Tag Archives: MLB

19 Jun

numbers to crunch

29 – Stolen bases, a total which leads the majors, by ex-Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton, who got one Sunday to end a 13-game drought. Hamilton also had three hits, two runs and an RBI in fading Cincinnati’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
4 – Home runs allowed, a career-high, by Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn in 4 2/3 innings in St. Louis’ 8-5 loss to Baltimore. Lynn (5-4) yielded seven runs all told.
7 – Homers on the year for ex-UM star Seth Smith, who hit a leadoff bomb for Baltimore, the first of the four Lance Lynn allowed for St. Louis. Smith, batting .271, had two other hits and scored three times.
91 – Hits, most in the American League, by Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson, who tallied three on Sunday. He is batting .330.
7 – Runs allowed in four games at Target Field by Cleveland in a sweep of Minnesota that moved the Indians into first place in the AL Central. Former Ole Miss star Mickey Callaway, the Indians’ pitching coach, saw his staff’s ERA drop to 3.93, tied for third-best in the AL.
3 – Hits in 13 at-bats in the Cleveland series by ex-Southern Miss standout Brian Dozier, who had a homer and two RBIs for Minnesota, which had a 2-game division lead before the Tribe arrived in town.
34 – Wins in 70 games for the Mississippi Braves, who completed the first half of the Southern League season with a 6-3 win against Montgomery at Trustmark Park. The M-Braves will send seven players to the SL All-Star Game in Pensacola on Tuesday.
6 – Strikeouts in five scoreless innings by USM’s Nick Sandlin in his Cape Cod League debut for Hyannis.

16 Jun

trophy tracker

Once Brent Rooker formally signs with the Minnesota Twins and joins a team in their system, he’ll become the fifth Ferriss Trophy winner active in pro ball. Three are in or have been in the big leagues. Drew Pomeranz (Boston), the 2010 winner, and 2013 winner Hunter Renfroe (San Diego) are currently in The Show, and 2012 winner Chris Stratton (San Francisco) has been up but is back in Triple-A. Ed Easley (2007), now retired, is the only other winner to make the big leagues. The award has been given out each year since 2004. Auston Bousfield, the 2014 winner following a brilliant junior season at Ole Miss, has reached Triple-A but currently finds himself at Double-A San Antonio in the Padres’ organization. Bousfield’s team, managed by former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman, won a first-half title in the Texas League on Thursday, but Bousfield hasn’t had a lot to celebrate personally this year. He is batting .217 and has spent a chunk of time on the disabled list. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound outfielder batted .170 in 71 games for the Missions in 2016 and .204 in 38 games at Triple-A El Paso. Bousfield was drafted by the Padres in fifth round in 2014 and enjoyed an excellent first pro summer, batting .301 with three homers and 13 RBIs in the Northwest League. He was named a short-season All-Star by Baseball America. He is now trying to recapture that form.

15 Jun

here and there

Draft doodles: Twenty players were picked from Mississippi schools in the three-day MLB draft, from Mississippi State’s Brent Rooker at No. 35 overall to Ole Miss’ Kyle Watson at No. 1108. Southern Miss and Ole Miss had four players drafted each. State had three and Jackson State and William Carey one each. Three juco players were selected, two from East Mississippi CC (and none from Jones County JC, which spent most of the season ranked No. 1, or Hinds, the NJCAA Region 23 champion). Four high school players were tabbed, the first being Myles Christian from Olive Branch in the 18th round by Seattle. … Milwaukee picked two prep players: Lefty Garrett Crochet from Ocean Springs in the 34th round and outfielder Davis Bradshaw from McLaurin in the 35th. … Detroit picked two college players: USM’s Dylan Burdeaux (20th round) and UM’s Colby Bortles (22nd), both infielders. The Tigers have stocked up on Mississippi connections of late. Already in the system are Ole Miss alum Alex Presley on the big league team; Richton High product JaCoby Jones in Triple-A; ex-Madison Central standout Spencer Turnbull and former UM star Will Allen at high Class A; and State alums Jake Robson and Zac Houston in low-A ball. … Atlanta Braves prospect Mike Soroka, who has won five straight starts, takes the bump for the Mississippi Braves tonight against Montgomery at Trustmark Park. The big Canadian, 19 years old, is 7-3, 2.45 ERA and hasn’t allowed a run in 15 innings in his previous two starts. … On Montgomery’s roster is former Ole Miss and Pearl River CC standout Braxton Lee, who is enjoying a resurgent second season in Double-A. After batting .209 for the Biscuits in 2016, the lefty-hitting outfielder is at .310 with two homers, 16 RBIs, 42 runs and 10 steals in 59 games this season. … In the big leagues on Wednesday: Ex-State standout Hunter Renfroe hit his 14th homer for San Diego, matching Nate Colbert’s club record for most homers by a rookie before the All-Star break. Fellow Bulldogs alum Tyler Moore continues to shine as a regular for Miami, hitting his fifth home run. He is at .288 with 17 RBIs in 66 at-bats. MSU product Kendall Graveman, on Oakland’s disabled list with a shoulder strain since May 26, reportedly has started light throwing. The A’s opening day starter is 2-2, 3.83 in eight starts. Correction: Ole Miss had a fifth player picked, right-hander Brady Feigl in the 35th round by the Los Angeles Angels. His name did not appear on Baseball America’s chart of picks from Mississippi.

14 Jun

blast off

Time to check in on the All-Mississippi Home Run Derby. Four from the Magnolia State went yard in MLB games on Tuesday: Corey Dickerson, Brian Dozier, Mitch Moreland and Jarrod Dyson. Former Meridian Community College star Dickerson, leader of the pack and a likely All-Star, hit his 15th for Tampa Bay to move two ahead of Mississippi State alum Hunter Renfroe. Southern Miss’ Brian Dozier moved into third with his 11th, one of Minnesota’s franchise-record 28 hits in a 20-7 victory over Seattle. Southwest Mississippi CC product Dyson hit his career-high third bomb for the Mariners in that crazy game at Target Field. Ex-State star Moreland belted No. 9 for Boston, matching Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart of Cincinnati for fourth on the derby chart. P.S. Milwaukee placed MSU alum Brandon Woodruff on the disabled list with the hamstring problem that caused him to miss what would have been his big league debut on Tuesday. Odd note: Ex-Petal High star Anthony Alford, shortly after debuting with Toronto, landed on the DL, where Ole Miss products Bobby Wahl, who debuted last month with Oakland, and Stuart Turner, a rookie with Cincinnati, are also stuck.

09 Jun

they did what?

When the St. Louis Cardinals come to bat tonight at Busch Stadium, the familiar figure of Chris Maloney will be missing from the third-base coaching box. As part of a series of personnel moves today, the reeling Cardinals announced that the Jackson native and Mississippi State alum has been reassigned within the organization. How that will help a 26-32 team that is coming off an 0-7 road trip remains to be seen. Maloney has been on the Cardinals’ big league staff since 2012, starting out as the first-base coach. He was a minor league manager for 18 years, 15 of those in the St. Louis system.

07 Jun

numbers game

The number of the day on Tuesday was four, as in the MLB record-matching four home runs hit by that noted slugger (and former Huntsville Star) Scooter Gennett of the Cincinnati Reds. But here’s some more numbers, from Mississippi connections, worth noting:
13 – Home runs by Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State standout who belted two in San Diego’s 10-2 loss to Arizona.
123 – Pitches, a career-high, by Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz over five innings in Boston’s 5-4 win against the New York Yankees.
7 – Home runs by State alum Mitch Moreland, who hit a go-ahead two-run bomb for the Red Sox in the fourth inning.
5 – Strikeouts by Craig Kimbrel, the ex-Mississippi Braves star, in nailing down his 17th save for the Red Sox; he fanned Aaron Judge on a 99-mph fastball for the final out.
6 – Home runs by Seth Smith, the former Ole Miss standout whose leadoff blast was one of four by Baltimore in a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh.
9 – Home runs by Southern Miss product Brian Dozier, who went deep in Minnesota’s 12-3 loss to Seattle; it was his third homer in his last 10 games.
.353 – Batting average, second-best in the big leagues, for UM alum Zack Cozart, who went 2-for-3 in Cincinnati’s Gennett-fueled 13-1 victory against St. Louis.
.137 – Batting average for former Richton High star JaCoby Jones, sent back to the minors by Detroit.

06 Jun

star gazing

Don’t look now, but ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart has climbed into the top two at shortstop in the National League All-Star voting. Cozart, batting .348 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs for Cincinnati, trails the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Corey Seager and is just ahead of the Chicago Cubs’ Addison Russell. Cozart, in his seventh big league season, has never made the All-Star Game. He said it was “a little shocking” to pass Russell, who is buoyed by Cubs fever. Cozart leads NL shortstops in most offensive categories and is also tops in Defensive Runs Saved. He went 2-for-4 on Monday night against St. Louis – extending his on-base streak to 27 games – and was in the middle of a game-winning four-run rally in the seventh inning. The Reds (26-30) are battling to stay afloat in the NL Central. P.S. Former Biloxi Shuckers standout Brett Phillips was 1-for-3 with an outfield assist (and an error) in his MLB debut for Milwaukee. Phillips is the 12th Shuckers alum to make the majors, a list that includes Orlando Arcia, Jacob Barnes and Yadiel Rivera.

26 May

around the horn

Former Mississippi State star Adam Frazier, a Georgia boy, homered at Atlanta’s new launching pad, SunTrust Park, on Thursday to help Pittsburgh beat the Braves 9-4. Frazier also homered on Wednesday in another Pirates victory. All told, he was 4-for-13 in the four-game series with seven walks, five runs and six RBIs. Frazier is batting .361 in 28 games. … Hunter Renfroe, a Mississippi boy who also played at State, continues to swing a big bat for San Diego. Including a 2-for-4 effort on Thursday in a win against the New York Mets, the Crystal Springs native is batting .316 with three homers, seven RBIs and nine runs in his last 10 games. He’s at .232 with nine bombs. … Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz delivered a much-needed quality start for Boston, which beat Texas 6-2 at Fenway Park. After three straight wobbly efforts, Pomeranz went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and fanning 11. “Felt lost for a couple of starts,” Pomeranz told The Associated Press. A Red Sox broadcaster called Thursday’s outing a “clinic of curveballs.” It was also a clinic of punchouts, as the Rangers whiffed 20 times against five Boston pitchers. Former Mississippi Braves standout Craig Kimbrel struck out four – yes, four – in the ninth inning. He has retired 53 of the last 56 batters he has faced and now has 40 K’s in 20 2/3 innings with a 0.87 ERA. … Gregor Blanco, one of the three original M-Braves (2005) still playing, has filled in nicely as the center fielder and leadoff batter for Arizona with A.J. Pollock out. Blanco went 3-for-4 with a home run on Thursday in a win over Milwaukee. He is batting .293 with three steals in 16 games. … With Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki expected to be activated from the disabled list today by Toronto, Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan’s roster spot might be in jeopardy.

22 May

big league chew

Mitch Moreland, one of several Boston hitters caught in a power drought, is showing signs of breaking out. The former Mississippi State star from Amory homered for the third straight game on Sunday in a 12-3 Red Sox win at Oakland. He now has five on the year. The Red Sox, trying to keep pace with Baltimore and New York in the American League East, rank 29th in the big leagues with 38 homers. … Corey Dickerson, generating a lot of All-Star buzz these days, got two more hits for Tampa Bay on Sunday, boosting his MLB-leading hit total to 59. The Meridian Community College product is batting .347 (ninth in the big leagues) and slugging .635 (eighth). He has 11 homers, five in his last 10 games. … Former Ole Miss star Zack Cozart is hitting .351 (fourth in MLB) for Cincinnati. He didn’t play Sunday (sore wrist) as the tumbling Reds lost for the eighth time in nine games. … East Central CC alum Tim Anderson is 12-for-26 with three homers in six games since returning from a trip home to Birmingham for the funeral of a close friend. Anderson, in an early season slump, is now hitting .264 with five bombs and 11 RBIs for the Chicago White Sox. … Ex-Petal High standout Anthony Alford took an 0-for-3 on Sunday and is still looking for his first big league hit since last week’s call-up by Toronto. … Baltimore’s Adam Jones hit his 124th homer at Camden Yards on Sunday, equaling ex-State star Rafael Palmeiro for the most in the Orioles’ home park.

19 May

have a day

The numbers are good, very good: .367, six home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs. The numbers were posted by a collection of Mississippians in the majors – 12 of them – on Thursday night. Collectively, the 12 who played went 18-for-49. Adam Frazier (Mississippi State) and Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) had three-hit games. Frazier drove in four runs. He and Anderson homered, as did Seth Smith (Ole Miss), Hunter Renfroe (State), Mitch Moreland (State) and Jarrod Dyson (Southwest CC). Dyson scored three times and stole two bases. Frazier, Anderson, Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville) and Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss) rapped doubles. Zack Cozart (Ole Miss) had two hits and an RBI. Tyler Moore (State) and Stuart Turner (Ole Miss) struck out in pinch-hit appearances, but every Mississippian who started got at least one knock, save for Brian Dozier (Southern Miss). He had a tough day, going 0-for-9 in a doubleheader, though he did contribute a sac fly. All in all, a very good day for the Magnolia State boys. And the hottest hitter of them all, Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC, .335, nine homers, 18 RBIs), didn’t have a game on Thursday. P.S. Baseball America’s latest Top 500 draft prospects list shows just two Mississippians: State’s Brent Rooker at No. 64 and Jake Mangum at 160.