Tag Archives: Rangers

30 Apr

taking off

Matt Lipka has been bouncing around the Atlanta Braves’ minor league system since 2010 with mixed results. He is a career .257 hitter but has hit as high as .288 in a season. He has stolen as many as 37 bags in one year. He has always been regarded as one of the organization’s best athletes, but his progress has been stalled by injuries. Yet Lipka is only 23, and in his second crack at Double-A, he is off to a flying start in what could be a crucial year. The Mississippi Braves outfielder, who goes 6 feet 1, 200 pounds, is hitting .368 with four RBIs and six runs. He takes a 12-game hit streak into tonight’s game at Trustmark Park. Lipka was a prep baseball and football star in Texas who was bound for Alabama before the Braves made him the 35th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He reached Double-A in 2014, but a hand injury ended his time with the M-Braves after 28 games. This year, he has teamed with David Rohm (.296) and Mallex Smith (.322) to give the M-Braves a highly productive outfield. The M-Braves, who have lost five in a row to fall to 9-9, are digging in for a 15-game homestand that starts with a five-game series against old rival Montgomery. P.S. Ex-Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland of the Texas Rangers had minor elbow surgery on Wednesday and will be out up to three weeks, according to reports.

24 Sep

managerial material

If you haven’t noticed, Tim Bogar, the former Jackson Mets shortstop, has done a pretty impressive job as the interim manager in Texas. After a slow start under Bogar, the injury-thinned Rangers have won 10 of 11 and are 11-6 overall since Bogar stepped in for Ron Washington, who resigned on Sept. 5. Surely Bogar, a successful minor league manager, will be considered for the job next season. … Meanwhile, ex-JaxMets catcher John Gibbons will return in Toronto in 2015, according to reports. Gibbons is 154-165 in his second stint with the Blue Jays, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday. Toronto, which faded this year after a great start, hasn’t made the postseason since 1993. … Clint Hurdle, the 1990 Jackson Mets skipper, celebrated the clinching of a second straight playoff appearance on Tuesday after his Pittsburgh club beat Atlanta. … Former JaxMets catcher Ned Yost has Kansas City on the brink of its first playoff berth since 1985 yet still seems to attract more than his share of criticism for his game management. The Royals won their 86th game on Tuesday, matching last year’s total with five games left, and have posted their best back-to-back years since 1979-80. Yost is in his fifth season at the KC helm. … In Minnesota, the last-place Twins have clinched a fourth straight 90-loss season, but former JaxMets shortstop Ron Gardenhire reportedly will return as manager in 2015 – if he wants to. Gardenhire, 56, steered the club to six division titles in a nine-year stretch, but hasn’t sniffed the postseason since 2010, when he was the American League’s manager of the year. … The only question about the future of Buck Showalter, the onetime Mississippi State star, is whether he’ll win AL manager of the year for the job he has done in Baltimore. … Wondering what the shakeup in Atlanta will mean for the minor league field personnel. Aaron Holbert has done a good job as manager of the Double-A Mississippi Braves the last three years and would seem deserving of a promotion. But who knows how much change is coming for the Braves?

06 Sep

that empty feeling

There is no game tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Had the Mississippi Braves won the second half in the Southern League South, they would be playing Mobile at the TeePee in Game 3 of the division series. But two losses in the final series at Huntsville cost the M-Braves dearly, as Jacksonville ended the season with 10 straight wins and finished a game up in the SL South. It is disappointing that the M-Braves didn’t make the playoffs, but this was not a disappointing season. Not in the least. Manager Aaron Holbert’s club had the league’s best overall record: 83-56. They led the league in batting (.266) and stolen bases (141), finished second in ERA (3.37) and were tied for third in runs (609). Even attendance was up: an announced 3,152 per game. The M-Braves had six players on the final roster who batted .280 or better, led by Jose Peraza, a fast-rising prospect at second base who batted .335 and stole 25 bases in 44 games. Outfielder Cedric Hunter, a one-time big leaguer, surely re-opened some eyes by batting .295 with 14 home runs and 72 RBIs. Kyle Kubitza, another good prospect at third base, hit .295 with eight homers, 55 RBIs and 21 steals. And jack-of-all-trades Barrett Kleinknecht, a.k.a. Klank, hit .280 with nine homers and 38 RBIs. Pitching prospect Jason Hursh, Atlanta’s No. 1 pick in 2013, went 11-7 with a 3.58 ERA. Aaron Northcraft went 7-3, 2.88 before a midseason promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett. Williams Perez, Mitch Atkins and Greg Ross were also outstanding as starters. Shae Simmons was a lights-out closer (0.78 ERA, 14 saves) before he was promoted to Atlanta at the end of May. Several others in the bullpen stepped up, including Ryne Harper, John Cornely and Brandon Cunniff. This was a very good team, fun to watch. Such a shame they didn’t get to keep playing. P.S. Tim Bogar joined the ranks of former Jackson Mets now managing in the majors when he took over in Texas for Ron Washington, who surprisingly resigned on Friday. Bogar played shortstop for Our Jackson Mets in 1989, hitting .266 with four homers and 45 RBIs. The other former OJMs now managing are Ned Yost in Kansas City, John Gibbons in Toronto and Ron Gardenhire in Minnesota. Pittsburgh’s Clint Hurdle managed the JaxMets in 1990. Bogar, who was Washington’s bench coach, was a highly successful minor league manager, but his MLB debut didn’t go so well: The lowly Rangers (53-88) lost to Seattle 7-5.

30 Aug

into the fire

Former Pillow Academy standout Louis Coleman is back in The Show, and he’s back at the best of times. Coleman rejoins the vaunted Kansas City bullpen in the heat of a title race; the first-place Royals lead Detroit by a half-game in the American League Central. And Cleveland, which beat KC 6-1 on Friday, isn’t out of it. Coleman worked a scoreless inning against the Indians in his first MLB appearance since July 12. Maybe that’s a good sign. The lanky right-hander, a Greenwood native who starred at LSU, pitched well for the Royals in 2011 and ’12 and was great last year, with an 0.61 ERA in 29 2/3 innings. But he has had problems in 2014, which he has spent bouncing between KC and Triple-A Omaha. His big league ERA is 7.15. In 22 2/3 innings, Coleman has yielded 31 hits (five homers) and 14 walks. His Omaha numbers have been much better: 3.86 ERA, seven saves in nine chances. Ned Yost and the Royals would surely love to see Coleman recapture that 2013 magic down the stretch. P.S. Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton swiped two bags on Friday and now has 53, one short of tying Cincinnati’s rookie record (see previous post). … Ole Miss product Phil Irwin, who was in the minors, has been released by Texas. He made one MLB appearance this season after making one last year with Pittsburgh.

02 Aug

hard knock life

It has been a season of hard knocks for many Mississippi-connected pitchers in the big leagues. Former Mississippi State standout Paul Maholm is the latest to suffer misfortune; he tore an ACL trying to make a play at first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night and has landed on the disabled list, possibly done for the year. He wasn’t having a very good year, either: 4.84 ERA in 30 games. Cliff Lee, the Meridian Community College product with Philadelphia, also may be done for the year with his latest elbow problem. On Friday, Washington sent Ole Miss alum Aaron Barrett to the minors. Barrett has a 3.21 ERA overall but an ugly 9.45 over his last 10 appearances since being called for a controversial balk and altering his mechanics (see previous post). Ex-UM star Drew Pomeranz of Oakland broke his right (non-throwing) hand punching a chair on June 16 and is now in the minors despite his 2.91 ERA. Former Picayune High standout T.J. House has been up and down a dizzying number of times for Cleveland. The lefty (4.50 ERA) is back on the Indians’ roster today to start against Texas. Louis Coleman, the Pillow Academy product, has put up a 7.48 ERA in a couple of stints with Kansas City and is now back in the minors. And Ole Miss alum Phil Irwin got one start for Texas last month, yielded three runs in four innings and was shipped out again.

18 Jul

the first four

Blake Anderson, the first of the four Mississippi natives picked in the first two rounds of last month’s MLB draft, got his first professional hit on Thursday. Anderson, the former West Lauderdale catcher picked 36th overall by Miami, snapped an 0-for-21 start with a single for the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Marlins. Jacob Lindgren, from the Kiln by way of Mississippi State, has put up a 1.29 ERA in six appearances at three levels for the New York Yankees, who drafted the left-hander 55th overall. Lindgren is currently at high Class A Tampa in the Florida State League. Ti’Quan Forbes, the star shortstop from Columbia who was taken 59th overall by Texas, is batting .242 with six RBIs and 15 runs in the rookie Arizona League. And ex-Madison Central High standout Spencer Turnbull, picked 63rd out of Alabama by Detroit, has a 6.75 ERA in three starts for Connecticut in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League.

15 Jul

trend spotting

In 1994, Buck Showalter won the American League manager of the year award with the New York Yankees. In 2004, the former Mississippi State standout won the award again with the Texas Rangers. So now it’s 2014, and at the All-Star break, Showalter has his Baltimore Orioles in first place in the AL East, defying preseason predictions that had the O’s finishing closer to the bottom in a strong division. Could another manager of the year award be in the offing? The Orioles have a nice array of hitters — Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Nick Markakis, Manny Machado, et al. — but could use some pitching help, especially if they hope to make any noise in October. What Showalter surely would like more than a managerial award is to make the postseason — and then make a playoff run. Despite a .517 winning percentage over 16 seasons as an MLB skipper, Showalter, 58, has made just three playoff appearances (1995 Yankees, ’99 Arizona Diamondbacks and ’12 Orioles) and never seen his club get past the division series. That’s a trend he’d like to buck. His best team might have been the ’94 Yankees, who were 70-43 when the season was halted by the players’ strike. The core of that team won the World Series in 1996, but Showalter had moved on by that time, fired after the ’95 season. He was also canned in Texas in 2005, one year after winning the managerial award there. Showalter is in his fifth season in Baltimore, which is longer than he stayed at any of his previous three stops. Maybe this is his team and this is his time. P.S. Zack Cozart isn’t hitting much for Cincinnati. The Ole Miss product is batting .233 with two homers, 22 RBIs and 30 runs in 90 games. But the reason the playoff-hungry Reds keep him in the lineup can be seen in another set of numbers. Cozart, in his third season as Cincy’s shortstop, has a .982 fielding percentage (seven errors in 393 chances) and leads all National League shortstops with a 2.2 Defensive Wins Above Replacement rating. Former Mississippi Braves star Andrelton Simmons, by comparison, has a 1.4 DWAR for Atlanta.

11 Jul

whatever happened to …

Antoan Richardson, who had a couple of good years with the Mississippi Braves, is playing — and playing well — at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre in the New York Yankees system. The personable Richardson, a 5-foot-8 Bahamas native and Vanderbilt alum, is batting .262 with 17 RBIs, 27 runs and 20 stolen bases (in 20 attempts) over 62 games. The injury-ridden Yankees might yet have a need for the speedy, switch-hitting outfielder. Richardson, in his 10th pro season, played parts of the 2010 and ’11 seasons with the M-Braves, batting .279 with 24 bags in 2010 and .283 with 17 the next year. He also got a big league cup of coffee in 2011, going 2-for-4 (with a steal) in nine games for Atlanta. He was originally a 35th-round pick by San Francisco. P.S. Ex-Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman is back in the big leagues with Kansas City, and Ole Miss alum Phil Irwin is back in Triple-A, shipped out by Texas after his one start.

08 Jul

number crunching

1 — Major league starts by Phil Irwin, the Ole Miss alumnus who’ll make his second tonight for Texas against Houston. It’ll be his Rangers debut.
4 — Hits by Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan (now batting .252) and RBIs by Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (34 for the season) in Monday’s Chicago Cubs-Cincinnati game, won by the Reds 9-3.
4 — Runs allowed (in three games) by former UM standout Aaron Barrett since a controversial balk call against him on June 30. Barrett, pitching for Washington, had yielded just five runs in 30 previous appearances.
5 — Number of Mississippi Braves alums slated to play in All-Star games next week: Current M-Brave Jose Peraza (Futures); Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman, Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran (MLB); and Gwinnett’s Phil Gosselin (Triple-A).
5 — Home runs in 2014 for ex-Rebels star Alex Presley, who hit his latest Monday to help Houston stop a seven-game losing streak with a 12-7 victory over Texas.
9 — Consecutive seasons of at least 20 saves for former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, who reached that number Monday in Philadelphia’s 3-2 win against Milwaukee.
10 — Starts by Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee (4-4, 3.18), who won’t make another for the Phillies until after the All-Star break. He has been on the disabled list since May 19.

09 Jun

numbers of note

2 — Number of home runs this season for Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton, who hit his latest on Sunday in Cincinnati’s 4-1 win over Philadelphia. Hamilton is batting .253 with 23 stolen bases.
3 — Months former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland is expected to miss after having ankle surgery. “It’s to the point where I’m hurting the team …,” the Texas Rangers first baseman told ESPNDallas.com about his decision to go under the knife. Moreland is batting .246 with two homers; he hit 23 bombs in 2013.
12 — Hits, in nine MLB games, for Tommy La Stella, the former Mississippi Braves standout now starting at second base for Atlanta. La Stella, a .340 hitter in Pearl last season, is batting .400.
14 — Runs scored by the M-Braves in their victory over Chattanooga at Trustmark Park on Sunday. The M-Braves are 1½ games out of first in the Southern League South with six to play.
16 — Hits this season for Ole Miss freshman Colby Bortles, who delivered his latest on Sunday, a two-run, eighth-inning single that helped the Rebels beat Louisiana-Lafayette 5-2 in their NCAA Super Regional. Game 3, with a College World Series trip on the line, is tonight at 6.
35 — Number of Mississippi-connected players picked in the MLB draft, from West Lauderdale High catcher Blake Anderson at No. 36 overall to Gulfport High third baseman Daniel Keating at No. 1181.
38 — Points lost off his batting average since May 21 by Ole Miss product Seth Smith. Smith, batting .301 with six homers and 21 RBIs for San Diego, is 7-for-34 (.206) over his last 10 games with just one RBI.