Tag Archives: MLB

24 Jul

on your mark …

From a Mississippi perspective, there is much to absorb today on Opening Day Take 2 of the 2020 season. Brandon Woodruff goes to the bump for Milwaukee, while Lance Lynn starts for Texas in the first game at Globe Life Field. Former Mississippi Braves Mike Soroka (Atlanta) and Charlie Morton (Tampa Bay) also drew Game 1 assignments. Austin Riley makes his first Opening Day appearance for the Braves, starting at third base. Faces in new places include Corey Dickerson with Miami, Jarrod Dyson in Pittsburgh, Hunter Renfroe in Tampa Bay, Kendall Graveman with Seattle, Mike Mayers with the Los Angeles Angels and Drew Pomeranz in San Diego, where the peripatetic lefty actually has been before. Anthony Alford and Jacob Waguespack made the roster for the team with no home, the Toronto Blue Jays. Billy Hamilton is now with San Francisco and Brian Dozier with the New York Mets (as of Wednesday), but neither made the Game 1 roster. Bobby Wahl, who made Milwaukee’s roster, was in the team’s system in 2019 but down most of the year with an injury, so he has yet to make his Brewers debut. Cody Reed, who made just three big league appearances in 2019, is on Cincinnati’s 30-man roster. Cody Carroll, who didn’t get an MLB look in an injury-marred 2019, made Baltimore’s roster. Perhaps no player appreciates being back in a big league unie more than Graveman, the former Mississippi State star who last pitched in the majors more than two years ago. He said in a recent mlb.com piece that he’ll likely get emotional when he makes his first start next week. He also said he’ll miss the crowds: “To me, that interaction with a fan on a daily basis, giving a ball to a 10-year-old kid at his first game or whatever it may be, kids are going to remember that. That’s the thing I’ll miss the most. And the electricity the fans bring. So it’ll be different.” Yes, it will — in many ways.

23 Jul

support staff

As recently as 2018, there were seven managers with Mississippi ties running games in the big leagues. As the 2020 season finally opens, there are but two left: Ex-Mississippi Braves manager Brian Snitker in Atlanta and former Jackson Mets infielder Ron Gardenhire in Detroit. State-connected coaches on MLB staffs are a bit more plentiful, and the list includes one making a special debut on the big stage: Antoan Richardson. The former M-Braves outfielder, who spent parts of 2010 and ’11 in Pearl, is the first-base coach for San Francisco, having been added to new manager Gabe Kapler’s crew in January. Richardson is the first native of the Bahamas to coach in the majors. He also made a name for himself as a player in 2014, when he scored the game-winning run on Derek Jeter’s walk-off hit in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium. Other connected coaches: Louisville native and ex-East Central Community College star Marcus Thames is again the hitting coach for the New York Yankees. … Former Jackson Generals hitting coach Dave Hudgens – the Houston Astros’ hitting coach during the scandalized 2017 season — is the bench coach for Toronto. … Gardenhire’s Detroit staff includes JaxMets alum Rick Anderson as pitching coach and Jackson State product Dave Clark as first-base coach. … Al Pedrique, a fan favorite as a JaxMets shortstop in the early 1980s, is the third-base coach in Oakland. … Ole Miss alum Mickey Callaway, manager of the New York Mets in 2018-19, is now the pitching coach under Joe Maddon with the Los Angeles Angels. … JaxMets alum Tim Bogar returns as first-base coach for World Series champ Washington. … Marty Reed, a former M-Braves pitching coach, is the bullpen coach in Atlanta. … Ex-M-Braves standout Eric Duncan is now an assistant hitting coach in Miami. … Chris Young, a Mississippi State product from Biloxi who was Philadelphia’s pitching coach in 2019, is now bullpen coach for the Chicago Cubs. … Alan Zinter, a former JaxMets catcher, is the new hitting coach in Cincinnati. … Former Biloxi Shuckers pitching coach Chris Hook new fills that role in Milwaukee. … Colorado’s staff includes a pair of JaxMets alums: Dave Magadan is the hitting coach and Ron Gideon the first-base coach. … Laurel native and veteran big league coach Bobby Dickerson is in his first year as bench/infield coach in San Diego.

22 Jul

another chance

Robinson Cano is the New York Mets’ starting second baseman, but there may be playing time there in 2020 for Brian Dozier, who signed a minor league deal with the club today, presumably to back up Cano. Dozier, the former Southern Miss star from Fulton, was released by San Diego two weeks ago after being left off their summer camp 60-man roster. Dozier, 33, hit .238 with 20 home runs last year for World Series champ Washington but played little in the postseason. Though it seems very unlikely Dozier would make the 30-man active roster for the Mets’ Friday opener against Atlanta, his chance may come. Cano, an eight-time All-Star, is 37 and on the decline. The lefty hitter batted a career-low .256 with 13 homers in 107 games for the Mets in 2019, and he struggled in particular against left-handers. Dozier is right-handed hitter who has 192 career homers and a Gold Glove on his resume. He had signed a minors deal with the Padres in the off-season and spent spring training with them. He began his eight-year MLB career with Minnesota in 2012.

20 Jul

tight job market

The competition is stiff for jobs in the New York Yankees’ bullpen, but Jonathan Holder is holding his own. Former Mississippi State and Gulfport High star Holder worked a clean inning against the Mets on Sunday night, his fifth scoreless appearance in exhibition play dating back to spring training. The 27-year-old right-hander has allowed two hits and no walks with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. This could be a pivotal year for Holder, now in his seventh pro season. After contributing solid stuff in the Bronx in 2017 and ’18, he took some lumps last year and wound up being shipped out to the minors in mid-summer. He returned and ultimately finished with a 6.31 ERA, roughly double his number from 2018. Holder would seem to be a safe bet to make the Yankees’ 30-man opening roster, filling a middle relief role. But jobs will be hard to keep when that roster gets trimmed, first to 28, then 26. P.S. Ex-Petal High standout Demarcus Evans was sent to Texas’ alternate training site on Sunday, meaning he won’t make the roster for the Rangers’ opener. Evans, 23, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound right-hander, pitched in high-A and Double-A ball in 2019, putting up a 0.90 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 60 innings. His big league debut can’t be far off. … Also, Ole Miss product Henri Lartigue, a catcher, was removed from Philadelphia’s 60-man list of eligible players and is no longer in camp.

17 Jul

big league chew

Having passed a physical on Thursday, Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton made an appearance at San Francisco’s summer camp, but it appears unlikely he’ll be active for the Giants’ opener next week. “I don’t see that as a realistic expectation right now,” manager Gabe Kapler said in a San Jose Mercury News story. Hamilton, who could play a valuable role on defense and as a pinch runner, is with the Giants on a minor league deal. The veteran outfielder was placed on the injured list last week for undisclosed reasons. … The Boston Red Sox have formally signed DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan, their third-round draft pick. Jordan, 17, received a reported $1.75 million bonus, much higher than the slot value of $667,900 for the 89th pick. … If Freddie Freeman, currently on the COVID-19 injured list, is unable to answer the starting bell for Atlanta, ex-DeSoto Central star Austin Riley appears to be the leading candidate to man first base. Riley made six appearances (three starts) at first last season as a rookie, when he hit 18 homers in 80 games. … Mississippi State alum Brandon Woodruff has displayed lights-out stuff in Milwaukee’s camp. “I’ve had probably seven to eight at-bats against him,” Brewers outfielder Ben Gamel told mlb.com. “His fastball is just different. He’s got a different gear to him. And me, just playing behind him, his changeup’s filthy.” Woodruff struck out Christian Yelich three times in an intrasquad game this week. … Brent Rooker, another former State standout, saw a lot of duty behind Marwin Gonzalez at first base in Minnesota’s camp while Miguel Sano was in COVID-19 quarantine. Sano, transitioning from third to first this season, returned to camp Wednesday. Rooker, who has 54 homers in 259 minor league games, could make the 30-man active roster if Sano isn’t ready for opening day. … The Chicago White Sox reportedly are thrilled with Tim Anderson’s work at shortstop in summer camp. “Defensively, his jumps have been amazing getting off the ball,” coach Joe McEwing said of the former East Central Community College star in an mlb.com story. “We have been really focusing on keeping his head in there and staying through it and finishing his throws.” The American League batting champ led league shortstops in errors the last three years. … Ex-MSU standout Chris Stratton, vying for a role on Pittsburgh’s pitching staff, says he is well-equipped for the new three-batter minimum rule for pitchers. “I just think that I’m capable of getting multiple outs,” he told mlb.com. “If that’s at the beginning of the game, if it’s opening, if it’s starting, whatever, if it’s in the middle of the game, hopefully I can help the team as best as possible with the things that I have.”

16 Jul

milestone watch

Mitch Moreland earned the nickname “2-Bags” a couple of years ago during a stretch when he was banging out doubles at a high rate for the Boston Red Sox. As he enters his 11th major league season, Amory native Moreland is on the brink of a career doubles milestone. The Mississippi State alum has 199 2-baggers. Two hundred doubles is not an astounding total by MLB standards, but it is a milestone just the same. And tracking milestones is what baseball aficionados do. So, watch for Moreland’s 200th double this season; don’t be surprised if it comes in the Red Sox’s opener vs. Baltimore at Fenway Park on July 24. Other Mississippi-connected players in the majors have notable (if modest) milestones in their sights in this 60-game season, including:
600 hits – Jarrod Dyson, the former McComb High and Southwest Mississippi Community College standout, has 573.
400 hits – Adam Frazier, the Mississippi State alum, has 398.
400 RBIs – Corey Dickerson, the Meridian CC alum from McComb, enters 2020 with 370.
300 runs – Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central CC star, has scored 287.
300 steals – Billy Hamilton, the Taylorsville High product, is sitting on 299, already the most ever by a Mississippi native.
100 home runs – Hunter Renfroe, the former MSU star from Crystal Springs, has 89.
100 wins – Lance Lynn, the Ole Miss product, has piled up 98 over eight seasons.
20 wins – Both Brandon Woodruff, an MSU product from Wheeler, and Chris Stratton, a State alum from Tupelo, have 16 career W’s.
200 strikeouts – Spencer Turnbull, the ex-Madison Central High standout, has fanned 161 in 34 career outings.
500 innings – Kendall Graveman, former MSU star, sits at 446 as he tries to bounce back from arm surgery.

10 Jul

there and here

San Francisco has placed Billy Hamilton, the former Taylorsville High star, on the injured list for what was described only as “medical purposes.” Hamilton is in the Giants’ camp on a minor league deal but was expected to make the active roster before the season begins. Reports were unclear on when he might be able to come off the IL. The 29-year-old outfielder is a .242 career hitter with 299 steals over seven big league seasons. … Milwaukee has added former Mississippi State star Ethan Small and Ole Miss alum Thomas Dillard, both 2019 draft picks, to its 60-man pool of eligible players for summer camp. Small, a left-hander picked in the first round, is the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect; he made seven appearances in the low minors last summer. Dillard, a catcher and a fifth-rounder, batted .249 with seven homers in his first pro season. … Adam Moncure is among the hottest hitters in the Cotton States League, batting .400 (.581 on-base) with two homers and a league-best 12 RBIs in nine games for the Black Prairie Mudcats. Moncure, from Clinton, hit .341 as a freshman at Meridian Community College in 2020. Blue Mountain native Sam McMillin, a left-hander at Union University, is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 19 innings for the CSL’s DeSoto Xplorers. … Luther Woullard, a former Jones (Junior) College star from d’Iberville, is playing for the Macon Bacon of the Coastal Plain League, a high-level college summer circuit. As a senior at New Orleans in 2020, Woullard batted .381 with 14 RBIs before the season was halted. He’ll have a year of eligibility left at UNO. Woullard was an All-MACJC outfielder who put up big numbers on some outstanding Jones teams in 2017-18. … Aiden Moffett of Taylorsville High has committed to LSU, per the Laurel Leader-Call. Though he was not highly recruited during his abbreviated sophomore year, Moffett has turned heads with his summer team. Playing for the Louisiana Knights, a travel team based in Mandeville, right-hander Moffett reportedly received offers from Southern Miss, Texas A&M and LSU over the course of just one weekend. … Former Mississippi Braves manager Brian Snitker, who’ll be deploying a DH in every game as Atlanta’s skipper this season, told espn.com that he once asked Bobby Cox about managing with the DH. “Get a bag of balls and sit on it, watch the game,” Cox told him.

07 Jul

a new look

The Los Angeles Dodgers will open their season on July 23 at home against longtime rival San Francisco. There will be a national TV (ESPN) audience but – unfortunately — no people in the seats. Right fielder Mookie Betts isn’t the only thing new at Dodger Stadium for 2020. The old ballpark, which opened in 1958, has undergone a $100 million renovation under the direction of Jackson native Janet Marie Smith, the club’s Senior Vice President of Planning and Development. “It’s less of a renovation in an architectural sense,” she recently told lamag.com, “than it is a reimagining of how these buildings come together.” A new plaza beyond center field makes it a more fan-friendly, fan-accessible facility. All it needs now is some fans. The MLB All-Star Game was originally scheduled for Dodger Stadium this summer but will now be played at Chavez Ravine in 2022. Smith, a Mississippi State alumna elected to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame this year, also has worked directly on stadium projects at Camden Yards, Fenway Park and Turner Field and consulted on many others. Her work at Baltimore’s Camden Yards, which opened in 1992, spearheaded a new era in stadium design. The Boston Globe has described Smith as “the architect credited with saving Fenway Park.” P.S. MLB’s only new stadium, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, will be formally unveiled on July 24 when the Rangers face Colorado. Ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn is slated to start the game for Texas. … Atlanta’s newly named Truist Park (formerly Sun Trust Park) will host its first official game on July 29.

06 Jul

summer sessions

Hunter Renfroe took some batting practice cuts Sunday in his new home park, Tropicana Field, and put on a show of power, according to an mlb.com account. Former Mississippi State star Renfroe, acquired by Tampa Bay from San Diego in the off-season, hit a pair of balls off the indoor stadium’s catwalks, considered quite a poke. “Renfroe was playing pepper with the back wall,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “That’s not something you see a lot of guys do.” Renfroe averaged 28 homers over the past three seasons with the Padres. … Spencer Turnbull, the Madison Central High alumnus now with Detroit, spent time during MLB’s shutdown back in Mississippi throwing to dad Jim, who, per an mlb.com report, wore full catcher’s gear as his son worked on his complete arsenal of pitches. “He’s caught me my whole life,” Spencer said. “Anytime I go home in the off-season, I’ll throw to him. He’s not usually in full gear, but I’m throwing flat grounds to him all the time.” … Ex-State star Mitch Moreland drew praise from Boston manager Ron Roenicke following his BP session at Fenway Park on Sunday. “When we have him out there on the field, hopefully he can start like he did last year,” Roenicke told mlb.com. “We know how important starting well is this year. Today is about as good a day as you can have for him.” Moreland, typically a fast starter, hit 13 homers in his first 46 games in 2019 and 10 homers in his first 44 games in 2018. … MSU product Dakota Hudson threw live BP in St. Louis’ camp on Saturday and said afterward he is pleased with how efforts to smooth out his delivery have gone. “I feel comfortable with what I’m doing,” Hudson said in an mlb.com article. “I was trying to mess with some stuff at the end of last year, and going into spring this year, I was able to show it off a little bit.” Hudson, 16-7 with a 3.35 ERA in 2019, is seeking to cut down on walks this season; he led the majors with 86 a year ago. … On the local front, there was some actual baseball in Vicksburg over the holiday weekend, with the Hattiesburg Black Sox semi-pro team taking on the US Military Baseball Team in a three-game series at Sports Force Parks on the Mississippi. The US Military team, a touring independent club, is not affiliated with the Department of Defense but plays in honor of the U.S. Armed Forces.

02 Jul

eye on …

Cody Carroll might prove to be a key figure in Baltimore’s bullpen, which was generally awful in 2019. The ex-Southern Miss star, now 27, missed most of last season with a back injury but was impressive in spring training before the lockdown. As mlb.com reports, “The O’s think the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Carroll has back-end stuff, pointing to his high-90s fastball and strong slider.” With a 60-game season, bullpens may play an even larger role than in normal years. (That might also be good news for other Mississippi college products such as Jonathan Holder, Mike Mayers, Cody Reed and Bobby Wahl.) Tennessee native Carroll was drafted out of USM by the New York Yankees in 2015 and traded to Baltimore in July 2018; he made his big league debut shortly thereafter, posting a 9.00 ERA in 15 appearances. He was hurt by walks and home runs. In six 2020 spring innings, he yielded no walks or homers and fanned eight. Carroll has a 2.71 career minor league ERA and made All-Star Games at three levels on the way up. P.S. The Orioles have signed or agreed to terms with each of their six 2020 draftees except for third-rounder Anthony Servideo, the shortstop out of Ole Miss. Former Mississippi State shortstop Jordan Westburg, a competitive balance pick after Round 1, signed last week. The MLB slot value for Servideo’s draft position (74th) is $844,200. The Orioles reportedly have more than that remaining in their allotted pool.