woodruff was just a spectator. The Mississippi State product had done his part for Milwaukee on Friday night, throwing a season-high seven innings and leaving with a lead. In the top of the ninth inning, the New York Mets — who put the Brewers out of the playoffs last fall — got the tying run to second base with two down. On a single to center field by Jeff McNeil, Blake Perkins came up throwing and nailed Starling Marte at the plate, ending the game and sending the 43,000-plus at American Family Field into a frenzy. “I was running up and down the hall after it happened. It was incredible,” Woodruff said in an mlb.com story. The 3-2 victory was the Brewers’ seventh straight. “A perfect representation of the way this team’s playing,” said catcher William Contreras, the former Mississippi Braves standout who made the tag on Marte that ended it. Milwaukee has the best record (71-44) in the majors and a 5-game lead in the National League Central. Woodruff, making his sixth start since coming off the injured list, is 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA. Though his fastball velocity is down a bit, the Wheeler High grad is still racking up strikeouts: eight on Friday and 45 (with only six walks) in 35 2/3 innings all told. “That is what a horse looks like,” Brewers broadcaster Brian Anderson said when Woodruff walked off the mound after a 1-2-3 seventh. … New York’s other team also suffered a crushing defeat on Friday night, and a pair of Biloxi Shuckers alums played key roles. Devin Williams, the Yankees’ embattled reliever, allowed three runs in the 10th inning, two on a Taylor Trammell homer, and the scuffling Yanks fell to Houston 5-3 at raucous Yankee Stadium. One of the best closers in the game with Milwaukee before joining the Yankees this season, Williams saw his ERA rise to 5.73. He has allowed eight runs in his last five appearances, though he did manage to notch a save in that span. “It’s pretty simple. I stink right now,” Williams told mlb.com. Josh Hader, another former Shuckers star and now the Astros’ closer, worked the ninth and 10th for Houston, stranding the tying runs in the final frame. Hader is 6-2, 2.05, with 28 saves. The American League West-leading Astros improved to 65-51. New York, third in the AL East, is 61-55. P.S. Alex Wood, an ace for the M-Braves back in 2013, announced his retirement after 12 MLB seasons. He was not on a team this year. The 34-year-old left-hander went 77-68 with a 3.78 ERA for his career, which included winning a World Series ring with the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers. … Former MSU standout Preston Johnson was released by Baltimore; he had reached the Triple-A level this season but struggled there (14.73 ERA in seven games).

08 Aug

they also serve …

Dave Clark and Travis Chapman won’t throw a pitch or swing the bat this weekend, but they’ll be on the field at Yankee Stadium and involved in the action. Clark, the former Jackson State star from Shannon, and Chapman, a Mississippi State alum, are first-base coaches for Houston and the New York Yankees, respectively. Those teams, rivals with a history and 2025 playoff contenders, will face off in a three-game series. With the likes of Jose Altuve and Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa and Jazz Chisholm taking hacks in this series, Clark and Chapman figure to be plenty busy playing traffic cop at first base. They are among a sizable group of former players with Mississippi connections who now work in managerial or coaching roles in the big leagues. At one time in 2018, there were seven major league managers with a Mississippi tie, either a school alum or a player or manager for Jackson’s old Texas League club. Today, Brian Snitker, 2005 Mississippi Braves skipper, and Ray Montgomery, who played for the Jackson Generals in the 1990s, are the only two. Snitker is retiring after this season on the heels of a great run in the ATL, the 2025 season notwithstanding. Montgomery is the interim manager for the Los Angeles Angels, presumably just keeping the seat warm for the return of Ron Washington next year. For the Milwaukee Brewers — MLB’s hottest team — Chris Hook, a former Biloxi Shuckers coach and a Jackson Generals pitcher, serves as pitching coach for an outstanding staff, and Starkville native Julio Borbon is the Brewers’ first-base coach. The Crew is hosting the New York Mets this weekend. John Gibbons, former Jackson Mets catcher, is the Mets’ bench coach, and Antoan Richardson, who starred for the Mississippi Braves, is their first-base coach. Laurel native Bobby Dickerson is the infield coach for Philadelphia. Marcus Thames, the Louisville native and East Central Community College star, is the hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox. Jim Hickey, a former Jackson Generals pitching coach, is the longtime pitching coach of the Washington Nationals. The Colorado staff includes Clint Hurdle, skipper of the last JaxMets team in 1990, as bench coach and ex-JaxMets first baseman Ron Gideon as first-base coach. Chris Truby, who manned third base for the Jackson Generals in the mid-’90s, is now a coach for Pittsburgh. P.S. Former Southern Miss standout Landon Harper came within one out of a seven-inning perfect game Thursday for Double-A Columbus in Atlanta’s system. Harper finished with a one-hitter and improved to 3-6 with a 3.67 ERA after the 2-0 win over Rocket City. … Former Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin homered — his 15th overall this season — for High-Class A Greensboro (Pittsburgh). The minor leagues’ No. 1 prospect is batting .332 with 64 RBIs, 87 runs and 50 steals in 92 games over two levels of A-ball. … Blaine Crim, Mississippi College alum, hit his 19th homer of the year, his first for Triple-A Albuquerque since Colorado claimed him off waivers from Texas. The bomb came against his former team, Round Rock, and erstwhile big leaguer Craig Kimbrel. … The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly will call up Justin Dean, who played center field for the 2021 Double-A South champion M-Braves. … The North Delta Dealers, behind the two-hit pitching of Eli Akins, won the Cotton States League championship last Sunday, beating regular season champ Tallahatchie 2-1. Hayden Short and Patrick Mangels drove in runs for North Delta. Akins, a 6-foot-6 righty at Delta State, went 6-1 in the New Albany-based college summer league. Tallahatchie finished 14-5-1 this season and led the loop in hitting and pitching.

06 Aug

numbers to crunch

4 — Hits by Brent Rooker in a 16-7 win Tuesday by the A’s over Washington in a game chock-full of crazy numbers, including 24 hits — nine for extra bases — and five walks by the visitors at Nationals Park. Former Mississippi State star Rooker hit two doubles, drove in three runs and scored three.
3 — Home runs by Shea Langeliers of the A’s in the catcher’s first career game batting leadoff. Langeliers, who powered the Double-A Mississippi Braves to a league title in 2021, went 5-for-6 and scored four times. It was his second career three-homer game, and he now has 22 bombs on the season.
4 — Walks drawn by Nathaniel Lowe in the Nationals’ humbling defeat. The MSU alum, teammates with Rooker back in 2016, went 0-for-1 and is batting .221 with a .294 OBP — far off his career numbers — in his first year with Washington.
13 — Wins this season for Garrett Crochet, who allowed two runs in seven innings as Boston beat Kansas City 6-2 for its seventh straight win. Ocean Springs native Crochet, pitching on nine days rest, is 13-4 with a 2.24 ERA in 23 starts for the surging Red Sox.
13 — Wins this season for Freddy Peralta, who went five innings for Milwaukee to subdue Atlanta 7-2. The former Biloxi Shuckers standout, 13-5 with a 3.03, helped the Brewers win their sixth straight and improve to an MLB-best 69-44.
7 — Hits and RBIs in four August games for Isaac Collins, who had two of each in Milwaukee’s win at Truist Park. The 5-foot-8, 188-pound Shuckers alum, batting .285 this season, was the National League rookie of the month for July.
5 — RBIs by Dakota Jordan in a two-homer game for Low-Class A San Jose in San Francisco’s organization. The ex-MSU star from Canton, a 2024 draftee, has 14 homers and 82 RBIs in 84 games. Coming off the IL, he is 11-for-19 with four bombs and 12 RBIs in four games in August.
1 — Save, in his first opportunity at Triple-A Omaha (Kansas City system), for Brandon Johnson. The Ole Miss product threw a scoreless 10th in a 7-6 win at Indianapolis, trimming his ERA to 6.37 in his 22nd game for the Storm Chasers. He had a 0.79 and seven saves at the Double-A level this year.
P.S. Rooker, former State standout Jake Mangum (Tampa Bay) and Shuckers alum Sal Frelick (Milwaukee) were selected as their team’s Heart and Hustle Award winners for 2025. The award honors a player who best embodies the values, spirit and tradition of the game. An overall winner will be chosen after the season.

29 Jul

trade breeze

A pair of former Mississippi college standouts will trade places today in a deal that will soon be overshadowed when the trade winds pick up in MLB. Tampa Bay, in need of a defensive-minded catcher, is acquiring former Ole Miss star Nick Fortes from Miami, sending ex-Southern Miss star Matthew Etzel, a third-year minor league outfielder, to the Marlins. The Rays are 54-53 after beating the New York Yankees on Monday and are hanging on the fringe of the American League wild card race. Fortes, in his fifth big league season, was batting .240 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 59 games as a part-timer for Miami. He’ll join a Rays team that includes Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum and share catching duties with Matt Thaiss, a .219 hitter. Etzel is currently on the injured list at Double-A Montgomery. He is batting .230 with five homers, 34 RBIs and 17 steals. Originally drafted by Baltimore in 2023 and traded last summer, the speedy Etzel is a .267 career hitter with 83 steals. He’ll likely go to Double-A Pensacola and join a club that includes Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves star Michael Harris II, in the throes of a tough offensive year, was named the National League player of the week. He batted .478 with six extra-base hits, including two homers and two triples, last week. … A host of former Biloxi Shuckers started for Milwaukee on Monday in an 8-4 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs that moved the Brewers a game up in the NL Central. Shuckers alum Sal Frelick, batting leadoff, went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer and two runs as the Brewers overcame a ragged start by ex-Shuckers star Jacob Misiorowski. … Former Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin, currently in High-Class A for Pittsburgh, is now Baseball America’s No. 1 overall prospect; MLB Pipeline previously ranked Griffin No. 1.

20 Jul

‘be that guy’

The Boston Red Sox had won 10 straight heading into the All-Star break, clawing back into the American League East race. Since play resumed, they’ve lost two straight to the surging Chicago Cubs. In need of a hero today, the Red Sox will send Garrett Crochet — the pride of Ocean Springs — to the mound at Wrigley Field. As the old saw goes: This is why they pay you the big bucks. Acquired from the White Sox for a boatload of prospects in the off-season and then given a 6-year, $170 million contract extension, Crochet has not disappointed. The 6-foot-6 left-hander is 10-4 with a 2.23 ERA and 160 strikeouts. He leads the majors in strikeouts and is tied for first in ERA and tied for third in wins. He is what the Red Sox needed. “You have to be that guy,” Boston manager Alex Cora said in a recent mlb.com story. “(N)ow that he’s the ace of the Red Sox, he’s doing an amazing job.” Crochet was converted from reliever to starter just last season — his third in pro ball — and went 6-12, 3.58 ERA, over 146 innings for the lowly White Sox. He is at 129 1/3 innings this season but shows no signs of wearing down. He is 6-0 in his last eight starts, with wins over the New York Yankees, Seattle and Tampa Bay. Today, with his team trying to get back on the winning track, Crochet faces the Cubs, who have the best record in MLB. The stage is his. The spotlight is bright. Time to be that guy. P.S. Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren and Mississippi Braves alum Joey Wentz put on a good show — for a short time — Saturday at Atlanta’s Truist Park. Brandon native Warren, pitching for the Yankees against the team he grew up rooting for, allowed one run through his first 3 2/3 innings. Things then went sideways for the rookie right-hander. Atlanta scored four times and chased him from the game. Wentz, a 2016 Braves draftee in just his second game back with Atlanta, threw four scoreless innings, then was pulled. Disaster followed. The Braves’ wonky bullpen coughed up 12 runs in the final five innings, and the Yankees took a 12-9 victory. … Ex-Madison Central star Spencer Turnbull, recently signed by the Cubs, threw four innings in a rookie ball game on Saturday as he tunes up for a potential return to the majors. … Lewisburg High alum Talon Haley, a 12th-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Angels, reportedly has agreed to sign for $897,500.

19 Jul

quick pitches

Friday’s best: Former Mississippi Braves star Ronald Acuna’s throw. From the right field corner to third base — on the fly — to complete an Atlanta double play. ‘Nuff said. … JoJo Parker, the ex-Purvis High star, reportedly has agreed with Toronto on a $6.2 million bonus as the eighth overall draft pick. … Former Mississippi State standout Brent Rooker hit his 100th career MLB homer for the A’s. … MSU product Adam Frazier hit a two-run pinch double in his first at-bat for his new team, Kansas City. … Veteran right-hander Spencer Turnbull, Madison Central High alum, signed a major league contract with the Chicago Cubs as a free agent. … Khal Stephen, 2024 draftee out of MSU, was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire by Toronto after going 9-1, 1.75 ERA, in A-ball. … Dakota Jordan, another 2024 draftee out of MSU, was placed on the 7-day injured list at Low-Class A San Jose (San Francisco), where he is batting .302 with 10 homers and 27 steals. … Former Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin, hit in the right hand by a pitch in the All-Star Futures Game last Saturday, did not play Friday for High-A Greensboro (Pittsburgh). … Batesville native Emaarion Boyd stole his 32nd base and scored the game’s lone run in a win for High-A Beloit (Miami). … Davis Bradshaw, McLaurin High and Meridian Community College product, came off the IL and went 2-for-2 in his first game since May 31 for the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters. … Bradley Pelle, the SAA player of the year at Millsaps, has signed with Ogden of the indy Pioneer League and went 1-for-4 in his pro debut. … Ex-Southern Miss slugger Christopher Sargent is hitting .383 with 17 homers and 76 RBIs for Ogden.