Tag Archives: MLB

25 Aug

notable numbers

17 — Quality starts by George County High product Justin Steele of the Chicago Cubs. The All-Star left-hander went six innings Thursday, allowing two earned runs, and propelled the Cubs to a 5-4, 10-inning win against Pittsburgh. Steele is 14-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 24 starts this season. “I want to be the guy that we rely on,” he told mlb.com.
10 — Runs allowed by ex-Mississippi State standout J.P. France, who took the loss for slumping Texas in a 17-1 defeat against Boston. Rookie France (9-5) lasted just 2 1/3 innings in his worst outing. The Rangers’ lead in the American League West is 1 game over Seattle and Houston.
55 — RBIs this season by former MSU star Brent Rooker, who belted his 22nd homer in Oakland’s 8-5 win over the White Sox. Rooker, the SEC Triple Crown winner in 2017, leads the team in homers, RBIs and batting average at .245.
117 — Hits this season by MSU product Jake Mangum, who banged out two more — including a grand slam — in Triple-A Jacksonville’s 8-4 win over Columbus. Mangum, 27, in his first year in Miami’s system, is batting .315 with five homers, 46 RBIs and 12 steals.
1 — Hit by Kellum Clark, the ex-MSU standout from Brandon, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his second game for the Low-Class A St. Lucie Mets.
1 — Hit by Brandon Parker, the Saucier native, West Harrison High alum and ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star who made his Double-A debut for the Mississippi Braves at Montgomery. Parker, who also drove in a run and drew a walk, is the first Mississippi high school alum to play for the M-Braves since DeSoto Central’s Austin Riley debuted on May 5, 2018, according to a team release. Parker is the first state native to play for the M-Braves since Jackson’s Zack Bird, a Murrah High alum, pitched in three games in 2015.
32 — Consecutive games reaching base by the M-Braves’ Jesse Franklin V, who homered (No. 14) and walked three times in the team’s loss to Montgomery.

13 Aug

three-pronged success

One by one, three Magnolia State products took the mound on Saturday and delivered the kind of performance playoff-chasing teams need this time of year in the big leagues. “Bring in the sheets,” as Oppenheimer might say. Former George County High star Justin Steele and Mississippi State alums Brandon Woodruff and J.P. France steered their teams to meaningful wins. Steele, a 2023 All-Star and a Cy Young contender in the National League, toughed out five innings for the Chicago Cubs at Toronto, yielding six hits and three runs. The left-hander left with a lead, which the bullpen squandered, but watched the Cubs rally to win 5-4. He is 13-3 with a 2.79 ERA, tied for the NL lead in wins and second in ERA. “(T)he year he’s had has been insane,” teammate Julian Merryweather told mlb.com. The Cubs, on a 19-6 roll, stayed within 2.5 games of NL Central leader Milwaukee, which beat the White Sox 3-2 behind Woodruff. The big right-hander from Wheeler worked 6 1/3 innings in his second start after four months on the injured list. He allowed four hits, a walk and two runs. In four outings this year, the two-time All-Star is 2-1 with a 1.99. “He’s in a really good place after two starts (off the IL),” manager Craig Counsell said in an mlb.com piece. In Houston, France continued his remarkable season, which might garner some rookie of the year consideration. He went seven innings in an 11-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. He has won five straight — one in relief — and stands 9-3 with a 2.74 ERA in 17 games. He leads American League rookies in wins and would be second in the league in ERA if he had enough innings to qualify. “(J)ust trying to pitch my game,” the bespectacled righty told mlb.com. The Astros’ win kept them 2.5 games back of AL West leader Texas, which never seems to lose. (Ex-State star Chris Stratton pitched three scoreless innings in the Rangers’ 9-3 win vs. San Francisco on Saturday, his fifth scoreless appearance since being acquired at the trade deadline.) P.S. Tanner Allen, the 2021 SEC player of the year and Ferriss Trophy winner at MSU, was promoted to Double-A Pensacola in the Miami organization. He did not play Saturday. … Northwest Mississippi Community College product Dalton Fowler made his pro debut in the Florida Complex League, throwing an inning (two runs) for Tampa Bay’s rookie team. Fowler, a Southaven native, was a ninth-round pick by the Rays out of Memphis, where he was the American Athletic Conference’s pitcher of the year in 2023. … Fowler’s Memphis teammate Dalton Kendrick, an Hernando High alum and the AAC’s saves leader last season, was drafted in the 18th round by the Angels but has yet to appear in a game.

07 Aug

stepping up

There were a slew of big games on the major league slate on Sunday, and a slew of Mississippians came up big in some of the biggest. The most dramatic moment was produced by Matt Wallner, the Southern Miss career home run leader whose first big league walk-off homer in the ninth inning gave Minnesota a 5-3 win against Arizona. The two-run shot — off the Diamondbacks’ recently acquired closer Paul Sewald — was Wallner’s seventh homer of the year for the Twins and 70th off his pro career. He also made a great catch in left field. The Minnesota native has spent much of this season in Triple-A but appears to have secured a roster spot with the first-place Twins. “He’s a big boy and hits the ball so hard,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told mlb.com. “It’s a controlled, violent swing.” The 6-foot-4, 220-pound lefty hitter is batting .268 (.304 in his last seven games) with 16 RBIs and 16 runs in 30 games. Sunday’s win was the Twins’ fourth straight and gave them a 4.5-game lead over Cleveland in the American League Central. At Arlington, Texas, hot-hitting Mississippi State alum Nathaniel Lowe slugged his 13th home run — a two-run shot off Sandy Alcantara in the third inning — to help Texas whip Miami 6-0, the first-place Rangers’ sixth straight win. Lowe is batting .351 with four homers and 17 RBIs since the All-Star break for a club that is 14-7 over that span. Ex-MSU star Chris Stratton, a trade deadline pickup from St. Louis, threw 1 1/3 innings Sunday, his third straight scoreless appearance for the Rangers. They maintained a 2.5-game lead in the AL West over Houston, which beat New York at Yankee Stadium 9-7. MSU alum J.P. France got the win for the Astros, working 3 1/3 innings (no earned runs) in his first relief appearance of the season. The rookie right-hander, who has made 15 starts, is 8-3 with a 2.75 ERA. In the National League, the surging Chicago Cubs beat Atlanta 6-4 at windy Wrigley Field as ex-George County High star Justin Steele picked up his 13th win, which leads the big leagues. Steele, not real sharp, allowed three earned runs with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings against the powerful Braves, runaway leaders in the NL East. The Cubs moved to within 1.5 games of NL Central leader Milwaukee, which lost 4-1 to Pittsburgh in ex-State standout Brandon Woodruff’s return from the injured list (see previous post). In the Sunday nightcap on ESPN, former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn allowed one run (a homer) in six innings to pace the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers past San Diego 8-2. Lynn, 36, is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts since the Dodgers got him at the trade deadline. He was 6-9, 6.47, in 21 starts for the White Sox.

06 Aug

the only one

Al Jones, a tall right-hander from Charleston, made his big league debut for the Chicago White Sox on this date in 1983, becoming the first and to date only Alcorn State alumnus to make The Show. On in relief against Baltimore at old Memorial Stadium, he gave up two hits, got Cal Ripken Jr. to hit into a double play, then was pulled after walking the next batter. He wound up being charged with a run but got a hold in a game the White Sox won 6-4. Jones pitched only 26 more games in MLB, finishing his career in 1985 with a 3.77 ERA and five saves. He stayed in the game, pitching until 1999 in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, where he had a 3.69 over six years. Alcorn’s program, which has fallen on hard times in recent years, has produced some good players, foremost among them Bill Foster, a Negro Leagues legend from the 1920s and ’30s who is enshrined in Cooperstown. The Braves have had 13 players drafted, including Jones (13th round in 1981), Corey Wimberly, Angel Rosa, Marcus Davis and John Harrington. Greg Daniels hit .545 for the 1983 Braves, the second-highest average ever by an NCAA Division I player. Current Atlanta star Michael Harris II’s father played at Alcorn. But Jones is the only one to reach the big leagues — 40 years ago today — and there are no Braves alums currently in affiliated ball. P.S. Up in the Cape Cod League, Southern Miss’ J.B. Middleton got the win and Kros Sivley the save as Hyannis beat Falmouth on Saturday to advance in the playoffs. USM’s Will Armistead pitched the ninth inning in Hyannis’ win in Game 1 on Friday. … Yarmouth-Dennis, with Braden Montgomery (Madison Central alum) and Hunter Hines (Mississippi State) on its roster, faces a decisive Game 3 today against Brewster. Montgomery is 2-for-9 with a homer in the series; Hines, the CCBL home run champ, didn’t play in a win in Game 2. … The semi-pro Hattiesburg Black Sox went 2-2 in the NABF Major Division World Series in Michigan, bowing out in Saturday’s quarterfinals. … The Smith-Wills Stadium-based Hank Aaron Sports Academy is holding its Fantastic 44 “Winner Take All” game today at 6 p.m. The 44 participating players are from high schools all over the state and were selected by coaches and instructors that oversaw three showcase events this summer at the Jackson facility.

06 Aug

around the horn

The Milwaukee Brewers will get a jolt of energy today when Wheeler’s Brandon Woodruff takes the mound for the first time in four months. The Brewers, after a winning rally against visiting Pittsburgh on Saturday, are 60-52 and lead the National League Central by 1.5 games over Cincinnati and 2.5 over the Chicago Cubs. Woodruff, a two-time All-Star and a horse in the Brewers’ rotation since 2019, posted a 0.79 ERA in his first two starts this season before being shut down with a shoulder problem. Drafted out of Mississippi State in 2014, Woodruff is 42-25, 3.14, for his MLB career and typically gets deep into games. “I hold myself to a high standard and expect a lot of myself …,” he told reporters recently. “I’m happy to get to pitch.” He has dominated most of the hitters on the Pirates’ roster. Woodruff’s addition to Milwaukee’s active roster means there is a Mississippi product on every first-place club: Adam Frazier and Jordan Westburg in Baltimore, Matt Wallner in Minnesota, Nathaniel Lowe and Chris Stratton in Texas, Austin Riley in Atlanta and Lance Lynn with the Los Angeles Dodgers. P.S. Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College standout now with the White Sox, engaged in a fist fight with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez on Saturday and incited a benches-clearing brawl. Anderson, having a tough year for a disappointing team, faces a certain suspension, as do several others. He has been involved in a number of kerfuffles over the years. … Trustmark Park in Pearl is supposed to be a tough place to hit a home run. Well, try telling that to Drew Lugbauer of the Mississippi Braves. He hit three bombs in a win against Montgomery on Saturday night, the first time anyone has done that at the TeePee. With five homers in his last three games, he has 20 on the year, tied for first in the Southern League. Thirteen of those homers have come at home. He holds the Double-A club’s career record for bombs with 66, 32 at home. Of note: Left-hander Luis De Avila, an emerging prospect in the Atlanta system, threw six shutout innings against the Biscuits and improved to 6-6, 2.95, this season. … Hurston Waldrep, Atlanta’s first-round pick this year and a former Southern Miss pitcher, threw three innings in his pro debut for Low-Class A Augusta. He struck out eight and yielded one run. … Ex-Ole Miss star David Parkinson improved to 4-0 in his last five starts for Double-A Reading (Philadelphia system), going six innings (no earned runs) against Hartford. Left-hander Parkinson (6-4, 4.30) was the Phillies’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2018 before his career got off track. … Stuck in A-ball since 2018, former Pascagoula High standout Willie Joe Garry Jr. got a promotion last week to Double-A Wichita in the Minnesota chain and has looked right at home. Garry, 23, a lefty-hitting outfielder, belted a grand slam Saturday night and is 2-for-7 with six RBIs in two games. He was a .205 career hitter in 294 games in the low minors.

03 Aug

ups and downs

Up: Dakota Hudson showed signs that he may be back on track for St. Louis, throwing seven strong innings Wednesday night in a 7-3 win against Minnesota. Once a solid member of the Cardinals’ rotation, the Mississippi State product made just his second start (eighth appearance) of 2023 and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He wound up with a two-hitter — one of those a three-run homer by ex-Southern Miss star Matt Wallner — while striking out seven and walking three. He is 2-0 with a 4.10 ERA this season, having spent most of the year in Triple-A. The 28-year-old right-hander mixed his sinker and slider to great effect against the first-place Twins. “It’s just about staying clean with my delivery, not trying to overdo stuff and letting the ball move,” he told mlb.com. Hudson, who debuted with St. Louis in 2018 after a stellar minor league career, is 34-17, 3.64, for his MLB career. An arm injury in 2020 knocked him off course, and he has battled inconsistency the past couple of years. With St. Louis in retool mode and looking for starters for 2024, Hudson will get a chance to make his case the next two months. More ups: DeSoto Central High alum Austin Riley hit his 25th homer of the year in Atlanta’s win over the Los Angeles Angels and went back-to-back with Matt Olson for a franchise record sixth time. … The Braves have assigned first-round pick Hurston Waldrep, who pitched for USM in 2021-22, to Low-Class A Augusta. … Ex-MSU star Colton Ledbetter went 2-for-4 with a homer in his pro debut today for Tampa Bay’s Florida Complex League team, and USM product Tanner Hall and Ole Miss alum Jack Dougherty, both 2023 draftees, have been assigned to Minnesota’s FCL club. … Olive Branch native Kendall Williams has been named the Class A Midwest League’s pitcher of the month for July by Minor League Baseball. Williams was just promoted from Great Lakes to Tulsa in the Dodgers’ chain.
Down: Big league veteran Corey Dickerson was released by Washington on Wednesday. The McComb native was batting .250 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 50 games for one of the National League’s worst teams. At 34, Dickerson may have tough time getting back in the game. The lefty-hitting outfielder is a .280 career hitter with an All-Star Game nod and a Gold Glove on his resume but has been mostly a platoon player in recent years. Originally drafted by Colorado out of Meridian Community College, Dickerson has played for eight different MLB teams, four over the last three seasons. He signed a $2.25M free agent deal with the Nationals in the off-season. … More downs: Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin, on in relief for Cleveland, gave up a home run to Houston’s Chas McCormick on his first pitch and took the loss as the Guardians fell to Houston 3-2. … MSU product Jordan Westburg got picked off first base for the final out as Baltimore squandered a game at Toronto. … Former UM standout James McArthur, recalled by Kansas City on Tuesday, was sent back to Triple-A on Wednesday without getting in a game. He made his big league debut on June 28 and it remains his lone appearance.

02 Aug

cape crusaders

A handful of Mississippians are on playoff-bound teams in the Cape Cod League, which concludes its regular season today. The playoffs in the elite college summer league begin on Friday. Mississippi State’s Hunter Hines, the league home run and RBI leader, and former Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery play for Yarmouth-Dennis, which currently sits second in the East Division. Ole Miss’ Mason Nichols and Southern Miss’ Kros Sivley, J.B. Middleton and Will Armistead are on the Hyannis roster, second in the West. Hines is batting .262 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs. Teammate Montgomery, a current Stanford standout who played for Team USA earlier this summer, is hitting .319 with one homer and nine RBIs. He has pitched in three games, yielding three runs, all in a relief appearance on Tuesday. Nichols, who started Tuesday for Hyannis, is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in eight games. Sivley, who picked up the win on Tuesday, is 2-1 with a 4.35 in 11 games; Middleton has a 3.24 with a win and a save in six appearances; and Armistead has a 7.20 in six games. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn went seven innings Tuesday night to get the win against Oakland in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut. Lynn gave up three homers — including ex-MSU standout Brent Rooker’s 18th — and leads MLB with 31 bombs allowed. … George County High product Justin Steele notched his 12th win — tied for the MLB lead — for the Chicago Cubs in a beatdown against Cincinnati. … Alec Barger, who had a 3.29 ERA in 30 appearances for the Double-A Mississippi Braves, was dealt by Atlanta to Colorado for big league left-hander Brad Hand. … UM alum James McArthur (4.28 ERA at Triple-A Omaha) was recalled to the majors by Kansas City. … Ex-USM star Matthew Etzel went 1-for-3 with an RBI in his pro debut Tuesday for Baltimore’s Florida Complex League team, and ex-Golden Eagles standout Justin Storm threw a scoreless inning for Miami’s FCL team in his debut. … USM slugger Slade Wilks, who is not playing summer ball, is working as a hitting instructor at Alpha Academy in Columbia, his hometown, per a report by Hattiesburg TV station WDAM. Wilks hit .289 with 20 homers and was a Ferriss Trophy finalist in 2023. … The semi-pro Hattiesburg Black Sox, who won the Mississippi Baseball Congress championship, will begin play Thursday in the NABF Major Division World Series at Battle Creek, Mich. The Black Sox swept the individual honors in the MBC tournament, with Jake Lycette winning MVP, Ervin Simmons the top pitcher award and Marcus Ragan the batting title. … The Tupelo Thunder, with a roster stocked with Mississippi juco players, won the Cotton States League championship last weekend.

25 Jul

clearing the bases

Jordan Westburg is on the board. The ex-Mississippi State standout hit MLB career home run No. 1 on Monday, helping Baltimore beat Philadelphia 3-2 in a big interleague series. Westburg is batting .266 in 20 games; he has 60 minor league homers on hs ledger. … Also going yard for the first time in the big leagues was former Biloxi Shuckers standout Sal Frelick, whose blast in his third MLB game helped Milwaukee beat Cincinnati 3-2 in a big National League Central contest. … Coincidentally, those homers came on the same day as Will Verdung’s first as a pro; the Itawamba Community College alum, a recent draftee, went deep in his debut for Atlanta’s rookie club (see previous post). … And in keeping with that theme, South Panola High product Emaarion Boyd hit his first pro homer on Sunday for Philadelphia’s Low-Class A Clearwater team. A 2022 draftee, the 177-pound Boyd, 19, leads the Florida State League in steals with 41. … Jacob Gonzalez and Calvin Harris, both drafted out of Ole Miss by the Chicago White Sox, made their pro debuts on Monday in the Arizona Complex League. Gonzalez started at shortstop and went 0-for-1 with two walks; Harris started at catcher and went 1-for-3. … All 14 players drafted out of the state this year have signed. Tupelo High’s Johnathan Rogers, a 6-foot-3 right-hander picked in Round 20, has inked with Detroit, though mlb.com’s draft tracker doesn’t indicate the bonus. … In Monday’s huge American League West clash between Texas and Houston, ex-MSU star Nathaniel Lowe went 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs and an RBI but the first-place Rangers fell to the Astros 10-9 at Minute Maid Park. Former Ole Miss star Grae Kessinger, a backup infielder, did not play for Houston, which closed to within 2 games of the division lead. … DeSoto Central High alum and current Braves star Austin Riley earned NL player of the week honors after smacking six homers and driving in 16 runs last week. Riley tied a franchise record with homers in five straight games. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn is listed in an mlb.com article as one of the 17 players most likely to be traded before the Aug. 1 deadline. The veteran pitcher, 36, has had a rough season with the White Sox. … Detroit has announced that former Madison Central standout Spencer Turnbull, on the injured list since May 6, will make a rehab start tonight and another Sunday in A-ball. Turnbull, coming back from 2021 Tommy John surgery, was having a rough time before injuring his neck.

22 Jul

three stars

Austin Riley: The ex-DeSoto Central High star smacked his fifth home run in four games, powering Atlanta to a 6-4 win Friday against Milwaukee in a matchup of first-place teams. Riley has 21 homers and 58 RBIs on the season and is batting .321 with 14 RBIs and nine runs in his last seven games. “I want to go out there and do my job as the third hitter, which is to drive in runs and do damage,” Riley told mlb.com.
Nathaniel Lowe: The former Mississippi State standout hit a two-run homer that put Texas ahead in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who rallied to win 11-5 in another matchup of first-place teams. Texas had won six straight. Lowe, who also walked twice and scored another run for the Rangers, is hitting .440 with two homers, five RBIs and nine runs in his last seven games. He’s at .281 with 11 homers on the season.
Justin Steele: The George County High product notched his 10th win of the season — and third against rival St. Louis — as the Chicago Cubs won 4-3 in a matchup of National League also-rans. Steele, bouncing back from a rough outing, yielded one run in 6 1/3 innings and struck out a season-high nine. The All-Star left-hander is 10-3 with a 2.95 ERA on the year.
P.S. Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn, reportedly a coveted trade piece, allowed four home runs in the Chicago White Sox’s 9-4 loss to first-place Minnesota. Lynn is 6-9 with a 6.18 ERA and has surrendered an MLB-high 28 homers. … Kemp Alderman, the 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner out of Ole Miss, has signed for $1.4 million with Miami, which drafted him in the second round. Other newly reported signees include Magnolia Heights’ Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee), Southern Miss’ Matthew Etzel (Baltimore) and Itawamba Community College’s Will Verdung (Atlanta). Of the 14 players drafted out of the state, only Tupelo High’s Johnathan Rogers, 20th-round pick by Detroit, is unsigned, per mlb.com. Former Pearl River CC star Bryson Ware, who played at Auburn, has signed with Philadelphia, and Hinds CC alum Landon Tompkins, a Louisiana Tech alum, signed with Pittsburgh. … Mississippi Valley State will name CJ Bilbrey as its new head coach, according to blackcollegenines.com. Bilbrey will replace Milton Barney Jr., who went 15-36 in his one season. Barney replaced Stanley Stubbs, who coached one season after replacing Aaron Stevens.

19 Jul

random numbers

7 — Austin Riley’s career-high RBI total from Tuesday night’s game, which Atlanta lost 16-13 at home to Arizona. DeSoto Central High product Riley hit two home runs — both go-ahead bombs — and now has 18 on the year with 52 RBIs.
3 — Hits by Tim Anderson in the Chicago White Sox’s 11-10 loss to the New York Mets. The ex-East Central Community College standout might finally be heating up. With seven hits in his last four games, he has lifted his average to .234. (He did, however, make the last out of the game with the go-ahead run at second base.)
197 — Total runs scored in MLB games on Tuesday, a season-high; there were four games in which both teams scored double-digits, a modern era record. Riley scored three of those runs, Anderson two and Nathaniel Lowe, Mississippi State alum now with Texas, scored once. No other Mississippians contributed a run.
1.54 — Tyler Stuart’s ERA, which — as of Tuesday a.m. — led all qualified minor leaguers, per mlb.com. The ex-Southern Miss star, a 2022 draftee by the Mets, was 4-0, 1.55, at High-Class A Brooklyn and allowed one run in six innings in his Double-A debut for Binghamton last Saturday. The 6-foot-9 Stuart pitched mostly in relief in two seasons at USM. The Mets made him a starter this spring. “I feel like I get better as the game goes on,” he said in an mlb.com piece.
8 — Wins by Derek Diamond, the former Ole Miss standout now at Low-A Bradenton in Pittsburgh’s system. The right-hander, a 2022 draftee, threw seven innings on Tuesday, allowing four hits, a walk and a lone run to beat Fort Myers 5-2. He is 8-3 with a 3.98.
6 — Appearances in the Florida Complex League by Colby White, who is on a rehab assignment with Tampa Bay. White, an ex-MSU star, blew through four levels of the minors in 2021 (4-3, 11 saves, 1.44 ERA all told) and went to spring training with the Rays in 2022 before an arm injury cost him the entire year. He has a 1.59 ERA in the FCL this season and may be close to making his big league debut.
16 — Number of 2023 Pearl River Community College players bound for four-year schools this fall. It’s a program record, according to a release from the school. Of note: Gabe Broadus and Landen Payne are USM signees, Will Passeau is off to MSU, Tristan Hickman to Delta State, Blaise Breerwood to Mississippi College, Bobby Magee to William Carey and Alex Perry to Tennessee. PRCC won the NJCAA Division II national title in 2022 and was the preseason No. 1 this year.