Tag Archives: MLB

24 Feb

speed reader

Jarrod Dyson is all about that next base, which is most evident from his stolen base numbers. The Southwest Mississippi Community College product has swiped 100 bags over the last three seasons for Kansas City, with a team-high 36 in 2014. Plus, he goes first to third like a jackrabbit. His speed also plays in center field, where he gets to a lot of balls. Last season, Dyson played 691 1/3 defensive innings over 108 games, posting a .983 fielding percentage on 236 chances with four errors and four assists. Beyond those numbers, ESPN the Magazine’s March 2 issue presents a list of the American League’s top outfielders under the category of “Highest Defensive Runs Above Average in 2014.” Dyson ranked No. 1, ahead of teammates Alex Gordon (a Gold Glover) and Lorenzo Cain, who were 2 and 3. Not sure what that stat means, but it must be significant. The Royals did win the AL pennant. And Dyson, who doesn’t play regularly, got a $1.23 million contract for the coming season. P.S. A story about MLB replacement players from spring training 1995 in the Feb. 23 issue of Sports Illustrated includes references to former Jackson Mets standout Terry Blocker and Mississippians Oil Can Boyd, Chris Brown and Ted Williams. Boyd, from Meridian and Jackson State, was attempting a big league comeback in ’95 — when owners locked out the regular players from spring training — as was Jackson native Brown, aka Downtime Brown or the Tin Man. Williams, a star at Columbus’ Caldwell High who went on to play at Alabama, never made the majors but was an intriguing talent. In 10 seasons in various minor and indy leagues, Williams stole 458 bases, including 74 and 71 in back-to-back campaigns in A-ball. His nickname, the SI story notes, was the Splendid Sprinter, a clever takeoff on the Splendid Splinter moniker given to his namesake, Hall of Famer Ted Williams. … Add Brent Leach to the list of Mississippians in major league camps. The 32-year-old right-hander is a non-roster invitee with Milwaukee; he pitched the last couple of years in the Brewers’ minor league system, including stints at Huntsville in the Southern League. Leach, a Brandon High, Southern Miss and Delta State alumnus, last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2005. … And scratch from the spring invite list ex-Hattiesburg High pitcher Robert Carson, whose 50-game drug suspension apparently cost him his spot with the Dodgers.

21 Feb

ready or not

Alcorn State will get some national exposure today when the Braves play Grambling State in the MLB Urban Invitational to be televised live by MLB Network starting at 2 p.m. The Braves lost their opener in the four-team event 5-0 to New Orleans on Friday at UNO’s Maestri Field. Alcorn is 1-4; the one win, against Savannah State, was coach Barret Rey’s 100th in his six seasons in Lorman. The Braves won the SWAC Tournament and went to an NCAA regional in 2011 but have scuffled of late. They finished 11-42 last season. They managed just three hits and committed three errors in the loss to UNO. Maybe they’ll rise to the occasion of playing on national TV. One player to watch: Collin Carroll, a junior transfer from Ridgeland via Southwest Mississippi Community College who is batting .400 with a homer and three RBIs. He is the lone Alcorn batter hitting over .250. P.S. The Urban Invitational is a Major League Baseball initiative aimed at growing the game among inner-city youth and providing exposure for historically black colleges.

17 Feb

happy campers

Major league camps formally open this week. As usual, a host of Mississippi-connected players will be in Florida and Arizona, some aiming to build on big years, some attempting comebacks from down years or injuries, some just trying to make an impression and land a job. A few are in new places this year, some may be anticipating a move before opening day. Rest assured, all are happy to be in an MLB camp. Who wouldn’t be? Here’s the list:

40-man roster members
Position players
Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss), Chicago Cubs; Zack Cozart (Ole Miss), Cincinnati; Brian Dozier (Southern Miss), Minnesota; Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC), Colorado; Jarrod Dyson (Southwest CC), Kansas City; Ed Easley (Mississippi State), St. Louis; Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville), Cincinnati; Desmond Jennings (Itawamba CC), Tampa Bay; Tyler Moore (MSU), Washington; Mitch Moreland (MSU), Texas; Alex Presley (Ole Miss), Houston; Seth Smith (Ole Miss), Seattle

Pitchers
Aaron Barrett (Ole Miss), Washington; Louis Coleman (Schlater/Pillow Academy), Kansas City; David Goforth (Ole Miss), Milwaukee; Kendall Graveman (MSU), Oakland; T.J. House (Picayune High) Cleveland; Cliff Lee (Meridian CC), Philadelphia; Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), St. Louis; Jonathan Papelbon (MSU), Philadelphia; Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss), Oakland; Tony Sipp (Gulf Coast CC), Houston

Non-roster invitees
Position players
Anthony Alford (Petal), Toronto; Tim Anderson (East Central CC), Chicago White Sox; Joey Butler (Gulf Coast CC), Tampa Bay; Hunter Renfroe (MSU), San Diego; Stuart Turner (Ole Miss), Minnesota; Alex Yarbrough (Ole Miss), Los Angeles Angels

Pitchers
Brent Leach (Delta State), Milwaukee; Jacob Lindgren (MSU), New York Yankees; Paul Maholm (MSU), Cincinnati; Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss), New York Mets; Chris Stratton (MSU), San Francisco; Donnie Veal (Jackson), Atlanta

07 Feb

eye on …

For most young players, a non-roster invitation to major league spring training is just ceremonial. They’ll get a look and a taste of big-league life, but they aren’t a real threat to make the 25-man cut for the start of the season. But Jacob Lindgren, the former Mississippi State and St. Stanislaus High star, definitely bears watching in the coming weeks in the New York Yankees’ camp. Despite having pitched only 24 2/3 innings as a pro, the 5-foot-11 left-hander is being mentioned as a viable candidate for the Yanks’ bullpen. Lindgren was almost unhittable at State last year: 0.81 ERA, 100 strikeouts in 55 innings. The Yankees took him with their top pick — 55th overall — and Lindgren moved swiftly though four levels of the minors last summer. He recorded a 2.19 ERA, 48 strikeouts and 13 walks and did not allow a home run. He throws in the mid-90s and scouting reports say his slider may be the best in the Yankees’ minor league system. The Yankees have a strong bullpen, including veteran lefties Andrew Miller and Justin Wilson. But there is always room for another quality southpaw. P.S. Another ex-MSU lefty, MLB veteran Paul Maholm, recently signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati and will be in the Reds’ camp. Maholm pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014.

04 Feb

here and there

Cody Satterwhite, on the comeback trail from a variety of injuries, has received a non-roster invite to the New York Mets’ big league spring camp. The former Ole Miss standout from Jackson, now 28, notched 15 saves with a 2.33 ERA at Double-A Binghamton in 2014. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him land a role in the Mets’ bullpen. … Former Mississippi State ace Chris Stratton, San Francisco’s top pick in 2012, has a non-roster invite to the Giants’ camp. Stratton, from Tupelo, reached Double-A last season. … Belhaven University, 4-0 after whipping Tougaloo 16-2 on Tuesday, will host the BU Invitational starting Thursday at Smith-Wills Stadium. The Blazers will play Culver-Stockton; NAIA nationally ranked Missouri Baptist, which swept William Carey three straight last weekend; and NAIA national champ Cumberland University. … Tougaloo’s game at Belhaven on Tuesday marked the coaching debut of former Jackson State star (and onetime Jackson Generals pitcher) Earl Sanders. … Blue Mountain went 1-2 last weekend at Georgia Gwinnett despite allowing 36 runs. … Hinds Community College, the No. 2 team in the national juco polls, has moved its opener to Friday (from Saturday) in Raymond. The Eagles will play two against Mineral Area (Mo.). … Also opening on Friday are Mississippi College, which will take on Tougaloo at Frierson Field in Clinton, and Delta State, which travels to Nova Southeastern in Florida. … The NCAA Division I schools start on Feb. 13. Both State and Ole Miss are ranked in various national polls. … Also slated to start on Feb. 13 is Division III Millsaps, which hosts Ozarks (Ark.) at Twenty Field on its Jackson campus.

29 Jan

a spring in their step

Former East Central Community College standout Tim Anderson has been rated the No. 10 shortstop prospect in the minors by mlb.com. Anderson also has received an invitation to the Chicago White Sox’s major league spring training camp next month. A first-round pick in 2013, Anderson batted .301 with nine homers and 40 RBIs in an injury-interrupted 2014, finishing the season in Double-A. He also played well in the Arizona Fall League. … Other Mississippians who have received non-roster invites to big league camps include Petal High alumnus and former Mr. Baseball Anthony Alford (Toronto), Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe (San Diego), ex-Hattiesburg High star Robert Carson (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC alum Joey Butler (Tampa Bay). … Also of note: Former Mississippi Braves catcher J.C. Boscan has signed a minor league deal with Kansas City and will report to the Royals’ big league camp. P.S. Hinds Community College is ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA’s preseason poll, and Jones County Junior College is slotted at No. 11. Hinds, 40-21 and a Division II World Series finalist last year, opens on Feb. 7 against Mineral Area (Mo.) in Raymond. Jones, 46-11 and MACJC state champion in 2014, starts Feb. 7 against Jeff Davis (Ala.) in Ellisville.

25 Jan

a dead deal?

Friday became Saturday and Saturday became Sunday and Jonathan Papelbon is still a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. The rumored trade that would have moved the former Mississippi State star to the Milwaukee Brewers is all but dead, a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would seem to indicate. Money issues in Papelbon’s contract appear to be the snag. Papelbon, 34, has a no-trade clause and Milwaukee is on the list of destinations he must approve. Papelbon, who has 325 career saves (39 last year), would fill the Brewers’ need for a closer. He has said he wants to play for a contender, and the Brewers are much better positioned to contend in 2015 than are the Phillies. It seems like a move Papelbon would welcome, even if it meant making some concessions. P.S. The lists just keep on coming: Former Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, after a breakout year with Colorado, was rated the No. 8 left fielder in the game by MLB Network. Bobby Bradley, the Harrison Central High alum who had a sensational pro debut in the Cleveland system, was ranked the ninth-best first base prospect by mlb.com. And MSU alum Hunter Renfroe, who reached the Double-A level in 2014, is rated the No. 3 prospect in San Diego’s system by Baseball America and projected to make the majors by 2016.

16 Jan

coming back

After finishing last season in Japan, Joey Butler will get another shot at sticking with an MLB club this spring. The former Pascagoula High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout recently signed a minor league contract with Tampa Bay. A right-handed hitting corner outfielder, Butler, 28, has a chance to crack the Rays’ 25-man roster in the spring, some reports say. The Rays’ current projected outfield starters are former Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings in center, veteran David DeJesus in left and newly acquired rookie Steven Souza in right. Butler, who has played just 14 MLB games (with Texas and St. Louis), is a career .293 hitter in the minors. He goes 6 feet 2, 220 pounds and has averaged almost 11 homers a year in seven minor league seasons. P.S. Props to Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn on signing a 3-year, $22 million deal with the Cardinals.

13 Jan

totally random

Today’s subject: Chico Walker. Jackson native Walker, given name Cleotha, had a rather unremarkable big league career. Drafted out of a Chicago high school by Boston in 1976, he played parts of 11 years in The Show but got into only 526 games. A 5-foot-9 switch-hitter, he batted .246, hit 17 homers, stole 67 bases. However, Walker’s name does appear on a noteworthy list — a list that includes Ole Miss alum Steve Dillard and ex-Jackson Mets star Dave Magadan, other familiar names like Ryne Sandberg, Bill Madlock, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey and forgettable ones such as Carmen Fanzone, Domingo Ramos, Ty Waller and Augie Ojeda. Chicago Cubs fans might recognize these names as belonging to the subset of players who toiled at third base at Wrigley Field between Ron Santo’s departure in 1974 and Aramis Ramirez’s arrival in 2003. Among the throng who got that opportunity, 44 of them appeared in at least 50 games at the hot corner. Chico Walker was one of them. His best season was 1991, when he batted .257 with six homers, 34 RBIs and 13 steals in 124 games for the Cubbies. He made 47 starts at third that year and 10 more appearances there. P.S. Former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn, now with the St. Louis Cardinals, could get a record reward in salary arbitration if he goes that route. The record, as mlb.com reports, is $4.35 million for a first-year arbitration-eligible starting pitcher. Right-hander Lynn won 15 games for the Cards in 2014 and has 49 W’s in four years; he’s going to get a nice contract, whether in arbitration or pre-arbitration negotiation.

07 Jan

heating up

In the winter leagues, January is akin to October, which means it’s postseason time. In the first round of the Mexican Pacific League playoffs, a pair of Mississippians are on opposing sides in the Obregon-Mexicali series. On Tuesday, Hattiesburg native John Lindsey belted a two-run homer — one of his four hits — in the first inning to propel Mexicali to a 6-4 victory that staved off elimination. Alcorn State product Corey Wimberly went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Obregon, which leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. Daniel Castro, the Mississippi Braves’ shortstop last season, had a hit for Obregon, as well. Neither Wimberly, who played in the Minnesota system in 2014, nor the 37-year-old Lindsey, who played in Mexico, is under contract with an MLB organization for 2015.