Tag Archives: MLB Pipeline

09 Oct

quick pitches

Drew Pomeranz, the veteran left-hander out of Ole Miss, has thrown four hitless innings for the Chicago Cubs in four postseason outings, including a stint in Wednesday’s win against Milwaukee at Wrigley Field. Pomeranz worked a 1-2-3 fifth and got the W as the Cubs stayed alive with a 4-3 victory in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. … Brookhaven native Lance Barksdale was the first-base umpire for that NLDS game and if the normal rotation holds, he’ll be behind the plate for tonight’s Game 4. … Colt Keith, coming back from an injury, has started each game at DH for Detroit in the American League Division Series, but the ex-Biloxi High star is just 1-for-10 with a walk. He went 0-for-4 in Wednesday’s 9-3 victory over Seattle, which forces a decisive Game 5 on Friday. … Devin Williams, the Biloxi Shuckers alum, yielded a crushing two-out hit — on a fastball, not his signature changeup — that scored two inherited runners in the seventh inning of the New York Yankees’ season-ending 5-2 loss to Toronto in their ALDS. Trent Grisham, another former Shuckers star and a big bat for the Yanks all season, went 0-for-5 in Wednesday’s Game 4 loss and finished 2-for-17 in the series. … Former Mississippi State righty Tyson Hardin, a second-year pro, was named Milwaukee’s pitching prospect of the year by MLB Pipeline. The Brewers’ No. 20 prospect, converted from reliever this year, Hardin went 6-5 with a 2.72 ERA in 21 starts between High-Class A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi this season. Ex-Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin, the top prospect in the minors, was named Pittsburgh’s hitting prospect of the year. … Jalen Miller, a member of the Mississippi Braves’ 2021 league championship club, won another title this season with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League. Miller was the MVP of the championship series, batting .474 in the four games, and also earned postseason All-Star recognition and All-Defensive Team honors at second base. He hit .297 with 19 homers and 80 RBIs on the year. Of note: Miller is among the handful of players to hit a homer over the batter’s eye in center field at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. … The Mississippi Mud Monsters will open their 2026 season on May 7 at Trustmark Park against the Gateway Grizzlies, first game of a three-game set. The indy club’s second season will feature 51 home games on the new artificial surface at Trustmark. The club went 49-47 in its inaugural season in the Frontier League.

30 Sep

just rewards

Konnor Griffin reeled in another player of the year honor on Monday, earning the Minor League Baseball Hitting Prospect of the Year Award from mlb.com. Former Jackson Prep star Griffin, the overall No. 1-ranked prospect, also won Baseball America’s POY award. (And, of course, he was the Gatorade state and national player of the year in high school in 2024.) In his first season in the Pittsburgh system, Griffin batted .333 with 21 homers, 65 steals and a .941 OPS across three levels, reaching Double-A. MLB Pipeline called his performance “the most impressive professional debut in recent memory.” He also was named the shortstop on the Prospect Team of the Year. Former Mississippi Braves reliever Hayden Harris, who reached the majors with Atlanta, was a pegged as a first-team pitcher on that squad, and Jesus Made, who played for Biloxi this season, was the second-team shortstop. … Griffin is an obvious choice for the all-Mississippi minor league All-Star team for 2025. Here’s the rest (with their organization):
Catcher: Chuckie Robinson* (Southern Miss), Los Angeles Angels/Dodgers/Atlanta
First base: Tim Elko* (Ole Miss), Chicago White Sox
Second base: Justin Foscue* (Mississippi State), Texas
Shortstop: Griffin
Third base: Blaze Jordan (DeSoto Central HS), Boston/St. Louis
Outfield:
Kemp Alderman (UM), Miami
Matthew Etzel (USM) Tampa Bay/Miami
Braden Montgomery (Madison Central HS), White Sox
DH: Blaine Crim* (Mississippi College), Texas/Colorado
Starting pitchers:
Khal Stephen (MSU), Toronto/Cleveland
Hurston Waldrep* (USM), Atlanta
Jurrangelo Cijntje (MSU), Seattle
K.C. Hunt (MSU), Milwaukee
Relievers:
Landon Sims (MSU), Arizona
Landon Tompkins (Hinds Community College), Pittsburgh
Justin Storm (USM), Miami
*Played in the big leagues
P.S. Marcus Thames, the Louisville native and ex-big leaguer, won’t be retained as hitting coach by the Chicago White Sox. The veteran coach had been in that post for two years, both of which saw the ChiSox lose 100 games. … Eric Booth Jr. of Oak Grove High and Kevin Roberts Jr. of Jackson Prep are ranked No. 7 and No. 12 on MLB Pipeline’s new list of the top 20 prep players in the 2026 MLB draft. Outfielder Booth, son of the former Southern Miss football star, is a Vanderbilt commit. Roberts, a 6-foot-5, 217-pound right-hander/outfielder, is committed to Florida.

24 Sep

are you not entertained?

On a sensational Tuesday night when the New York Yankees and Seattle clinched playoff berths; Cleveland caught collapsing Detroit; the desperate Mets rallied past the Chicago Cubs; Houston lost its fourth straight; and the Los Angeles Dodgers blew a win for Shohei Ohtani against plucky Arizona, several Mississippians in pro ball deserved attention:
Nathaniel Lowe: The ex-Mississippi State star produced two hits, two walks, two RBIs and a run in Boston’s 4-1 win at Toronto. The Red Sox kept their grip on the second American League wild card and remained in the hunt for the AL East title. Lowe is batting .286 with two homers, 15 RBIs and 14 runs in 29 games since the Red Sox signed him as a free agent following his release by Washington.
Garrett Crochet: The Ocean Springs native gets the ball for Boston tonight against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Crochet, a strong Cy Young Award candidate, is 17-5 with a 2.69 ERA in his first season with the Red Sox, who gave the big left-hander a bunch of money to do what he’s doing.
Hurston Waldrep: The Southern Miss alum improved to 6-1 in 10 appearances for Atlanta, which won for the 10th straight time by beating Washington 3-2. Rookie Waldrep pitched around nine baserunners, allowing just one run in six innings and trimming his ERA to 2.88. (Former Mississippi Braves Ronald Acuna and Michael Harris homered for Atlanta, Harris hitting two, one off ex-MSU star Konnor Pilkington.)
Calvin Harris: The former Ole Miss catcher went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs to help Birmingham beat Montgomery 7-3 and force a decisive Game 3 in the Double-A Southern League Championship Series. Harris hit .266 with three homers and 38 RBIs in his third year in the Chicago White Sox’s organization. (MSU alum Colton Ledbetter went 0-for-5 for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate.)
Kemp Alderman: The ex-Ole Miss slugger and 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner was named to the Southern League postseason All-Star team by MLB Pipeline. The Decatur native batted .282 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs for Miami’s Pensacola club and finished the season in Triple-A, where he belted seven more homers. (Incidentally, he went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in Jacksonville’s 5-4 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the opener of the International League Championship Series.)

12 Aug

prospecting

Major league clubs that went prospecting in Mississippi in the July draft turned up some intriguing talent. Nine players picked in this year’s draft have landed on the Top 30 prospect list in their respective organizations; MLB Pipeline has updated its rankings to include new draftees. JoJo Parker, drafted eighth overall out of Purvis High, is No. 2 on Toronto’s list, and Southern Miss alum Jake Cook (third round) checks in as the Blue Jays’ No. 11. J.B. Middleton, the 2025 Ferriss Trophy winner at USM and a second-round pick, is No. 6 on Colorado’s chart. Landon Harmon, former East Union High ace and a third-round pick, is No. 6 on Washington’s list, and ex-Lewisburg High star Talon Haley, a 12th-rounder, was slotted in at No. 14 on the Los Angeles Angels’ list. Mason Morris, Luke Hill, Nick Monistere and Pico Kohn also cracked the new Top 30s. … A pair of first-rounders from the 2024 draft, Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin and Madison Central alum Braden Montgomery, are ranked No. 1 in the Pittsburgh and Chicago White Sox systems, respectively. Griffin is the overall No. 1 minor league prospect. Cooper Pratt, a 2023 draftee out of Magnolia Heights, is up to No. 3 on Milwaukee’s chart. Dakota Jordan, a Jackson Academy and Mississippi State product drafted in 2024, remained No. 6 in San Francisco’s system. … Of note: Liam Doyle, who pitched at Ole Miss before transferring to Tennessee, is ranked second on St. Louis’ list; he was the fifth overall pick in July. P.S. A pair of Mississippi high school products went to the bump as starters in the big leagues on Monday. Only one got a good result. Will Warren (Jackson Prep) threw 6 2/3 strong innings for the New York Yankees to beat Minnesota 6-2; Warren is 7-5 with a 4.34 ERA. Garrett Crochet (Ocean Springs) was pulled after four innings — his shortest stint of the year — and took a loss as Boston fell to Houston 7-6. Crochet (13-5, 2.48) yielded a season-high five runs. … Ex-MSU standout Adam Frazier, a trade acquisition last month by Kansas City, went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the Royals’ 7-4 win against Washington on Monday and is batting .333 with nine RBIs and eight runs in 18 games for his new club. K.C. is 59-60 and hanging around in the American League wild card battle.

25 Jul

reshuffling the deck

The jump to No. 1 overall prospect by Konnor Griffin was the lead story Thursday out of MLB Pipeline’s updated rankings. For the Mississippi baseball aficionado, one of the more interesting sidebars was the return of Blaze Jordan to Boston’s Top 30 list. The former DeSoto Central High star and state Gatorade player of the year is ranked No. 17 on the Red Sox’s chart. Once ranked as high as No. 6 in the system, Jordan, still only 22, had dropped from the Top 30 in the off-season. His return is testament to the big year he has having. Currently at Triple-A Worcester, he is batting .288 with five homers and 22 RBIs. The corner infielder — 6 feet, 220 pounds — has hit safely in 12 of his last 15 games. Overall in 2025, including time in Double-A, Jordan is at .304 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs. He may be rediscovering the power tool that made him a third-round draft pick in 2020. From the MLB Pipeline scouting report: “He’s making a higher quality of contact this year by being more judicious about what pitches he offers at, giving hope that he could turn into a .250 hitter with 20 homers annually at the big league level.” P.S. Milwaukee’s potent Top 30 list includes three Mississippi products: No. 4 Cooper Pratt, No. 20 Tyson Hardin and No. 26 K.C. Hunt. All are currently at Double-A Biloxi. … Griffin, the former Jackson Prep standout, put up a four-hit game and stole two bases for High-Class A Greensboro on Thursday; he is batting .331 overall with 13 homers and 44 bags in Pittsburgh’s system. … Southern Miss alum Chuckie Robinson had a four-hit game for Triple-A Oklahoma City (Los Angeles Dodgers); the veteran catcher, who has nine hits in his last three games, raised his average to .266. … Adam Chamblee has been named the new coach at Holmes Community College. The Winona native, who played at West Alabama, previously was head coach at Copiah-Lincoln CC.

24 Jul

hot topics

Landon Harmon, the touted right-hander from East Union High, has signed with the Washington Nationals for $2.5 million, according to several reports. He was taken in the third round, 80th overall; the slot value for that pick was $1.01M, per mlb.com. His pitch repertoire will need some polish, according to Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report: “While Harmon’s fastball is one the better pitches in this class, his secondaries need more refinement.” Harmon was a Mississippi State signee and is the second high-profile MSU recruit to sign with an MLB club, joining eighth overall pick JoJo Parker from Purvis. Parker’s twin brother Jacob also was drafted (19th round) but has chosen to attend MSU. All told, five prep players from the state were drafted this year. Talon Haley (12th round), a pitcher from Lewisburg, signed with the Los Angeles Angels, and Jay McQueen (20th round), an outfielder from Brandon, reportedly has inked with Texas, though that has not been confirmed on mlb.com. … Konnor Griffin, the No. 9 overall pick in 2024 out of Jackson Prep, is rated the No. 1 overall prospect in the minors in MLB Pipeline’s updated Top 100 rankings. He entered his first pro season ranked No. 43; he is batting .324 with 13 homers and 42 steals at two levels of A-ball in Pittsburgh’s organization. Braden Montgomery (Madison Central alum) is No. 27, Cooper Pratt (Magnolia Heights) No. 38 and Jurrangelo Cijntje (MSU) No. 71. … MSU is ranked No. 4 in Baseball America’s first 2026 college poll. The magazine’s story hails the arrival of new coach Brian O’Connor and several portal additions plus the return of Ace Reese, SEC newcomer of the year in 2025. Ole Miss is No. 24, thanks in part to the return of Judd Utermark, Austin Fawley and Hunter Elliott.

13 Jul

draft watch

Four players from Mississippi schools were picked on Day 1 in the 2024 MLB draft, two among the first 15 picks. Impressive, but … if MLB Pipeline’s current rankings mean anything, there are five from state schools who could go today when the 2025 draft begins (5 p.m., MLB Network). Rounds 1-3 cover 105 picks, including supplementals. MLB Pipeline has five state products ranked in the top 98. Purvis High’s JoJo Parker is the No. 9 prospect, Southern Miss’ J.B. Middleton No. 41, East Union High’s Landon Harmon No. 48, Lewisburg High’s Talon Haley No. 91 and Ole Miss’ Luke Hill No. 98. … The most intrigue surrounds Parker and how high he might go. A lefty-hitting shortstop and the state’s Gatorade player of the year, he is a consensus first-round talent, buoyed mainly by his hit tool. Baseball America has him at No. 10. Middleton rode a sinker/slider combo to a 10-1 record, first-team All-America recognition and the state’s Ferriss Trophy. MLB Pipeline notes that Middleton could become the highest-drafted pitcher from USM; Brandon Parker went 55th overall in 1997. Harmon, dominant in high school, goes 6 feet 5 and throws 99. Haley, a lefty and a Vanderbilt commit, has overcome cancer and arm surgeries; he had an 0.55 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 38 innings this season, per MaxPreps. Hill, an infielder and second-team All-SEC pick this season, hit .336 with eight homers and 18 steals. … Four other state players are ranked in the top 122 by MLB Pipeline: USM’s Jake Cook, whose speed turned heads in the MLB Combine; JoJo Parker’s twin Jacob, whose raw power stands out; Ole Miss’ 6-4, 225-pound right-hander Mason Morris; and Mississippi State’s crafty lefty Pico Kohn. (Of note: Former Ole Miss players Liam Doyle, a lefty, and Andrew Fischer, a third baseman, both of whom played at Tennessee this past year, are also regarded as first-round prospects. Doyle is one of the hardest throwers in the draft.) … Last year, Konnor Griffin was the ninth overall pick out of Jackson Prep and Mississippi State’s Jurrangelo Cijntje went 15th. MSU’s Khal Stephen was picked in the second round and Nate Dohm in the third, No. 84 overall. In addition, Braden Montgomery, a Madison Central grad, was picked 12th overall out of Texas A&M. Five players from state schools went in Rounds 4-9 and 21 were drafted overall in 2024. … The Athletic/New York Times singles out Cook and Ole Miss lefty Hunter Elliott as players outside its top 100 who might go higher than expected. P.S. Tens were wild for Mississippians in MLB on Saturday: 10 wins for Garrett Crochet, 10 homers for Matt Wallner and 10 strikeouts for Brandon Woodruff. Crochet, from Ocean Springs, threw a three-hit, nine-strikeout shutout — his first complete game — for his 10th win for surging Boston, which beat Tampa Bay for its ninth straight win. (Props to Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum, who went 0-for-4 but did not punch out for the Rays.) Ex-Southern Miss star Wallner hit his 10th homer — fourth in 14 games — as resurgent Minnesota drilled Pittsburgh 12-4 for its seventh win in nine games. Woodruff, former MSU standout from Wheeler, struck out 10 batters in 4 1/3 innings in just his second start of the year for Milwaukee, which beat Washington 6-5 for its sixth straight victory. … In case you missed it in Saturday’s All-Star Futures game, Griffin went 1-for-2 with an HBP (his right hand reportedly is OK); Montgomery was 0-for-3 with an RBI; and Cijntje, pitching both righty and lefty, struck out two and yielded an infield hit in his one inning.

02 Jul

a few shining moments

One small hit for Texas, one giant knock for Justin Foscue. The Mississippi State product snapped an 0-for-44 drought with a two-run double Tuesday night in the Rangers’ 10-2 win against visiting Baltimore. Foscue, a former first-round pick by the Rangers in 2020, has been up-and-down from Triple-A — where his numbers were good — the past two seasons. He had two hits early in 2024 but nothing since until Tuesday. After delivering the pinch-hit two-bagger in the eighth inning — and appearing to breathe a big sigh of relief upon reaching second base — he is now 1-for-6 in 2025. The 0-for-44 was a Rangers record. … Meanwhile, in Miami, ex-Ole Miss star Nick Fortes responded to a bit of disrespect from Minnesota’s staff by delivering a run-scoring hit in the eighth inning of the Marlins’ 2-0 victory, their eighth straight. The Twins intentionally walked Otto Lopez with two outs and a runner at third to pitch to Fortes, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement at catcher. He smacked a single to right field to cap the Miami scoring. Fortes is batting .243 with 10 RBIs. The Marlins moved to 38-45, a half-game ahead of Atlanta in third place in the National League East. … On Canada Day in Toronto, former Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin registered his fourth hold of 2025 with a scoreless inning in the Blue Jays’ big 12-5 win over the New York Yankees. It was a 4-2 game when Sandlin entered in the sixth; he got a strikeout and, after a hit, a double-play ball, trimming his ERA to 1.98 in 16 appearances. Toronto (47-38) moved to within a game of the first-place Yankees (48-37) in the wild American League East. Tampa Bay, which lost to the A’s on Tuesday, is 1.5 games back at 47-39. … At Pittsburgh, ex-MSU star Adam Frazier delivered a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning that moved the eventual winning run to third base in the Pirates’ 1-0 win over St. Louis. Frazier’s clutch hit came off Cardinals closer Phil Maton and raised his average to .256. P.S. In MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 minor league prospect rankings, Konnor Griffin jumped to No. 13, Braden Montgomery is 32, Cooper Pratt 44 and Jurrangelo Cijntje 79. Griffin, Montgomery and Cijntje are headed to the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta next week. Pratt played in the game in 2024.

30 Jun

future (and current) stars

When the stars come out on July 12 at Truist Park in Atlanta, Konnor Griffin, Braden Montgomery and Jurrangelo Cijntje will be among them. The three Mississippi products were named to the rosters for the All-Star Futures Game, a showcase event for some of the game’s top prospects. Griffin, the ex-Jackson Prep star, is Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect and the No. 31 overall, per MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop, a first-year pro, is batting .343 (.412 OBP) with 12 homers, 48 RBIs and 37 steals over two levels of Class A ball. Montgomery, a Madison Central High alum who played three years of college ball, is also in his first pro season, batting .274 (.352 OBP) with 10 homers and 49 RBIs over two levels of A-ball. The switch-hitting outfielder is the No. 4 prospect (32 overall) in the Chicago White Sox’s chain. Cijntje, the switch-pitcher out of Mississippi State, is 4-4 with a 4.88 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings in his pro debut at High-A in Seattle’s system. He is the Mariners’ No. 8 (84 overall). Former Atlanta Braves players will make up the on-field staff for the two teams. Chipper Jones will manage the National League squad, Marquis Grissom the AL team. Former Jackson State star Marvin Freeman is a coach on the AL staff. The game will be televised by MLB Network at 3 p.m. CDT. P.S. Dakota Jordan, another 2024 draftee from MSU (where he was the Ferriss Trophy winner last year), had a six-RBI game on Sunday for Low-A San Jose in the San Francisco system. Jordan, former Jackson Academy star, is batting .309 with six homers and 50 RBIs, tops in the California League. … Looking ahead to the 2025 MLB draft, set to start July 13, MLB Pipeline recently rated Southern Miss’ Jake Cook as the fastest runner in the 2025 class with an 80 scouting grade. A first-year starter as a redshirt sophomore for USM, the Madison Central alum played a mean center field and batted .350 (with just three steals). He goes 6 feet 3, 185 pounds. Lefty Liam Doyle, who pitched at Ole Miss in 2024 (5.73 ERA, 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings) before transferring to Tennessee, was rated as having the best fastball, a 75 on the 20-80 scale.

05 Jun

charging rapidly …

After enduring a curious power outage in the month of May, Kemp Alderman is starting to light it up again at Double-A Pensacola. The former Ole Miss star from Decatur extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his sixth homer of the season on Wednesday night against Columbus. After going homerless in 26 games in May, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound slugger — the No. 10-rated prospect in Miami’s organization — has gone deep in two of three games this month. His average had dipped to .238 before his current hit streak began. He is up to .282 with 24 RBIs and 13 steals in 50 games all told. In a recent Baseball America article, Alderman said one of his goals this season was a 20-homer, 20-steal season. He might have a shot. He isn’t known for speed, really, but his raw power is unquestioned. In the 2024 Arizona Fall League, he hit a 119.5 mph home run, the hardest hit ball in that elite league last year. He smacked six homers in just nine games there after hitting eight in an injury-shortened (77 games) 2024 season spent at four levels of the minors. In 2023, Alderman put up one of the best seasons in Ole Miss history, batting .376 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs, winning the Ferriss Trophy and earning second-team All-America honors. Miami drafted him in the second round, 47th overall, that summer. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report hails Alderman’s power tool but notes that “he’s prone to chasing all types of pitches out of the zone.” Alderman told Baseball America that’s something he’s working to improve on in 2025. He has struck out 39 times (with 19 walks) in 181 at-bats with an on-base percentage of .348. P.S. DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan, also renowned for his power (see previous post), hit a homer Wednesday in his second game at Triple-A Worcester and now has 50 in his pro career in the Boston system. He’s not quite ready for The Show, but Red Sox fans should note: Jordan, 22, can play first base.