Tag Archives: Reds

04 May

ups and downs

After missing two games with pain in his right knee, ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart is back in the Cincinnati lineup today, batting leadoff against San Francisco. Former Taylorsville High standout Billy Hamilton, who reinjured his left thumb on Tuesday, will not start for the Reds. Cozart, who is batting .347 with two homers and nine RBIs, left Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh with an issue in his surgically repaired knee. Hamilton, who has recently boosted his average to .215, first hurt his thumb last month. … After Jonathan Papelbon blew a save on Tuesday, Washington manager Dusty Baker said the Mississippi State alum is in no danger of losing his job as closer. Papelbon is 9-for-11 in save chances. After allowing three runs in the ninth inning against Kansas City on Tuesday, his ERA jumped to 4.50. … Don’t be surprised if Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings is not in Tampa Bay’s lineup tonight. He is in an 0-for-24 skid that has dropped his average to .173. Jennings, who played only 28 games in 2015 because of injuries, actually got off to a good start this spring.

24 Apr

around the horn

It’s a day for letting baseball just flow over you. … Rubber game today in Hattiesburg with the Conference USA lead at stake. Kirk McCarty (3-0, 3.51 ERA) for Southern Miss vs. Ricardo Salinas (6-1, 3.60) for Rice in what has been a pitching-dominated series at Taylor Park. … Mississippi State goes for a sweep at LSU. Reid Humphreys, the ex-Northwest Rankin High star, got an RBI and the save in Saturday’s 2-1 win. For the year, he’s hitting .328 with 15 doubles, four homers and 31 RBIs and he has five saves. … Ole Miss, going for a sweep against Auburn in Oxford, now has won 30 games for 19 straight seasons. Impressive. … Delta State left-hander Tre Hobbs beat Valdosta State in Cleveland on Saturday to improve to 11-1 with a 2.46 ERA and eight complete games. Nationally ranked in NCAA Division II, DSU is 32-13, 21-8 Gulf South. … There was a celebration in Itta Bena on Saturday. By Alabama State, which clinched the SWAC East with a 10-0 win over hapless Mississippi Valley State. ASU (17-0 in the league) won Friday’s opener 12-0. … William Carey University improved to 34-15 and 16-7 in the Southern States Athletic Conference by sweeping Brewton-Parker in Hattiesburg. The NAIA nationally ranked Crusaders are hitting .327 with 390 runs. … Millsaps’ season ended with a 13-11 loss to Birmingham-Southern in the Southern Athletic Association tournament. The Majors finished 20-21. … Belhaven lost its home finale to McMurry at Smith-Wills Stadium on Saturday, saying goodbye to 11 seniors and paying special tribute to Devin McCann, who died in a car accident just before the season began. … Mississippi College stopped an 11-game GSC losing streak with a 3-2 win against Lee in Clinton on Saturday. The Choctaws go for the series win today at Frierson Field. … Former Ole Miss star Chris Ellis, bucking for a call-up to the big leagues, threw six brilliant innings for the Mississippi Braves against Biloxi at Trustmark Park on Saturday. He got a no-decision in a game the M-Braves would ultimately lose but is 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA in four Double-A starts. He got a long look with Atlanta in spring training. … Ex-State standout Chad Girodo’s stay in MLB was short but sweet. He threw two scoreless innings in his debut for Toronto against Oakland on Friday but was shipped back to the minors on Saturday. … UM product Zack Cozart went 3-for-5 in Cincinnati’s 13-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday and is now batting .400 (20-for-50) on the year with a homer, five RBIs and 10 runs. … Anthony Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal and a top-rated Toronto prospect, has not played since suffering a leg injury in his first game of the season at Class A Dunedin. The Blue Jays have been silent on his status.

12 Apr

tilting at curveballs

The biggest disappointment in the big leagues so far would have to be Minnesota, which is 0-7. Ex-Southern Miss star and Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was quoted during spring training as saying, “The last couple years, we thought we would be good, but this year we expect it.” Like his team, 2015 All-Star Dozier isn’t meeting expectations: .192 with a solo homer. … Among the surprises in MLB is Cincinnati, off to a 5-2 start. Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart is batting .412, and Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, while hitting just .176, has contributed a homer, a steal, three walks and four runs. … The only thing Jonathan Papelbon has throttled this season for Washington has been opposing batters. The former Mississippi State star has saved all four of the Nationals’ wins, allowing just one run. … Tampa Bay wanted power from ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, and the ex-Colorado slugger has delivered with three homers through six games. He has only two other hits, however. … McComb native Jarrod Dyson is 1-for-4 with two walks in two rehab games at Triple-A Omaha; no definite return date has been set for the Kansas City Royals speedster. … Former Mississippi Braves star Mallex Smith’s line from his MLB debut for Atlanta on Monday: 1 hit, 1 run, 1 caught stealing, 5 stitches in his forehead. But, he may start again tonight. … Though the M-Braves are 1-4, don’t blame Ozzie Albies or Chris Ellis for the poor record. Albies, the flashy shortstop prospect, is batting .364. Ellis, the highly touted Ole Miss alum, won his only start, throwing six shutout innings. … Petal High product and Toronto prospect Anthony Alford, injured (leg) in Class A Dunedin’s opener last week, is on the club’s 7-day disabled list. Alford’s Dunedin teammate D.J. Davis, a Stone County alum, is off to a 3-for-21 start. … Not only does the Magnolia State have three nationally ranked NCAA Division I teams, but D-II Delta State is 26-11, NAIA William Carey is 29-13 and jucos Jones County and Meridian are 31-3 and 26-6, respectively. … On the schedule today are two interesting intrastate matchups: Mississippi Valley State visits Delta State at Ferriss Field in Cleveland and Mississippi College and Millsaps hook up at Twenty Field in Jackson in a Maloney Trophy Series game.

31 Mar

just get on base

Billy Hamilton certainly has had an impact in the big leagues. In 279 games over parts of three seasons in Cincinnati, the ex-Taylorsville High star has 126 stolen bases and 137 runs. He also makes a lot of catches in center field. But he could do so much more. As a rival scout notes in the Sports Illustrated Baseball Preview issue (March 28), Hamilton needs to draw more walks and learn how to bunt. Hamilton, a .242 career hitter, has walked just 64 times in over 1,000 plate appearances. On the occasion when he puts down just a decent bunt, he is impossible to throw out. (Two years ago in spring training, batting lefty, he was timed at 3.3 seconds to first base. That is “ludicrous speed,” to borrow from Space Balls.) Coming back from shoulder surgery, Hamilton has eased into this spring. For what it’s worth, his numbers aren’t great. After a 2-for-5 effort on Wednesday, he is batting .195. He has one walk in 42 plate appearances. He has only tried one steal – yes, he made it – but he has flashed his speed with two triples and four doubles among his eight hits. There’s something about Hamilton – all 160 pounds of him – that makes you want to pull for him. If Hamilton can just get on base a little more, he could be an All-Star. As that scout writes in SI: “I’ll take the bet on him.” P.S. Jose Peraza, the former Mississippi Braves standout, is having a great camp with the Reds as he tries to make the roster as a super utility player. Peraza, batting .305, has played shortstop, second base, center field and left field. He’s not as fast as Hamilton, obviously, but he can also fly.

21 Mar

watch for it

Cody Reed, the former Horn Lake High and Northwest Mississippi Community College standout, will get the start tonight for Cincinnati against San Diego in a Cactus League game to be televised live (9:10 p.m.) on MLB Network. Left-hander Reed, one of the Reds’ top prospects, has a 1.13 ERA in eight innings this spring as he bids to crack their rotation. Even if he doesn’t make the club out of spring training, it’s expected the 22-year-old will make his big league debut sometime this season. The bespectacled Reed – he has worn the black-rimmed glasses on the mound since high school – went 6-2 with a 2.17 ERA in eight starts for Double-A Pensacola in 2015 after the Reds got him from Kansas City in the Johnny Cueto trade. P.S. Corey Dickerson, from McComb and Meridian CC, and ex-Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings are with the Tampa Bay Rays on their historic trip to Cuba. The Rays will play the Cuban national team on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on ESPN, the first time since the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition vs. Cuba in 1999 that an MLB team is taking the field there.

19 Mar

getting up to speed

Starting in center field for the first time this spring, Billy Hamilton and his surgically repaired right shoulder didn’t get tested in Cincinnati’s game against Milwaukee on Friday. He caught one fly ball and fielded one base hit. He also went 0-for-3 in five innings as the leadoff batter. But the ex-Taylorsville High star called it “a good day.” He told mlb.com that his arm feels fine when he throws on the side and his biggest concern is getting more at-bats. He has had only 10 so far, getting two hits, a triple and a bunt single. The lithe switch-hitter doesn’t have a stolen base attempt, and that, of course, is his most valuable skill. Hamilton has 126 bags in his two-plus big league seasons, but he needs to hit more (.242) to make that speed work. … That other MLB speed demon from Mississippi, McComb’s Jarrod Dyson, is reportedly making nice progress on his return from an oblique strain suffered on his first at-bat of spring training. Dyson is throwing but not yet swinging a bat. He has said that he expects to miss only a couple of weeks of Kansas City’s season. Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Dyson, who has 146 career bags, was projected as the Royals’ starting right fielder this year. P.S. Joey Butler, the Pascagoula native and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC product, smashed a grand slam for Cleveland on Friday. Butler is trying to win an outfield job with the Indians, who claimed him on waivers from Tampa Bay in the off-season. His is hitting .208 with two homers this spring. Butler faces a lot of competition. Cleveland recently signed veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd to a minor league deal, and injured star Michael Brantley is expected to make his spring debut today.

14 Mar

status update

Making strides on the comeback trail, Zack Cozart got a hit in his first game of the spring and went deep in his second game. “(T)errific to see,” Cincinnati manager Bryan Price told mlb.com. Former Ole Miss star Cozart appeared to be on course for his best season in the big leagues in 2015 when he suffered a knee injury that required surgery. In 53 games, the slick-fielding shortstop batted .258 with nine home runs. Meanwhile, also in Reds camp, Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, still has played in only one game, that as a DH. Hamilton, Cincy’s center fielder, is coming back from shoulder surgery and coming off a tough year (.226). P.S. Mississippi State alum Jacob Lindgren was sent to the minor league camp by the New York Yankees. The left-hander, who made his MLB debut last season, had a 15.43 ERA in three spring appearances for a Yankees club with a deep bullpen.

16 Feb

breaking good

Good story on the Baseball America web site about Mississippians Anthony Alford and Cody Reed, who have emerged on the magazine’s list of the Top 100 prospects in 2016. Alford, an outfielder with Toronto, is No. 25; Reed, a left-hander in the Cincinnati system, is No. 34. Neither was in the Top 100 last year. Alford came out of Petal High with dreams of being, as he tells BA, “the next Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders.” He was the state’s Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball as a senior, but the two-sport thing didn’t quite work out on the next level. Alford devoted himself to baseball full-time in 2015 and mastered two levels of A-ball. He acknowledges that baseball probably always was his better sport. Reed, a non-prospect in high school at Horn Lake, signed with Northwest Mississippi Community College. Rangers assistant and ex-big leaguer Bill Selby apparently saw potential in Reed, who proceeded to gain 50 pounds and add 15 mph to his fastball. Reed tells BA he was genuinely thrilled to be drafted in the second round by Kansas City in 2013. After struggling for a couple of years, he found his form in 2015 and was a standout at Double-A Pensacola after the Reds got him in a trade. Both Alford and Reed will be in big league camp. … Also appearing in BA’s Top 100 are East Central CC alum Tim Anderson (No. 45, Chicago White Sox); Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe (No. 86, San Diego) and ex-Harrison Central star Bobby Bradley (No. 93). Former Biloxi Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia is No. 8, and Dansby Swanson, who could be the Mississippi Braves’ shortstop in 2016, is No. 17.

29 Jan

no place like home?

For a major league hitter, there’s no place like Coors Field. Corey Dickerson certainly seemed to enjoy playing there, batting .355 with 24 home runs in 122 games at Coors for the Colorado Rockies. Traded by the Rockies to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, the former Brookhaven Academy and Meridian Community College star is now entering a brave new world. His new home, Tropicana Field, is a much more pitcher-friendly park. The left-handed hitting left fielder is a .249 hitter with 15 homers (in 143 games) away from Coors Field. But the Rays, who gave up reliever Jake McGee to get Dickerson, don’t seem overly concerned. As Matt Silverman, Rays president of baseball operations, told mlb.com: “We believe in the skill set that Corey has and that it will translate to our ballpark and will really play to any ballpark in the league.” The trade also gives Tampa Bay a glut of outfielders, including three others that have played primarily in left: ex-Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings, Brandon Guyer and Steve Pearce. There has been chatter for weeks that Jennings, coming off two injury-plagued seasons, might be moved. He is a career .249 hitter with 48 homers and 93 steals. P.S. Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton, who had surgery on a torn labrum last fall, recently told mlb.com: “I’m not 100 percent yet, but close to it. We had a schedule to be ready right around spring training. As of right now, we’re on track to make that happen.” Hamilton, perhaps the fastest player in the game, stole 57 bases for Cincinnati but hit just .226 and lost his leadoff role last year. Injuries limited him to 114 games. … There have been reports that Miami is interested in 37-year-old left-hander Cliff Lee, the former Meridian CC standout who missed all of last season with an arm problem.

12 Jan

from the stove

Having agreed to terms with free agent Gerardo Parra, Colorado may look to deal an outfielder, and Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson is a candidate to be moved. Not only is Dickerson a quality left-handed bat, but he is four years from free agency. Baltimore, where Parra finished 2015, is a possible destination. … Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan, who figures to see limited playing time with the talent-laden Chicago Cubs, might be a fit in Baltimore, some have speculated. Coghlan has enjoyed a career resurgence with the Cubs the last two years. … Former Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart’s time in Cincinnati could be coming to an end soon. The Reds are in the process of signing 21-year-old Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, the 2014-15 Serie Nacional rookie of the year. Rodriguez is labeled “a glove-first prospect with good speed” whose bat still needs some polish. He’ll likely start 2016 in the minors but could eventually push Cozart out of his starting role. There already had been rumors that Cozart might be dealt this season by the rebuilding Reds. … Southern Miss and William Carey alum Dan Jennings, the ex-Miami Marlins GM and manager, is now a special assistant to the president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals. (Can he help concoct a trade involving closer Jonathan Papelbon, the controversial ex-Mississippi State standout? Probably not.) … Months of wheeling and dealing by Atlanta’s front office has left just 11 Mississippi Braves alumni on the Braves’ current 40-man roster. Only three of those are position players: Freddie Freeman, Daniel Castro and Mallex Smith. The latest to go was power-hitting outfielder Joey Terdoslavich, put on waivers last week and claimed by Baltimore, which really must have a need for outfielders.