Tag Archives: Ole Miss

25 Jun

pouring it on

Making his first start at first base for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night at Colorado, Hunter Renfroe made a nice play to start a double play and end the first inning. Then the former Mississippi State standout celebrated with a single to lead off the second inning. The party at Coors Field was just getting started. Renfroe went 5-for-5 with a walk as the Angels set franchise records for hits (28) and runs in a 25-1 rout of the Rockies. Mickey Moniak also had five hits and four other Angels had at least three. “(H)itting gets contagious sometimes,” Angels manager Phil Nevin told mlb.com in one of the season’s great you-don’t-say statements. Renfroe hit a three-run double in the club record-tying 13-run third inning. He finished with four RBIs and three runs. His career day raised his average to .261. Normally the team’s right fielder, Renfroe is batting .281 over his last 15 games, though he has been stuck on 12 homers since June 13. The Angels (42-36) have climbed past Houston into second place in the American League West. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss standout James McArthur got his first big league call-up Saturday with Kansas City but did not pitch. McArthur, 26, traded from Philadelphia to the Royals in May, has a 4.87 ERA in 12 appearances at Triple-A Omaha. … Ex-Rebels star Mike Mayers, a big league vet, was assigned by the Royals to Omaha last week after a rough stint in the majors. He got a hold in his return to Triple-A on Friday. … Former MSU ace Ethan Small went on the injured list Saturday at Triple-A Nashville (Milwaukee system). The former first-rounder has a 3.46 ERA in the minors this season and made one wobbly appearance with the Brewers. … Houston Harding, who got into pro ball as an undrafted free agent in 2021, made his Double-A debut Saturday for Rocket City in the Angels’ system. The left-hander, who won seven games for MSU’s 2021 national title team, allowed a three-run homer but fanned five in 2 2/3 innings vs. Montgomery. He had a 1.32 ERA in A-ball before his promotion. A Coldwater native, Harding was a strikeout machine at Itawamba Community College before signing with MSU. … Landon Sims, one of the heroes of State’s ’21 championship team, made his pro debut this month and has pitched in four games, allowing no runs, in rookie ball for Arizona. Sims was the 34th overall pick last summer after missing most of the ’22 season at State with an elbow injury.

21 Jun

tag team

A couple of old college rivals teamed up Tuesday to spark Memphis to a win over Iowa in the Triple-A International League. Ex-Mississippi State star Dakota Hudson, a first-round pick by St. Louis in 2016, threw five strong innings and ex-Ole Miss star Errol Robinson, a sixth-rounder by the Los Angeles Dodgers in ’16, went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run as the Cardinals’ top farm club won 8-5 over the Chicago Cubs’ top affiliate. Hudson, recently back from the injured list, improved to 4-4 with his third win this month. He allowed seven hits, two walks and two runs while fanning eight. The 28-year-old right-hander has had some rocky outings among his 10 starts and his 5.57 ERA reflects as much. Hudson is 32-17 with a 3.61 in major league work for St. Louis, but he was sent to the minors during spring training, reportedly because his velocity was down. Robinson, playing mostly third base for the Redbirds, is riding a five-game hit streak during which he is 8-for-15 with five RBIs and five runs. On the year, he is batting .233 in 36 games. He has bounced around during his seven pro seasons, including a stint in independent ball, but has yet to make an MLB appearance. He signed with St. Louis last July and put up some decent numbers in Double-A. P.S. Blaze Jordan, the DeSoto Central High product, leads the High-Class A South Atlantic League in batting at .322 and has a 10-game hitting streak. The Boston Red Sox prospect is batting .355 in June. He has 10 homers and 47 RBIs for Greenville. … Former Ole Miss standout Tim Elko leads the Low-A Carolina League in homers with 15 for Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox). He has a .298 average and 52 RBIs. (Why is he still in this league?) … South Panola High alum Emaarion Boyd continues to pace the Low-A Florida State League in steals with 36 in 45 games at Clearwater (Philadelphia). The 2022 draftee is batting .270.

20 Jun

eye on …

A lot of eyes will be on Kemp Alderman today and Wednesday. The Ole Miss alum from Decatur is in Phoenix for the MLB Draft Combine, and the outfielder was identified before workouts even began as a player to watch by MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. “I think he’s going to put on quite a show at the combine,” Callis said Monday in a TV interview on MLB Network. “I think he’ll establish once again while he’s there that he hits the ball as hard as anybody in this draft.” The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Alderman put up a .376 average, 19 homers, 61 RBIs, a .440 on-base average and a .709 slug this past season at Ole Miss. He won the Ferriss Trophy as the best college player in the state. “He hits as hard and as far anybody I’ve ever seen,” Rebels coach Mike Bianco said at the Ferriss ceremony last month. Alderman hit 25 homers over three seasons at Newton County Academy, where he was team MVP his last three years. He went undrafted out of high school and played sparingly as a freshman at UM in 2021. “To his credit, he went to work,” Bianco said. “He kept getting better and better.” He hit .286 with 11 homers on the 2022 national title team and then erupted for one of the best seasons in school history in 2023. Alderman, the No. 62 draft prospect on MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings, is one of eight Mississippi college products invited to the combine, in just its third year. Also on the list: shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, the highest-rated draft prospect in the state, catcher Calvin Harris and pitcher Jack Dougherty from Ole Miss; Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall and outfielder Matthew Etzel; and Mississippi State outfielder Colton Ledbetter and pitcher Cade Smith. Batting practice, infield/outfield drills and bullpen sessions begin today; MLB Network will televise portions of the workouts.

19 Jun

punching ’em out

There was no joy in Seattle for Lance Lynn and the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, but a record-tying effort deserves some bit of fanfare. Ole Miss alum Lynn struck out 16 batters, matching a franchise mark set in 1954. “My stuff was good,” Lynn told mlb.com, “but we lost. It doesn’t matter how many you strike out if you don’t win the game.” The White Sox’s 5-1 loss dropped their record to 31-42. Lynn is 4-8 with a 6.51 ERA. But Sunday’s outing was one of his best in a tough year. He threw 114 pitches over seven innings, allowed four hits, two walks and three runs. Lynn has 1,817 career punchouts, third-most — for the time being — among Mississippians in MLB history. Now in his 12th big league season, the burly right-hander struck out 246 batters in 2019, most by a Mississippian in a single season. On the career chart, Weir’s Roy Oswalt finished with 1,852 and Meridian Community College alum Cliff Lee got 1,824. Ex-Ole Miss star Jeff Fassero had 1,104, Greenwood native and Mississippi State product Paul Maholm 984 and Leakesville native Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell 918. Baseball Reference credits Negro Leagues star and Hall of Famer Bill Foster, an Alcorn State alumnus who grew up in Rodney, with 922; he likely had more than that. P.S. Former Ole Miss standout Nick Fortes went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run as Miami beat Washington to climb 10 games over .500 for the first time in 12 years. The Marlins are 41-31, 5 games back of Atlanta in the National League East. Fortes is batting .243 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 47 games as Miami’s catcher; the team reportedly likes his work behind the plate.

18 Jun

nice comebacks

In his first outing in 17 days, after an impatient stay on the injured list, Justin Steele carved up the Baltimore Orioles for the better part of five innings Saturday and earned his seventh win of the year for the Chicago Cubs. “Good to be back on the saddle,” the ex-George County High star said on Twitter. Indeed. Steele went on the IL on May 31 with left forearm tightness. He said in an mlb.com article that the tightness subsided quickly and he felt fine during the IL stint, eager to get back on the bump. “I was never worried about it,” he said. At Wrigley Field on MLB Network on Saturday, he blanked the Orioles for 4 2/3 innings before an Adley Rutschman homer tied the score at 2-2. Steele got the last out of the fifth, the Cubs went ahead in the bottom half and held on for a 3-2 win. Steele, who threw 74 pitches, improved to 7-2 with a 2.71 ERA, third-best in the National League. … Kansas City rallied from a late 8-2 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9 on Saturday, saving Ole Miss alum Mike Mayers from another humbling defeat. Mayers, making his sixth appearance and second start since being brought up from Triple-A, allowed six runs (three homers) in five-plus innings. Mayers is 1-2 with a 6.15 ERA. The veteran right-hander, who signed as a minor league free agent with the Royals in the off-season, has allowed 16 runs in his last three appearances and took L’s in the previous two. His roster status might be shaky. P.S. Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College standout, left the White Sox’s game with a shoulder injury. Dropped from the top spot in the order to No. 2, he was 0-for-1 with a walk before his exit. His replacement in the lineup, rookie Zach Remillard, went 3-for-3 and drove in the winning run in Chicago’s 4-3, 11-inning victory over Seattle.

17 Jun

all about runs

Austin Riley had a quiet night at the plate on Friday for Atlanta. Or did he? The former DeSoto Central High standout got one hit, a bloop single to right, in four plate appearances. But he also drew two walks and scored two runs, both on Travis d’Arnaud home runs in the Braves’ 8-1 win against Colorado. Riley is second among Mississippians in the majors in runs with 41. Runs isn’t one of the Triple Crown categories, though it is arguably as important — if not more so — than average, homers and RBIs. So much of the buzz around Ronald Acuna is over his long-distance homers and stolen bases. Hardly mentioned is the fact that the former Mississippi Braves star leads all of baseball in runs with 61. Isn’t scoring runs what it’s all about? Nathaniel Lowe, the Mississippi State product having a big year for Texas, is the leading scorer among Mississippians (natives and school alums) in MLB with 46 runs. The first-place Rangers lead MLB in scoring with 419. MSU alums Adam Frazier (Baltimore) and Hunter Renfroe (Los Angeles Angels) have scored 33 apiece, and ex-Bulldogs slugger Brent Rooker (Oakland) has crossed the plate 29 times. In the minors, State alum Jordan Westburg has scored 54 times for Baltimore’s Triple-A Norfolk club; the hot prospect is batting .292 with 17 homers and 52 RBIs. Behind Westburg is MSU product Justin Foscue with 44 runs at Triple-A Round Rock (Texas system), followed by Biloxi High alum Colt Keith (41, Double-A Erie, Detroit system) and ex-Mississippi College standout Blaine Crim (40, Round Rock). Former Ole Miss star Tim Elko has scored 37 times at Low-Class A Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox), same number UM product Grae Kessinger put up at Triple-A Sugar Land before Houston summoned him to the big leagues. He has one hit so far but is still looking for his first big league run. P.S. Ex-George County High standout Justin Steele is slated to come off the injured list and start for the Chicago Cubs today against Baltimore at Wrigley Field. Steele, who hasn’t pitched this month, is 6-2 with a 2.65 ERA. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton accepted an assignment to Triple-A Charlotte by the White Sox. The veteran big leaguer, just off the IL and off the ChiSox’s 40-man roster, did not play Friday night.

16 Jun

whatever happened to …

Kirk McCarty, the former Southern Miss and Oak Grove High star, notched his sixth win today for SSG Landers in the Korean Baseball Organization. McCarty, in his first year in the KBO, threw six innings in a 12-1 win over Lotte, yielding one run on five hits. In 12 starts, the 27-year-old left-hander is 6-3 with a 2.48 ERA, which includes an awful debut in which he allowed eight runs in 3 1/3. McCarty was a remarkable 22-4 at USM from 2015-17 and was drafted in the seventh round by Cleveland after his junior year. He made his big league debut last season with the Guardians and pitched fairly well: 4-3, 4.54 ERA, in 13 games. Cleveland released him in November, and he quickly signed with the KBO team based in Incheon, South Korea, that won the league title in 2022. SSG Landers played a series against the KT Wiz earlier this week, but McCarty did not pitch, missing a chance to face former Petal High star Anthony Alford, one of KT Wiz’s best hitters. P.S. Eight Magnolia State college players are among the 323 prospects invited to next week’s MLB Draft Combine by MLB and USA Baseball. Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, the highest-rated draft prospect in the state, leads four Ole Miss alums on the list, joined by outfielder Kemp Alderman, catcher Calvin Harris and pitcher Jack Dougherty. Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall and outfielder Matthew Etzel got invites along with Mississippi State outfielder Colton Ledbetter and pitcher Cade Smith. The combine runs June 19-24 at Chase Field in Phoenix. MLB Network will broadcast from the site on Tuesday and Wednesday. The draft is next month.

15 Jun

name-dropping

Ferriss Trophy winners were making news on Wednesday. The last two winners of Mississippi’s top college honor were named to the NCBWA All-America teams: Southern Miss’ Tanner Hall, the 2022 Ferriss recipient, was named to the first team — his second such honor (Collegiate Baseball) — and 2023 winner Kemp Alderman of Ole Miss made the second team. Hall was 12-4 with a 2.48 ERA for the Golden Eagles, who fell in the Hattiesburg Super Regional on Monday. Alderman hit .376 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs for the Rebels, the defending national champs who did not make the postseason this year. Meanwhile, ex-Mississippi State star Jake Mangum, the Ferriss winner in 2019 and ’16, enjoyed a big day for Triple-A Jacksonville (Miami system), going 4-for-6 with four RBIs as the Jumbo Shrimp swept a doubleheader from Memphis. The Jackson Prep product is batting .286. Worth noting: Up in the Cape Cod League, 2023 Ferriss finalist Hunter Hines of MSU went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in a win by Yarmouth-Dennis; Hines is batting .350 with a homer and six RBIs in five games in the summer league. And 2022 finalist Tim Elko, an Ole Miss alumnus now in pro ball, hit his league-leading 14th home run for Low-Class A Kannapolis (Chicago White Sox). P.S. Dakota Jordan, after an All-SEC Freshman season at State, is killing it in the New England Collegiate League. The Jackson Academy product is batting .444 (8-for-18, plus six walks) with five RBIs and nine runs in six games for Newport.

15 Jun

season on the blink

To say it’s been a tough year for Mississippi-connected pitchers in the big leagues would be an understatement. Almost seems like there is a curse. Nine starters began the season on various 40-man rosters. Currently, two are on an active roster, and one of those is a veteran having his worst season. Four are on the injured list, caught up in the epidemic of arm injuries sweeping baseball. Three are stuck in the minors, and one of those missed a month with an injury. J.P. France, a rookie with Houston out of Mississippi State, has been good since his May 6 call-up, posting a 2-1 record and 3.54 ERA in seven games. He’s the bright spot. The other active pitcher, 36-year-old ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn, is 4-7 with a 6.75 for the Chicago White Sox. His career numbers: 127-91, 3.66. Something ain’t right. Back on April 1, at a frigid Wrigley Field, Justin Steele and Brandon Woodruff hooked up in a dandy duel. Lucedale native Steele threw six shutout innings, fanning eight for the Chicago Cubs. Wheeler’s Woodruff allowed one run in six innings, also striking out eight, for Milwaukee. A harbinger of great things? Not really. Woodruff made only one more start before landing on the IL. He’s still there. Steele was fairly brilliant (6-2, 2.65) over 12 starts, but he is hurt, on the IL since May 31. Spencer Turnbull, the former Madison Central High standout with Detroit, came off Tommy John surgery this season, went 1-4 with a 7.26 and was headed to the minors before landing back on the IL. Then there’s Colorado’s Ryan Rolison, the former first-round pick out of Ole Miss. He missed all of 2022 after shoulder surgery but seemed on the brink of his big league debut last month when — alas — he went back on the IL after two brutal Triple-A starts. Dakota Hudson, the ex-MSU star, went to spring training with St. Louis hoping to regain a job in the starting rotation. He scuffled, was optioned to Triple-A, got hurt and is slowly working his way back. He started for Memphis at Jacksonville on Wednesday, gave up nine runs (six earned) in 3 2/3 innings and fell to 3-4, 5.84. Also in the minors — and scuffling — are MSU alum Konnor Pilkington (6.92 for Arizona’s Triple-A club) and Ole Miss product James McArthur (6.82 for Kansas City’s Triple-A team).

09 Jun

what’s going on

It ain’t Red Sox-Yankees (also happening on this sports-packed weekend), but Counter Clocks-Blue Crabs is a burgeoning rivalry that should get the attention of Mississippi baseball aficionados. The Lexington Counter Clocks, managed by Biloxi native Barry Lyons, and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, managed by Jackson native Stan Cliburn, are slated for a three-game Atlantic League series at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Md., beginning tonight. It is the first meeting this season of the two former big league catchers. Lyons is in his first year with the Counter Clocks, while Cliburn is a veteran of the independent league. Cliburn’s club leads the APBL North Division with a 21-13 record. Lyons’ team is 16-20, third in the South. The Blue Crabs’ top hitter is former Ole Miss standout Braxton Lee, batting .349. Ex-Rebels star Thomas Dillard is batting .235 with six homers and 17 RBIs for the Counter Clocks. … On the MLB docket, the two best teams record-wise, Tampa Bay and Texas, open a compelling three-game set tonight at Tropicana Field. On the undercard in this series is the first meeting as opposing players for the Brothers Lowe, former Mississippi State star Nathaniel of the Rangers and Josh of the Rays. A bunch of family and friends are expected to attend. … The Mississippi Braves and Biloxi Shuckers continue their Southern League series tonight at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. The Milwaukee-affiliated Shuckers have won two of the first three in the six-game set and lead the season series 7-5. … The NCAA Super Regionals begin tonight — Tennessee-Southern Miss starts Saturday — and one of the most interesting matchups is South Carolina-Florida, a longtime SEC rivalry. Both teams feature a Southern Miss transfer: Will McGillis is the Gamecocks’ usual leadoff batter and Hurston Waldrep is one of the Gators’ top starting pitchers. … The Cape Cod League, the best of the college summer loops, begins its centennial season Saturday. There are a handful of Mississippi products on the current rosters, including Mississippi State’s Ross Highfill and K.C. Hunt with Falmouth, State’s Hunter Hines with Yarmouth-Dennis and Ole Miss’ Mason Nichols with Hyannis. There is a lot of roster movement during the season, so there may be more Mississippians arriving later.