Tag Archives: Rangers

13 Sep

clobberin’ time

Blaine Crim is on the board. The ex-Mississippi College star got his first big league hit — a three-run homer — on Friday night in Colorado’s 4-2 against San Diego at Petco Park. Called up Friday for his third MLB stint this season, Crim took lefty J.P. Sears deep with two down in the fourth inning to put the Rockies up 3-1. The homer went a reported 439 feet as Rockies broadcaster Drew Goodman gave it his signature call: “Take a good look, you won’t see it for long.” A prolific long-ball hitter in the minors, Crim has 21 bombs — plus a .281 average and 85 RBIs — in Triple-A games this season and 124 for his career. He made his MLB debut with Texas back in early May, went 0-for-12 and went back to the minors. He told mlb.com on Friday that he was thinking, “Shoot, that might’ve been my only shot.” Crim was recalled briefly by Texas in late May but didn’t play. Designated for assignment on July 31, he was claimed off waivers by Colorado and sent to Triple-A Albuquerque. The 28-year-old first baseman, an Alabama native, was a 19th-round pick by Texas in 2019 after winning Gulf South Conference player of the year honors at MC. He is the first former Choctaws player to appear in a big league game since Harry Craft in 1942. Crim likely has earned more opportunities with the lowly Rockies, who are 41-107, worst record in MLB. P.S. Jordan Westburg, on the injured list for Baltimore since Aug. 22, started a rehab assignment on Friday and should be back with the Orioles soon. Former Mississippi State standout Westburg is batting .276 with 15 homers and 34 RBIs in 73 big league games, having spent two long stints on the IL. He was an All-Star in 2024. The Orioles, who’ve been out of playoff contention for some time, can play a spoiler role. They have seven games remaining against the New York Yankees starting Sept. 18.

14 Aug

it’s hard out there

In a surprise move, the Washington Nationals have designated Nathaniel Lowe for assignment, which will likely lead to his release. The Mississippi State product would be the eighth Mississippian to be released off a big league roster this season. Seems like a lot. Lowe, 30, a seven-year vet, homered on Wednesday, his first bomb since July 19, but was batting .091 in August and .216 overall, well below what was expected when the Nats got him in an off-season trade with Texas. The lefty-swinging first baseman hit .274 with 78 homers and won a Silver Slugger and a World Series during his four years with the Rangers. Under contract this season for $10.3 million, he might catch on somewhere as a free agent. Also found wanting in MLB this year: Kendall Graveman, Spencer Turnbull, Jacob Waguespack, Hunter Renfroe, Chris Stratton (twice), Tim Anderson and Grae Kessinger. Turnbull and Waguespack were signed by other clubs; the others remain free agents. Blaine Crim was DFA’d and claimed on waivers by another organization; Chuckie Robinson was DFA’d and outrighted to the minors. … On the minor league level, MSU alum R.J. Yeager was released by St. Louis off the Double-A Springfield roster; he was batting .210.

11 Aug

like old times (sorta)

In the relative obscurity of an independent league, Demarcus Evans is flashing the form that made him a hot prospect when he reached the majors five years ago. The Petal native threw three scoreless, hitless innings in relief Sunday for Gary SouthShore in an American Association game. The 28-year-old right-hander trimmed his ERA to 1.95 in 20 appearances. In 27 2/3 innings, he has struck out 25 batters but walked 16. Drafted out of Petal High in the 25th round by Texas in 2015, Evans — currently listed at 6 feet 5, 270 pounds — was described as a “hulking fireballer” who needed a lot of polish. He gradually rose through the Texas system — punching out 444 batters in 297 innings — before getting his first MLB call-up in September of 2020. And, yes, Albert Pujols welcomed him with a home run. Evans would make just 29 appearances in ’20 and ’21 for Texas, posting a 4.75 ERA with a high walk total. He became a free agent in 2022, went to spring camp with the New York Yankees in 2023, got hurt and barely pitched the next two seasons. Seemingly healthy now, Evans has settled in as one of the more dependable relievers for the RailCats. He has allowed just one run in his last seven appearances for a team that is 20 games under .500. Getting back to affiliated ball might be unlikely for Evans, but it’s good to see that he is finding some success again. P.S. Isaac Collins, former Biloxi Shuckers standout, hit his first (ever) walk-off home run to give Milwaukee its ninth straight win, a 7-6 shocker over the New York Mets. Collins is batting .462 over his last seven games and .295 with eight homers on the season. … Nathaniel Lowe played a role in a history-making event on Sunday: The ex-Mississippi State standout was the 3,500th career strikeout victim for future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander; only 10 pitchers have hit that total. Lowe’s Washington club did beat Verlander and San Francisco by an 8-0 count. … Down in the minors, former Magee High star Brennon McNair doubled in the eighth inning, went to third on a bunt and scored the game’s lone run on a throwing error as Columbia beat Hickory. McNair, 22, has had an uneven season for the Low-Class A Kansas City affiliate, batting .192 with nine homers, 34 RBIs, 40 runs and 12 steals in 87 games.

21 Jul

news flashes

Good news for Atlanta fans (who can use some): Austin Riley, the ex-DeSoto Central High standout, is expected to be activated Tuesday from the injured list. He has been out since July 12 because of an abdominal injury that proved to be minor. The third baseman is batting .274 with 14 homers and 48 RBIs. … Good news for Houston fans (whose team is in first place): Mississippi State alum J.P. France, out since early 2024 with a shoulder injury/surgery, made a rehab appearance in the Florida Complex League on Monday; he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. The right-hander went 11-6 for the Astros in 2023 and was 0-3 in five starts last year. … Good news for Mississippi State fans: Duke Stone, a rising sophomore in Starkville, was named the Cape Cod League’s pitcher of the week for July 12-18. He threw 11 scoreless innings in two starts, both wins, and fanned 13. His 0.62 WHIP leads the CCBL. … Bad news for Justin Foscue: The former MSU star was sent back to Triple-A by Texas on Monday; he made just one appearance in his four-day MLB stint, going 0-for-3 on Sunday. … Break up the Rascals: The Tallahatchie team is 13-2-1, comfortably in first place in the Cotton States League, and tops the summer loop in batting, runs, homers, steals and ERA. The Rascals’ Houston Green, from Itawamba Community College, is batting .441 and leads the New Albany-based league in homers, RBIs and runs.

27 Jun

great eight

Interesting story – with a Mississippi tie — on mlb.com today: An Atlantic League player named Dylan Rock has homered in eight straight games, tying the known professional record. Three major leaguers have gone deep in eight straight: Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr. One minor leaguer has done so: Former Mississippi State star Justin Foscue, who did it in July of 2021 in the Texas system. A first-round pick by the Rangers in 2020, Foscue started his homer streak while on a rehab assignment in the rookie Arizona Complex League. He hit one there and the next seven with Low-Class A Hickory. He finished that season with 17 homers and has hit 53 since, 10 in Triple-A this season before a recent call-up. He has yet to homer in the majors in 45 at-bats. … Rock, who plays for Lexington in the independent Atlantic League, is slated to play tonight against Southern Maryland, which is managed by Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn.

26 Jun

carolina clash

They aren’t going head-to-head exactly, but they are on the same field in Greensboro, N.C., playing for opposing teams in a South Atlantic League series. Konnor Griffin and Braden Montgomery — former Mississippi prep stars, first-round draft picks last summer and among the top prospects in the minor leagues – are clashing this week as Winston-Salem visits Greensboro at First National Bank Field. Griffin, former Jackson Prep star and Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect, went 1-for-3 on Wednesday in the host Grasshoppers’ victory in Game 2 of the series. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run in a win in Game 1 on Tuesday. Montgomery, out of Madison Central and the No. 4 prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s chain, is 4-for-8 in the two games with a homer and three RBIs. Both started this season, their pro debut, in Low-Class A but quickly moved up. Griffin, 19, is batting .337 with 11 homers, 46 RBIs and 34 steals over the two levels of A-ball. Montgomery, 22, who played three years of college ball at Stanford and Texas A&M, is at .280 with 10, 49 and nine overall. One or both might be invited to the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta next month. Both have certainly lived up to expectations as first-round picks. P.S. Blaine Crim’s brief MLB tour with Texas did not go very well – 0-for-11 in early May – but the ex-Mississippi College star hasn’t gone into a funk since returning to Triple-A Round Rock. He went 3-for-4 with his 13th homer and four RBIs on Wednesday and is batting .299 with 60 RBIs on the season. He is hitting .315 in June. … Madison Central product Spencer Turnbull was designated for assignment by Toronto on Wednesday when Max Scherzer came off the injured list. Veteran righty Turnbull had a 7.11 ERA in three games with the Blue Jays and might be headed back to free agency.

24 Jun

noteworthy

Justin Foscue made his 2025 debut with Texas on Monday night, becoming the 26th Mississippian (native or school alum) to play in the big leagues this season. Seventeen are currently on active rosters. Three have been released and are free agents, the others are either on the injured list or back in the minors. Ex-Mississippi State star Foscue, called up from Triple-A on Saturday, played first base and went 0-for-3 in the Rangers’ loss to Baltimore. … Brent Rooker moved up to third and Colt Keith to fourth in the latest All-Star Game balloting for American League DH, and Austin Riley rose to sixth in the National League third base race. Rooker, an MSU alum, is hitting .275 with 15 homers and 41 RBIs for the A’s. Keith, a Biloxi High product, is at .243 with six bombs and 24 RBIs for Detroit, which has the best record in MLB. Former DeSoto Central star Riley is hitting .275 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs for Atlanta; he was 2-for-4 with a triple in the 3-2 win vs. the New York Mets on Monday night. The All-Star Game is July 15 in Atlanta. … Connor Hujsak, former MSU standout, was named the Carolina League player of the week on Monday; he was 10-for-29 with two homers and nine RBIs last week for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay chain. Hujsak is the 11th Mississippi product to win a minor league player or pitcher of the week award this season, joining Konnor Griffin, Kemp Alderman, Blaze Jordan, Tyson Hardin, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Niko Mazza, Braden Montgomery, Rowdey Jordan, Blaine Crim and J.T. Ginn.

13 May

smooth move

The Chicago Cubs’ trade for Drew Pomeranz late last month is beginning to look like a very shrewd deal. The veteran left-hander out of Ole Miss has yet to allow a run in eight appearances out of the bullpen for the first-place Cubs, and on Monday night, the 6-foot-5 “Big Smooth” recorded his first MLB save in five years. The 36-year-old Pomeranz worked the ninth in a 5-2 win against Miami at Wrigley Field, allowing one hit and fanning two. “(S)ince we got Drew, he’s just been pounding the zone,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell told mlb.com. “That’s probably what you like best is, it’s just a lot of strikes.” Pomeranz has struck out eight and walked just two in 7 2/3 innings. More closing opportunities may be in his future. The Cubs traded with San Diego to acquire Pomeranz, who was pitching in the minors, and he debuted on April 25, his first MLB game since 2021. A former first-round pick (in 2010) who has been a World Series champ and an All-Star, he had been battling injury issues since that time. “I’m just happy to be here. Literally, it feels like the first time all over again,” Pomeranz said when he joined the Cubs. A starter early in his pro career, he has now appeared in 297 games with a 48-58 record, 10 saves and a 3.88 ERA. P.S. Mississippi State alum Kendall Graveman has been activated from the IL by Arizona; the veteran pitcher missed all of 2024 after arm surgery. … Ex-Mississippi College star Blaine Crim was returned to Triple-A Round Rock by Texas; he went 0-for-11 during his brief call-up. … Brandon Woodruff, former MSU standout from Wheeler, has been shut down on his rehab assignment because of an ankle injury. The erstwhile Milwaukee ace has been out since mid-2023 following an arm injury and surgery. … Four Mississippi products appear in MLB Pipeline’s refreshed Top 100 minor league prospects list: Konnor Griffin (Pittsburgh system) at No. 37, Braden Montgomery (White Sox) No. 38, Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee) No. 50 and Jurrangelo Cijntje (Seattle) No. 92.

08 May

in the spotlight

Millsaps College, regular season champion of the Southern Athletic Association, hosts the league tournament beginning today at Twenty Field in Jackson. The Majors (28-12) play Berry at 1 p.m., followed by Centre vs. Rhodes at 5. It is a double-elimination format. The Majors went 3-0 against Berry this season, 2-1 vs. Centre and 1-2 vs. longtime rival Rhodes. Millsaps, 18-6 at home in 2025, last won the SAA Tournament 12 years ago, also advancing to the NCAA Division III World Series that year. Under coach Jim Page, who has 800-plus wins in 36 seasons, the Majors have been to eight D-III regionals all told. Gray Berry leads Millsaps in hitting with a .418 average. Bradley Pelle is at .394 with 13 homers and 56 RBIs. The Majors led the SAA in home runs. Nick Tarantino is the staff ace, going 9-1 with a 3.03 ERA. P.S. Braden Montgomery, the Madison Central High product now in the Chicago White Sox system, hit a three-run walk-off homer Wednesday for Winston-Salem, beating Bowling Green 7-6. Montgomery, who hit two homers on Tuesday, is batting .367 with three bombs and nine RBIs in eight games at the High-Class A level. … In MLB on Wednesday, Boston’s Aroldis Chapman threw a 103.8 mph pitch — fastest in MLB this season — and ex-Mississippi College star Blaine Crim fouled it off. Crim, still seeking his first hit since his call-up by Texas last week, struck out on the next pitch, a 95 mph splitter, to end the game, a 6-4 Red Sox win.

07 May

it’s a process

Though the power tool has not yet clicked on for Dakota Jordan, the Mississippi State product has assembled some impressive stats in what is essentially his first pro season. Jordan, a fourth-round draftee in 2024 and currently San Francisco’s No. 6 prospect, ranks in the top 10 in the Low-Class A California League in hits (31), RBIs (21) and stolen bases (11). He also has scored 18 runs, 13th in the league. After a 2-for-4 effort on Tuesday, he is batting .298 (12th in the CL) with one homer, four doubles and two triples in 27 games for San Jose. Canton native Jordan, a two-sport star at Jackson Academy before playing baseball only at MSU, has what MLB Pipeline called “the quickest bat in the 2024 draft.” He hit 30 homers in two years with the Bulldogs and won the state’s Ferriss Trophy last year. His power and speed tools were highly rated by pro scouts. But he slipped to the fourth round in the draft, perhaps due to concerns about his strikeout tendencies and outfield defense. The Giants gave him a $1.9 million bonus to sign last summer; at this stage, it looks like a good investment. If he continues to hit around .300, the home runs will surely come. … Ex-Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery, the Chicago White Sox’s No. 5 prospect (MLB Pipeline), hit his first two homers at High-A Winston-Salem on Tuesday. The switch-hitter, drafted in the first round last summer out of Texas A&M, is batting .360 in seven games since being promoted from Low-A Kannapolis. … Ole Miss alum Cooper Johnson, now in the Texas organization, went 2-for-5 in his first game for Triple-A Round Rock; the 27-year-old catcher was hitting .267 with three homers at Double-A Frisco. P.S. After falling to West Alabama 12-6 Tuesday in the Gulf South Conference Tournament, Mississippi College awaits the May 11 NCAA Division II Selection Show to see if its season will continue in a regional. MC is 33-21, including wins over top-seeded Delta State and No. 2-seed Valdosta in the GSC tourney at Oxford, Ala. DSU (32-18) is also hoping for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.