Tag Archives: Ole Miss

14 Jul

field notes

Hot-hitting Adam Frazier, the former Mississippi State standout, is on the West Division roster for Wednesday night’s Eastern League All-Star Game at Portland, Maine. Frazier, playing shortstop for Pittsburgh’s Double-A Altoona club, is batting .373 with 16 RBIs and 33 runs in 51 games. He got a delayed start due to a spring injury this season, his third in pro ball. … Southern Miss’ Dylan Burdeaux was named the New England Collegiate Baseball League player of the week on Monday. Burdeaux, hitting .303 with three homers and 16 RBIs for the summer, will be joined by Golden Eagles and Ocean State teammates Tim Lynch and Chuckie Robinson in this Sunday’s NECBL All-Star Game at Sanford, Maine. … Matt Tracy, the former Ole Miss left-hander who was in the big leagues for one day in April, is back in Double-A and trying to find his form. Tracy, in the New York Yankees’ system, has a 2.89 ERA in four games at Trenton, including a quality start (one run in six innings) on Saturday. He was scuffling at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 5.79 in 12 appearances over two stints there. He has a career 3.95 ERA working mostly as a starter. Tracy got a call-up from the Yankees on April 11, when they needed an extra arm. He pitched two innings against Boston at Yankee Stadium, allowing two hits, two walks and three runs (all unearned) in an 8-4 loss. … Melvin Rodriguez, the SWAC player of the year at Jackson State, is just 1-for-12 in his pro debut with Washington’s Auburn team in the New York-Penn League. Rodriguez batted .422 for the Tigers in 2015 with seven homers and 65 RBIs. P.S. Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Kade Scivicque already has earned a promotion from the Detroit Tigers. The fourth-round pick from LSU, who was hitting .406 at Connecticut in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League, has been bumped to West Michigan in the Class A Midwest League.

10 Jul

news and notes

Even a social media boost from fellow Southern Miss alum Brett Favre couldn’t propel Brian Dozier into the MLB All-Star Game. The American League Final Vote winner was Kansas City’s Mike Moustakas, MLB announced a short time ago. Minnesota’s Dozier, second in the Final Vote among fans, fell short despite being tied for the AL lead in runs (65) and topping AL second basemen in homers (18) and RBIs (45). Jose Altuve of Houston was voted in as the starter at second base by the fans, and Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis was selected as a reserve on Monday. … Jim Davenport is the only USM product to make an MLB All-Star team. He did so in 1962 when he was with the San Francisco Giants, going 1-for-1 as a sub at third base in the first of the two games played that year. … Ex-Ole Miss pitcher Aaron Barrett has been activated from the disabled list by Washington (see previous post) and will be in the Nationals’ bullpen for tonight’s game at Baltimore. … Belhaven University officially began its membership in the American Southwest Conference on July 1 and will begin transition to NCAA Division III (non-scholarship) status on Sept. 1, according to a school release. The ASC, of which Mississippi College used to be a member, is comprised mostly of Texas schools, including UT-Tyler, UT-Dallas, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons. The Blazers, previously an NAIA member, played baseball in the Southern States Athletic Conference from 2010-15 and in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference for many years before that. Hopefully, the Blazers will continue their long-standing rivalry with William Carey, still an NAIA member. BU’s 2016 schedule hasn’t been posted. … The Laurel Black Cats semi-pro team will host the Magnolia State Tournament on Saturday and Sunday at Boston Park in Laurel. The Black Cats are 16-3 against a schedule that includes teams from Meridian, Jackson, Tougaloo, Perry County and the Gulf Coast. The Black Cats, owned and managed by Jody P. Babineaux, are carrying on the tradition of the independent Negro Leagues team of the same name that barnstormed the South beginning in the 1930s. … The Hattiesburg Black Sox, one of the state’s iconic semi-pro clubs, did not field a team this year for the first time since 1941.

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.

09 Jul

thermometer, please

Taking a temperature reading of various Mississippians in the minors, we find no one hotter at the moment than rookie pro LaDarious Clark. The East Mississippi Community College product from Meridian went 4-for-5 (with two homers) on Wednesday to boost his average to .436 in short-season A-ball for Texas. Also hot: Adam Frazier (Mississippi State) is hitting .488 over his last 10 games and .382 for the year in Double-A with Pittsburgh. … Anthony Alford (Petal High) is hitting .364 in 12 games at the high Class A level for Toronto. … Kalik May (Mississippi Valley State) has nine hits in his last four games to spike his average to .352 for Toronto’s rookie Gulf Coast League club. … Cody Reed (Northwest Mississippi CC) has a 2.25 ERA over 12 innings in his first two Double-A starts for Kansas City. … Chris Stratton (State) took a loss on Wednesday but has a 2.23 ERA in seven Triple-A starts for San Francisco. … Austin Riley (DeSoto Central High), the top pick from the state in last month’s draft, is hitting just .182 overall but is at .304 in July for Atlanta’s rookie GCL club. Not so hot: Ferriss Trophy winner James McMahon (Southern Miss) has an 11.81 ERA in three starts in rookie ball for Colorado. … Bobby Bradley (Harrison Central High) is in a 5-for-40 slump that has dropped his average to .245 (with 13 homers) in low Class A ball for Cleveland. … Blake Anderson (West Lauderdale High), the first Mississippian drafted in 2014, has seen his average slide to .250 from .321 on June 29 with Miami’s short-season A team. … Sikes Orvis (Ole Miss) is hitting .190 with no homers at the rookie level in the Chicago White Sox system. … Silento Sayles (Port Gibson High), the prep stolen base king, is batting .156 with one steal in short-season A-ball with Cleveland. … Ed Easley (State) has scuffled since St. Louis shipped him back to Triple-A Memphis in mid-June; his average has dipped from .295 to .257. P.S. Riley and Jason Barber of Oxford High have been named to the MaxPreps High School All-America team. Both were two-way stars on state championship teams. Barber, a junior in 2015, was the state’s Gatorade player of the year.

07 Jul

summer session

Southern Miss stars Chuckie Robinson and Tim Lynch seem to be enjoying their summer vacation. Robinson was named New England Collegiate Baseball League player of the week on Monday; he hit .643 with four homers in a four-game stretch for Ocean State. The Golden Eagles catcher is batting .317 with six home runs and 14 RBIs. Lynch, also playing for Ocean State, is leading the NECBL in homers with seven and batting .313 with 17 RBIs. … Ole Miss’ Errol Robinson has a league-leading 17 runs and Mississippi State’s Dakota Brown has posted a 1.92 ERA in six games to help the Hyannis Harbor Hawks rise to the top of the Cape Cod League’s West Division. Robinson is batting .300. State’s Reid Humphreys, playing for Bourne in the CCBL, has three home runs, tied for fourth in the loop. … Bulldogs signee Tanner Poole, who played at Itawamba Community College this past season, leads the Southern Collegiate Baseball League in steals with 20, while batting .372 with 25 runs for Piedmont. Poole hit .378 with 26 steals for ICC. … Ole Miss’ Will Stokes has a 2.07 ERA and one save in six appearances for the Baltimore Redbirds, who have the best record (20-6) in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. Fellow Rebels Nic Perkins (.276) and Will Golsan (.270) also play for the Redbirds. P.S. Hinds CC alums Casey Echols and Matt Jones have signed with Mississippi College and Tennessee Tech, the Raymond school announced. Echols, son of ex-State star Tracy, hit .296 with four homers this season, Jones .369 with 49 runs. The signing of Jones brings to 13 the number of Eagles bound for NCAA Division I schools this fall.

06 Jul

star charts

While we wait to see if Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier is picked for his first All-Star Game and if ex-Mississippi Braves star Brian McCann gets to make an eighth appearance, here’s what we do know about the upcoming All-Star buffet: Biloxi’s Orlando Arcia, one of Milwaukee’s top prospects, is headed to the All-Star Futures Game, set for July 12 in Cincinnati. Arcia, a shortstop from Venezuela, is batting .313 with four homers, 42 RBIs and 10 steals for the Double-A Shuckers. And Louis Coleman, the former Pillow Academy star and Greenwood native, is on the Pacific Coast League roster for the Triple-A All-Star Game, which is July 15 in Omaha. Coleman, 29, is 4-1 with a 1.58 ERA and six saves for Omaha in the Kansas City system. He has a 3.25 ERA over 148 major league games with the Royals, though he is no longer on the 40-man roster. … The MLB Home Run Derby contestants have not been finalized, but former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland would be a good choice. He has 14 homers for Texas this season and has hit some mammoth blasts in his career. The revamped derby is slated July 13 at Cincy’s Great American Ballpark, a great hitter’s park. P.S. Seth Smith, the ex-Ole Miss standout, delivered in the clutch for Seattle on Sunday, stroking a two-out, two-run single on a 3-2 pitch and propelling the Mariners to a 2-1 win at Oakland. “I loved playing (at O.Co Coliseum) when I was with the A’s and especially day games have a good buzz,” Smith told mlb.com. Smith is 9-for-27 with a homer and five RBIs this year against the A’s, one of the four teams he has played for the last five years. He is batting .257 on the season with seven homers.

05 Jul

by the numbers

4 – RBIs on Saturday for Tyler Moore, the former Mississippi State standout. Moore went 3-for-4 to help Washington, the National League East leader, beat San Francisco 9-3. He has 17 RBIs for the year.
5 – Wins for Mississippi Braves ace Tyrell Jenkins. The right-hander threw seven strong innings in a 4-2 win over Jackson (Tenn.) at Trustmark Park. Jenkins is 5-5 with a 3.00 ERA for the M-Braves, now 5-4 in the second half.
5 – Wins by Lance Lynn, the former Ole Miss star. Lynn (5-5, 2.74 ERA) starts today for St. Louis, the NL Central leader, against San Diego. Lynn has a 1.47 ERA in his last five starts.
7 – Shutout innings on Saturday by Kendall Graveman, the ex-State star. Graveman, now 6-4, 3.16 for Oakland, outdueled Seattle ace Felix Hernandez in a 2-0 A’s win.
7 – Holds for Drew Pomeranz, the Ole Miss alumnus. The converted starter worked a scoreless eighth inning for Oakland in relief of Kendall Graveman.
20 – Stolen bases by Corey Wimberly, the Alcorn State product. Wimberly got a bag for Yucatan in a 6-5 win over Tijuana and also went 1-for-3 to boost his average to .323 in the Mexican League.
62 – Runs by Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss standout. Dozier, who leads the American League in runs, tallied one in Minnesota’s 5-3 win against Kansas City.

04 Jul

the short and long of it

Jarrod Dyson earned a Gatorade shower from his Kansas City teammates on Friday night after simply putting the ball in play. Sometimes that’s all it takes. With the potential winning run at third base and the Minnesota infield playing in, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College standout chopped a ball toward the first baseman and Lorenzo Cain beat the throw home to give the Royals a 3-2 win over the Twins in 10 innings. KC extended its lead over Minnesota in the American League Central to 4.5 games. Dyson said he went up to bat “thinking just put it in play and show the world what speed do.” Cain had just enough speed to score before the catcher’s tag, which was confirmed by replay. Dyson, the Royals’ fastest player, generally does a good job of putting the ball in play, an underrated skill in today’s game. He has struck out just 17 times in 92 at-bats this season and is batting .272. … Ole Miss alum Seth Smith also put a ball in play on Friday that had a big impact. Smith hit one over the wall in Oakland, giving Seattle a sixth-inning lead in a game the Mariners would win 9-5. Smith strikes out a good bit – 55 times in 216 at-bats – but he has power, which MLB teams will always crave. Smith’s homer was his seventh of the season and 92nd of his career. P.S. Another ex-Southwest CC star, Kade Scivicque, made his pro debut on Thursday and went 2-for-4 for Connecticut in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. Scivicque, a catcher, was a key player for LSU in its run to the College World Series. Detroit drafted him in the fourth round; he could rise quickly.

03 Jul

welcome back

Ole Miss product Alex Presley, back on Houston’s roster, is in the lineup for tonight’s game at Boston. Presley, who took the spot of injured George Springer, is batting ninth and playing center field for the Astros, who are in first place in the American League West. Presley, a 10-year pro with 321 big league games on his ledger, was batting .308 with two homers, 35 RBIs and 10 steals at Triple-A Fresno. The left-handed hitter batted .244 with six homers and 19 RBIs for the Astros last season; he was designated for assignment in the spring. … Also back in The Show is another ex-Rebels star, David Goforth, recalled today by Milwaukee from Triple-A Colorado Springs for a second stint. The right-handed reliever did not allow a run in four appearances during his previous call-up, his first in the big leagues.

30 Jun

that’ll work

The Toronto Blue Jays surely like what they’re seeing from Anthony Alford, who is 6-for-22 in his first five games in the high Class A Florida State League. The former Mr. Baseball from Petal began his first full pro season in the Midwest League, hitting .293 with 14 doubles, 16 RBIs, 12 steals and 49 runs in 50 games at Lansing. The righty-hitting outfielder, a third-round pick in 2012, already has two doubles, a triple, a homer, three RBIs and four runs for Dunedin. … The Los Angeles Angels surely like most of what they’ve seen from Alex Yarbrough in his last five games. The switch-hitting second baseman out of Ole Miss is 9-for-19 (.473), lifting his average at Triple-A Salt Lake to .247. He has 19 doubles, 29 RBIs and 36 runs in 73 games. However, Yarbrough has struck out six times in his last five games, giving him 81 in 299 at-bats. That’s an area where the 2014 Texas League player of the year needs to improve. P.S. Jacob Taylor, the Pearl River Community College alum from Picayune, pitched two scoreless innings (no hits, three walks, two strikeouts) in his pro debut today. Taylor, a fourth-round pick by Pittsburgh and the second Mississippian drafted this year, is with the Gulf Coast League Pirates.