Tag Archives: Rays

20 Mar

roster reality bites

The wait will continue for Jake Mangum, the ex-Mississippi State star who was optioned to Triple-A by the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. Mangum, 29, in pro ball since 2019 but yet to make his MLB debut, batted .429 with two homers and nine RBIs this spring. “The disappointment of not making the club is real, and it should be real for them because of the type of camp they had,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told mlb.com, referring to Mangum and fellow outfielder Kameron Misner. Tampa Bay is the third organization Mangum has played for, and this is his first spring on a 40-man roster. “Just going to keep going. I think one day it will happen,” Mangum told Rays Beat last week. Flowood native Mangum, who left MSU as the all-time hits leader in the SEC, is a .296 career hitter in the minors. … Also sent down by the Rays on a day when the MLB transactions page was humming was Ole Miss alum Jacob Waguespack, 31, who has a 5.11 ERA in 31 big league appearances spread over three seasons (2019, ’20 and ’24). All told, nine Mississippi products on 40-man rosters have been optioned out so far. … On the minor league level, ex-Southern Miss pitchers Hunter Stanley (Cleveland), Walker Powell (Chicago Cubs) and Billy Oldham (Minnesota) landed on the injured list to start 2025, as did Ole Miss products Jack Dougherty (Minnesota) and Cole Tolbert (Boston). Tolbert apparently will miss the entire season. P.S. Tim Anderson, the former MLB All-Star out of East Central Community College, apparently will make the Los Angeles Angels’ 26-man club as a non-roster spring invitee. Anderson, working at second base, shortstop and center field this spring, is batting .267 in the Cactus League. A .278 career hitter, he was released by Miami last summer with a .214 average. … Tampa Bay recently signed MSU alum Hunter Stovall as a minor leaguer. He batted .277 over six seasons in the Colorado system before becoming a free agent last fall.

13 Mar

breaking out

The Spring Breakout games, featuring most of the best minor league talent, begin today with Boston’s squad taking on Tampa Bay (MLB Network, 6:05 p.m.). On the Red Sox’s roster is former DeSoto Central High star Blaze Jordan, while the Rays’ roster includes Mississippi State product Colton Ledbetter. The games, 16 all told, will run through Sunday. Among the Mississippians who could be featured are Konnor Griffin (Pittsburgh), Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox), Tim Elko (White Sox), Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee), Dakota Jordan (San Francisco), Jurrangelo Cijntje (Seattle) and Tanner Hall (Minnesota). MLB Pipeline has pegged David Mershon, former All-SEC shortstop out of MSU, as a sleeper prospect on the Los Angeles Angels team. Though not ranked among the Angels’ Top 30, the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Mershon’s star appears to be ascending. From mlb.com: “He’s a switch-hitter with on-base skills and speed who can play excellent infield defense.” Drafted in the 18th round last summer after two years at State (.347, 27 steals last year), the South Carolina native went straight to Double-A and hit .254. The Angels then sent him to the Arizona Fall League, another high-talent loop, and Mershon batted .263 there. Invited to big league camp, he is 3-for-14 in A-games. The Angels’ Spring Breakout game is slated for Saturday (MLBN, 8:05 p.m.) against the Cubs. P.S. Justin Foscue, another former MSU infielder, was optioned to Triple-A by Texas on Wednesday. Foscue, batting .235 in big league games this spring, made his MLB debut in 2024 but hit just .048 (2-for-42). The 14th overall pick in the 2020 draft, he has a .278 career average in the minors with 60 homers. … MSU alum Kendall Graveman, recently signed by Arizona as a free agent, has not pitched this spring because of a reported back issue. He missed all of the 2024 season following shoulder surgery.

04 Mar

one fine day

Making a strong bid for a role on the New York Yankees’ pitching staff come opening day, Will Warren threw three strong innings against Philadelphia today in the Grapefruit League. The former Jackson Prep star allowed one run with four strikeouts — Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner — and now has an ERA of 1.13 over eight innings. The Yankees’ No. 5 prospect, right-hander Warren apparently has enhanced his repertoire from last season, when he endured a wobbly six-game MLB debut. “Getting ahead is the biggest thing,” Warren recently told mlb.com. “Looking back at some stuff last year, I was always fighting back (in the count).” He is 25-18 with a 4.31 ERA over three minor league seasons after being an eighth-round pick out of Southeastern Louisiana in 2021. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Matthew Etzel, in Tampa Bay’s camp as a non-roster invitee, put on a show today, banging out a double and a home run with three RBIs in the Rays’ 4-1 win against Detroit. Etzel, a 10th-round pick in 2023 by Baltimore, is 3-for-16 this spring. He reached Double-A last season, when he was traded from the Orioles to Tampa. Overall in 2024, the 6-foot-2, 211-pound outfielder belted 11 homers and stole 45 bases. Jake Mangum, another ex-Prep star and Mississippi State alum who is battling for an opening day roster spot with the Rays, went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and a sac bunt. The 28-year-old outfielder is 4-for-10 in Grapefruit games. … In that same game today in Clearwater, Fla., Biloxi High product Colt Keith was 1-for-3 with a run for Detroit and is batting .375 in 16 spring at-bats. He hit .260 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs as a rookie for the Tigers last year.

31 Jan

a growing list

Coming off an outstanding first full season in pro ball, Matthew Etzel is the latest Mississippian in the minors to get an invitation to major league spring training. The former Southern Miss star will go camping next month with Tampa Bay, which acquired the 22-year-old outfielder in a trade with Baltimore last summer. Etzel, drafted out of USM in 2023 by the Orioles, batted .272 with 11 homers, 66 RBIs, eight triples and 45 stolen bases in 2024, playing for three different teams. He finished the season at Double-A Montgomery. He joins a growing list of non-roster invitees with state ties:
Tim Anderson (East Central CC), Los Angeles Angels;
Gavin Collins (Mississippi State), St. Louis;
Blaine Crim (Mississippi College), Texas;
Tim Elko (Ole Miss), Chicago White Sox;
Matthew Etzel (USM), Tampa Bay;
Jacob Gonzalez (UM), Chicago White Sox;
Dakota Hudson (MSU), Los Angeles Angels;
Cooper Johnson (UM), Texas;
Braden Montgomery (Madison Central), Chicago White Sox;
Konnor Pilkington (MSU), Washington;
Drew Pomeranz (UM), Seattle;
Cooper Pratt (Magnolia Heights), Milwaukee;
Ethan Small (MSU), San Francisco;
Tyler Stuart (USM), Washington;
R.J. Yeager (MSU), St. Louis.
P.S. The Mississippi Mud Monsters have hired Robert Carson III, former Hattiesburg High standout and ex-big leaguer, as their pitching coach. Carson pitched in 31 games for the New York Mets in 2012-13 and spent seven seasons in independent leagues, most recently in 2021. He been an indy league pitching coach the last three years. The independent Mud Monsters will start their inaugural season in the Frontier League in May at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The “Mud-sters” have announced three signees to date, none of them pitchers.

20 Nov

mlb roster moves

A handful of Mississippi college products were added to major league 40-man rosters on Tuesday, most notably former Mississippi State star Jake Mangum, who has toiled in Triple-A the past three years with three different organizations. Outfielder Mangum, a .296 hitter over his five minor league seasons, was selected by Tampa Bay. (The Rays traded starting center fielder Jose Siri to the New York Mets for a pitcher on Tuesday.) MSU product Eric Cerantola made Kansas City’s 40-man protected roster and ex-Ole Miss stars Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy were added by Oakland and Cleveland, respectively. All three are pitchers who reached the Triple-A level this season. They’ll go to big league camp next spring, seeking to make the active roster for the 2025 season. … Atlanta added 2024 Mississippi Braves pitcher Rolddy Munoz and Milwaukee selected Logan Henderson, who pitched in Biloxi this past season. (As noted by mlb.com: Players signed at age 18 or younger must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 or older have to be protected within four seasons. The Rule 5 draft is next month.) P.S. A total of 26 Mississippians (native or school alum) appeared in major league games in 2024, with J.T. Ginn, Will Warren, Hurston Waldrep, Justin Foscue and Colt Keith making their MLB debuts. Keith, a Biloxi High alum who played for Detroit this year, was a Silver Slugger finalist at second base.

06 Sep

highlight refresh

The game-winning bomb he hit against Ole Miss back in May no doubt still occupies the top spot on Connor Hujsak’s career highlights page. But his performance on Thursday night in pro ball was pretty special, too. The Mississippi State alum hit three home runs for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay system. A 13th-round draft pick in July, Hujsak is batting .297 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 19 games for Charleston this season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound outfielder hit .325 with nine homers for MSU this season, his second in Starkville. His walk-off two-run shot against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament elimination game is one Bulldogs fans won’t soon forget. … Interestingly enough, the Rays have three other Mississippi college products in their minor league chain: Jake Mangum (MSU) in Triple-A, Matthew Etzel (Southern Miss) in Double-A and Colton Ledbetter (MSU) in High-A. Mangum leads the International League in hitting, while Etzel (No. 25) and Ledbetter (No. 22) are among Tampa Bay’s Top 30 prospects. P.S. In the big leagues, ex-State star Brent Rooker hit two homers for Oakland, his fourth multi-homer game of the season giving him 35 all told. The single-season homer record for Mississippians (native or school alum) in MLB is 47, which former Bulldogs star Rafael Palmeiro reached twice (1999 and 2001). … Tyreque Reed, the Houlka native who played at Itawamba Community College, led the independent Frontier League in hitting this year with a .341 average. The veteran pro hit 12 homers and drove in 52 runs for Washington, which finished with the best record in the league at 67-28. The playoffs began Thursday.

04 Sep

three things

1) With a 3-for-5 performance on Tuesday, Jake Mangum boosted his average to .322, which leads the Triple-A International League. The former Mississippi State and Jackson Prep standout has 13 hits in his last six games, including a five-hit game last week, for Durham, Tampa Bay’s top affiliate. Switch-hitter Mangum, 28, homered Tuesday, his fourth of the year. Over five pro seasons, all in the minors, Mangum is batting .296 with 22 homers and 77 stolen bases. He is not on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster.
2) Nick Fortes, Ole Miss alum, continues to swing a hot bat for the lowly Miami Marlins. Fortes had three hits in a win on Sunday, went 1-for-3 in a loss on Tuesday and is batting .326 over his last 30 games. The 27-year-old catcher, who got off to a frigid start in 2024, is batting .225 with three homers, 11 doubles and 22 RBIs in 91 games for a 51-87 team.
3) The postseason is here in the independent American Association. Ex-Ole Miss star Thomas Dillard is one of the big bats in the lineup for Cleburne, which finished with the best record (60-40) in the 12-team league. The Texas-based Railroaders open the Miles Wolff Cup playoffs tonight at Chicago, one of four first-round series. Dillard, a longtime Milwaukee minor leaguer, hit .260 with 16 homers and 62 RBIs for the Railroaders; he blasted 39 homers in the indy Atlantic League in 2023 and 12 for Double-A Biloxi in 2022. Cleburne, managed by former big leaguer Pete Incaviglia, also features ex-Mississippi Braves pitcher Beau Burrows.

02 Sep

small consolation

History will show that Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet was the losing pitcher in the 2024 Chicago White Sox’s franchise-record 107th loss. From the Small Consolation Dept.: History will also show that Crochet tied an American League record by striking out the first seven New York Mets batters he faced in Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Guaranteed Rate Field. To be sure, there have been positives for Crochet in what has been an abject disaster of a season for his team. Starting for the first time since his college days at Tennessee (2018-20), the 25-year-old left-hander made the AL All-Star team in his fourth big league campaign. He has a 3.61 ERA (but just a 6-10 record) and ranks third in the league with 188 strikeouts. He won five times in a seven-game stretch in May and June, earning AL pitcher of the month honors for June. He celebrated his last win on June 7; that’s how bad the ChiSox have been. Sunday’s strikeout streak “was cool,” Crochet said in an mlb.com piece. “Sadly, I kind of wasted a lot of pitches in that time. So it kind of ate into my pitch count ….” Now on a strict pitch limit, he threw 56, one of which Francisco Lindor smacked out of the park, the lone run Crochet allowed in 3 1/3 innings. Former Southern Miss star Chuckie Robinson was behind the plate for Crochet’s stint. … For the record, Gulfport native Bill Melton was on the 1970 White Sox team that lost 106 games, hitting 33 home runs. P.S. Ex-Mississippi State standout Justin Foscue, back in the big leagues with Texas, started at first base Sunday, walked and scored a run in the Rangers’ win over Oakland. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn’s rehab start with Triple-A Memphis didn’t go too well: five runs, eight K’s in 3 2/3 innings; he has been on St. Louis’ injured list since July 31. … With MLB rosters expanding to 28 this month, it would be nice to see Colorado give a call to Hunter Stovall, the former State star who has been in the system since 2018. The 5-foot-6 second baseman, who hit a walk-off homer on Saturday at Triple-A Albuquerque, is batting .280 with six homers, 35 RBIs and 11 steals. He isn’t on the 40-man roster, so his chances of a promotion are slim. … Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel, who has scuffled at Double-A Montgomery since being traded by Baltimore to Tampa Bay, banged out four hits on Sunday to lift his average to .242 with four homers and 13 RBIs in 27 games. He is batting .278 with 10 homers and 45 steals overall in his first full pro season.

26 Jul

not to be overlooked

Matthew Etzel might be the least-heralded of the three prospects Tampa Bay got from Baltimore in a Friday trade, but the Southern Miss product is more than a throw-in. Etzel, batting .297 in 113 minor league games, was shipped to the Rays along with Mac Horvath and Jackson Baumeister for big league pitcher Zach Eflin. A 10th-round pick last year, Etzel already had reached Double-A in the O’s system and was batting .261 with two homers and 10 steals at Bowie. Tampa Bay has assigned him to Montgomery of the Double-A Southern League. Etzel hit .307 and swiped 31 bases at High-Class A Aberdeen to start 2024. “The hit tool itself is really elite,” a Tampa Bay minor league coach recently told Baseball America. Etzel, 22, a lefty-hitting outfielder who goes 6 feet 2, 211 pounds, batted .317 with seven homers and 23 steals in his one year at USM.

22 Jul

spotlight on …

After making a smooth transition to Mississippi State and the SEC a year ago, Colton Ledbetter has moved seamlessly into the High-Class A level of pro ball in 2024. Ledbetter, a second-round draft pick by Tampa Bay last summer, is batting .268 with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, 44 runs and 25 stolen bases at Bowling Green. He jumped to the South Atlantic League after playing just 18 games in Low-A last year. The 22-year-old outfielder, who bats from the left side, is ranked No. 14 on the Rays’ prospect chart by MLB Pipeline. An Alabama native, Ledbetter spent his first two years of college ball at Samford, a mid-level NCAA Division I program. He transferred to MSU in 2023 and batted .320 with 12 homers, 52 RBIs and 17 bags for the Bulldogs. Tampa Bay, reportedly impressed with Ledbetter’s all-around athleticism as well as his hit tool, made him the 55th overall pick in the 2023 draft. It might not be long before he jumps to Double-A. … Ledbetter ranks 13th in the SAL with his 25 steals, including one on Sunday. Former Southern Miss star Matthew Etzel had 31 steals for Aberdeen (Baltimore system) in the SAL and has added nine more at Double-A Bowie, a total (40) that tops all Mississippi products in the minors. Cooper Pratt, ex-Magnolia Heights star, has 22 steals for Carolina (Milwaukee) in the Low-A Carolina League. P.S. Right-hander Drue Hackenberg, Atlanta’s No. 9 prospect, struck out a club-record 16 batters in seven innings Sunday for the Mississippi Braves, who won at Pensacola 5-1 in 11 innings. Hackenberg, a 2023 draftee, has a 3.43 ERA in four Double-A starts. Tyler Tolve’s 11th-inning homer, his 10th of the year, was the game-turning hit. Justin Dean stole three bases for the M-Braves and leads the Southern League with 40.