Tag Archives: Ole Miss

17 Jun

there and here

Cody Reed’s promotion to Cincinnati – the left-hander is scheduled to start Saturday against Houston – brings to six the number of Mississippi junior colleges currently represented in the big leagues. Reed played at Northwest Mississippi Community College. The other MACJC products are Tim Anderson (East Central), Corey Dickerson (Meridian), Jarrod Dyson (Southwest), Desmond Jennings (Itawamba) and Tony Sipp (Gulf Coast). That’s kinda cool. … Former Ole Miss standout Chris Ellis is slated to make his Triple-A debut on Saturday for the Gwinnett Braves against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Ellis was promoted today from the Double-A Mississippi Braves. The right-hander was 8-2 with a 2.75 ERA for the M-Braves and had been selected for next week’s Southern League All-Star Game. Lucas Sims, another pitching prospect who had been scuffling at Gwinnett, returned to the M-Braves’ roster. … Tyler Moore has played just one game since late April for Gwinnett. The Mississippi State alum, batting .242 with one homer in 16 games, is on the disabled list – his second stint this season — with an undisclosed injury. … Oxford High, the MHSAA Class 5A champion, is ranked 19th in Baseball America’s final high school poll of 2016. The Chargers, led by Jason Barber and Grae Kessinger, went 28-8. Class 6A champ Madison Central (27-10) is ranked No. 42 in that poll.

14 Jun

waiting for the call

In Louisville, Ky., on Monday night, Cody Reed registered his fourth win in his last five starts for the Triple-A Bats in Cincinnati’s system. The big left-hander out of Northwest Mississippi Community College allowed three hits and one run with five strikeouts in a 7-1 win against Syracuse. Reed is 6-3 with a 3.20 ERA. … In El Paso, Texas, Hunter Renfroe delivered a walk-off hit in the 13th inning as the Chihuahuas, San Diego’s Triple-A club, beat Albuquerque 2-1. Former Mississippi State star Renfroe is batting .313 with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs. P.S. Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton is eligible to come off the 7-day concussion list on Thursday for Cincinnati, but his return remains uncertain, according to reports. Hamilton was hitting .417 this month before the injury, which occurred during a slide. Also unclear is a return date for Petal High product Anthony Alford, who suffered a concussion in an on-field collision last Friday in a minor league game in Toronto’s system. … Former Ole Miss pitcher Matt Tracy, who made one appearance for the New York Yankees early last season, has been released by the club. A 24th-round pick in 2011, the lefty was 3-1, 5.11 at Double-A Trenton this year.

12 Jun

draft doodles

There were 29 players picked from state schools over the three days of the MLB draft, 11 of them from Mississippi State, including the only first-rounder, right-hander Dakota Hudson. Ole Miss saw six players drafted, Southern Miss and Delta State three each. Four high school players were selected, and two junior college players, a surprisingly low number. … St. Louis, which drafted Hudson, and the Chicago Cubs picked three each from the state, and several organizations made two picks, including San Diego, which chose two of the high school players, Oxford’s Grae Kessinger and Starkville’s A.J. Brown. Both are likely to be at Ole Miss this fall, Brown to play football. … Milwaukee, whose Double-A club is in Biloxi, also picked two, including MSU lefty Daniel Brown and Pearl River Community College outfielder Zach Clark, who had great numbers this season. Atlanta, parent organization of the Mississippi Braves, didn’t chose any Magnolia Staters. … Five catchers were picked, including State’s Gavin Collins, who played mostly third base this year, by Cleveland. The Bulldogs’ Jack Kruger, who shared catching duties with freshman Elih Marrero, was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels. … USM catcher Chuckie Robinson was drafted in the 21st round, 637th overall, by Houston. He might be a player to watch. A sturdy 5 feet 11, 225 pounds, the Illinois native batted .288 with seven homers and 44 RBIs in 2016, helping the Golden Eagles win the C-USA Tournament. More good numbers: He struck out only 33 times in 208 at-bats and threw out 23 of 36 runners trying to steal. And there’s this: Robinson’s father and grandfather played pro ball.

11 Jun

stuff

Former Petal High star Anthony Alford is in a Florida hospital after suffering an apparent neck injury in an on-field collision during a minor league game Friday night. Alford, taken off on a stretcher, was talking and able to move his limbs, according to various reports, with more tests due today. Alford, a top Toronto prospect playing for Class A Dunedin, suffered a knee injury in the first game of the season and is batting .205 in 32 games. … Now that Tim Anderson has made his MLB debut, joining Chad Girodo and Chris Stratton as Mississippi-connected players reaching The Show this season, one wonders who’ll be next: Cody Reed, Hunter Renfroe, JaCoby Jones … ? … On this date 13 years ago, Holmes Community College alum Roy Oswalt and ex-Jackson Generals star Billy Wagner started and closed a six-man combo no-hitter for Houston against the New York Yankees. It was the first time the Yanks had been no-hit in 45 years. … The Cape Cod Baseball League, the best of the college summer loops, launched its season on Friday. There are 11 Mississippi State players listed on the various rosters, but, of course, they have some other matters to attend to at present. Ole Miss’ Will Golsan and Will Stokes and Southern Miss’ Kirk McCarty are on the Orleans roster, but none of the three played in the Firebirds’ opener. … Former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College coach Cooper Farris, who had been at the helm of the Cape’s Wareham Gatemen since 2001, is not coaching the team this year. During his tenure, Wareham won three CCBL titles (2001, 2002 and 2012). … In case anyone was wondering, Jones County Junior College’s national championship in NJCAA Division II is the first by a Mississippi juco. It is the third by a college-level team from the state: William Carey won an NAIA title in 1969 and Delta State an NCAA Division II crown in 2004.

11 Jun

watch for it …

Monitoring the MLB draft online for Mississippians on Friday was a bit like watching the night sky for shooting stars. Long stretches of nothing, blurry vision, stiff neck … and then, suddenly, there they were. Rounds 3 and 4 passed with no sightings and Round 5 was almost done when St. Louis picked Walker Robbins, the first baseman from George County High, at No. 166. Round 6 was almost done when, at 191, the Los Angeles Dodgers took Ole Miss shortstop Errol Robinson, who had once been projected as a potential first-rounder. Six picks later, Ole Miss catcher Henri Lartigue went to Philadelphia. Then at 200, Mississippi State’s Reid Humphreys was tabbed by Colorado. Pick 201 was another Bulldogs star, Daniel Brown, chosen by Milwaukee. Four draftees in a span of 11 picks. Then, more waiting. At 235, in the eighth round, Detroit took State’s Jacob Robson. And 43 picks later, the New York Yankees – who could sure use a first baseman in the big leagues – drafted Southern Miss’ Tim Lynch. Seven picks from the state on Day 2. Blink, blink. Fade to black. P.S. It’s good to be a Robbins these days. Mason, Walker’s brother and an outfielder in the Chicago White Sox’s system, is playing very well in A-ball (see previous post), and another brother, Logan, went 6-0 this season for national champion Jones County Junior College.

10 Jun

look who’s back

Chris Coghlan must be one happy dude. When Thursday dawned, the former Ole Miss standout was batting .146 for a last-place team. By day’s end, he was a member of the team with the best record in baseball. Coghlan, who recharged his sagging career with the Chicago Cubs in 2014-15, was reacquired by the club from Oakland, where he had been shipped in February. Injuries have struck the Cubs, and Coghlan can play a lot of positions. He wasn’t hitting much for the A’s, but perhaps he’ll recapture some magic with Chicago. He batted .250 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs last season and .283 with nine and 41 in 2014. The Cubs are in Atlanta tonight. P.S. It was, as expected, a rather quiet first day of the MLB draft for Mississippians. Mississippi State right-hander Dakota Hudson went at the end of Round 1, 34th overall, to St. Louis, and Ole Miss outfielder J.B. Woodman was picked in the second round, 57th overall, by Toronto. Things should pick up today for Magnolia State players.

09 Jun

there and here

Corey Dickerson slugged two homers for Tampa Bay on Wednesday, giving the former Meridian Community College standout 11 for the year. He leads the all-Mississippi home run derby by two over Ole Miss product Zack Cozart, who hit his ninth for Cincinnati. Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier (Minnesota) has seven, and State alum Mitch Moreland (Texas) and UM’s Seth Smith (Seattle) have six each. … Dakota Hudson may be the only Mississippian picked on Day 1 of the MLB draft, which will go through 77 picks today. The Mississippi State right-hander, who has been garnering all types of honors of late as he also preps for the Super Regional showdown with Arizona, is rated 13th on Baseball America’s draft prospects list and 15th on mlb.com’s. Others who might get called today include Ole Miss’ J.B. Woodman, State’s Daniel Brown, Reid Humphreys and Jacob Robson, George County High’s Walker Robbins and Oxford High’s Thomas Dillard and Grae Kessinger. … Atlanta has the third overall pick – surely the Braves will take a college bat – and Milwaukee has the fifth. … Dansby Swanson, the Braves’ top prospect, has seen his average drop 30 points the last two weeks. The shortstop, one of four Mississippi Braves named to the Southern League All-Star Game, is batting .269 with four homers and 17 RBIs after an 0-for-4 on Wednesday night. … Mason Robbins, Walker’s brother, is on a tear at Class A Winston-Salem in the Chicago White Sox’s system. The ex-USM star, a lefty-hitting outfielder, has batted .410 over his last 10 games and is at .314 with two homers and 19 RBIs for the season. … Pearl River Community College will have a new coach in place soon. Michael Avalon, formerly of Mississippi Delta CC, is expected to be approved next week. The Wildcats went 25-21 in 2016, the last of Josh Hoffpauir’s six seasons as coach. … Robert Carson, the much-traveled former Hattiesburg High star, is now pitching for Southern Maryland, the independent Atlantic League club that Stone County High product Fred Lewis also plays for.

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.

01 Jun

up for a challenge

Don’t overlook Utah in the Oxford Regional. Picked by at least one national publication to finish last in the Pac-12, the Utes won the league championship. They had to win the last two games of the regular season to earn that title and keep playing in June. They did, beating Washington by scores of 12-8 and 21-7. So forget that 25-27 overall record. This team went 19-11 in the Pac-12, a very competitive league. And this team has a legitimate ace, Jayson Rose, who’ll face Ole Miss and counterpart Brady Bramlett on Friday at Oxford-University Stadium. “I’ll take Jayson Rose over anybody right now,” Utah coach Bill Kinneberg told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I feel pretty good about that matchup.” Rose, a 5-foot-11 right-hander, went 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a school-record 102 strikeouts in 103 innings. In Pac-12 competition, he was 6-3, 2.44 with wins over Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Cal, Oregon and UCLA. Against Ole Miss (43-17), Rose may face as strong an array of hitters – Henri Lartigue, Tate Blackman, J.B. Woodman, et al. – as he’s seen all season. That could be a challenge. But the Utes seem to like it that way.

01 Jun

here and there

Seth Smith blasted two home runs for Seattle on Tuesday, then got hit by a pitch. But it’s not what you think. The former Ole Miss standout was plunked in the foot by what was described as an “eephus-type pitch” thrown by San Diego’s Christian Bethancourt, the ex-Mississippi Braves catcher who was working in mop-up duty in a 16-4 game. Bethancourt, known for his arm, touched 96 mph from the mound while also throwing some pitches in the 50-mph range. According to mlb.com, Smith told Bethancourt after the HBP: “As long as it’s not your fastball, we’re all right.” … Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson also went deep on Tuesday for Tampa Bay. Of his 31 hits, nine are homers; he is batting .204 with 24 RBIs. … Ole Miss product David Goforth has been sent down by Milwaukee; he has a 9.39 ERA in seven appearances. … Ex-Southern Miss star Scott Copeland is struggling in the Korean Baseball Organization. The right-hander, who pitched for Toronto in 2015, is 1-1 with a 7.07 ERA in six starts for the LG Twins. … Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State standout, belted his 12th home run on Tuesday for El Paso, the Padres’ Triple-A club. He is batting .320 with 39 RBIs and surely itching for a call-up. … Adam Frazier, another Bulldogs product, is hitting .302 with 14 stolen bases at Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pittsburgh system. … Even after a rough outing on Memorial Day, UM alum Cody Satterwhite has a 1.96 ERA and a 3-1 record in 17 appearances for Salt Lake, the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A team. … There is much speculation that the Chicago White Sox may be ready to call up East Central CC alum Tim Anderson, the shortstop prospect who is batting .305 with 10 steals at Triple-A Charlotte. “He could come up and do well,” J.B. Shuck, recently recalled from Charlotte by the ChiSox, told csnchicago.com. “He has that personality where he’s not going to get rattled by anything.” … Ex-State standout Brandon Woodruff notched his first Double-A win on Tuesday when he worked seven strong innings for Biloxi in a 7-1 win over the M-Braves. … Anthony Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal, has gotten hot at Class A Dunedin in Toronto’s organization. Coming back from a knee injury that contributed to a slow start, Alford hit .368 over his last 10 games and is up to .233 in 27 games on the season.