starting over
Minus their sparkplug, the Mississippi Braves start the second half of the Southern League season tonight against Pensacola at Trustmark Park. Mallex Smith, the All-Star center fielder who was batting .340 with a team-best 35 runs, has been promoted – and deservedly so — to Triple-A Gwinnett. Even with Smith at the top of the lineup, the M-Braves faded from contention late in the first half and wound up with a 33-35 record, a distant 10 games behind South Division champion Biloxi. It would certainly help the M-Braves’ cause if Rio Ruiz could get it going. The highly rated prospect, acquired in the trade that sent Evan Gattis to Houston, hit .211 in the first half with no homers and 12 RBIs. A lefty-hitting third baseman, Ruiz batted .293 with 11 homers and 77 RBIs in the high Class A California League in 2014 and hit .260 with 12 homers in low A ball in 2013. The M-Braves rank ninth in the 10-team league in runs and last in homers. Smith had 23 of their 38 steals. First baseman Seth Loman, the club’s home run leader with four, was released today. Where is the offense going to come from? Somebody needs to step up. P.S. The M-Braves have added an outfielder: Sean Godfrey, who was batting .304 with five homers, 22 RBIs and 10 steals at Class A Carolina. He was a 22nd-round pick last year out of Ball State, where he was the Mid-American Conference player of the year.