Tag Archives: Ole Miss

18 Jun

eye on …

Patrick Lee, former William Carey University standout, took a winding road to reach affiliated baseball. Currently playing outfield — and faring well — for the Low-Class A Lakeland Flying Tigers, Lee wasn’t drafted out of high school — Resurrection Catholic in Pascagoula — or following a five-year stint at Carey, where he batted .335, stole 74 bases and played in the NAIA World Series in 2023. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Lee got a spot in the MLB Draft League last summer and hit .279 with 29 stolen bases. The Draft League is for players hoping to catch the eye of scouts ahead of the draft, but Lee didn’t get a call last summer. This spring, he signed with Evansville in the independent Frontier League and after batting .410 in 11 games there got an offer from the Detroit Tigers. He signed on May 25. Through 16 games at Lakeland, Lee is batting .289 with a homer, 11 runs, nine steals and a .467 OBP. At 24, he is a little old for the Low-A level and might be in line for a bump to High-A soon. P.S. Willie Joe Garry Jr., a Pascagoula High product, is currently playing for Schaumberg in the Frontier League, batting .191 in five games. Garry, drafted out of ‘Goula by Minnesota in 2018, spent six years in the Twins’ system, reaching the Double-A level briefly. The 24-year-old outfielder, a career .206 batter, was hitting .132 at High-A Cedar Rapids when he was released on May 21. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Dallas Woolfolk, a Hernando native, is also on the Schaumberg roster.

18 Jun

around the horn

Former Ole Miss stars Jacob Gonzalez and Tim Elko are expected to take part in tonight’s minor league showcase at Birmingham’s venerable Rickwood Field. Gonzalez and Elko, prospects for the Chicago White Sox, play for the Double-A Birmingham Barons, who will wear the uniform of the Black Barons in tribute to the Negro League club that played at Rickwood decades ago. The visiting Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay affiliate) will play as the Gray Sox. The game will be televised by MLB Network at 6 p.m. MLB’s Negro Leagues tribute game at Rickwood, the country’s oldest professional ballpark, between San Francisco and St. Louis is set for Thursday night. … Former Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner was named the International League player of the week (June 11-16) after going 14-for-27 (.519) with five homers, 11 RBIs and 11 runs in six games for St. Paul, Minnesota’s Triple-A club. Wallner, who hit a 481-foot homer on Sunday, has 16 bombs for the Saints and is batting .250 with 43 RBIs since the Twins sent him down in mid-April. … DeSoto Central High alum Austin Riley had two more hits in Atlanta’s 2-1 win over Detroit on Monday and is 9-for-26 (.346) with three homers and eight RBIs in his last seven games. … If the name of the Texas A&M pitcher who was mowing down Kentucky hitters Monday in the College World Series sounds familiar, it might be because Ryan Prager is the son of former Jackson Generals standout Howard Prager. The younger Prager threw 6 2/3 no-hit innings before yielding a pair of knocks in the Aggies’ 5-1 win. He is 9-1 with a 2.88 ERA. His father played first base for the Double-A Generals, a Houston affiliate, in 1991-92 and reached Triple-A in St. Louis’ system. BTW, Kentucky’s hitting coach is former Mississippi State catcher Nick Ammirati, previously an assistant at Hinds Community College and USM.

16 Jun

caught in a draft

A host of Magnolia State products will have the opportunity to enhance their draft stock at the upcoming MLB Draft Combine, which runs Tuesday-Sunday at Chase Field in Phoenix. Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin; former Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery of Texas A&M; Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan, Hunter Hines, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Khal Stephen and Nate Dohm; Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott; Pearl River Community College’s Conner Ware; Lewisburg High’s Samuel Richardson; and former Lewisburg standout Brady Tygart of Arkansas are on the list of scheduled attendees. Griffin, Montgomery, Cijntje and Jordan are ranked among the top 29 draft prospects by MLB Pipeline. The draft is July 14-16. Players will get to participate in technological evaluations of their “cognitive skills, speed of processing, athletic performance and on-field talent,” per a story on mlb.com. A pro-style workout, strength tests and a game for prep players are also on the docket. Of note: Griffin — the Gatorade national player of the year — said in an MLB Central appearance last week that he doesn’t plan to participate in on-field activities. Asked on MLB Central to evaluate himself as a draft prospect, Griffin, in a polite and unassuming manner, said: “I know the skill set that I have. I feel like I’m a five-tool guy … one of the few five-tool guys in this draft.” An LSU commit, he pitched and played shortstop and outfield while at Prep but projects as an outfielder in pro ball. MLB Central’s Mark DeRosa said Griffin also has the “sixth tool,” aka makeup: “It’s beyond real.” … Montgomery’s Texas A&M team is in the College World Series in Omaha, though the first-team All-America outfielder is sidelined with an ankle injury. … Jordan won the Ferriss Trophy as Mississippi’s top college player. … Elliott had elbow surgery earlier this year and did not pitch for Ole Miss this season. … Ware, a Germantown High alum and LSU signee, made only seven appearances for PRCC, posting a 1.80 ERA and two saves. … Richardson, a preseason All-America pick and top draft prospect, had an off year, batting .211 with seven homers, per MaxPreps. … Vicksburg native and former big leaguer Dmitri Young is among the ex-players slated to work with the attendees, and former Mississippi State star and MLB manager Buck Showalter will be part of the MLB Network crew covering the event.

16 Jun

who’s hot?

Continuing to make his case for a return to the big leagues, Matt Wallner enjoyed another four-hit game — with a home run — on Saturday for Triple-A St. Paul. The ex-Southern Miss star, who also had a four-hit game on Thursday, is batting .396 in June (.458 OBP) with seven homers and 16 RBIs. He was sent down by Minnesota on April 16 following a horrid start. After his recent hot streak, the left-handed slugger is at .246 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs for St. Paul. … Grae Kessinger is also building a case for a return to The Show. The Ole Miss product went 3-for-5 for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday and is batting .341 since his June 5 demotion by Houston. Kessinger, a versatile infielder, rarely played (11 at-bats) while he was with the Astros, who are struggling mightily at 32-39. … Former Biloxi High standout Colt Keith, making his case to stay in the big leagues with Detroit, went 4-for-6 in the Tigers’ 13-5 whipping of the Astros on Saturday. After an early June swoon, rookie Keith, 22, is 7-for-13 in his last three games, boosting his average to .235. He has three homers and 20 RBIs. “For me, it’s not about the stats or the data,” he recently said in a FanGraphs article. “It’s a comfort-level thing.” … In four games since he was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett from Mississippi, Nacho Alvarez is making his case as a prospect to watch in Atlanta’s system. He put up a 4-for-4 game Saturday and is 9-for-18 with two homers in four games for the Stripers. With the Double-A M-Braves, the 21-year-old shortstop hit .265 with no homers in 49 games. … In Low-Class A, former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt is bidding for a move up in Milwaukee’s system. Pratt had a three-hit game for Carolina on Saturday — his fourth three-knock game in his last eight — and is raking at a .429 clip in June. For the season, the second-year pro, 19, is at .310 with two homers, 24 RBIs and 15 steals. He is the Brewers’ No. 8-rated prospect.

13 Jun

cruise control

Before he went on the injured list on May 12 with a broken finger, Blaze Jordan was cruising along on a 17-game hitting streak. He returned to the Double-A Portland lineup on Wednesday and got right back in gear. The DeSoto Central High product — Boston’s No. 19 prospect — banged out a two-run double in his first at-bat and finished 2-for-5 in the Sea Dogs’ 5-4 win at Reading. After a sputtering start to his first full year in Double-A, the 21-year-old Jordan is hitting .288 with two homers, eight doubles and 18 RBIs in 27 games. A renowned power hitter in his amateur days, Jordan was a third-round draft pick as a 17-year-old by the Red Sox in 2020. His power potential began to show last season, when he hit 18 homers between High-Class A Greenville and Portland. He batted .324 in 73 games at Greenville and was named a South Atlantic League postseason All-Star; he was also a Red Sox Organization All-Star for the second straight year. Jordan, who goes 6 feet 1, 220 pounds, is a corner infielder whose future may be at first base. His right-handed stroke seemingly is well-suited for Fenway Park. P.S. A couple of former Ole Miss stars are playing major roles for Birmingham, which has the best record (38-21) in the Double-A Southern League. Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, promoted from A-ball last month, is hitting .321 after a 2-for-4, two-RBI effort in a 4-3 win Wednesday against Pensacola. He has a homer, 15 RBIs and 14 runs in 21 games for the Barons, a Chicago White Sox affiliate. Tim Elko, the Barons’ first baseman/DH, is hitting .298 — fourth in the SL — and ranks in the top 10 with six homers and 28 RBIs. Gonzalez — a first-round pick in 2023 — and Elko — 10th round, 2022 — were teammates on Ole Miss’ ’22 national championship club. … Hunter Renfroe has a bone bruise in his left foot, not a broken toe, the Kansas City Royals have announced. The former Mississippi State standout went on the IL on Tuesday. His recovery time likely will be shorter than originally expected.

12 Jun

going places

Former Mississippi Braves star Drew Waters got back in The Show and former Biloxi Shuckers star Carlos F. Rodriguez got his first MLB shot among a flurry of Tuesday transactions involving players with Mississippi ties. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel was promoted to Double-A in the Baltimore system; ex-Ole Miss standout Brandon Johnson moved up to Double-A in the Kansas City chain; former Mississippi State bullpen ace Landon Sims jumped to High-Class A in the Arizona system; and USM product Hunter Stanley came off the injured list at Triple-A Columbus in the Cleveland organization. … Waters — Southern League player of the year in 2019 — was recalled by Kansas City to replace Hunter Renfroe, the ex-State star who went on the injured list with a broken toe. Waters, hitting .277 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in Triple-A, went 0-for-4 in his first MLB game of 2024. The Royals also placed Bulldogs alum Adam Frazier on the bereavement list. … Rodriguez, Milwaukee’s No. 6 prospect who went 9-6, 2.77 ERA, for the Shuckers in 2023, allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings and took a loss against Toronto. … Etzel, a 2023 draftee by the Orioles, was batting .306 with four homers and 31 steals at High-A Aberdeen; he got a knock in his first at-bat for Class AA Bowie. … Johnson was 3-3, two saves, 4.13, in High-A for the Royals. … Sims, a star on MSU’s national title team, had a 4.38 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings at Low-A Visalia. … Stanley, on the IL for about a month, has a 5.85 ERA over six games for Columbus. P.S. Kirk McCarty, former USM standout from Hattiesburg, threw seven shutout innings in his Chinese Professional Baseball League debut last week and allowed two runs in five innings on Tuesday for CTBC Brothers. He is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA. The well-traveled McCarty has won 18 games the past three seasons: four in Triple-A, four in MLB with Cleveland, nine in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2023 plus the one in the CPBL. He won 22 games for USM from 2015-17.

07 Jun

a winning blend

The Mississippi spice was strong in Kansas City’s big 4-3 win against Cleveland on Thursday at Progressive Field. Ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe went 2-for-3 with an RBI double; MSU alum Adam Frazier doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning; and Ole Miss product James McArthur pitched a clean ninth for his 12th save. The Royals improved to 37-26 and climbed to within 4 games of the first-place Guardians in the American League Central. Renfroe, after a very cold start (.189), is showing signs of heating up, hitting .271 with two homers, seven RBIs and 11 runs in his last 15 games. The Crystal Springs native hit his fifth homer in Tuesday’s game. Frazier, who also scuffled out of the gate (.210), is batting .275 with six runs over his last 15. McArthur has been a fairly reliable closer despite a 4.91 ERA (inflated by a couple of bad outings). The fourth Mississippian on the KC roster is reliever Chris Stratton (2-3, 5.76 ERA, three saves), another State alum who didn’t get in Thursday’s game. Stratton, Renfroe and Frazier — each a free agent signee this past off-season — were teammates in Starkville in 2011-12. “Really blessed to be able to play this game with people that you know and care about,” Stratton recently told the Kansas City Star. “It’s a lot of fun.” Winning helps. … Down on the Royals farm, former Mississippi Braves star Drew Waters went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs to pace Triple-A Omaha to a 16-6 win over Memphis. Waters, clamoring for a call-up, is batting .271 with six homers and 30 RBIs. At Double-A Northwest Arkansas, former MSU standout Eric Cerantola is 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 11 games. And at High-Class A Quad Cities, ex-Southern Miss star Dustin Dickerson hit his first homer of 2024 as part of a 2-for-4 effort in the River Bandits’ 5-3 win Thursday against Wisconsin. Dickerson, a shortstop, is hitting .250 with 13 RBIs and 23 runs in 40 games in his first full pro season. Ole Miss alum Brandon Johnson is 3-3, 4.09, with two saves in 17 relief appearances for QC. P.S. Ex-USM standout Matt Wallner homered in both ends of a doubleheader for Triple-A St. Paul and now has six homers in his last nine games — 11 on the season — for the Minnesota affiliate; he is batting .214 with 32 RBIs. … Cheers all around for Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin, named Gatorade’s national high school player of the year. An LSU signee and highly rated MLB draft prospect, Griffin follows the likes of Bobby Witt Jr., Clayton Kershaw, Justin Upton, Zack Greinke, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield as the winner of this award.

06 Jun

whatever happened to …

Thomas Dillard, the ex-Ole Miss slugger, is playing for Cleburne in the American Association and batting .250 with six home runs for the independent club. Dillard, a longtime Milwaukee minor leaguer, blasted 39 homers in the indy Atlantic League in 2023 and 12 for Double-A Biloxi in 2022. … Trent Giambrone, former Delta State standout, is with Kansas City in the American Association, having recently been traded there by Cleburne. Giambrone, who had a cup of coffee in the majors with the Chicago Cubs in 2021, is batting .292 in seven games for the Monarchs and .203 with four homers overall in 2024. He also played in the Atlantic League last year, hitting .287 with 22 homers for York. … Tyreque Reed, the ex-Itawamba Community College star from Houlka, is with Washington in the independent Frontier League. Recently placed on the injured list, Reed — who turns 27 today — is hitting .258 for the WildThings. He missed all of 2023 with an injury in Boston’s system and became a minor league free agent last fall. He hit 25 homers at ICC and has 64 career minor league bombs but has yet to go deep in 2024. … Ti’Quan Forbes, the former Mr. Baseball from Columbia, is hitting .258 for Querataro in the Mexican League. Forbes reached Triple-A during his eight-year minor league run and belted 17 home runs in the indy Frontier League last season. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves star Justyn-Henry Malloy broke up a perfect game with his first MLB home run — and hit — on Wednesday for Detroit. Malloy went deep against Texas’ Jose Urena in the sixth inning of the Tigers’ 9-1 loss. Malloy, 2-for-10 in three games with the Tigers, played for the M-Braves in 2022 (.268, six homers in 54 games) and was traded by Atlanta in December of that year in the Joe Jimenez deal.

06 Jun

yeah, but …

The good news for Grae Kessinger is, he’ll get off the bench. The bad news, delivered on Tuesday, is that he’s no longer in the big leagues. The former Ole Miss star from Oxford was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land by the Houston Astros and was in the Space Cowboys’ lineup on Wednesday. Kessinger, 26, made the Astros’ opening day roster as a backup infielder but had only 11 at-bats (and no hits) all season. He missed about 10 days while on the injured list in early May. A second-round pick by Houston in 2019, Kessinger debuted in the big leagues on June 7 of last year. He got his first hit four days later and first (and only) homer on July 4. All told, he hit .200 in 40 at-bats for the Astros in 2023. Kessinger scuffled his first couple of years in pro ball but hit .283 for Sugar Land last year before his promotion. The grandson of former MLB All-Star — and Ole Miss coach — Don Kessinger, Grae was an All-America shortstop at UM who hit .312 with 15 homers over his last two years in Oxford. He “celebrated” his return to Triple-A by ripping a single in his first at-bat on Wednesday at Salt Lake. … Kessinger’s demotion drops the number of active Mississippians (native or school alum) in the big leagues to 17. P.S. Mississippi State alum Justin Foscue began a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Wednesday. Foscue made his MLB debut for Texas on April 5, went 1-for-2 in two pinch at-bats and then landed on the IL on April 8 with an oblique strain.

30 May

playing pepper

Three straight wins in elimination games have put East Central Community College into the semifinal round of the NJCAA Division II World Series. The third-seeded Warriors (54-8) play 2-seed Brunswick (N.C.) today at Enid, Okla. (LSU-Eunice, the top seed, is in the other semi.) A clutch two-run double by Marvin Jackson and six strong innings from Chris Bilingsley helped ECCC beat South Arkansas 6-4 on Wednesday, and Jayden Adcox went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and Reid Hall pitched a hitless final three innings in a 13-4 romp past Madison (Wisc.) later Wednesday. … Former Smithville High star Jared Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save as High-Class A Rome beat Greenville 10-8. Johnson, who has a 2.37 ERA in 14 appearances for the Atlanta affiliate, is tied for the second-most saves in the South Atlantic League. … Ole Miss alum Derek Diamond moved to 3-0 with a 2.70 after a solid five-inning outing (one run, seven strikeouts) for High-A Greensboro (Pittsburgh system). Diamond was a 2022 draftee off the Rebels’ national title team. … Anthony Alford, the ex-Petal High star, is enjoying the hitter-friendly Mexican League, having banged out nine hits in 25 at-bats (.360) in his first seven games for Campeche. Former big leaguer Alford was recently released by Cincinnati. … Jackson native James Steels, who had a brief major league career before becoming a Mexican League star, was born on this date in 1961. Steels might best be remembered as the Texas League player of the year in 1984, when he was with Beaumont in the San Diego system. The Golden Gators lost to the Jackson Mets in the league championship series. … Jackson native Jim Bivin, who had a brief major league career with Philadelphia, enjoyed his 15 minutes of MLB fame on this date in 1935, when he retired Babe Ruth on a ground out in his final at-bat. Ruth, playing for Boston, was replaced in the bottom of the first inning by Ludlow native Hal Lee.