Tag Archives: Rays

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.

03 Apr

whatever happened to …

Colby White, the ex-Mississippi State standout from Hattiesburg, is pitching at Triple-A Durham in Tampa Bay’s system, presumably healthy after being stalled by arm issues the last two seasons. In two outings (two innings) for the Bulls, the 25-year-old right-hander has not allowed a run and has struck out four. His career ERA over parts of four pro seasons is 1.70. Drafted out of MSU in 2019, White blew through four levels of the minors in 2021, quite a feat. But in the spring of 2022, he had Tommy John surgery, missed all of that season and managed just 24 appearances in 2023. He finished last season at Double-A Montgomery, where he made eight scoreless appearances and registered five holds. White is on the Rays’ 40-man roster and surely will get a big league look this season when the Rays need some bullpen help.

17 Mar

time to shine

Though he has slipped off the Cleveland Guardians’ list of Top 30 prospects, ex-Ole Miss star Doug Nikhazy made the team’s Spring Breakout roster and got the starting nod in Saturday’s game. The 24-year-old left-hander pitched well, earning the win after throwing three innings against Cincinnati’s prospects. He gave up three hits, one earned run and struck out six as the minor league Guardians took a 6-2 victory. Nikhazy was a second-round pick by Cleveland in 2021 after a sterling junior year at Ole Miss, when he posted a 12-2 record with a 2.45 ERA. He made his pro debut in 2022 at High-Class A and spent 2023 at Double-A Akron. He was 4-8, 4.94, for the Rubber Ducks, struck out 128 batters in 102 innings but walked 73. He was the organization’s No. 30 prospect (by MLB Pipeline) entering the 2023 season. P.S. Mississippi State product Jake Mangum went 1-for-2 with a walk on Saturday and is now batting .417 (.517 OBP) as a non-roster outfielder in Tampa Bay’s big league camp. Minor league veteran Mangum, 28, has a homer and three doubles in 24 at-bats. … Former MSU standout J.P. France made his spring debut for Houston and threw 2 1/3 innings, yielding a home run but punching out four New York Mets. He had been dealing with a shoulder issue. “Everything felt good,” he said in a postgame TV interview. France was 11-6, 3.83, as a rookie for the Astros in 2023.

15 Mar

hit the reset

Hunter Renfroe, Tim Anderson and Dakota Hudson have several things in common. They attended Mississippi colleges, were picked in the first round of the MLB draft, enjoyed success in The Show — and now find themselves in spring training camps trying to re-establish their place in the game. Mississippi State product and Crystal Springs native Renfroe has 177 home runs in the big leagues but has bounced from team to team the last several years. In 2023, he was waived by the Los Angeles Angels, claimed and later released by Cincinnati in mid-September. He is in Kansas City’s camp on a one-year, $6.5 million contract, likely to be the lowly Royals’ right fielder. Anderson, a first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox out of East Central Community College in 2013 (same year Renfroe was drafted), was found wanting by the ChiSox after seven years as their regular shortstop and was cut loose after the season. Anderson had a poor year in 2023, with the bat and the glove, and has a flair for generating controversy. Miami recently signed Anderson, and he is expected to be the Marlins’ shortstop. He said in a recent MLB Network interview that he is “super-motivated, super-inspired and super-coachable” as well as “super-thankful and super-blessed” to have the opportunity. Hudson, another ex-MSU star, had a 38-20 career record and 3.84 ERA since 2018 with St. Louis. But he has had some recent injury issues, went 6-3, 4.98, in a bumpy 2023 and was non-tendered after the season. He signed with Colorado, where he’ll likely make the starting rotation for a club that sorely needs pitching. Spring training stats aren’t necessarily telling, but for what it’s worth, none of these three transplanted veterans has had a good camp. Renfroe is batting .118 with no homers in 17 at-bats. Anderson is hitting .182 in 22 ABs. Hudson is 1-1, 6.75, over 5 1/3 innings in three outings. P.S. Former Ole Miss pitcher Jacob Waguespack has made Tampa Bay’s team as a non-roster invitee and apparently will pitch in the rotation. He spent the last two years in Japan after posting a 5-5, 5.08, ledger in 2019-20 with Toronto.

08 Mar

spring flings

Making a major league club as a non-roster invitee to spring training is a tall order. Jake Mangum, the former Jackson Prep and Mississippi State star, is making a strong case in Tampa Bay’s camp. Now with his third organization in three years, Mangum is 6-for-12 with a homer, two RBIs and three steals in Grapefruit League play. The switch-hitting outfielder had a couple of hits in Thursday’s game against Philadelphia. Mangum, now 28 years old, hit .357 over four years at State and has hit .289 over four minor league campaigns. He is also an outstanding defensive player. But he hasn’t gotten the big league call. Yet. … Things have not gone as well this spring for several veteran Mississippi-connected pitchers in camp as NRIs with new clubs. Zac Houston, an MSU alum, has a 12.27 ERA in four games for Tampa Bay. The 29-year-old right-hander has been in pro ball since 2016 without an MLB look. Jonathan Holder, 30, another ex-Bulldogs star, is trying get back to The Show with Texas. He has an 11.57 in five Cactus League games. And 35-year-old Drew Pomeranz, the former Ole Miss standout who last pitched in the majors in 2021, has put up a 9.82 in four appearances with the Los Angeles Angels. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Chuckie Robinson, in the Chicago White Sox’s camp, is 1-for-9 in six games as a catcher. Petal High product Anthony Alford is 0-for-3 for Cincinnati as he attempts to get back in the big leagues after two years in Korea.