Tag Archives: Mississippi Braves

25 May

not to be overlooked

Of the four young players Atlanta got from San Diego in the Justin Upton trade in 2014, the least heralded was Dustin Peterson. Jace Peterson, Mallex Smith and Max Fried were the attention-grabbing names in the deal, but Dustin Peterson has begun to garner his share. Now playing left field for the Mississippi Braves, and playing in the shadow of top prospect Dansby Swanson, Peterson is leading the team in homers and RBIs with five and 25. He heads into tonight’s game at Trustmark Park in Pearl with six hits in his last 14 at-bats, boosting his average to .262. Peterson, listed at 6 feet 2, 210 pounds, appears to have legit right-handed power. Four of his homers have come at the TeePee, where right-handed hitters especially have trouble knocking the ball out. Peterson was a second-round pick by San Diego out of high school in Arizona in 2013. Originally a third baseman, he was shifted to the outfield by Atlanta. At high Class A Carolina in 2015, he hit .251 with eight homers and 62 RBIs, and he entered this season rated the Braves’ No. 21 prospect by mlb.com. Only 21, Peterson is holding his own in his first tour of Double-A ball. P.S. The M-Braves are 20-25 with a three-game win streak entering the five-game homestand against Jacksonville. Trailing first-place Biloxi by 6½ games in the Southern League South, the M-Braves have plenty of time to make up ground – the first half ends June 19 – but need to step it up at home, where they are 8-12.

21 May

measuring stick

Big: Mississippi State beat Arkansas 5-1 on Friday in Starkville to keep pace with Texas A&M in the SEC. Both are 20-9, best in the West and overall with one game left in the season. State (39-14-1) last won a regular season title in the SEC in 1989. The Bulldogs go for the sweep of the Razorbacks today while also pulling for Ole Miss, which will try to salvage the series finale against Texas A&M at College Station. The Aggies are 5-0 against the Magnolia State this year.
Bigger: Delta State took down Tampa, ranked as high as No. 2 in NCAA Division II, on Friday to move to 2-0 in the South Region tournament at Tampa, Fla. There is still work to do, but DSU (40-15) is smelling what would be a 12th regional championship and a trip to the D-II World Series.
Biggest: East Central Community College topped Jones County Junior College 11-10 in the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament on Friday at Decatur. The Warriors, MACJC champs, are in the championship round, awaiting the winner of an elimination game between No. 2 JCJC and No. 1 LSU-Eunice. The region champ gets a berth in the NJCAA D-II World Series.
P.S. The season ended on Friday for Jackson State and Alcorn State in the SWAC Tournament and for Northwest CC in the Region 23 tourney. William Carey’s season ended Thursday in an NAIA regional. … If you haven’t seen the catch made by former Mississippi Braves star Jason Heyward on Friday night in San Francisco, find the highlight. Playing right field for the Chicago Cubs, Heyward tracked down a fly ball into deep right-center, making what the Giants announcers on XM radio were calling the best catch they had ever seen.

20 May

standing out

With so many talented young arms now at work in the Atlanta system, it’s not easy to stand out. Chris Ellis has found a way. The Ole Miss alum goes to the mound tonight for the Mississippi Braves at Mobile with a 6-0 record and a 2.06 ERA. The 6-foot-5 right-hander, who throws three quality pitches, has 36 strikeouts and 19 walks in 48 innings. He leads the Southern League in wins, ranks eighth in ERA, ninth in WHIP and fifth in innings (an underrated stat). He is even swinging the bat: 5-for-13. Ellis, a third-round draft selection by the Los Angeles Angels in 2014, made it to Double-A last summer and went 7-4, 3.92. The Braves acquired him in the Andrelton Simmons trade, and he is rated their No. 14 prospect by mlb.com. Nine other pitchers, scattered throughout the system, are ranked above Ellis, but none is having more success this year. P.S. M-Braves catcher Willians Astudillo recently was highlighted in Baseball America for his uncanny ability to make contact. Astudillo has struck out just two times this season in 114 at-bats. (He has only walked twice while batting .272.) A minor league free agent signee by Atlanta this off-season, Astudillo has fanned just 53 times in 1,651 at-bats, with a .314 career average. … The M-Braves have hit seven home runs as a team in 20 games at spacious Trustmark Park this season, four of those by Dustin Peterson. Oxford High’s Thomas Dillard hit two bombs at the TeePee on Thursday in the Chargers’ MHSAA Class 5A championship clincher against Hattiesburg. Dillard finished the year with 16 homers.

18 May

here and there

Brian Snitker, the manager of the first Mississippi Braves team in 2005 and a veteran of 40 years in the Atlanta organization, deserved the opportunity to manage in the big leagues. Just not sure if he deserved this: a 9-29 team that can’t seem to do anything right. It was difficult to watch on Tuesday night as the Braves, in Snitker’s debut as Fredi Gonzalez’s replacement, gave up seven runs to Pittsburgh in the first inning. Atlanta battled back – thanks in part to two homers by former M-Braves star Mallex Smith – but still lost 12-9. The Braves are last in MLB in runs, 25th in ERA and 29th in fielding percentage. How much difference can Snitker make? … Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State star from Crystal Springs, homered for the third straight game with El Paso on Tuesday night. Renfroe, a right fielder, is batting .313 with eight bombs and 28 RBIs in 36 games for San Diego’s Triple-A club. The Padres, the worst hitting team in baseball, are last in the National League West. Seems like they could use some help. … Jackson State, which begins SWAC Tournament play today against Texas Southern, leads the SWAC in hitting and homers, but the Tigers do have some arms. While Alabama State’s pitching is far and away the best in the league, JSU’s ERA of 5.31 ranks second. Miguel Yrigoyen, an All-SWAC second-team pick, is 8-3 with a 5.16 ERA, and Jevon Jacobs (3.99), Jamal Wilson (4.42) and Vincent Anthonia (4.73) can get people out. … William Carey University faces an elimination game today in its NAIA regional at Santa Barbara, Calif. The Crusaders beat College of Idaho 7-6 (on Mitch Little’s two-run hit in the seventh) but lost to top-seeded Westmont (Calif.) 14-1 on Tuesday. … At the Clark/Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur on Thursday they can say with literal certainty that it gets no better than this: No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice vs. No. 2 Jones County Junior College in the first round of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament. The undercard isn’t bad either: MACJC champion East Central, ranked 14th, and Northwest.

12 May

good stuff

As the fifth overall draft pick in 2010 out of Ole Miss, Drew Pomeranz entered pro ball with some hefty expectations. The big left-hander is starting to live up to them. Pomeranz, now with San Diego, blanked the mighty Chicago Cubs over six innings at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night, striking out 10 and propelling the Padres to a 1-0 win. It was just the second time this season the Cubs have been blanked. Pomeranz, now 4-3 with a 1.80 ERA, threw five shutout innings at the New York Mets in his previous start and has allowed just one run over his last 18 innings. “In pro ball, this is the best I’ve ever felt in a stretch,” he told mlb.com. While people in the game rave about his stuff, the 6-foot-6 Pomeranz has been traded three times in six years. His career MLB numbers are 18-27, 3.80 as he has bounced between starting and relieving. He may finally have found his place. P.S. The Padres’ lone run in the game – the second in their sweep on Wednesday – came on a monstrous homer by former Mississippi Braves standout Christian Bethancourt, his third of the year.

11 May

now you see him

He is listed at 6 feet 1, 190 pounds but looks smaller out on the field. Dansby Swanson is batting .292 with a homer, seven RBIs and six runs – and two errors at shortstop — in his first 11 Double-A games. Nice numbers but nothing to drop your jaw. Then again, there is more to Swanson than what personal stats can tell you. The No. 1 overall draft pick from 2015, who is now the top prospect in Atlanta’s system, is said to be dripping in intangibles. His coach at Vanderbilt, Tim Corbin, described him this way: “Dansby is a rare talent … he affects the game in so many different ways, whether it’s physically on the field or in the clubhouse. Plain and simple, he’s a winning baseball player.” Mississippi Braves hitting coach Garey Ingram recently echoed that sentiment. “He’s a ballplayer, man,” Ingram told milb.com. “You haven’t seen the depth of this guy.” Alas, Swanson may not stay with the M-Braves long enough for fans at Trustmark Park to see an impact on the club. He is only 22 and has played just 54 professional games, but the woeful big Braves need help — and something to get Atlanta fans jazzed about 2017 when the team moves to the new ballpark. The M-Braves (14-19) do have some talent around Swanson, who replaced Ozzie Albies on the roster on April 30. Johan Camargo is batting .272 with 16 runs in 31 games, and Dustin Peterson is at .262 with four homers and 19 RBIs. Starters Chris Ellis, the ex-Ole Miss star, and Brandon Barker are a combined 8-1 with a sub-1.70 ERA. It’s a team that could make a move in the standings if Swanson sticks around.

09 May

here and there

Dansby Swanson, Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect, is expected to make his home debut tonight when the Mississippi Braves host Mobile. Interested to see what kind of crowd they get at Trustmark Park. Swanson, hitless in his last three games, is batting .310 over his nine Double-A games. The shortstop out of Vanderbilt homered in his M-Braves debut on April 30 and had a four-hit game May 4. … Brett Phillips, Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect, had a three-homer game for Biloxi on Saturday and is batting .260 with five bombs for the season. The Shuckers also open a homestand tonight. … Mississippi State is No. 3, Ole Miss No. 6 and Southern Miss No. 19 in the new Baseball America poll. State’s Dakota Hudson is listed as the No. 19 draft prospect in BA’s latest rankings. … After rallying to beat West Georgia 8-7 on Sunday, Delta State is 2-0 in the Gulf South Conference Tournament. Ace Tre Hobbs had an off day, but DSU got three RBIs from Trent Giambroni, a three-run homer from Ethan Gill and a clutch sac fly by Will Robertson to secure the W, its 36th of the year. … Jackson State, looking to gather some momentum for the SWAC Tournament, swept Mississippi Valley State in a three-game set at Braddy Field over the weekend. The Tigers are 14-10 in the league and 6-0 against MVSU. The tournament is slated to start May 18. … The MACJC final four is set. Jones County Junior College, the regular season champ, will host the double-elimination tournament starting Thursday. Also in are 3-seed East Central, which beat Gulf Coast 27-21 on Saturday to advance from the best-of-3 round; Meridian, the second seed; and 4-seed Northwest. … The Houston Astros optioned former M-Braves star Evan Gattis to Double-A? Reportedly, he was sent down just to brush up on his catching skills; he hasn’t caught in an MLB game since 2014.

06 May

minor details

Anthony Alford, the ex-Petal High star, is playing again for Toronto’s high Class A Dunedin club after missing almost a month with a knee injury. Alford is just 1-for-12 in three games since he returned and is at .071 in four games all told. The highly regarded outfielder is playing just his second full pro season. … The Mississippi Braves’ Mississippi connections are putting up good numbers. Ole Miss product Chris Ellis moved to 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA with a win at Tennessee on Thursday, and Southern Miss alum Bradley Roney got the save, his second to go with an 0.87 ERA in nine appearances. … Former DeSoto Central standout Austin Riley, a 2015 Atlanta draftee and one of the organization’s top prospects, is batting .237 with two homers and 11 RBIs at low Class A Rome. … Vancleave High product Colin Bray is featured in the May 6-20 issue of Baseball America as a player to watch in the Arizona system. After a strong year in low-A ball in 2015, Bray, a switch-hitting outfielder, is batting .233 at high-A Visalia. “He can do everything you want a young player to do,” said Diamondbacks farm director Mike Bell. … Ole Miss product Alex Yarbrough is back in Double-A, where he had great success in 2014, in the Los Angeles Angels’ system. Yarbrough, who scuffled last year in Triple-A, is batting .275 with six doubles and 11 RBIs in 20 games at Arkansas. … Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alum Fred Lewis, now 35, is hitting .286 with three homers for Southern Maryland in the independent Atlantic League.

30 Apr

swanson is coming

Mondays are typically a slow night at Trustmark Park in Pearl. May 9 could be – should be – different. Dansby Swanson, the former No. 1 overall pick and one of the top prospects in all of baseball, has been promoted to the Double-A Mississippi Braves, whose next home game is May 9 against Mobile. Swanson, a shortstop acquired by Atlanta from Arizona in the Shelby Miller deal, was batting .333 with a homer, 10 RBIs, 12 doubles and seven steals at Class A Carolina. He is expected to make his M-Braves debut tonight at Jacksonville. In a corresponding move, the Braves promoted Ozzie Albies, another shortstop prospect, to Triple-A Gwinnett. Albies was batting .369 for the M-Braves.

25 Apr

linear equations

Alex Presley, the Ole Miss product now playing for Milwaukee, hit his first home run of the season on Sunday. Fellow Rebels alum Seth Smith, with Seattle, hit his second bomb of 2016, the 99th of his career. Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, perhaps feeling the same energy his Golden Eagles drew upon in their dramatic win against Rice, hit his third homer for Minnesota. Chris Coghlan, another former Ole Miss standout now with Oakland, hit his fourth dinger of the year. And Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson, the leading home run hitter among Mississippians in the majors, belted No. 5 for Tampa Bay. To recap: That’s 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. … The Atlanta Braves have three home runs as a team this season; they were homer-less in another loss on Sunday. Meanwhile, former Mississippi Braves Tommy La Stella, Christian Bethancourt and Yunel Escobar all went deep for other clubs. It was the first of the year for both La Stella and Bethancourt, the second for Escobar. … Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe, playing at Triple-A El Paso in the San Diego system, homered in both games of a doubleheader on Sunday and now has bombs in four straight games. Those are his only homers of the season.