Tag Archives: Nationals

08 Aug

big league chew

Three hits, a walk, three runs, four steals and a great catch in center field. That’s the kind of production the Cincinnati Reds would like to see from Billy Hamilton on a more regular basis. “It’s a completely different dynamic,” Reds manager Bryan Price told mlb.com after Sunday’s 7-3 win against Pittsburgh. “He just has a special talent … .” The Taylorsville High alum is batting .255 (.305 on-base percentage) with 52 runs and an MLB-leading 43 stolen bases in 95 games. He is a .245 career hitter (.292 OBP) since his 2013 debut with the Reds. … Former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier rapped out two hits Sunday to extend his streak to 16 games. He is batting .366 during that stretch and is up to .264 for the season for Minnesota. … Cameras caught Mississippi State alum Jonathan Papelbon kicked back and catching some rays (possibly napping) in the Washington Nationals’ bullpen on Sunday – during the eighth inning of a 1-0 game against San Francisco. The displaced closer watched in the ninth as Mark Melancon nailed down his first save for the Nats. Papelbon has made just two appearances since July 28, allowing a run (on a home run) in 2 1/3 innings. … Ole Miss product David Goforth allowed five runs in three innings in three appearances during his week back up with Milwaukee. His ERA ballooned to 10.97, and he was optioned out to Triple-A Colorado Springs today. … Madison Younginer, who had 14 saves with the Mississippi Braves this season, made his MLB debut with Atlanta on Sunday, allowing two runs in 2/3 of an inning against St. Louis.

29 Jul

good news, bad news

The Texas Rangers look to Mitch Moreland for power. With Prince Fielder done for the year, perhaps now more than ever. Ex-Mississippi State standout Moreland delivered two solo home runs on Thursday night, powering the Rangers to a 3-2 win against Kansas City. “I know that’s what I’m looked upon as … hit the ball in the gap or drive it out of the ballpark,” Moreland told mlb.com, while humbly deflecting praise toward winning pitcher Cole Hamels. Texas, which once had a big lead in the American League West, is up 3 games on second-place Houston. Moreland enjoyed his best season in 2015 (.278, 23 homers, 85 RBIs) but has had his struggles this year. He is hitting just .237 with 16 homers and 42 RBIs. But there are indications he has found a groove. In his last 38 at-bats, the lefty-hitting Amory native is batting .289 with five homers. Both of his homers on Thursday were to the opposite field at Globe Life Park, an approach that Rangers manager Jeff Banister made note of. “When he’s locked in like that it’s a huge plus for our offense,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. … Washington manager Dusty Baker went back to Jonathan Papelbon (see previous post) in a save situation on Thursday. The former State star lasted three batters. The struggling Papelbon, handed a three-run lead against San Francisco, got an out but then yielded a hit and a walk. Two other relievers closed out the Nationals’ 4-2 win. Papelbon was charged with a run that moved his ERA to 4.41.

27 Jul

woe in washington

Two straight rough outings have recharged the concerns about Jonathan Papelbon in Washington. The Nationals were reported to be looking for a closer even before the two meltdowns, a four-run outing against San Diego on Sunday followed by Tuesday night’s blown save against Cleveland. Former Mississippi State star Papelbon allowed two hits, two walks and two runs without recording an out – there was an error involved – as the Indians rallied from two runs down to walk off with a 7-6 victory. Papelbon, 35, who had seven straight scoreless outings in July before these last two, is 19 of 22 in save chances for the first-place Nats, but his ERA is now 4.18 and his WHIP 1.30. He went on the disabled list in June for the first time in his career. His fastball velocity is way down, though Papelbon himself is not. “My confidence in this game has never fluctuated, and it never will,” he told mlb.com after Tuesday’s outing. Washington manager Dusty Baker was non-committal on whether he was going to make a change from within at closer. Meanwhile, the Nats, who lost out on Aroldis Chapman, are rumored to be interested in Andrew Miller, Wade Davis and David Robertson. … Any hope that Aaron Barrett might rejoin the Nationals’ bullpen down the stretch has evaporated. The ex-Ole Miss star suffered a fractured elbow while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and has undergone more surgery. Barrett posted a 2.66 ERA in 50 games in 2014 and a 4.60 in 40 games last season before he was shut down. He had the Tommy John procedure last September and ankle surgery in December.

24 Jul

numbers to crunch

4 – Wins in four consecutive starts for Kendall Graveman, the former Mississippi State star now pitching for Oakland. Graveman went nine innings on Saturday to beat Tampa Bay – thanks to a pair of ninth-inning homers – and is now 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA. At one point, he was 1-6, 5.48.
12 – Hits in his last 10 games for Anthony Alford, the former Petal High star now in A-ball with Toronto. Alford, in an injury-plagued campaign, is now batting .210 with four homers and 23 RBIs for Dunedin.
7 – Wins in their last nine games for the Double-A Mississippi Braves, who beat Tennessee 3-0 on Saturday behind the pitching of Lucas Sims and Jason Hursh. The M-Braves are 16-13 and in first place in the Southern League South.
31 – Steals for Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star playing for Cincinnati. Hamilton, batting leadoff on Saturday, went 1-for-4 with a bag and a run in the Reds’ 6-1 win against Arizona. Hamilton has a six-game hit streak that has boosted his average to .251 with 46 runs in 82 games.
3 – Runs scored by Ole Miss product Seth Smith in Seattle’s 14-5 win against Toronto on Saturday. Smith, batting .273, has 43 runs in 83 games for the Mariners. He also has 11 home runs.
7 – Consecutive scoreless appearances for Jonathan Papelbon, the former Mississippi State standout who pitches for Washington. Papelbon yielded a hit and a walk in the ninth against San Diego on Saturday but got the win thanks to a walk-off triple by Stephen Drew. Papelbon is 2-2 with 19 saves and a 2.56 ERA for the first-place Nationals.
3 – Number of former Mississippi Braves who started for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday (Yunel Escobar, Andrelton Simmons and Todd Cunningham). Two ex-M-Braves started for Atlanta (Freddie Freeman and Jeff Francoeur).

14 Jun

it’s a first

Jonathan Papelbon, reported to be unavailable to close Washington’s 4-1 win against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, won’t be available for at least 15 more days. The Mississippi State product was placed on the disabled list today — for the first time in his 12 years in the big leagues – with an intercostal strain. Papelbon, 35, is 16-for-18 in save chances with a 3.28 ERA for the Nationals, who lead the National League East. In his last outing on Sunday, he yielded a go-ahead home run in the ninth against Philadelphia but got the win when the Nats scored twice in the bottom of the inning.

06 Jun

adventure time

Jonathan Papelbon is 15 of 17 in save chances and his team, the Washington Nationals, is in first place. There have been no dugout confrontations. But there have been some adventures on the field, such as the one Sunday at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. On to protect a two-run lead in the ninth, former Mississippi State star Papelbon gave up a single, a walk, a run-scoring double and an intentional pass to load the bases. He then got a pop out, a strikeout (of ex-Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart) and a fly out (to the warning track in center field) to escape the jam and close out a 10-9 victory. “I think my motto has always been, ‘Bend but don’t break,'” Papelbon told mlb.com. Well, maybe, but there are concerns about Papelbon in Washington beyond his explosive temperament. Now 35, he doesn’t get the punchouts he used to (only 18 in 22 2/3 innings). His ERA is up to 3.18 and his WHIP to 1.37 (career average 1.03). It’s a situation that bears watching. You don’t want your closer leading too many adventures.

04 May

ups and downs

After missing two games with pain in his right knee, ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart is back in the Cincinnati lineup today, batting leadoff against San Francisco. Former Taylorsville High standout Billy Hamilton, who reinjured his left thumb on Tuesday, will not start for the Reds. Cozart, who is batting .347 with two homers and nine RBIs, left Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh with an issue in his surgically repaired knee. Hamilton, who has recently boosted his average to .215, first hurt his thumb last month. … After Jonathan Papelbon blew a save on Tuesday, Washington manager Dusty Baker said the Mississippi State alum is in no danger of losing his job as closer. Papelbon is 9-for-11 in save chances. After allowing three runs in the ninth inning against Kansas City on Tuesday, his ERA jumped to 4.50. … Don’t be surprised if Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings is not in Tampa Bay’s lineup tonight. He is in an 0-for-24 skid that has dropped his average to .173. Jennings, who played only 28 games in 2015 because of injuries, actually got off to a good start this spring.

12 Apr

tilting at curveballs

The biggest disappointment in the big leagues so far would have to be Minnesota, which is 0-7. Ex-Southern Miss star and Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was quoted during spring training as saying, “The last couple years, we thought we would be good, but this year we expect it.” Like his team, 2015 All-Star Dozier isn’t meeting expectations: .192 with a solo homer. … Among the surprises in MLB is Cincinnati, off to a 5-2 start. Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart is batting .412, and Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, while hitting just .176, has contributed a homer, a steal, three walks and four runs. … The only thing Jonathan Papelbon has throttled this season for Washington has been opposing batters. The former Mississippi State star has saved all four of the Nationals’ wins, allowing just one run. … Tampa Bay wanted power from ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, and the ex-Colorado slugger has delivered with three homers through six games. He has only two other hits, however. … McComb native Jarrod Dyson is 1-for-4 with two walks in two rehab games at Triple-A Omaha; no definite return date has been set for the Kansas City Royals speedster. … Former Mississippi Braves star Mallex Smith’s line from his MLB debut for Atlanta on Monday: 1 hit, 1 run, 1 caught stealing, 5 stitches in his forehead. But, he may start again tonight. … Though the M-Braves are 1-4, don’t blame Ozzie Albies or Chris Ellis for the poor record. Albies, the flashy shortstop prospect, is batting .364. Ellis, the highly touted Ole Miss alum, won his only start, throwing six shutout innings. … Petal High product and Toronto prospect Anthony Alford, injured (leg) in Class A Dunedin’s opener last week, is on the club’s 7-day disabled list. Alford’s Dunedin teammate D.J. Davis, a Stone County alum, is off to a 3-for-21 start. … Not only does the Magnolia State have three nationally ranked NCAA Division I teams, but D-II Delta State is 26-11, NAIA William Carey is 29-13 and jucos Jones County and Meridian are 31-3 and 26-6, respectively. … On the schedule today are two interesting intrastate matchups: Mississippi Valley State visits Delta State at Ferriss Field in Cleveland and Mississippi College and Millsaps hook up at Twenty Field in Jackson in a Maloney Trophy Series game.

27 Mar

scatter shots

A change of scenery might be what Tyler Moore needs, but a return to Triple-A Syracuse probably isn’t going to help. Moore, the former Mississippi State standout, was outrighted to Syracuse by the Washington Nationals on Friday after clearing waivers. Declaring free agency was not an option for the 29-year-old Moore, who doesn’t have enough service time. As a regular in the minors, Moore hit .271 with 107 homers, including back-to-back 31-bomb seasons, over 612 games. Playing irregularly in the big leagues, he has a .228 average and 24 homers in 277 games over four years. He is hitting .121 as a pinch hitter, and he struggled this spring. Moore, well-liked in Washington, needs an opportunity somewhere else. Maybe the Nationals will try to deal him. … Cleveland optioned Pascagoula’s Joey Butler to Triple-A Buffalo, but manager Terry Francona said he was “thrilled” that the Indians were able to keep the slugging outfielder in the organization. Butler, who flashed his potential with Tampa Bay in 2015, didn’t have a good spring with the Indians, but he’ll get another shot with them. … Delta State is suddenly cooking, with eight straight wins and back-to-back Gulf South Conference series sweeps. The Statesmen, after rolling over North Alabama on the road this weekend, are 20-9, 13-5. They’ll be climbing in the NCAA Division II polls. … This just in: Southern Miss can hit a little bit. The Golden Eagles mashed four home runs on Saturday to finish off a C-USA sweep of Texas-San Antonio and now have 33 homers in 25 games. Taylor Braley leads with eight and Dylan Burdeaux has seven for 19-6 USM. …. Big series. Big crowds. Big letdown in Oxford? After getting swept by South Carolina in a matchup of top 10 teams, Ole Miss finds itself with a 2-4 SEC record. It’ll be interesting to see how the Rebels respond. … Was anybody left at Dudy Noble Field on Saturday when Mississippi State’s game against Georgia ended? Was anybody awake? The home Dogs lost to the road Dogs 11-8 in a nine-inning game that lasted almost five hours and “featured” 22 walks and 10 pitching changes. State did win the first two games and is now 4-2 in the league. … Props to Itawamba Community College’s Rick Collier on becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach with 452 W’s in 14 years. The Indians, with two homers from Timothy Rowe, beat Meridian 10-3 in the second game of a twinbill on Friday to push Collier past Roy Cresap. … Nominee for Game of the Year: In Ellisville on Friday, Jones County Junior College got a game-tying three-run homer from pinch-hitter Marcus Hardy in the bottom of the ninth and a walk-off two-run shot from Erick Hoard in the 10th to beat Northwest 8-6. After completing the doubleheader sweep, Jones is 24-2 and 7-1, leading the MACJC standings.

10 Mar

storylines

Ex-Mississippi State standout Chad Girodo, in Toronto’s camp as a non-roster invitee, might have a legitimate chance to make the club out of spring training. “(H)e’s on the radar and you’re always looking for lefties who can get lefties out,” manager John Gibbons told mlb.com. Drafted in 2013, the 25-year-old Girodo advanced through three levels of the minors last season. He began the year in Class A Dunedin, moved to Double-A New Hampshire and then made a brief appearance with Triple-A Buffalo. He posted a combined 1.34 ERA while striking out 58 in 60 1/3 innings and also pitched well in the Arizona Fall League. He has not allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings this spring for a Blue Jays team that is a little thin in the bullpen. … Tyler Moore, another ex-Bulldogs star, hit his first home run on Wednesday for Washington. Coming off a 2015 season – his fourth in the big leagues — in which he batted .203 with six homers in 187 at-bats, Moore is just 2-for-16 this spring as he tries to win a job on the bench under new manager Dusty Baker. “It’s not an easy job at all and it’s sometimes very frustrating because you feel like you can contribute so much more than what you actually do,” Moore told federalbaseball.com about being a reserve. Moore is wearing No. 32 now, having given up his old No. 12 to Baker. That might be worth a few brownie points. … Though he isn’t expected to have an impact for Arizona this year, former Vancleave High star Colin Bray is certainly a player to keep an eye on. The switch-hitting outfielder, who got an at-bat in an MLB spring game on Tuesday, is rated the No. 24 prospect in the Diamondbacks’ organization, and the MLBPipeline report on him is fairly glowing: speed, defense, make-up. At Class A Kane County in 2015, the 6-foot-3, 197-pound Bray batted .308 with three homers, 52 RBIs and 27 steals. Bray, 22, a sixth-round pick out of Faulkner State (Ala.) Community College in 2013, could make it to Double-A Mobile in the Southern League this summer.