Tag Archives: phillies

24 Sep

philly flashback

The last time the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated a division championship was 13 years ago, when the club’s “Sports Illustrated Five” featured a pair of Mississippi junior college alumni. The Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 6-2 on Monday night to claim their first National League East crown since 2011. That was the year that ex-Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee and former Holmes CC standout Roy Oswalt were members of a stellar rotation that appeared on the cover of SI’s preseason issue. Lee went 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA and Oswalt 9-10, 3.69, as the Phillies rolled to a 102-60 finish. Roy Halladay (a 19-game winner), Cole Hamels and Vance Worley rounded out the starting five, and Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins powered the offense. Alas, Philly lost in the NL Division Series to St. Louis (and a rookie right-hander named Lance Lynn). The lone Mississippi connection with the 2024 Phillies is veteran infield coach Bobby Dickerson, the Laurel native who has been on the staff for the last three seasons. P.S. Drake Baldwin, who played for the Mississippi Braves in 2024, and Jacob Misiorowksi, who pitched for Biloxi this season, were named minor league players of the year in their respective organizations by Baseball America. Atlanta prospect Baldwin, a catcher, hit .244 with four homers in 52 games for the Double-A M-Braves before finishing the season at Triple-A, where he belted 12 more bombs. Milwaukee prospect Misiorowski was 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA for the Double-A Shuckers; he struck out 127 batters in 97 1/3 innings, including time in Triple-A.

21 Sep

odds and ends

Garrett Crochet’s 2024 numbers, most of them, are pretty good. The Ocean Springs native, starting for the first time since his college days four years ago, has a 3.68 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, a .220 batting average against and 203 strikeouts with just 32 walks in 142 innings. The tall left-hander, an All-Star back in July, struck out eight with no walks in a four-inning scoreless outing on Friday. His team, the mournful Chicago White Sox, lost again to fall to 36-118. Crochet’s record is 6-12. How’d he ever win six? … Ex-Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner went 2-for-6 with an RBI knock in the 12th inning as Minnesota beat Boston 4-2 at Fenway Park to climb to within a game of slumping Kansas City for second place in the American League wild card race. Detroit, which lost Friday to wild card leader Baltimore, is a game back of the Twins, and Seattle is a game back of the Tigers. Three wild card teams make the postseason. … Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull is slated for a rehab appearance at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday; the right-hander, on the injured list since late June, is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia, which clinched a postseason berth on Friday. When he might return to the active roster remains unclear. … J.T. Ginn, the former Mississippi State pitcher from Brandon, worked five innings, allowing one run, for Oakland against the New York Yankees Friday but got a no-decision in a game the A’s would lose 4-2 in 10 innings. Rookie Ginn is 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA in seven games. … Ex-USM star Matthew Etzel went 1-for-3 and scored a run as Montgomery beat Biloxi to claim the Southern League South Division title. Former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt homered for the Shuckers. Birmingham won the North Division title over Tennessee with Ole Miss product Jacob Gonzalez going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. The SL Championship Series starts Sunday at Montgomery. … USM alum and erstwhile big leaguer Kirk McCarty is 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 11 starts for CTBC Brothers, which has the best overall record in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

05 Sep

pain management

Their no-hitter against Pittsburgh notwithstanding, the Chicago Cubs’ postseason hopes may have taken a serious hit Wednesday when Justin Steele, the lefty from Lucedale, went on the injured list with a sore elbow. Staff ace Steele, 5-5 with a 3.09 ERA, was 3-1 in his last seven starts, and the team was 9-4 in his last 13 outings. He’ll be out for a couple of weeks — maybe longer. The Cubs have climbed into the battle for a wild card in the National League, currently sitting fifth in those standings, 4 games behind the fourth-place New York Mets. Steele told reporters Wednesday he aims to return this season. “Justin’s going to pitch if he’s healthy. That’s kind of how we’re progressing right now,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said in an mlb.com story. … The Kansas City Royals, who snapped a seven-game losing streak on Wednesday, may get ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe back this weekend, per reports. Renfroe, on the IL since Aug. 21 with a hamstring injury, played a rehab game at Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a sac fly for the Naturals. After a slow start to 2024, Renfroe is batting .237 with 12 homers and 47 RBIs for the Royals, who are clinging to the third wild card in the American League. … Former MSU standout Jordan Westburg, out since Aug. 1 with a broken right hand, has begun playing catch and could be close to returning to Baltimore’s lineup, reports say. Westburg, a 2024 All-Star, is batting .269 with 18 homers and 58 RBIs. The Orioles lead the New York Yankees by a half-game in the AL East. … Spencer Turnbull, the Madison Central High alum who was a valuable pitcher for Philadelphia early this season, remains on the 60-day IL (lat strain) but was expected to throw a bullpen session this week. He has been out since June 27, and a time for his return to active duty remains unclear. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for the Phillies, who hold a seemingly comfortable 7-game lead in the NL East.

23 Aug

spotlight on …

A trio of former Mississippi high school standouts stuffed the box score Thursday night in a High-Class A game at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Park. Bryson Ware and Emaarion Boyd combined for six hits for Jersey Shore in a 10-1 win over the host Cyclones, with Kellum Clark getting a knock for the losers while having a hand in four double plays. Ware, a Germantown High product who also passed through Pearl River Community College and Auburn en route to pro ball, picked up four hits with a double, a triple, an RBI and two runs. The third baseman, a 2023 draftee, is batting .348 in 14 games since Philadelphia moved him to Jersey Shore. He hit nine homers in Low-A ball. Boyd, who starred at South Panola, produced a triple, two runs, two RBIs and a stolen base, his 22nd. The Phillies’ No. 23 prospect (by MLB Pipeline) in his third pro season, center fielder Boyd is batting .238. Clark is an ex-Brandon High and Mississippi State standout who was drafted in the 20th round last summer. In 48 games for Brooklyn, the New York Mets’ High-A club, the first baseman is batting .217 with three doubles and eight RBIs. He smacked 30 homers in three seasons in Starkville but has yet to find that stroke in pro ball, with just one career bomb, none in 2024. P.S. Another state prep product, Spence Coffman out of Tishomingo High, got a shot at Low-A ball after hitting .295 with eight doubles, 24 RBIs and 19 steals this year in rookie ball, where he had been toiling since being drafted in the 19th round in 2022. Coffman, 20, a shortstop, is 6-for-27 (.222) in nine games for San Diego’s Lake Elsinore club; he was placed on the development list on Thursday but remains with the Storm.

12 Aug

short hops

Baseball is a non-contact sport, except when a 97-mph fastball hits you in the face. Blaze Jordan, the ex-DeSoto Central High star, took one just below his right eye on Friday in a game for Double-A Portland. “Baseball is rough sometimes,” Jordan said on X (Twitter). “Be back soon!” He went on the seven-day injured list with a nasty black eye. The 21-year-old Boston prospect is batting .253 with seven home runs and 51 RBIs in his first full year at the Class AA level. … Austin Riley, another DeSoto Central alum, blasted his 18th homer of the year – and fourth in August – but it was wasted in Atlanta’s “Nightmare on Blake Street,” a 9-8 loss Sunday at Colorado in which the Rockies scored seven times in the eighth inning. … One day after getting roughed up by Atlanta, former Mississippi State standout Dakota Hudson landed on Colorado’s IL with elbow inflammation. Hudson, who has a 6.17 ERA with the Rockies, was making his first big league appearance since July 3. He had been at Triple-A. … MSU alum Christian MacLeod made his Triple-A debut in the Minnesota system on Sunday, yielding four earned runs in five innings in a loss against Columbus. The 2021 draftee has pitched at three levels in 2024 and has a 3.26 overall ERA. … South Panola product Emaarion Boyd put up a four-hit game on Sunday for High-A Jersey Shore, scored twice and swiped his 20th bag of the season for the Philadelphia affiliate. Boyd, 20, the Phillies’ No. 18 prospect (per MLB Pipeline), is batting .241 for the year with 41 runs and 31 RBIs in 78 games. He has 84 steals in three pro seasons. … There is a new vibe at Alcorn State, where Carlton Hardy, a highly successful college coach, has taken the reins as the Braves’ head man. Hardy spent the last 18 years at Savannah State, where he won a couple of conference coach of the year awards and led the Tigers to a 31-17 record in 2024. The former Grambling State player takes over an Alcorn program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2009. The previous coach, Reggie Williams, went 16-122 in three years.

30 Jul

debut alert

While we wait for Konnor Griffin to sign his pro contract, another former Jackson Prep star is in the news today. Will Warren has been called up by the New York Yankees to make his MLB debut tonight against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. The 25-year-old right-hander, New York’s No. 7 prospect, will get to face Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper in the first inning of his first game. Good luck with that. In his fourth pro season, Warren was an inconsistent 5-5 with a 6.11 ERA in 20 starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He features an excellent slider and a mid-90s fastball. Warren went 7-0, 1.39 ERA, at Jackson Prep as a senior in 2017 and signed with Southeastern Louisiana, an off-the-radar NCAA Division I program. Over four years with the Lions, he put up a 3.90 ERA in 53 games. The Yankees drafted him in the eighth round in 2021.

29 Jul

worth noting

Seven of the nine players picked out of the Magnolia State in the first two days of the MLB draft reportedly have signed. The exceptions are Jackson Prep product Konnor Griffin (ninth overall by Pittsburgh) and Mississippi State alum Dakota Jordan (fourth round, 116th overall, San Francisco). The slot value of those picks, per mlb.com’s Draft Tracker, are $6.22 million for the ninth pick and $624,800 for No. 116. The signing deadline is Thursday. Griffin has a college commitment to LSU in hand, and Jordan has two years of college eligibility remaining. Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery, the 12th overall pick out of Texas A&M by Boston, also has not signed. All told, 15 of the 21 players picked from Mississippi schools have signed; Hunter Elliott (20th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) reportedly is returning to Ole Miss. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Tyler Stuart, formerly the New York Mets’ No. 17 prospect, was traded to Washington for big league outfielder Jesse Winker. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander, was 3-7 with a 3.96 ERA in Double-A for the Mets; he has a 3.09 career ERA in pro ball. … Justin Dean stole four bases on Sunday, setting a Mississippi Braves single-season record with 44 bags. Dean, who has spent parts of the last four years with the Double-A M-Braves, has 195 career steals, 114 with the M-Braves. … Former Magee High star Brennon McNair delivered a walk-off hit for Low-A Columbia on Sunday. The Kansas City Royals farmhand, 21, is 5-for-15 in his last four games, lifting his average to .209 with six homers and 24 RBIs. … Right-hander Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, recently was added to Philadelphia’s active roster from the injured list. Rucker, who has a career 4.96 ERA, grew up in Washington state and was drafted out of BYU by the Chicago Cubs. … Fun fact: Greenville native George Scott hit 271 home runs in the big leagues but only one inside-the-park job. It happened on this date in 1967, for Boston, at Fenway Park, against Minnesota’s Jim Perry. Scott, a two-time All-Star, was a big dude but could run a little: 69 steals, 60 triples in 14 MLB campaigns.

10 Jun

that’s the ticket

Typically, there is an adjustment period for a minor league player as he moves up the ladder. Former South Panola High standout Emaarion Boyd might be starting to figure out the High-Class A level in the Philadelphia system. The 20-year-old center fielder went 3-for-6 on Sunday for Jersey Shore, his second three-hit game in his last three. He filled up the box score in the BlueClaws’ 18-5 win against Greensboro with a homer (his first), a double, two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base (his 12th). At the Low-Class A level in 2023, Boyd hit .262 with a .366 on-base percentage and swiped 56 bases. The going has been tougher this season. Boyd is batting just .214 with a .314 OBP in 42 games. But he has hit at a .292 clip in June, and Sunday’s performance arguably was his best of the season. His home run — his second in three pro seasons — was a first-inning grand slam off former Ole Miss star Derek Diamond, a Pittsburgh prospect. The 6-foot, 177-pound Boyd was an 11th-round pick out of South Panola — the football power — in 2022 and received a nice signing bonus. Rated a 70 (on the 20-80 scale) for his speed tool, Boyd is the No. 16 prospect in the Phillies’ system, per MLB Pipeline. He can be a weapon — a la Billy Hamilton — as both a base-stealer and fly-catching center fielder. P.S. Interesting that Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College alum, was placed on the bereavement list by Miami prior to its three-game home series with Cleveland. Anderson and the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez engaged in a much-publicized scrap last summer, and both were suspended. Anderson, batting a miserable .188 with zero homers, six RBIs and three stolen bases, missed the entire series, won 2-1 by the Guardians. … Though he didn’t play for Detroit on Sunday, ex-Biloxi High star Colt Keith apparently dodged major injury to his knee in a collision with Akil Badoo on Saturday. Rookie second baseman Keith is batting .214 with seven errors.

02 Jun

connect four (plus one)

Spencer Turnbull had been a little erratic since moving to the Philadelphia bullpen in early May, but he was a smooth operator on Saturday in a clutch relief situation. The big right-hander out of Madison Central High threw three hitless innings for the mighty Phillies in a 6-1 win over St. Louis, notching his first win since April 19, when he was in the rotation. After starter Ranger Suarez departed Saturday’s game (line drive off his pitching hand in the second inning), the Phillies turned the game over to the bullpen. Turnbull worked innings 4-6. His ERA was 1.67 in his six starts to begin the season. He moved to the pen to accommodate the return of Taijuan Walker, and his ERA was 7.00 over his first six relief appearances, a new role for the six-year veteran. Saturday’s effort was nearly perfect. “Turnbull really picked us up tonight,” manager Rob Thomson told mlb.com. “If he does have to make Ranger’s (next) start, I am comfortable with him at 80 pitches, five (innings) — something like that.” … Three other Mississippi high school products pitched in MLB games on Saturday: George County alum Justin Steele, in his sixth start since coming off the injured list, wasn’t sharp on a rainy day in Chicago. He yielded seven hits and four walks in five innings against Cincinnati, but four of the five runs he was charged with were unearned. The Cubs rallied late to win 7-5. Steele, a 2023 All-Star, remains winless with a 4.10 ERA. … Ocean Springs product Garrett Crochet turned in another sizzling effort for the White Sox: one run over six innings with eight strikeouts. But the lowly ChiSox blew a lead and lost to Milwaukee 4-3. Crochet, in his first season as a starter, is 5-5 with a 3.49 for a 15-44 team. … Former Tupelo High star Chris Stratton threw a scoreless inning for Kansas City in a 7-3 loss to San Diego. Stratton has a 5.76 ERA, two wins, three saves and three holds in 23 relief appearances for the Royals. P.S. In the NCAA Tournament, a fifth state prep product, Niko Mazza out of MRA, delivered one of the best pitching performances of the postseason: a two-hit shutout in a 6-0 elimination game win for Southern Miss against Northern Kentucky in the Knoxville Regional. Mazza registered his ninth win of the year.

07 May

what a relief

Emmanuel Clase is the headliner in the vaunted Cleveland Guardians bullpen. Nick Sandlin plays an “Also Starring” role — and plays it very well. The former Southern Miss standout got four outs in the sixth and seventh innings on Monday and picked up the win in a 2-1 victory against Detroit. Sandlin is 3-0 with a 2.04 ERA and a save in 19 appearances for the Guardians, who lead the American League Central with a 23-12 record. Clase (0.49 ERA) pitched the ninth for his 11th save. The side-arming Sandlin stranded a runner in the sixth inning on Monday and has allowed just two of 14 inherited runners to score. He has a 0.62 WHIP. A second-round pick by Cleveland in 2018 after a sensational career at USM, Sandlin has a 2.95 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 160 career MLB appearances. At USM, he had 20 saves over his first two seasons, moved into the rotation as a junior and went 10-0 with a 1.06, earning All-America honors and the state’s Ferriss Trophy. He went back to the bullpen in pro ball. … Filling in for regular closer James McArthur, ex-Mississippi State star Chris Stratton weathered a shaky ninth inning to notch his second save in Kansas City’s 3-2 win vs. Milwaukee. The surprising Royals are 21-15, tied for second in the AL Central. Stratton, in his first season with KC, is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 14 games; five of the nine earned runs he has yielded came in one appearance. McArthur, the Ole Miss alum who has seven saves this season, was down Monday, so Stratton — 14 career saves — got the call in the ninth. Aided by a double play, he got through the Brewers’ 3-6 hitters despite walking two. Stratton was also a Ferriss Trophy winner back in 2012, when he was the SEC’s pitcher of the year (as a starter) and later a first-round pick by San Francisco. … It’s “official” in Philadelphia: Former Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull will move to the bullpen. In his first season with the Phillies, Turnbull is 2-0 with a 1.67 in six starts. But Philadelphia now has five other healthy starters, making a move necessary. Turnbull, who has started all but one game in his 67 career MLB appearances, reportedly would prefer to remain in the rotation. “He can do a lot of different things, because he gives you length, obviously,” Phils manager Rob Thomson told mlb.com. P.S. MSU product Brent Rooker won the AL player of the week award after batting .438 with three homers — two in one inning — and seven RBIs for Oakland in the week ending May 4. Rooker also won a POW award in 2023.