Tag Archives: Ole Miss

20 Jul

from the top

Jarrod Dyson, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College standout from McComb, got a rare start in the leadoff spot for Kansas City on Saturday. He went 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk and the only run the team scored in a 2-1 loss to Boston. Just looking at his stats — .294 average, 18 stolen bases in 68 games, few of them starts — it would seem that Dyson should lead off more often for the Royals, who are chasing an elusive playoff berth. At any rate, it is interesting to note that seven different Mississippi-connected players have hit leadoff for their MLB club just over this weekend. Interesting, too, is that they don’t all have the same skill set. Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati) and Itawamba CC product Desmond Jennings (Tampa Bay) have, like Dyson, sprinter’s speed. Brian Dozier, the ex-Southern Miss star, can run a little but what he does best is get on base and get home for Minnesota; he leads the American League in runs with 71. Meridian CC alumnus Corey Dickerson (Colorado) is a .332 hitter who has more pop (11 homers) than speed, similar to Ole Miss alum Seth Smith (San Diego), who is batting .278 with 11 bombs. Former UM star Chris Coghlan (Chicago Cubs), enjoying a resurgent season, has modest power and speed but is hitting .273 for a Cubs team that is searching for answers. P.S. Regardless what he does the rest of his career, Chasen Shreve should always remember what he did in his big-league debut for Atlanta on Saturday. The former Mississippi Braves closer — the 88th alum to make The Show — struck out Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard in a lefty-on-lefty matchup in a one-run game.

17 Jul

making the jump

The Double-A hurdle, which has tripped up many a fine player, has not been a problem for Alex Yarbrough. The former Ole Miss standout, a 6-foot, 195-pound switch-hitting second baseman, is batting .288 with five home runs, 54 RBIs, 32 doubles and 45 runs in 94 games at Arkansas in the Los Angeles Angels system. (Yarbrough’s manager is former Mississippi Braves skipper Phillip Wellman.) Yarbrough, an All-American at UM, was a fourth-round pick in 2012. He established himself as a legit prospect in the high Class A California League in 2013, when he hit .313 with 11 homers and 80 RBIs. If Yarbrough has a problem, it’s that there is another second base prospect — Taylor Lindsey — ahead of him in the pipeline at Triple-A Salt Lake. And the second baseman in the big leagues is Howie Kendrick, who is 31 and having a solid season. But if Yarbrough keeps putting up numbers, a door will open somewhere. … Also in the Angels system now is catcher Wade Wass, the former Meridian Community College slugger who recently signed out of the Cape Cod League (see previous post). Wass, who was a redshirt junior at Alabama in 2014, is 1-for-12 in four games at rookie-level Orem in the Pioneer League.

15 Jul

trend spotting

In 1994, Buck Showalter won the American League manager of the year award with the New York Yankees. In 2004, the former Mississippi State standout won the award again with the Texas Rangers. So now it’s 2014, and at the All-Star break, Showalter has his Baltimore Orioles in first place in the AL East, defying preseason predictions that had the O’s finishing closer to the bottom in a strong division. Could another manager of the year award be in the offing? The Orioles have a nice array of hitters — Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Nick Markakis, Manny Machado, et al. — but could use some pitching help, especially if they hope to make any noise in October. What Showalter surely would like more than a managerial award is to make the postseason — and then make a playoff run. Despite a .517 winning percentage over 16 seasons as an MLB skipper, Showalter, 58, has made just three playoff appearances (1995 Yankees, ’99 Arizona Diamondbacks and ’12 Orioles) and never seen his club get past the division series. That’s a trend he’d like to buck. His best team might have been the ’94 Yankees, who were 70-43 when the season was halted by the players’ strike. The core of that team won the World Series in 1996, but Showalter had moved on by that time, fired after the ’95 season. He was also canned in Texas in 2005, one year after winning the managerial award there. Showalter is in his fifth season in Baltimore, which is longer than he stayed at any of his previous three stops. Maybe this is his team and this is his time. P.S. Zack Cozart isn’t hitting much for Cincinnati. The Ole Miss product is batting .233 with two homers, 22 RBIs and 30 runs in 90 games. But the reason the playoff-hungry Reds keep him in the lineup can be seen in another set of numbers. Cozart, in his third season as Cincy’s shortstop, has a .982 fielding percentage (seven errors in 393 chances) and leads all National League shortstops with a 2.2 Defensive Wins Above Replacement rating. Former Mississippi Braves star Andrelton Simmons, by comparison, has a 1.4 DWAR for Atlanta.

13 Jul

three stars

Former Mississippi State star Paul Maholm, in his first start in almost two months, pitched into the seventh inning, allowing two hits and no runs, for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. The Dodgers, now in first place alone in the National League West, beat San Diego 1-0 on a sac fly in the ninth. … Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs but couldn’t power the Chicago Cubs past homer-happy Atlanta, which won 11-6 at Wrigley Field. The hot-hitting Coghlan is up to .269. … Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier went 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI and threw out a runner at the plate to help Minnesota beat Colorado 9-3. P.S. MSU alum Hunter Renfroe and Mississippi Braves second baseman Jose Peraza are on the rosters for today’s All-Star Futures Game (4 p.m., MLB Network) in Minneapolis. Crystal Springs native Renfroe, who’ll play for the U.S. team, is batting .283 with 19 homers this year at two levels in the San Diego system. Venezuela native Peraza, with the International squad, is hitting .365 in 19 games with the M-Braves and .347 overall with 39 stolen bases in 2014.

12 Jul

watch for it

The TV ratings in and around Fulton ought to be pretty good for Monday night’s MLB Home Run Derby. Itawamba Agricultural High School alum Brian Dozier, now with the Minnesota Twins, will be participating at Target Field, and he’ll be taking his hacks at pitches thrown by his brother Clay, another Itawamba AHS grad who also played at Itawamba Community College. Both the high school and the juco are located in Fulton, population about 4,000. Brian Dozier, who has 16 home runs for the Twins, is one of 10 players in the derby – and possibly the least heralded of the lot (see previous posts). He was a star shortstop at Southern Miss, while Clay, a left-handed pitcher and outfielder, spent two years at ICC and then went on to Delta State. … In the big leagues tonight, Paul Maholm, the former Mississippi State standout from Greenwood, will make his first start since May 14 when his Los Angeles Dodgers host San Diego. Maholm, in his first season in LA, was 1-4 with a 5.50 ERA in seven starts before being bumped to the bullpen. An injury to Josh Beckett has opened a spot. Maholm’s overall ERA this year is 5.18; his career number is 4.31, with the great majority of his work coming as a starter. He told mlb.com he still feels like starting is more in “my comfort zone.” Maholm, a left-hander, might not get to face ex-Ole Miss star and Jackson native Seth Smith, who is batting .281 with 10 homers for the Padres. Smith, a lefty hitter, doesn’t often face lefties and doesn’t hit them much when he does (4-for-24, no homers in 2014).

10 Jul

sounds like a yes

Under the category of “Duh,” we have this: When asked about whether he would welcome a trade from Philadelphia, the unabashed Jonathan Papelbon reportedly replied: “Some guys want to stay on a losing team?” Former Mississippi State star Papelbon racked up his 22nd save on Wednesday night as the Phillies (40-51, last in the National League East) beat Milwaukee 4-1. He reduced his ERA to 1.24 and has just two blown saves. Papelbon, who recently topped the 300 career save mark, is in the third year of a 4-year, $50M contract (with an option in 2016), which might make him hard to deal. Still, a quality closer is a valuable commodity in September and beyond. P.S. On the topic of trades, former MSU standout Tyler Moore might be a chip that NL East leader Washington can throw in. Moore is batting .305 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 34 games at Triple-A Syracuse; there appears to be no room for him (other than as a pinch hitter) with the Nationals. … Ole Miss product Seth Smith, who recently got a new contract from San Diego, hit his 10th home run on Wednesday; the Jackson native has reached double digits in five of his six full MLB seasons. … Ex-UM star Lance Lynn notched his 10th win as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 5-2 in an NL Central showdown. … Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan saw his nine-game hit streak end in the Chicago Cubs’ 4-1 loss to Cincinnati. But over his last 10 games, Coghlan is batting .400 with two homers, six RBIs and 10 runs. … Taylorsville product Billy Hamilton has seven hits, three walks, seven RBIs, three runs and two steals in the four games (all wins) of the Reds’ current five-game series with the Cubs. However, Hamilton left Wednesday’s game with a tight hamstring and could sit today’s series finale. … Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson (hitting .327) sat out Colorado’s game on Wednesday with a sore left wrist. … If the Cardinals have to put catcher Yadier Molina (thumb) on the disabled list, former MSU star Ed Easley, now at Triple-A Memphis, might get that long-awaited first call-up. Easley, on a recent tear, is batting .259 with five homers and 20 RBIs. … The MLB DL includes Mississippians Cliff Lee, Mitch Moreland (out for the season), Drew Pomeranz and Alex Presley, and down in the minors, ex-East Central CC standout Tim Anderson is out (possibly until mid-August) with a broken right wrist. The Chicago White shortstop prospect is batting .297 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 10 steals at high Class A Winston-Salem.

09 Jul

summer stock

Ben Hellums, a Northeast Mississippi Community College alumnus from Ripley, put up an interesting pitching line Tuesday in the Cotton States League. The 6-foot-8 right-hander worked seven innings (a complete game) for the Tallahatchie Rascals, allowed two hits, one run and eight walks with three strikeouts. He also hit two batters and had two errors committed behind him. But he got the win — he is 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA — in a 5-1 victory against the Tupelo Thunder. The Rascals are 10-5, best record in the New Albany-based CSL, a college summer league now in its sixth season. … Southern Miss senior-to-be Connor Barron and incoming junior Taylor Walker were selected to the Texas Collegiate League All-Star Game, which was played Tuesday night. Barron, from Sumrall, is batting .333 and Walker .284 for Acadiana. … Rising sophomore Zac Houston of Mississippi State was named the New England Collegiate Baseball League pitcher of the week on Monday. The Poplarville product worked five hitless innings with 10 strikeouts in three appearances for Plymouth. … Ole Miss rising sophomore Errol Robinson is batting .231 for Wareham in the Cape Cod League, and rising junior lefty Matt Denny, a Jackson Academy product, has a 1.17 ERA in three games for Hyannis.

08 Jul

number crunching

1 — Major league starts by Phil Irwin, the Ole Miss alumnus who’ll make his second tonight for Texas against Houston. It’ll be his Rangers debut.
4 — Hits by Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan (now batting .252) and RBIs by Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (34 for the season) in Monday’s Chicago Cubs-Cincinnati game, won by the Reds 9-3.
4 — Runs allowed (in three games) by former UM standout Aaron Barrett since a controversial balk call against him on June 30. Barrett, pitching for Washington, had yielded just five runs in 30 previous appearances.
5 — Number of Mississippi Braves alums slated to play in All-Star games next week: Current M-Brave Jose Peraza (Futures); Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman, Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran (MLB); and Gwinnett’s Phil Gosselin (Triple-A).
5 — Home runs in 2014 for ex-Rebels star Alex Presley, who hit his latest Monday to help Houston stop a seven-game losing streak with a 12-7 victory over Texas.
9 — Consecutive seasons of at least 20 saves for former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, who reached that number Monday in Philadelphia’s 3-2 win against Milwaukee.
10 — Starts by Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee (4-4, 3.18), who won’t make another for the Phillies until after the All-Star break. He has been on the disabled list since May 19.

06 Jul

a big one

There are those who contend that the win is an overrated or even irrelevant statistic for pitchers. One suspects T.J. House would disagree. The former Picayune High star, who launched his pro career in 2008, got his first major league win on Saturday and earned a big-time beer shower from his Cleveland teammates. Left-hander House threw 6 2/3 innings against American League Central rival Kansas City, yielding nine hits and three runs in a 7-3 victory. It was his eighth MLB appearance (all this season) and seventh start, and he easily could have won before Saturday. He has a 4.24 ERA to go with his 1-2 record. He wasn’t dominant against the Royals, but he was clutch. “Every time we got something going, he found a way to end it,” KC manager and former Jackson Mets catcher Ned Yost told The Associated Press. P.S. Wondering what Oakland’s acquisition of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, which gives the A’s a backlog of starting pitchers, means for Drew Pomeranz. The lefty out of Ole Miss was 5-4 with a 2.91 ERA when he went on the disabled list June 17 with a broken right hand.

03 Jul

who’s on third?

Third base is a position of tradition for the Braves, thanks to Chipper Jones (and Eddie Mathews, for those who go back that far). Since Atlanta moved its Double-A team to Pearl in 2005, we have seen a parade of third basemen come and go: Wes Timmons, Van Pope, Eric Campbell, Donell Linares, Joe Leonard, et al. Not one of them has made the big leagues. (Martin Prado played primarily second base for the Mississippi Braves, and that remains his best position.) Kyle Kubitza is the latest to man the hot corner here, and he might just be the one who breaks through. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Texas native is having a very good Double-A debut. He went 3-for-4 on Wednesday night, with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs, as the M-Braves topped Huntsville 5-1 at Trustmark Park. Kubitza, a left-handed hitter, is at .306 for the year and is batting .351 over his last 10 games, with two three-hit games in the last five. He shows no signs of hitting the wall. He has four homers, 26 RBIs, 21 doubles, six triples, 15 steals (in 16 attempts) and 46 runs in 77 games. He needs to hit more home runs, but he is capable. He went deep 12 times at Class A Lynchburg in 2013. He is solid with the glove, as well, and has an outstanding arm. A third-round pick out of Texas State (yes, it’s NCAA Division I) in 2011, Kubitza turns 24 on July 15. He was rated Atlanta’s No. 22 prospect by Baseball America entering this season, but his stock surely has risen. And his shot at the revered third-base job in Atlanta might not be far off. P.S. There are two Mississippi natives working out of the Huntsville bullpen: David Goforth, from Meridian and Ole Miss, and Tim Dillard, from Saltillo and Itawamba Community College. Goforth, 25, is a Milwaukee closer prospect trying to move up, Dillard, 30, a big-league vet trying to get back. The M-Braves and Stars (the future Biloxi team) conclude their five-game Southern League series tonight at the TeePee.