Tag Archives: Mississippi State

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.

27 Sep

one for the books

A wide range of emotions were on display Thursday at Oakland Coliseum. For J.T. Ginn, there was the thrill of his first major league win, which happened to coincide with the Oakland A’s final game at the place they’ve called home since 1968. Former Mississippi State star Ginn, making his eighth MLB appearance, took a shutout into the sixth inning and wound up being charged with two runs over 5 1/3 in the A’s 3-2 victory against Texas. He is 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He got a standing ovation when he left the mound. The game, broadcast on MLB Network, drew a crowd of 46,889, many no doubt angered that the team’s owner is moving the club — first to Sacramento, then to Las Vegas — but also saddened to see the proud franchise pull up roots. “Today there is crying in baseball,” read one sign. In the ninth, someone threw a smoke bomb on the field, causing a delay. Former MSU star Brent Rooker had two hits for the A’s, and fellow former Bulldogs slugger Nathaniel Lowe went 1-for-4 with an RBI for the Rangers. … Mississippians have some interesting history in the green-and-gold. Belzoni’s Herb Washington, the track star-turned-designated runner, won a World Series ring with the 1974 team, the last of the Swingin’ A’s three straight titles. Grenada native Dave Parker, in the twilight of his excellent career, was the DH on the 1989 Oakland club that won the Earthquake Series, the last of the A’s world championships. Chad Bradford, the ex-Southern Miss standout from Byram, pitched and MSU product Adam Piatt played some first base for the Moneyball A’s of 2002, made famous by the book and the movie. That 103-win team, which had a 20-game win streak, didn’t make it to the World Series. In 2021, Amory native and former Mississippi State standout Mitch Moreland played the final season of his outstanding career with the A’s. In 1981, Kelvin Moore became the first Jackson State product to reach the majors when he debuted for Oakland in the second half of that strike-interrupted split season. Baseball is losing something without a team in Oakland. P.S. In Thursday games that were meaningful for other reasons, Detroit and Kansas City maintained their cushion over Minnesota in the American League wild card standings. Only two of the three will make the playoffs. Colt Keith, the rookie out of Biloxi High, went 2-for-4 with a couple of RBIs as the Tigers beat Tampa Bay 4-3, their fifth straight win and 30th in 41 games. Ex-MSU standout Adam Frazier delivered a pinch two-run knock in the ninth inning to propel the Royals to their third straight victory, 7-4 over Washington. Hunter Renfroe, another State alum, belted his 14th homer for KC.

26 Sep

just stuff

The good news for the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday: They beat Miami 8-3 to keep pace in the American League wild card chase, 2 games back of sizzling-hot Detroit and Kansas City. The bad news: Former Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner, one of the Twins’ top power threats, went on the injured list with an oblique injury. “It sucks. Definitely not something I foresaw happening, so not ideal,” Wallner said in a Sports Illustrated story. Wallner has 13 homers and a .523 slugging percentage in 75 games. … Kansas City, which has won two straight after a seven-game skid, is missing ex-Mississippi State star Chris Stratton and Ole Miss alum James McArthur, both on the IL, from its bullpen. McArthur won’t pitch again in 2024. … J.T. Ginn, rookie righty out of MSU, will get the dubious honor of starting today in the A’s final game at Oakland Coliseum, their home since 1968. They’ll play in Sacramento next season. Ginn is 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA in seven MLB games. He’ll face a Texas club that suits up ex-MSU stars Nathaniel Lowe and Justin Foscue. … MSU alum Eric Cerantola, a Kansas City prospect, pitched the last two innings, allowing one unearned run, as Omaha beat Columbus 5-4 in 11 innings to even the International League Championship Series at 1-all. The deciding game is tonight in Omaha. … Former State and Jackson Prep star Jake Mangum won the IL batting title with a .317 average. The fifth-year pro, 28, finished with six homers, 56 RBIs and 20 steals for Durham in the Tampa Bay organization. … On the occasion of Arkansas winning the 2024 Texas League crown on Wednesday night, here’s a tip of the cap to the 1984 TL champion Jackson Mets and the 1994 Jackson Generals, who reached the finals in dramatic fashion. The ’84 JaxMets, featuring the likes of Lenny Dykstra, Billy Beane and Randy Myers, dominated the TL East in the regular season and beat Beaumont for the pennant in six games. The ’94 Generals, the defending league champs, won the TL East playoffs in one of Smith-Wills Stadium’s most memorable games. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth of the decisive Game 5, the Generals got back-to-back home runs from Tom Nevers and Jeff Ball to stun rival Shreveport 2-1. The Gens, whose best player was Bobby Abreu, lost in the TL Championship Series.

25 Sep

fall finishers

In the 2024 Arizona Fall League, Mississippi baseball aficionados might want to pay particular attention to the Peoria Javelinas. Former Southern Miss standouts Landon Harper and Justin Storm and Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman will play in Peoria, which launches its season on Oct. 8. There are quite a few Mississippians headed for the AFL, sort of a finishing school for minor league prospects from all 30 MLB organizations. Harper, who pitched for the Double-A Mississippi Braves this season, is among the Atlanta contingent headed for the desert. Storm and Alderman reached the Double-A level in the Miami system. Harper, from Meridian, posted a 1.41 ERA over 22 appearances in Mississippi. Decatur native Alderman, the 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner, batted .242 with eight home runs, playing at four levels in the Marlins’ chain. Storm, out of Madison Central High, put up a 1.97 ERA at three levels in 2024. One of the more interesting names on an AFL team is Tim Elko, the ex-Ole Miss slugger now in the Chicago White Sox’s system; he reached Triple-A this year but is not ranked among the team’s Top 30 prospects. He’ll play for Glendale. Others making AFL rosters: Mississippi State alum Preston Johnson (Baltimore); Ole Miss product Houston Roth (Baltimore); UM’s Brandon Johnson (Kansas City); and ex-Rebel Dylan DeLucia (Cleveland), all with Surprise. MSU product Jackson Fristoe (New York Yankees) is going to Salt River; UM’s Derek Diamond (Pittsburgh) to Scottsdale; and MSU’s David Mershon (Los Angeles Angels) to Mesa. DeLucia, pitching hero of Ole Miss’ 2022 national title team, has been limited by injury to 13 pro appearances, all this season. Infielder Mershon, a 2024 draftee, debuted in Double-A this summer.

23 Sep

on center stage

The spotlight is a little brighter in the postseason, and Jacob Gonzalez is showing out in the Southern League playoffs. The ex-Ole Miss standout went 3-for-5 Sunday, including a three-run double that broke the game open in the seventh inning, as Birmingham beat Montgomery 7-2 in the opener of the SL Championship Series. Gonzalez, a lefty-swinging shortstop, is batting .538 with a homer, five RBIs and two steals in four postseason games for the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A club. The 15th overall pick ($3.9 million signing bonus) in the 2023 draft, Gonzalez was promoted from High-Class A Winston-Salem in late May and started hot for Birmingham before cooling down to a .225 average. On the year, he batted .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 steals. He’s considered a good glove, but speculation is he’ll eventually move off shortstop. The California native had a stellar career at Ole Miss, helping the Rebels win the 2022 College World Series. Game 2 of the best-of-3 title series is Tuesday in Birmingham. … In the Double-A Eastern League Championship Series, Erie beat Somerset 9-5 in Game 1. Former Mississippi State product Colby White is a bullpen piece for Somerset (New York Yankees affiliate) and ex-William Carey star Patrick Lee a reserve infielder for Erie (Detroit). Neither played in the opener. … The Triple-A postseason begins on Tuesday. Ole Miss alum Doug Nikhazy pitches for Columbus (Cleveland) and MSU product Eric Cerantola for Omaha (Kansas City), who meet in the International League title series. Former State standout Konnor Pilkington pitches for Reno (Arizona), which takes on Sugar Land for the Pacific Coast League crown. P.S. In MLB, All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg returned to Baltimore’s lineup on Sunday, the ex-MSU star going 1-for-4 with an RBI in a loss to surging Detroit. … Emblematic of Kansas City’s struggles, MSU product Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts as the Royals lost for the seventh straight time, 2-0 to San Francisco. The Royals managed three hits and fanned 13 times as they fell into a tie for the second American League wild card with Detroit. Renfroe, who has 13 homers, is in a 1-for-21 slump in his last seven games. … Southern Miss alum Matt Wallner had a hit in each game but couldn’t prevent Minnesota from being swept in a twinbill by Boston (8-1 and 9-3) and tumbling out of a wild card berth in the AL. … On Sept. 23, 2009, former Shannon High and Jackson State standout Dave Clark notched his first win as interim manager for Houston, which beat St. Louis 3-0. A longtime big league slugger and current first-base coach for the Astros, Clark went 4-9 in his lone managerial stint.