MLB Archives - Page 72 of 88 - All Mississippi Baseball

04 Aug

random numbers

37 – Stolen bases for Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who got one as a pinch runner on Wednesday in Cincinnati’s 5-4 loss to St. Louis. Hamilton’s total ranks second in MLB, three behind Jonathan Villar. Hamilton, who set the all-time minor league record with 155 steals in 2012, swiped 57 bases for the Reds in 2015 and 56 in 2014.
11 – Home runs allowed in eight starts by Northwest Mississippi Community College alum Cody Reed, the rookie left-hander who gave up another in Cincinnati’s loss to St. Louis. Reed, one of the Reds’ top-rated prospects, fell to 0-6 with a 7.30 ERA.
6 – RBIs by former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier in the last three games, all wins for Minnesota against Cleveland. Dozier, who has a 12-game hit streak, is 5-for-16 with two homers and four runs scored in the series, helping the Twins score 35 times against the Indians’ vaunted pitching staff.
14 – Number of players the Los Angeles Dodgers currently have on the disabled list, which now includes Greenwood native and ex-Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman. Coleman, out with right shoulder fatigue, has appeared in a career-high 50 games in his first season with the Dodgers after five in Kansas City. He has a 3.70 ERA.
2 – Number of former Mississippi Braves to make their MLB debut on Wednesday. Rob Whalen started and got the win for Atlanta against Pittsburgh, and James Hoyt worked a scoreless inning in relief for Houston. By one count, that makes 111 M-Braves alums who have advanced to The Show since the Double-A club arrived in Pearl in 2005.
6 – Runs, matching a season-high, yielded by Mississippi State product Kendall Graveman, who lasted just four innings in Oakland’s 8-6 loss to the L.A. Angels. Graveman, who had won four straight starts in July, now has a loss and a no-decision in his last two. He is 7-7, 4.46.
9 – Hits in his last four games for Petal High alum Anthony Alford, who has boosted his average to .232 at Class A Dunedin in Toronto’s system. The Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect (by Baseball America) entering this season, Alford has been sidetracked by injuries. The 22-year-old outfielder has five homers, 30 RBIs and 14 steals in 68 games.

01 Aug

meanwhile, down on farm

Cleveland’s trade for New York Yankees relief ace Andrew Miller had a trickle-down effect in the Indians’ organization. Joey Butler, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star from Pascagoula, was removed from the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Miller and designated for assignment on Sunday. Butler, 30, an outfielder, has been playing at Triple-A Columbus all season, hitting .238 with eight homers and 40 RBIs. The Indians claimed Butler on waivers in the off-season from Tampa Bay, where he played well in 2015 (.276, eight bombs in 88 games) in his first real opportunity in the big leagues. The Indians reportedly liked what they saw from Butler in spring training, so he might stay in the organization. He is a .288 hitter with 90 homers over his minor league career, which dates to 2008, when he was drafted by Texas out of UNO. P.S. The all-Mississippi home run race heated up on Sunday. Surging Mitch Moreland, the former Mississippi State standout, clubbed his 18th for Texas, but Southern Miss product Brian Dozier belted a pair for Minnesota to end the day with 19. (Dozier, not a noted slugger at USM, has 94 homers in four-plus MLB seasons.) Ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart (Cincinnati) has 15 homers this year, as does Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson (Tampa Bay). … Continuing on a home run theme, former Mississippi Braves star Jose Peraza hit his first big league homer for the Reds and Jeff Francoeur crushed his 160th for Atlanta. It was Francoeur’s first homer at Turner Field as a Brave since 2009.

31 Jul

buzz, buzz, buzz

Halfway through the second half of the Southern League season, the Mississippi Braves sit in first place in the South Division. A walk-off win on a Levi Hyams base hit in the 12th inning on Saturday pushed the M-Braves’ record to 21-14, a game clear of the pack in the race for the second-half title. The M-Braves have won eight of their last 10. … Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland hit his second career game-ending home run on Saturday to give Texas a 2-1 win over Kansas City. It was his 17th homer of the year. … Former State star Jonathan Papelbon reportedly has said he is “on board’ with Washington’s acquisition of Mark Melancon, who’ll displace Papelbon (and his 4.41 ERA) as the Nationals’ closer. Papelbon’s role going forward is unclear. … Don’t look now, but former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons has his Toronto Blue Jays in first place in the American League East. The Jays beat Baltimore 9-1 on Saturday, the fifth straight loss for the Orioles, managed by ex-State standout Buck Showalter. The teams, separated by a half-game, play again today at Rogers Centre. … Boston’s trade for Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz hasn’t helped its cause in the AL East thus far. Pomeranz took another loss on Saturday (against the Los Angeles Angels) and is 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA in three starts for the BoSox. He was 8-7, 2.47 for San Diego, a non-contender. … Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College star, seems to do something good every day for the Chicago White Sox. The rookie went 3-for-5 on Saturday and scored twice, including the game-tying run in the ninth inning of a 6-5, 10-inning victory against Minnesota. Anderson is batting .275 with five homers, 12 RBIs, four steals and 25 runs in 43 games. Would love to see him in a 30-yard (90 feet) race against Billy Hamilton and Jarrod Dyson. … San Diego has cleared outfield space with the trades of Melvin Upton and Matt Kemp, but reports are that the Padres will wait until September to call up ex-State standout Hunter Renfroe, who is hitting .322 with 25 homers in Triple-A. … Seattle apparently is interested in acquiring Ole Miss product Zack Cozart from Cincinnati. The veteran shortstop is batting .267 with 15 homers. … For those wondering about impact bats in Atlanta’s minor league system, note that former DeSoto Central High star Austin Riley is batting .263 with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 93 games at low Class A Rome.

20 Jul

odds and ends

Interesting matchup in Cincinnati on Tuesday night: Cody Reed, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College star, vs. Tyrell Jenkins, the Mississippi Braves ace of 2015, both rookies seeking their first major league win. Both pitched relatively well, though neither was involved in the decision as Atlanta won in 11 innings. Jenkins went six innings and allowed two runs for the Braves. Reed also went six and allowed two unearned runs. The lanky left-hander with the trademark specs reduced his ERA to 6.75. … Former Ole Miss star and 2016 All-Star Drew Pomeranz is slated to make his Boston debut tonight against San Francisco at Fenway Park. Pomeranz won eight games for lowly San Diego before he was traded. … Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson went 3-for-5 on Tuesday in his return to Coors Field, where he was a career .354 hitter while with Colorado. He is batting .230 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs for Tampa Bay. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Brian Dozier hit his 16th home run for Minnesota; he leads Mississippians in the majors in homers. … Baltimore has brought up Starkville native Julio Borbon, a career .272 hitter who last appeared in the big leagues in 2013. The former Tennessee star was playing at Double-A Bowie. … Former State star Kendall Graveman has won five straight decisions for Oakland to even his record at 6-6. … MSU product Hunter Renfroe homered on Sunday and Monday for Triple-A El Paso (San Diego) and now has 23 bombs on the season. … USM alum Mason Robbins is bobbin’ along at .305 for Class A Winston-Salem (Chicago White Sox), while brother Walker Robbins, also a Leakesville native, has lifted his average to .125 with a three-game hit streak in the rookie Gulf Coast League (St. Louis). … Former State All-America Dakota Hudson, the 34th overall draft pick by St. Louis last month, made his long-awaited debut on Monday and struck out three in one inning of work for the GCL Cardinals. … USM product Chuckie Robinson, a 21st-round pick by Houston, is hitting .388 with a homer and six RBIs at short-season Class A Tri-City.

19 Jul

big ones

Three big home runs were struck by Mississippi-connected players on Monday night, each one big in a different way. At Seattle, former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson belted an upper deck shot for the Chicago White Sox, the fifth homer of the year for the rookie shortstop who has shown surprising power. At Kansas City, Southwest Mississippi CC alum Jarrod Dyson hit a grand slam to cap a seven-run eighth inning for the Royals in a 7-3 win against Cleveland. It was the seventh homer in seven big league seasons for Dyson, known much more for his wheels. “I wasn’t expecting that type of result,” he said before he was doused with ice in a postgame interview. “But I’ll take it.” And then there was the shot struck in Anaheim by ex-Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland. It was career home run No. 100 for the Amory native, who has been with Texas for seven seasons. It was the 12th homer of 2016 but first since June 19 for Moreland, who has been battling a calf injury. The milestone blast puts him eight behind Seth Smith, the Jackson native and ex-Ole Miss standout, on the list of active MLB home run leaders from Mississippi. Vicksburg’s Ellis Burks is the state’s career home run king with 352, followed by Grenada (or Calhoun City) native Dave Parker at 339, Greenville’s George Scott at 271 and Jackson’s Chet Lemon at 215. For the record, Rafael Palmeiro is the all-time MSU alumni leader with 569 bombs; Will Clark hit 284.

14 Jul

touching the bases

With the trade winds starting to intensify in the major leagues, it looks as if ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz will soon be on his way to a new club. MLB.com reports there is a lot of interest in the San Diego left-hander, who just appeared in his first All-Star Game. Boston, Baltimore, Texas, the New York Mets and Miami are among the teams that could be in the bidding. Former Mississippi Braves Arodys Vizcaino (now Atlanta’s closer) and Yunel Escobar (the Los Angeles Angels’ third baseman) are also mentioned as hot commodities. … Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-2 in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday night. His Pacific Coast League team, which also included former Mississippi Braves reliever James Hoyt, lost to the International League 4-2. Former Jackson Mets star Wally Backman managed the PCL stars. … Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn managed the Freedom Division to a 3-1 win in the independent Atlantic League’s All-Star Game on Wednesday night at Lancaster, Pa. Cliburn’s Southern Maryland team won the Freedom Division title in 2015, which earned him the managerial honor, though he now skippers the New Britain Bees, who play in the Liberty Division. … Former Ole Miss star J.B. Woodman, the first position player picked out of the state in this year’s MLB draft, is heating up after a chilly start to his pro career. Woodman, a lefty-hitting outfielder with Toronto’s short-season Class A Vancouver team, has hit .290 with eight RBIs over his last 10 games. His average has jumped some 70 points in that span. … Alex Gunn, a Clinton High and Hinds Community College product, got the win in his first appearance for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rookie Arizona League team. Signed late last week out of the independent American Association, Gunn went 5 2/3 innings, yielding four hits, two walks and two earned runs on Wednesday. Gunn, who also pitched at the University of Memphis, was 2-0 with a 3.37 ERA this season for the Gary South Shore RailCats. … Pearl River CC product Zach Clark has signed with Milwaukee, which drafted the shortstop/outfielder in the 19th round last month. Clark, who had been an Alabama commit, batted .325 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs for the Wildcats.

09 Jul

four things

Thinking about:
Tim Anderson’s agility. The East Central Community College product turned a slick triple play for the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. The rookie shortstop trapped a sinking liner to his left off the bat of Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman, tagged a runner trying to get back to second base, stepped on second and threw to first. All in one motion. “I was kind of like a basketball player in that role,” Anderson said in an Associated Press article. Anderson was, in fact, an All-State basketball player in Alabama before electing to play baseball at ECCC. There were concerns about Anderson’s defense in the minors – he made 25 errors last year and 34 in 2014 – but he has been money in his 26 big league games, with one error in 102 chances.
Billy Hamilton’s speed. The former Taylorsville High star ran down yet another fly ball in deep center field for Cincinnati, stretching for the catch just before he jumped into the wall. With apologies to Dominique Wilkins, Hamilton is another Human Highlight Film. Hamilton still isn’t hitting a bunch (.240), but he saves a ton of runs with his D. Not only does he have great range, but last season, Hamilton didn’t make a single error. He has two this year in 166 chances. The converted shortstop also has six assists in 2016.
Mitch Moreland’s health. The Mississippi State alum, troubled by a calf injury, was supposed to start for Texas on Friday but didn’t. He last started a game on July 2 and has just one at-bat since then. Perhaps is hitting has been affected. He’s at .228 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs, .216 with just one bomb over his last 15 games. The Rangers also miss his glovework at first base.
Tony Sipp’s effectiveness. The former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout, a key piece of Houston’s bullpen in 2015, is in a very real funk. The veteran left-hander has seen his ERA balloon to 5.40 in 23 1/3 innings. Right-handers are hitting .327 against him and lefties .300. The Astros have seemed reluctant to use their only lefty reliever of late. “We have to get Tony going in our bullpen,” manager A.J. Hinch recently told the Houston Chronicle.

06 Jul

smash and dash

The home run is all the rage again in the big leagues, but speed still has its place. Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton demonstrated the value of the smash and the dash elements in Cincinnati’s 9-5 win against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. Ole Miss product Cozart belted his 13th home run – two shy of his career-high – and Taylorsville’s Hamilton swiped three bases – he’s got 22 all told — and scored from second base on a passed ball as the last-place Reds took down the mighty Cubs at Wrigley Field. Hamilton scored the game’s first run in the first when he walked, stole second and came home as a John Lackey pitch got past catcher David Ross; it helped that Lackey, perhaps forgetting who was running, was slow to cover the plate. Cozart hit his homer in the second inning, a two-run shot that made it 4-0. (Cozart tied Corey Dickerson and Brian Dozier for the lead in the all-Mississippi home run derby, each with 13. Mitch Moreland has 11 and Seth Smith 10.) In the fourth, Cozart led off with a double – his 22nd – went to third on a bunt by Hamilton and scored on a sac fly by Joey Votto, putting Cincy up 6-4. In the seventh, Hamilton legged out a bloop double, stole third and scored on a Votto hit to make it 7-5. Cozart (.269) and Hamilton (.244), batting 1-2 in the lineup, combined for four hits, four runs and two RBIs. P.S. Props to former Mississippi Braves Julio Teheran and Craig Kimbrel for making the All-Star Game.

05 Jul

whatever happened to …

Silento Sayles, the prep stolen base king from Port Gibson High, is batting .171 with two steals in 13 games at short-season Class A Mahoning Valley in the Cleveland system. Sayles started his third pro season in low-A ball and was batting .182 when he was moved down. For his career, he has 33 stolen bases in 49 tries over 151 games. He bagged a record 103 his senior year in high school. … Spencer Turnbull, the former Madison Central star and Detroit’s No. 6 prospect, has made two injury rehab starts in the Gulf Coast League. Turnbull went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA at Class A West Michigan last season; he has been on the disabled list all season. … Bobby Wahl, the Ole Miss product who spent some time in Oakland’s big league camp this spring, has a 2.86 ERA and two saves in 21 games at Double-A Midland, where he had a 4.18 and four saves in 2015. … Zack Bird, the Murrah High alum who made three starts for the Mississippi Braves last summer, is at Class A Carolina in the Atlanta system. He is 2-1, 7.47 in 19 games, all but one in relief. … LeDarious Clark, the ex-East Mississippi Community College star from Meridian, has been on the disabled list at Class A Hickory in Texas’ system since early June. Clark is batting .219 in 42 games. He exploded into pro ball last summer and wound up at .276 with eight homers, 24 RBIs and 29 steals at the short-season Class A level. … Jacob Lindgren, the former Mississippi State and St. Stanislaus star who made The Show with the New York Yankees last season, has been on the disabled list at Class A Tampa since late April. Lindgren had elbow surgery last summer. … Tim Dillard, the former Itawamba Community College standout, is on the temporary inactive list at Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Milwaukee system. Dillard, 32, a onetime big leaguer, has a 7.11 ERA in his 14th pro season. … James McMahon, the 2015 Ferriss Trophy winner from Southern Miss, retired after his one tour of pro ball. He posted a 6.44 ERA in 19 games at the rookie level for Colorado. … Melvin Rodriguez, the 2015 SWAC player of the year from Jackson State, was released by Washington in the spring; he hit .200 in short-season Class A last summer. P.S. Though Cody Reed’s ERA sits at 9.00 after four starts for Cincinnati, reports are the Reds will keep the Northwest Mississippi Community College alum in the big leagues. Reed, a highly regarded left-hander, has been knocked around twice by the Chicago Cubs, including on Monday (five hits, three walks, two HBPs and four earned runs in four innings). “I think I’m a lot better than what I’m doing,” he told mlb.com. … Welcome back: Jonathan Papelbon, the former Mississippi State star, returned from the disabled list and pitched a scoreless inning for Washington on Monday, and Picayune’s T.J. House was recalled by Cleveland. Lefty House, who made 22 starts for the Indians in 2014-15, had a 4.45 ERA at Triple-A Columbus but put up a 2.16 in seven outings after moving to the bullpen in mid-June.

04 Jul

streak show

Whatever the Baltimore Orioles’ plan was for pitching to Seth Smith during the four-game series at Seattle, they need to rip it up and try something different. Smith, the ex-Ole Miss star, homered in all four games at Safeco Field, including hitting his first career grand slam on Sunday as the Mariners finished off a sweep. Smith said he made some minor adjustments in his swing recently and is on a 17-for-44 tear ever since. He is batting .280 with 10 homers and 38 RBIs for the surging M’s. … Southern Miss product Brian Dozier tripled on Sunday for Minnesota, extending his on-base streak to 25 games. Dozier is batting .380 with 19 RBIs over that span and has boosted his numbers to .262 with 11 homers, 41 RBIs. He just might make another All-Star Game. … Mississippi State alum Adam Frazier got his first career double and triple for Pittsburgh, helping the Pirates beat Oakland 6-3 for their fourth straight win. Frazier is 7-for-14 in seven games since his call-up. … Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College star, had two more hits for the Chicago White Sox in a win over Houston. Anderson, batting .300, has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and 17 of 22 since he was called up. … Enduring a different kind of streak is ex-State standout Mitch Moreland, who has been stuck on 99 career home runs since June 19, a span of 12 games for the Amory native. He is batting .229 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs for Texas.