Tag Archives: Pirates

25 Jun

random numbers

1 – Big league hits for Adam Frazier, the former Mississippi State standout who got his first knock in his first at-bat for Pittsburgh on Friday night.
1 – Professional hits for Walker Robbins, the ex-George County High star who singled in his first game with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals.
4 – Hits in eight at-bats for Joey Meneses in his first two games with the Mississippi Braves. The native of Mexico was hitting .342 at Class A Carolina.
1,000 – Career wins in MLB for Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, the former Jackson Mets manager who won 73 games with the Double-A club back in 1990.
3,315 – Attendance on Friday at Biloxi’s MGM Park, where former Jackson Mets star Darryl Strawberry threw out the first pitch. He was in town for a speaking engagement.
12 – Combined runs scored by Montgomery and Biloxi in the first inning of the Southern League game, won by the Biscuits 10-9.
13 – Home runs by Corey Dickerson, the Meridian Community College product who went deep for Tampa Bay on Friday. He leads all Mississippians in the majors in homers; Zack Cozart and Mitch Moreland have 11 each.
3 – Home runs allowed in two MLB starts by Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi CC alum now with Cincinnati.
15 – Strikeouts by Cody Reed in his 12 innings in the big leagues.
3.56 – ERA of Cleveland’s pitching staff, which leads the American League. Former Ole Miss standout Mickey Callaway is the pitching coach for the Indians, who have won seven straight and lead the AL Central.

24 Jun

a helping hand?

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who are in a free fall, have called up ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier. The versatile Frazier, batting .333 at Triple-A Indianapolis, isn’t likely to be a difference-maker but could provide a lift to a club that has lost eight of nine and 20 of its last 26. Frazier has played mostly left field this season but also has seen time in center and at second base and shortstop, where he played at State. Pittsburgh drafted him in the sixth round in 2013. Frazier is a .299 career hitter in the minors. At 5 feet, 11 inches and 175 pounds, he doesn’t hit for power but has some speed (17 steals, four triples this year). The Pirates, managed by former Jackson Mets skipper Clint Hurdle, are 34-39, 14 games back of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. They host the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at PNC Park. P.S. Eight Mississippi players were selected to the 2016 Louisville Slugger High School All-America teams, four of them from Class 5A power Oxford. Jason Barber – the two-time Gatorade player of the year – Houston Roth and Thomas Dillard were first-team picks from the Chargers, and Grae Kessinger was a second-teamer. Also on the (rather large) first team, as picked by Collegiate Baseball magazine, were Magnolia Heights products Riley Self and Dustin Skelton. Oak Grove’s Drew Boyd and Houston’s sophomore sensation Luke Hancock made the second team. … Dillard, who hit a remarkable 16 home runs this season, was pegged by Baseball America as a second-team All-America.

05 Jan

on draft board

After two standout seasons at Ole Miss and an All-Star summer in the Cape Cod League, Errol Robinson has emerged as a top draft prospect for 2016. Baseball America rates the junior shortstop No. 21 among eligible college players. Robinson batted .297 with 31 runs and 30 RBIs in 58 games for the Rebels in 2015, then hit .312 with 15 steals in the Cape. He is the highest ranked shortstop on the college board. Mississippi State right-hander Dakota Hudson is rated No. 20 on BA’s recently released list, fellow Bulldogs pitcher Zac Houston is No. 67 and UM righty Chad Smith is No. 68. P.S. Former Mississippi State stars Ed Easley and Adam Frazier will be in Pittsburgh’s major league spring training camp next month, along with Mississippi Braves alumnus Antoan Richardson. Catcher Easley, 30, a former first-round pick, got six at-bats with St. Louis last summer. He spent most of the year at Triple-A Memphis, batting .251 with four homers. He is a career .264 hitter. The Pirates signed Easley as a minor league free agent on New Year’s Day. Frazier hit .324 in Double-A in 2015, his third pro season. The infielder also played in the Arizona Fall League and the Premier 12 international tournament in the off-season. Richardson, a fleet outfielder who was injured much of last season, is getting an opportunity with a seventh organization. He has some limited MLB time.

12 Nov

there and here

Adam Frazier’s off-season work took him first to Arizona and then to Taiwan. Mississippi State product Frazier is on the U.S. team for the Premier 12 international tournament and has continued to swing a hot bat. Frazier had three hits in a 10-0 win over Mexico on Thursday after getting two hits and two RBIs in an 11-5 victory against the Dominican Republic on Tuesday. Frazier, a lefty-hitting middle infielder, batted .321 with four RBIs and six runs in seven Arizona Fall League games. He hit .324 with 30 RBIs and 59 runs in 103 games for Double-A Altoona in the Pittsburgh system this past season. The U.S. team, which also includes Ole Miss alum Cody Satterwhite, is 2-1 in the Premier 12, a big-time event on the world stage. P.S. Add Alex Presley to the list of Mississippi-connected players on the minor league free agent market. Outfielder Presley, 30, spent most of 2015 at Triple-A Fresno, where he hit .292; the ex-Ole Miss star got just 12 MLB at-bats with Houston. … Finally cleared to work – and play — in the U.S., Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano could be headed to the Mississippi Braves next spring. Toscano, 26, a lefty hitter with more speed than power, signed with Atlanta last January but did not play in 2015 as he awaited employment approval. He apparently has played very little the last two years, so some Double-A seasoning might be in order.

28 Oct

there and here

Though you won’t find his name on the top prospect charts, former Mississippi State standout Adam Frazier would seem to be a player on the rise. Currently playing in the talent-laded Arizona Fall League, the left-handed hitting shortstop is hitting .333 (8-for-24) for Glendale. Batting leading on Tuesday, he went 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs and a steal. Frazier, 23, hit .324 at Double-A Altoona in Pittsburgh’s system this season, his third pro campaign, and made the Eastern League’s midseason All-Star Game. He is at .291 for his career with a .353 on-base percentage. … Richton High product JaCoby Jones, a shortstop prospect in Detroit’s system, has been playing some third base in the AFL. “I love short,” Jones told the Detroit Free Press. “I played there all my life … . But if third base is where my future’s at, I’ll start getting better at it.” The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Jones is batting .364 to date for Scottsdale. … Of Atlanta’s top 10 prospects on Baseball America’s recently revealed chart, it’s possible none will be in Pearl to start the 2016 season. No. 1 Hector Olivera already has made the big league club, three of the others were in low Class A in 2015 and three more were just drafted in June. (One of those, Austin Riley, the former DeSoto Central High star, checks in at No. 5 after a strong debut season at the lowest levels of the system.) Max Fried pitched in low A in 2014 and missed all of last season with an injury; it seems unlikely the Braves would start him in Double-A. Mallex Smith opened 2015 in Mississippi but finished at Triple-A Gwinnett, and Lucas Sims went 4-2, 3.21 for the M-Braves and is a candidate to be promoted next spring. However, there could be an influx of talent to Mississippi from just outside the BA top 10: Johan Camargo, Connor Lien, Dustin Peterson and Rob Whalen, to name a few. All played at high A Carolina last season. … Former Jackson Generals pitching coach Jim Hickey has signed an extension with Tampa Bay to remain the Rays’ pitching coach through 2018. He has been with the club since 2007. … Ex-Jackson Mets star Dave Magadan, who “parted ways” with Texas after three years as hitting coach, is expected to land another job in the big leagues sometime soon. In a published report, Magadan said he would like to get closer to his Florida home. … East Central Community College product Marcus Thames has been mentioned as a candidate for hitting coach with the New York Yankees. He was the Triple-A hitting coach in their system in 2015. The Yanks are one of four teams Thames played for in his 10-year MLB career.

19 Oct

in the zone in arizona

Former Richton High star JaCoby Jones has come out swinging in the Arizona Fall League and ranks among the league leaders in several categories. Jones, a shortstop in the Detroit system, is batting .538 (7-for-13) with a league-leading five runs plus two homers (tied for the lead) and four RBIs. Jones, 6 feet 2, 205 pounds, was drafted in the third round out of LSU by Pittsburgh in 2013 and was traded to the Tigers this summer. He batted .250 with six homers, 20 RBIs and 10 steals in 37 games for Erie in the Double-A Eastern League; he was rated the Tigers’ No. 10 prospect at season’s end. … Ole Miss product Stuart Turner, a Minnesota prospect, is on the Scottsdale team with Jones but hasn’t played yet. Turner, a catcher, played for Southern League champ Chattanooga this summer. … Ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier went 3-for-4 with a pair of triples and two RBIs in his one AFL game to date with Glendale. Frazier, a lefty-hitting shortstop in the Pirates’ organization, hit .324 in Double-A in 2015 and has a .291 career average over three pro seasons. … Johan Camargo and Connor Lien, who figure to be with the Mississippi Braves in 2016, are playing for Peoria. Shortstop Camargo is 3-for-8, outfielder Lien 1-for-8.

07 Oct

wild things

The Chicago Cubs’ lineup isn’t official yet, but speculation is that Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan won’t be in it and ex-Mississippi Braves standout Tommy La Stella will be. The Cubs take on Pittsburgh tonight in the National League Wild Card Game at PNC Park. Coghlan hit .250 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs while playing a variety of positions, but his playing time decreased down the stretch. And he is 2-for-13 against Pirates starter Gerrit Cole. Coghlan told ESPN he wants to be in there: “I feel like I’m one of the best eight guys out there.” La Stella, who batted .269 in just 33 games, could get the nod at third base, with Kris Bryant going to left and Kyle Schwarber to right, reports said. Both Coghlan and La Stella are left-handed hitters. … Wonder if the Pirates have forgotten that it was Coghlan’s take out slide that ended shortstop Jung Ho Kang’s season on Sept. 17? No one called it a dirty play, but still, it might be a motivating factor. Clint Hurdle’s Pirates may need all the cosmic help they can summon against Jake Arrieta. … Tony Sipp appeared to be amped up – perhaps too much — for his appearance in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game. The animated lefty out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College registered a scoreless seventh inning in Houston’s 3-0 win over New York at Yankee Stadium, but it took him 23 pitches to get four batters. He threw only 11 strikes. Facing the Nos. 5-8 hitters, starting with ex-M-Braves star Brian McCann, Sipp fanned one and walked one. But he got the hold. In 10 appearances in September and October, Sipp yield just one run. … Blast from the past: The Astros’ coaching staff includes former Jackson Generals hitting coach Dave Hudgens and ex-Jackson Mets catcher Alan Zinter. … Houston will face Kansas City – managed by another old JaxMets catcher, Ned Yost – in the AL Division Series. The Royals’ roster is expected to include former Southwest Mississippi CC star Jarrod Dyson but apparently not former Pillow Academy standout Louis Coleman. Coleman appeared in just four games at season’s end, posting a 0.00 ERA. M-Braves product Kris Medlen likely will be on the roster; he went 6-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 15 games coming off Tommy John surgery. He is 40-22, 3.06 career. Still wondering why Atlanta let him go.

06 Oct

‘gentle giant’ remembered

Stumbled across a very nice tribute to Walter Young on a blog site called crawdadsbeat.com. It’s worth a read. The former Purvis High baseball and football star played one of his 11 pro seasons for the Hickory Crawdads and apparently made a big impression, on and off the field. Young won the South Atlantic League MVP with the Crawdads in 2002, when he hit 25 homers and drove in 103 runs. He hit 175 homers all told, one in the big leagues. Drafted in the 31st round out of Purvis in 1999 by Pittsburgh, Young was listed at 6 feet 5, 320 pounds when he was called up by Baltimore in 2005, making him possibly the largest man to play in an MLB game. Young retired from baseball in 2009 and was working for the Lamar County School District at the time of his death from a heart attack on Sept. 19. He was only 35.

28 Aug

into the wild

Joey Butler celebrated his return to The Show with a couple of hits, a game-tying RBI and the go-ahead run in Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win over Minnesota, which had won six straight. Pascagoula native Butler was recalled by the Rays on Thursday when Itawamba Community College alum Desmond Jennings went back on the disabled list. The Twins, along with the Rays two of the eight American League teams (excluding current division leaders) within 5 games of a wild card, got a 1-for-3 effort from ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, who scored his 87th run. … In another battle of AL playoff contenders, Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland went 1-for-4 with an RBI (No. 67) to help Texas to a 4-1 victory over Toronto, the AL East Division leader managed by former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons. … Former State star Buck Showalter’s Baltimore club, another playoff hopeful, fell to AL Central leader Kansas City 5-3. Southwest Mississippi CC’s Jarrod Dyson had a tough day for ex-JaxMets star Ned Yost’s Royals: 0-for-4 with an error (just his second of the year). … In the slightly less crazy National League, Washington, which was supposed to run away with the East Division title, kept pace (though still 6.5 games out) with the first-place New York Mets by holding off San Diego 4-2. Former State standout Jonathan Papelbon notched his fourth save for the Nationals but yielded a run, a hit, a walk and a balk in his one inning. … Ex-JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle’s Pittsburgh Pirates grinded out a 2-1 win over Miami and tightened their grip on the first NL wild card spot. The Chicago Cubs lost 9-1 to San Francisco, another postseason contender, and dropped 4 games back of the Bucs, who are trying to keep NL Central leader St. Louis in range. … September is coming, and it’s only going to get better for MLB fans.

28 Jul

clear a space

Former Richton High star JaCoby Jones got his first taste of Double-A ball on Monday and apparently liked it very much. Jones, a Pittsburgh prospect (No. 13 by mlb.com) at shortstop, went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run and a stolen base to spark Altoona to a 3-2 win over Richmond in the Eastern League. Jones, the state’s Mr. Baseball in 2010 and a third-round draft pick out of LSU in 2013, was batting .253 with 10 homers and 58 RBIs at Class A Bradenton. Ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier also plays for Altoona and has started 26 of his 64 games for the Curve at short. He also has played the outfield and started Monday in center, hitting leadoff. He is batting .357.