Tag Archives: Mississippi State

04 Nov

run it back

Before we get too deep into the Hot Stove season, take a look back at a few highlights from Mississippians in the majors in 2024:
April 1 — Jordan Westburg (Mississippi State alum) hits his first MLB walk-off homer for Baltimore.
April 7 — Justin Foscue (MSU) gets an RBI hit in his second MLB at-bat for Texas.
April 19 — Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central High) starts a game with six no-hit innings for Philadelphia.
May 4 — Brent Rooker (MSU) hits two homers in one inning for Oakland.
May 4 — Nathaniel Lowe (MSU) notches a four-hit, two-RBI, two-run game for Texas.
May 17 — Nick Fortes (Ole Miss) goes 3-for-4 with a homer and catches a third straight shutout for Miami.
May 24 — Colt Keith (Biloxi High) blasts his first big league homer for Detroit.
May 31 — Dakota Hudson (MSU) yields one run in seven innings to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for Colorado.
June 13 — Garrett Crochet (Ocean Springs) fans 13 over seven innings for the Chicago White Sox.
June 21 — Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) gets his first walk-off knock for Miami.
July 5 — Justin Steele (Lucedale) throws a two-hitter for his first win of 2024 with the Cubs.
July 8 — Matt Wallner (Southern Miss) hits a 116.7 mph home run for Minnesota.
July 13 — Rooker hits a 452-foot homer for Oakland.
July 16 — Crochet throws a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game.
July 23 — Lance Lynn (Ole Miss) registers his 2,000th career strikeout for St. Louis.
July 29 — Wallner notches 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his pitching debut for Minnesota.
Aug. 1 — Austin Riley (DeSoto Central High) hits career homer No. 150 for Atlanta.
Aug. 21 — J.T. Ginn (MSU) throws two hitless innings in his MLB debut for Oakland.
Aug. 23 — Hunter Renfroe (MSU) gets his 500th career RBI for Kansas City.
Aug. 24 — Rooker reaches the 30-homer mark for the second straight year with Oakland.
Sept. 13 — Adam Frazier (MSU) homers in his return to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park for Kansas City.
Sept. 26 — Ginn starts the last game at Oakland Coliseum; Rooker and Lowe also play.

01 Nov

halloween hauls

Three Mississippi college alums went to the bump on Halloween in the Arizona Fall League. Houston Harding cleaned up. The other two, Jackson Fristoe and Dylan DeLucia, came away with the proverbial bagful of rocks. Left-hander Harding, a Coldwater native and ex-Mississippi State standout, pitched four innings — with a 13-1 lead — for Mesa on Thursday night, allowing just one hit and no runs in a 17-4 victory against Salt River. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Los Angeles Angels in 2021, Harding, now 26, reached Triple-A this season; he has a 4.41 career ERA in the minors. Over three appearances (seven innings) in the AFL, he has posted a 3.86. … The starting pitcher for Salt River was Fristoe, who got just two outs before departing. He yielded five hits (one homer), two walks and seven runs (five earned) and is now 0-2, 11.37, in four AFL starts. Fristoe was a 12th-round draft pick by the New York Yankees in 2022; he pitched in A-ball this summer. … DeLucia, a hero on Ole Miss’ 2022 College World Series winner, worked three innings in relief for Suprise on Thursday and gave up four hits, three walks and four runs (three earned) in a win against Peoria. He has a 11.12 ERA in four AFL outings. A sixth-rounder by Cleveland in 2022, DeLucia, because of arm issues, did not make his pro debut until this season, working in 13 games (2.55 ERA) at three levels of the low minors. P.S. Big leaguers Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), Kendall Graveman (MSU), Adam Frazier (MSU) and Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central High) hit the free agent market on Thursday. Ex-State stars Hunter Renfroe and Chris Stratton exercised contract options to remain with Kansas City, at least for the time being.

29 Oct

riding the wave

David Mershon was the 532nd pick in the MLB draft back in July. So far, that looks like a steal for the Los Angeles Angels. Mershon, an All-SEC shortstop at Mississippi State this year, is excelling in the Arizona Fall League after a productive start to his pro career this summer at the Double-A level. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound Mershon went 2-for-3 with two walks, a triple, an RBI and two runs for Mesa on Monday. The 21-year-old South Carolina native is batting .250 with a .451 on-base percentage, ranking second in walks (13) in the star-studded AFL. He has two triples, seven RBIs, 10 runs and four stolen bases in 13 games as one of just two 2024 draftees originally assigned to the AFL. Mershon hit .347 at State this season with six homers and 27 steals. The Angels nabbed him as a sophomore-eligible and promptly sent him to Double-A Rocket City, where he answered the challenge with a hit in his first pro game. He batted .254 (.326 OBP) with five bags in 29 games overall in the Southern League. … Ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman (a Miami prospect) is batting .306 with six homers in nine games for Peoria in the AFL, and UM alum Tim Elko (Chicago White Sox) has three homers and a .225 average in 10 games for Glendale. P.S. Postseason flashback: Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe’s 94.9 mph outfield assist in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series remains the hardest throw for an outfield assist in the Fall Classic since such stat-tracking began in 2015. Los Angeles’ Teoscar Hernandez made a 93.9 mph throw — third on the list — to nab New York’s Giancarlo Stanton at the plate on Monday night. Renfroe, playing for Tampa Bay in 2020, registered two assists in Game 4 of the 2020 Series against the Dodgers, cutting down runners at second and third base. He also homered in that game, which the Rays won before ultimately dropping the series.

25 Oct

names to know

There are no Magnolia State natives or school alums on the active rosters for this year’s World Series, though there are some significant state connections. Former Mississippi Braves star Freddie Freeman plays first base and Evan Phillips, another M-Braves alum, pitches for Los Angeles. Trent Grisham, who played for the Biloxi Shuckers, is a reserve outfielder for New York. Ex-Mississippi State star Travis Chapman also suits up for the Yankees and enjoys the privilege of slapping hands with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, et al., as they start their home run trek. Chapman, the Yankees’ first-base coach, was an outstanding third baseman who played on two College World Series teams at State before enjoying a nice pro career (.286 average) that included one at-bat in The Show in 2003. He played his last game in 2006 and then became a manager and coach in the Yankees’ minor league chain. He joined the big club in 2022. Grisham belted 20 homers in 79 games for Biloxi in 2017-18 and hit nine this year for the Yankees, but the lefty hitter has yet to appear in this postseason. Freeman, who has pronounced himself a “100 percent go” for tonight’s Game 1 despite an ankle injury, played for the M-Braves in 2009; he hit .248 with two homers and 24 RBIs in 41 games. He made the big leagues in 2010 and is an eight-time All-Star and former MVP. Phillips did two stints in Pearl (2016 and ’17), appearing in 37 games as a reliever. He reached Atlanta in 2018 and was traded to Baltimore during that season. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in 12 postseason appearances over four years with the Dodgers. … Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss alum and Olive Branch resident, is on the umpiring crew for the Series and will be behind home plate for Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. A 25-year vet in MLB, Fletcher was behind the plate in Korea for Game 2 of the 2024 season when the Dodgers played San Diego. … Brent Rooker, MSU alum now with Oakland, will serve as a correspondent for MLB Network in Game 3 of the Series at Yankee Stadium, doing pre- and postgame interviews. P.S. In the previous 11 World Series matchups featuring the Dodgers and Yankees, the only one in which a Mississippian played any type of role was the 1941 meeting. Morton native Atley Donald, nicknamed Swampy, started Game 4 for the Yankees and stood to get the loss before Mickey Owen’s infamous ninth-inning passed ball allowed the Yankees to mount a winning rally en route to taking the Series 4-1. Right-hander Donald pitched eight years with the Yankees from 1938-45 and compiled a 65-33 record with a 3.52 ERA. He was a three-time world champion with the Bronx Bombers.

22 Oct

minor matters

Though Jake Mangum’s numbers weren’t — for whatever reason — enough to rate a call to the big leagues, they were certainly good enough to rate a spot on the all-Mississippi minor league All-Star team for 2024. The Mississippi State product led the Triple-A International League in batting at .317 with six homers, 56 RBIs and 20 steals in the Tampa Bay system. Pencil Mangum in as one of the outfielders, joined by two other Tampa Bay farmhands: ex-MSU standout Colton Ledbetter (.273, 16 homers, 34 bags at the High-Class A level) and Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel (.272, 11 homers, 66 RBIs and 45 steals at two levels, finishing in Double-A in the Rays’ chain after a trade from Baltimore). Behind the plate, former MSU standout Gavin Collins had a resurgent season at Triple-A Memphis (.264, nine homers, 35 RBIs) in the St. Louis organization. Former Ole Miss star Tim Elko is the pick at first base; he batted .289 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox. At second base, it’s minor league vet Hunter Stovall, an MSU alum who hit .271 with seven homers and 41 RBIs for Colorado’s Triple-A club. The shortstop is rising star Cooper Pratt, the former Gatorade player of the year from Magnolia Heights who batted .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 bags at two Class A levels in Milwaukee’s organization. (Pratt is likely to start 2025 at Double-A Biloxi.) R.J. Yeager, another former State standout, gets the nod at third base after batting .254 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs in Double-A in St. Louis’ system. Put ex-Mississippi College star Blaine Crim (.277, 20 homers, 86 RBIs for Texas’ Triple-A team) at DH. Justin Foscue, a former MSU standout who made the majors in 2024, would make a fine utility player; he hit .276 with nine homers in Triple-A for Texas in an injury-curtailed season. On the mound, Ole Miss alums Doug Nikhazy (7-4, 2.98 ERA, at Double-A and Triple-A for Cleveland) and Gunnar Hoglund (9-7, 3.44, in Double-A and Triple-A for Oakland) make for a fine lefty-righty combo. The closer: former MSU closer Landon Sims, who went 4-0 with nine holds, two saves, a 3.07 ERA and a bunch of punchouts at two A-ball levels in Arizona’s system. P.S. On the news front: Elko has been selected to the U.S. roster for the World Baseball Premier 12 tournament. Team USA begins play on Nov. 9 in Mexico. Also on the roster are former Mississippi Braves Drake Baldwin and Touki Toussaint, the latter an MLB veteran. … Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product Brandon Parker, who played for the M-Braves in 2024, has been released by Atlanta, and ex-USM standout Ben Ethridge (3.38 ERA in two A-ball seasons) was released by Minnesota. … Happy 45th birthday to Eli Whiteside, the New Albany native and Delta State alum who won a World Series ring as the backup catcher (to Buster Posey) with the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

12 Oct

take notice

Pegged by MLB Pipeline as one of the sleepers to watch in the Arizona Fall League, former Southern Miss standout Landon Harper registered an eye-opening performance on Friday. Pitching for Peoria, Harper tossed three scoreless innings in middle relief, allowing three hits and a walk with six strikeouts in his first AFL appearance. Harper isn’t on Atlanta’s list of Top 30 prospects, but the Meridian native’s showing for the Double-A Mississippi Braves this summer was impressive enough to earn a coveted fall league assignment. He posted a 1.41 ERA in 22 games, including five starts, and had a stretch of 14 straight appearances without allowing an earned run shortly after his late May promotion from A-ball. MLB Pipeline notes that command (of several pitches) is his best tool. He had 40 strikeouts and nine walks in 51 innings for the M-Braves and has walked just 27 batters in 161 1/3 pro innings. Harper is a Northeast Lauderdale High and Pearl River Community College alum who posted 12 saves for a 47-win USM team in 2022. The 6-foot-1 right-hander was drafted by Atlanta in the 14th round in ’22. … Other AFL “sleepers” with Mississippi ties include Ole Miss product Dylan DeLucia (Cleveland); ex-Mississippi State standout Jackson Fristoe (New York Yankees); and 2024 MSU alum David Mershon (Los Angeles Angels). P.S. Postseason flashback: On this date in 1980, ex-State star Del Unser scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning as Philadelphia beat Houston 8-7 in the deciding fifth game of a wild National League Championship Series that featured four extra-inning games. The Phillies would go on to win their first World Series against Kansas City.

10 Oct

postseason potpourri

A former Mississippi Braves player enjoyed a star turn for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday night. It wasn’t Freddie Freeman, who sat out the Dodgers’ stunning 8-0 win vs. San Diego with an ankle injury. It was Evan Phillips, who got four outs — against the biggest bats in the Padres’ lineup — and earned the win at Petco Park. The series is 2-2 heading back to Dodger Stadium on Friday. One of the eight pitchers LA deployed in Game 4, Phillips entered in the fifth inning of a 5-0 game with two on and two out and got Fernando Tatis Jr. to fly out. The 30-year-old right-hander then mowed down Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill in the sixth. Now in his fourth year with the Dodgers, Phillips has not allowed an earned run in nine postseason appearances. A former Atlanta draftee, Phillips pitched in Pearl in 2016 and ’17, posting modest numbers over 37 games in Double-A. The Braves traded him to Baltimore at the deadline in 2018. He signed with Tampa Bay in 2021 and was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers that summer. He has a 3.43 ERA and 45 saves in 243 MLB games. … The New York Mets, who eliminated Philadelphia in a Game 4 on Wednesday, might have a good luck charm in their dugout: first-year bench coach John Gibbons. Gibbons, a former big league manager, was a catcher for the Jackson Mets in 1982 — the Darryl Strawberry year — and ’83 and also played for the 1986 big league Mets. Of course, that was the last time New York won a World Series. (Gibbons didn’t play in the ’86 Series.) … Biloxi High product Colt Keith got his first postseason knock and scored a run in Detroit’s 3-0 win against Cleveland on Wednesday. The Tigers take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 tonight at Comerica Park. Rookie Keith is back in the lineup at second base, hitting fifth. … Ex-Mississippi State standout Adam Frazier made his first appearance of the ’24 postseason, got a hit and scored a run for Kansas City in a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. Frazier has been in the postseason each of the last three years with a different team each time; he is 6-for-31 in eight games.

07 Oct

tagging up

Colt Keith, the former state prep player of the year out of Biloxi High, doesn’t have a hit yet in his first MLB postseason, but he has had an impact for the upstart Detroit Tigers. The rookie second baseman, 0-for-6 so far, has walked five times (.455 OBP) and scored a run in the wild card win against Houston. The lefty hitter isn’t in the lineup for Game 2 today of the American League Division Series at Cleveland, which is starting left-hander Matthew Boyd, but expect Keith to get in the game at some point. The Guardians won Game 1 7-0. … Neither Hunter Renfroe nor fellow Mississippi State product Adam Frazier, both with Kansas City, played in Game 1 of the Kansas City-New York ALDS, won by the Yankees. Game 2 is tonight at Yankee Stadium. With the Yanks starting lefty Carlos Rodon, Renfroe figures to be in the lineup. … Andy Fletcher, the Ole Miss alum who lives in Olive Branch, is working the New York-Philadelphia NLDS, which is tied at 1-1. He reportedly missed 16 calls — getting a lot of unwanted attention — as the home plate umpire in Game 1, which the Mets won 6-2. He was manning the right-field line for the drama of Game 2, won by Philly 7-6. Brookhaven native Lance Barksdale is working the Kansas City-New York series. He was on the left-field line for Game 1. … The Arizona Fall League season starts tonight with Surprise playing Mesa. MSU alum Preston Johnson (Baltimore); Ole Miss product Houston Roth (Baltimore); UM’s Brandon Johnson (Kansas City); and ex-Rebel Dylan DeLucia (Cleveland) are on the Surprise roster, though not all may be active. Ex-MSU standout David Mershon (Los Angeles Angels) is on the Mesa roster. … In case you missed it, ex-State slugger Brent Rooker, who had a monstrous season for Oakland in 2024, reportedly has had elbow/forearm surgery but will be ready for spring training. … It’s cool to be a part of history, even if you’re on the “wrong” side of it. On this date in 2001, Vicksburg native John Thomson surrendered hit No. 3,000 to Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson on the final day of the regular season. Thomson was 63-85 in a 10-year MLB career and won 14 games for the 2004 Atlanta Braves. Also on this date, in 2013, Jackson native and former Ole Miss star Seth Smith homered for Oakland in an ALDS win against Detroit. It was the second of two postseason homers Smith hit in 18 career games dating back to his 2007 rookie year.

04 Oct

off to a wild start

There were crushing defeats in the MLB Wild Card Series. And then there was what happened to Milwaukee and former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams in a Game 3 on Thursday night. Williams – 14-of-15 in save opportunities with a 1.25 ERA in 22 games this season — surrendered the game-changing three-run homer to Pete Alonso in the ninth inning of the division-champ Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the wild-card New York Mets. The frenzied crowd at American Family Field, fired up by two Milwaukee bombs in the seventh, was crestfallen. Williams, a 2019 Biloxi alum whose “Airbender” changeup helped him win rookie of the year honors in 2020, and fellow former Shuckers Jackson Chourio (.455, two homers in the series), Sal Frelick (.364, Game 3 homer) and Garrett Mitchell (big Game 2 homer) are done. Among those celebrating for the Mets were former Mississippi Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson, the first-base coach, and former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons, the longtime MLB manager who is now the team’s bench coach. … Atlanta’s tumultuous and injury-plagued season ended Wednesday in San Diego, where M-Braves alum Max Fried, in perhaps his last Atlanta appearance, got whacked for six straight hits and five runs in the second inning of Game 2. Despite the efforts of ex-M-Braves star Michael Harris II (3-for-4 with a double and homer), the Braves could not recover and went down and out, 5-4. … Houston, another division champ playing at home, went out in two games to the surging Detroit Tigers. Former Shuckers ace Josh Hader faltered at a crucial time in Game 2 for the Astros, giving up a game-deciding three-run double in the eighth inning of the 5-2 defeat. Colt Keith, the rookie out of Biloxi High, and the amazing Tigers move on to face Cleveland (and ex-Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin) in the American League Division Series. … Baltimore, playing at home as the No. 3 seed in the AL, was swept by Kansas City. Former Mississippi State standout Jordan Westburg, an All-Star for the Orioles this season, is done, while the upstart Royals, with former Bulldogs Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier in tow, move on to play the New York Yankees in the ALDS. … Awaiting the Mets in the NLDS is Philadelphia and the raucous fans at Citizens Bank Park. Philly’s current roster includes ex-Shuckers standout Weston Wilson and M-Braves alum Kolby Allard, and Laurel native Bobby Dickerson is the team’s infield coach. The other NL semifinal matches two teams that have some history: San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers. On LA’s roster are former M-Braves Freddie Freeman and Evan Phillips. … All the division series openers are Saturday.

28 Sep

it’s party time

More Mississippians in the majors celebrated making the postseason on Friday night. In Detroit, former Biloxi High star Colt Keith and the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1 to claim an American League wild card berth, while in Atlanta, Mississippi State alums Hunter Renfroe, Adam Frazier and Chris Stratton and ex-Ole Miss standout James McArthur popped champagne as Kansas City clinched the final AL wild card despite a 3-0 loss to the Braves. Detroit, making the playoffs for the first time since 2014, has won six in a row and is on a 31-11 run. Manager A.J. Hinch mentioned the team’s walk-off 10-inning win over the New York Yankees in the Little League Classic back on Aug. 18 as a huge moment. Rookie Keith went 3-for-4 in that game, doubled and scored the game-tying run in the ninth inning. Keith is batting .261 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs; he won’t win rookie of the year but will get some votes. The Royals, who clinched their bid when collapsing Minnesota lost at home to Baltimore, are back in the postseason for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015. Renfroe, Frazier and Stratton, each of whom has postseason experience, were off-season additions to a club that rebounded from a 106-loss season in 2023. Stratton and McArthur are currently on the injured list. Already having punched postseason tickets in the AL are Southern Miss product Nick Sandlin (Cleveland), ex-MSU standout Jordan Westburg (Baltimore) and Ole Miss alum Grae Kessinger (Houston). P.S. The White Sox’s loss was their MLB-record 121st of the season. Don’t blame Ocean Springs High product Garrett Crochet for that one; the All-Star lefty threw four shutout innings at the Tigers before departing because of his pitch limit. … Atlanta’s win, fueled by former Mississippi Braves star Max Fried’s electrifying start, moved the Braves into a three-way tie with Arizona and the Mets in the National League wild card standings. Only two of the three will get in the playoffs. Stay tuned.