Tag Archives: Nationals

23 Aug

whatever happened to …

T.J. House, the Picayune High product who had such a strong rookie season with Cleveland, is still on the shelf at Triple-A Columbus with what is described as a “strained left shoulder.” House hasn’t pitched since June 8. It has been a season to forget for the 25-year-old left-hander. A 16th-round pick in 2008, he finally reached the big leagues last season and made 18 starts for the Indians, going 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA. He won a battle for a rotation spot in spring training, but then things went south. Struggling with his command, House made four starts in April, losing all four while allowing 21 hits and 12 walks in 13 innings. His ERA was an unsightly 13.15 when he went on the DL with shoulder soreness. House went to the minors to rehab and then was optioned to Columbus in late May. He was 0-2, 3.38 in five minor league appearances before being shut down. P.S. Things are going much better for Alex Presley, the ex-Ole Miss star now at Triple-A Fresno in the Houston system. Presley is batting .312 with three homers, 47 RBIs, 46 runs and 13 steals in 79 games for the playoff-bound Grizzlies (78-49), who saw an 11-game win streak end Saturday. It would appear the first-place Astros have some strong reinforcements available if they need them in September when rosters expand. … With Mississippi State alum Tyler Moore going to the DL for Washington last week, there are now six Mississippi-connected big leaguers sidelined by injuries. And five others have spent time on the DL. That’s from a group of 25 who have been active in The Show at some point.

15 Aug

hot spots

Matchups of playoff contenders are abundant in the big leagues this weekend, and a bunch of Mississippians are in the middle of things. One of the hottest spots on Friday was U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, where the Cubs beat the White Sox 6-5 thanks in large part to two home runs by former Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan. Coghlan hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the third inning and a game-tying solo shot in the fifth, both off Jeff Samardzija. Coghlan now has 13 homers on the year for the hard-charging Cubs. At Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, ex-Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings went 3-for-4 with an RBI in his first game since April, but his Tampa Bay team fell to surging Texas 5-3. Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland was 1-for-4 for the Rangers. At San Francisco’s AT&T Park, fading Washington lost to the Giants 8-5 with ex-State stars Tyler Moore (an HBP in his one at-bat) and Jonathan Papelbon (two hits and a run allowed in the eighth inning) tasting more frustration. The day’s best game was at Rogers Centre in Toronto, where the New York Yankees stopped the Blue Jays’ 11-game win streak with a dramatic 4-3 win. No Mississippians played in the game, but veteran umpire Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss grad who lives in the Magnolia State, was behind home plate. P.S. Milwaukee has recalled right-hander David Goforth, a Meridian native and former Ole Miss standout. He has a 4.15 ERA in six MLB appearances this year.

12 Aug

when the going gets tough

There is an interesting story on the Oakland A’s page on mlb.com in which Kendall Graveman talks about persevering through some tough times at Mississippi State and again earlier this season when the A’s sent him to the minors. Well, the times look tough again for the rookie right-hander. He went up against the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday and got burned in a 4-2 loss. Hurt by a couple of big errors, Graveman lasted just 4 2/3 innings, allowing five hits, a walk and four runs (two earned). His record dipped to 6-8. The last-place A’s are 0-6 in Graveman’s last six starts; he hasn’t won since July 4. Graveman’s ERA is a very respectable 3.89, and that’s even more impressive when you consider that it was 8.27 when the A’s demoted him to Triple-A after four starts in April. He went 5-2 in a nine-start stretch after his return in late May. Drafted in 2013 by Toronto, Graveman bolted through the minors and reached the big leagues last September. Oakland got him in the off-season trade that sent Josh Donaldson to the Jays, and Graveman won a job in the rotation in spring training. This current victory drought isn’t likely to get him down. … Times are also tough for ex-State star Tyler Moore, who is hitless in his last nine at-bats (all as a pinch hitter) and is batting just .203 for Washington, which is scuffling as a team. Moore’s last hit was on July 24, his last home run on June 12. He belted 10 homers in 156 at-bats in his debut season in 2012 but has just 12 over three seasons since. He seems due for a breakout. P.S. Tampa Bay sent former Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings on another rehab assignment (see previous post), this one at Class A Port Charlotte.

06 Aug

the heat is on

Be careful what you wish for? Jonathan Papelbon got his wish: a trade to a contending team. Strangely enough, the Washington Nationals are 3-5 since the Mississippi State alum joined the team and have lost five of six. They are just 55-51 now and have dropped 2 games behind the surging New York Mets in the National League East. Can’t blame Papelbon for any of this; he is 2-for-2 in saves with the Nationals and has yielded just one earned run in three appearances. He never got up on Wednesday. The Nats had a 2-1 lead on visiting Arizona in the sixth inning, but with Ole Miss product Aaron Barrett on the hill, the game slipped away. Barrett got just one out, allowing four hits and three runs (plus an inherited runner scored), and he committed a costly throwing error. Down 11-2 in the ninth, Washington resorted to using outfielder/first baseman Tyler Moore on the mound, and the ex-State star got the last two outs. Crazy. … Also on the skids is Minnesota, which has lost four in a row and 13 of 18. The Twins (54-53) are 9.5 games behind first-place Kansas City in the American League Central and 2 games out of the wild card picture. The Twins’ slump coincides with the struggles of former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, the team catalyst who is batting .180 with six runs over his last 15 games. … On the flip side, Texas is sizzling (again), and former Bulldogs standout Mitch Moreland continues to swing a hot bat. The Rangers (54-53) beat Houston 4-3 on Wednesday to complete a sweep of their AL West rival and move within 5 games of the first-place Astros. Moreland went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Wednesday’s win, Texas’ seventh in eight games. He is batting .318 with six RBIs over his last seven games and is at .287 with 16 homers and 57 RBIs for the year. P.S. Props to Jeff Francoeur, the former Mississippi Braves star who ought to get consideration for comeback player of the year. Frenchy hit his 10th homer of the season for Philadelphia on Wednesday and is batting .276 with 35 RBIs in 214 at-bats.

30 Jul

a kind of hush

The Washington Nationals’ clubhouse did not explode on Wednesday. Jonathan Papelbon showed up in the visitors’ digs at Miami’s Marlins Park, and everybody said all the right things, at least publicly, about the team’s addition of a new closer. “To me it’s all about winning and being in a place I’m happy,” former Mississippi State standout Papelbon said in a Washington Post story. Papelbon wasn’t happy in Philadelphia, where he was 17-for-17 in save chances for a last-place club. The Nationals’ former closer, Drew Storen, did not sound happy in comments he made on Tuesday after the trade news broke. But he pitched — and pitched well — in the eighth inning of a 7-2 win over the Marlins that boosted the first-place Nats to 53-46, 2 games ahead of the New York Mets in the National League East. Papelbon did not get in the game. Washington GM Mike Rizzo said Tuesday that the Nationals aren’t worried about the possible side effects of adding the sometimes prickly Papelbon to their clubhouse, calling him “a winner.” “He excels in pressure situations, and that’s his personality,” Rizzo told espn.com. So … all was quiet on the Papelbon front, which was a theme for the day among Mississippians in the majors. Eight hitters went a combined 3-for-19 with one run. And Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz, making a relief appearance for Oakland, faced three batters and didn’t retire any of them. All three scored, and his ERA jumped to 4.08.

16 Jul

breaking away

The big league All-Star break, which continues through today, means different things to different players. Those who are slumping likely welcome the respite, while those on a roll are hoping not to lose their mojo. Seth Smith, the Ole Miss product from Jackson, falls into the latter category. He homered for Seattle in the last game before the break, giving him eight for the year. He is hitting .333 over his last 15 games to lift his average to .268. Former Mississippi State standout Tyler Moore had a big two-run double for Washington last Sunday and has seven RBIs in eight July games for the first-place Nationals. He would like to find his home run stroke, however; his last blast came on June 12. UM alum Drew Pomeranz, who has been rock solid since moving to the Oakland bullpen, had a 1.50 ERA over his last seven appearances heading into the break. The break might have been a good thing for Pascagoula native Joey Butler. So hot for Tampa Bay just a couple of weeks ago, he is batting .098 with one RBI over his last 15 games, dropping his average to .287. Ex-UM star Chris Coghlan’s consecutive games streak ended at 150 when he sat out on Sunday, getting a pre-break break. Coghlan hasn’t produced much of late for the Chicago Cubs, with just one RBI and four runs in 11 games in July. Tony Sipp, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product, has a 5.06 ERA – two runs higher than his season number — over his last seven games for Houston, which fell out of first place in the American League West on the last day before the break.

10 Jul

the hot spot

On a night when the Yankees are at Fenway, the White Sox and Cubs are clashing at Wrigley and the Nats and O’s are dueling at Camden Yards, the best place to be might be PNC Park in Pittsburgh. That’s where former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn and his St. Louis teammates will meet the Pirates in a matchup of the two best teams in the National League. The pitching matchup is a dandy. Lynn, 6-4 with a 2.53 ERA, will be opposed by Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, 12-3, 2.28. The Cardinals won the opener of the four-game series 4-1 on Thursday night, snapping the Pirates’ four-game win streak and extending their lead in the National League Central to 5½ games. Lynn faced the Bucs in St. Louis on May 1, striking out 10 in seven innings in a game won by the Cards 2-1 in 10. Lynn has fared well against Andrew McCutchen (.132) and Pedro Alvarez (.182), not so well against Starling Marte (.381) and Neil Walker (.294, two homers, eight RBIs). Envy Jackson’s Chris Maloney, who, as the Cardinals’ first-base coach, will have a great view of what ought to be a great game. P.S. UM product Aaron Barrett, on the disabled list for Washington, has made three rehab appearances in Class A ball, working three innings with no earned runs allowed. Barrett has a 5.06 ERA in 30 games for the Nationals. … Former Picayune High star T.J. House remains on the DL in the minors for Cleveland. The left-hander last pitched on June 5. He was sent down by the Indians after going 0-4, 13.15 in four starts; he is 0-2, 3.86 in four games for Triple-A Columbus. … Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee reportedly will start throwing later this month, though his return to Philadelphia still appears iffy. The veteran lefty hasn’t pitched at all this season and made just 13 starts last year because of elbow problems.

21 Jun

good vibrations?

Max Scherzer had a much-celebrated great game for Washington on Saturday. His teammate Tyler Moore had a much-needed good game, which makes two in a row for the former Mississippi State star from Brandon. While Scherzer was firing his first career no-hitter against Pittsburgh, Moore, starting for the second straight day, was going 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs in the 6-0 victory. Moore had two hits on Friday, when his average for the year stood at .177. He is now batting .200 with four homers and 13 RBIs. Moore, who gets most of his at-bats as a pinch hitter, has one homer and four RBIs for the month. Moore’s value is in his power. He perhaps could have used a tuneup trip to the minors this season, but he is out of options and the Nationals apparently don’t want to risk losing him by exposing him to waivers. Moore hit 10 homers as a rookie in 2012 but has only 12 over the past three seasons. Washington, pegged by many as a World Series team, is only three games above .500. Maybe Saturday’s emotional win will serve as a jolt, for both the team and Tyler Moore. P.S. Seth Smith, the Ole Miss alum from Jackson, homered for Seattle in a 6-3 win on Saturday, his sixth of the year and first off a left-hander. The lefty-hitting Smith rarely faces lefties (14 ABs in 2015), and Saturday’s bomb was the first allowed this year by Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. … Ex-MSU star Ed Easley, still without an MLB hit (see previous posts), has been sent back to the minors by St. Louis.

14 May

picks to click

It would be too obvious to pick Sikes Orvis as the Ole Miss player to watch in the last weekend of regular season play for the state’s Big 3 Division I schools. Orvis has five homers and 14 RBIs in his last four games. On a less crazy but still sweet roll for the Rebels (29-24, 14-13 SEC) is freshman Nic Perkins, who takes a six-game hitting streak into the series against powerhouse Texas A&M in Oxford. Perkins, only recently inserted in the regular lineup, is batting .367 with five RBIs and three runs in 14 games. For Mississippi State (24-27, 8-19), clinging to hopes of making the SEC Tournament, junior left-hander Lucas Laster, expected to start tonight at Tennessee, needs to deliver a gem. He is 4-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts, but his last win came on April 2 vs. South Carolina. He pitched fairly well in his start against Ole Miss last week. Southern Miss (32-10-1, 16-10 C-USA) is streaking into its league series at Middle Tennessee State with 10 straight wins. No Golden Eagles hitter is hotter than junior Chase Scott, who has an 18-game hit streak. He went 2-for-5 with three RBIs in Tuesday’s win at Tulane and is batting .304 with three homers, 23 RBIs and 27 runs for the year. P.S. MSU product Jonathan Papelbon became Philadelphia’s all-time saves leader (with 113) on Wednesday; his save was saved by a great throw from ex-Mississippi Braves star Jeff Francoeur that nailed a runner at the plate for the final out in the 3-2 win over Pittsburgh. “As an outfielder who likes to throw, you live for that kind of moment,” Francoeur, still a great right fielder, told mlb.com. … Former State standout Tyler Moore hit a game-tying, pinch-hit homer for Washington, helping the surging Nationals’ cause in a 9-6 win over Arizona. Moore’s sixth-inning homer was his second of the year and 20th of his career. Used mostly as a pinch hitter this season, Moore is batting .207 in 29 at-bats. … Ole Miss alum Aaron Barrett (3-0, 3.68 ERA) got the win for the Nats; he allowed the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning but was bailed out by Michael Taylor’s grand slam in the ninth. … With three more hits on Wednesday, ex-USM star Brian Dozier has eight in his last five games and is batting .357 over his last 10 for Minnesota. He’s at .256 for the season. … UM product Chris Coghlan drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to give the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 win against the New York Mets.

03 May

big league chew

After a tough year at the plate in 2014, ex-Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart has come out swinging this season. The Cincinnati shortstop went 3-for-5 in an 8-4 win against Atlanta on Saturday to boost his average to .308. He hit his fifth home run — off Jackson native Donnie Veal — to surpass his total for all of last year and now has 12 RBIs. Cozart, valued more for his glove, hit .221 a year ago. … Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton, the Reds’ center fielder, took an 0-for-5 that dropped his average to .204. He still leads the majors with 13 steals, however. … The Reds’ Jay Bruce had two triples against the Braves, marking the first time a Cincy player has done that in a game since Vicksburg native Dmitri Young 15 years ago. … Aaron Barrett, another UM alum, notched his third hold of the season by retiring the only two batters he faced in the eighth inning of Washington’s 1-0 win against the New York Mets. Barrett trimmed his ERA to 1.64. … Former Southern Miss star Scott Copeland, in his sixth pro season, made his big league debut and threw a scoreless ninth inning for Toronto in its 11-4 victory at Cleveland. … The frustration must still be building for Mississippi State product Jonathan Papelbon. He worked a scoreless inning in mop-up duty as Philadelphia lost to Miami 7-0. Papelbon has a 0.96 ERA for the 8-17 Phillies. … Ex-USM star Brian Dozier took an 0-for-5 as Minnesota’s leadoff batter – he’s no longer hitting cleanup — and saw his average tumble to .209. … Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz went 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs in a game Oakland would lose to Texas 8-7 in 10 innings. Since throwing seven scoreless frames in a brilliant 2015 debut, Pomeranz is winless in four starts while his ERA has swelled to 4.61. … Former Itawamba Community College star Desmond Jennings has missed six straight games for Tampa Bay with a knee problem. He could be headed for the disabled list, where he would join fellow Mississippi products T.J. House, Mitch Moreland and Cliff Lee.