Rockies Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

19 Sep

tapping into power

Brent Rooker hit his 30th homer of the season on Thursday, a first-inning two-run shot that helped the A’s deal playoff-chasing Boston a hard loss at Fenway Park. Rooker, the former All-America from Mississippi State, now has 99 homers in three years with the A’s. It’s weird to think that in his first three MLB campaigns (2020-22) he hit a grand total of 10 homers while barely playing with three other clubs. The A’s got the former 35th overall pick as a waiver claim from Kansas City in November 2022. Of note: Fellow MSU product J.T. Ginn pitched six effective innings Thursday to get the win; the second-year right-hander is 4-6 with a 4.57 ERA in 22 appearances this year. With the defeat, Boston fell to third in the American League wild card standings. … Former Mississippi College star Blaine Crim belted two 400-foot homers for Colorado and now has three in seven games with the Rockies. Crim, getting his first real opportunity in the big leagues in his sixth pro season, has 124 minor league homers on his ledger. … Down in the minors, Kemp Alderman, third-year pro from Ole Miss, slugged his seventh homer in 17 games since being promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville in the Miami chain. Alderman hit 15 bombs in Double-A this season. P.S. Biloxi was eliminated by Montgomery in the Southern League division playoffs. Ex-Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt, Milwaukee’s No. 3 prospect, hit .237 with eight homers, 62 RBIs, 71 runs and 31 steals in his first Double-A season.

13 Sep

clobberin’ time

Blaine Crim is on the board. The ex-Mississippi College star got his first big league hit — a three-run homer — on Friday night in Colorado’s 4-2 against San Diego at Petco Park. Called up Friday for his third MLB stint this season, Crim took lefty J.P. Sears deep with two down in the fourth inning to put the Rockies up 3-1. The homer went a reported 439 feet as Rockies broadcaster Drew Goodman gave it his signature call: “Take a good look, you won’t see it for long.” A prolific long-ball hitter in the minors, Crim has 21 bombs — plus a .281 average and 85 RBIs — in Triple-A games this season and 124 for his career. He made his MLB debut with Texas back in early May, went 0-for-12 and went back to the minors. He told mlb.com on Friday that he was thinking, “Shoot, that might’ve been my only shot.” Crim was recalled briefly by Texas in late May but didn’t play. Designated for assignment on July 31, he was claimed off waivers by Colorado and sent to Triple-A Albuquerque. The 28-year-old first baseman, an Alabama native, was a 19th-round pick by Texas in 2019 after winning Gulf South Conference player of the year honors at MC. He is the first former Choctaws player to appear in a big league game since Harry Craft in 1942. Crim likely has earned more opportunities with the lowly Rockies, who are 41-107, worst record in MLB. P.S. Jordan Westburg, on the injured list for Baltimore since Aug. 22, started a rehab assignment on Friday and should be back with the Orioles soon. Former Mississippi State standout Westburg is batting .276 with 15 homers and 34 RBIs in 73 big league games, having spent two long stints on the IL. He was an All-Star in 2024. The Orioles, who’ve been out of playoff contention for some time, can play a spoiler role. They have seven games remaining against the New York Yankees starting Sept. 18.

02 Sep

dynamic duo

A tag team of former Magnolia State rivals played leading roles in Tampa Bay’s beatdown of playoff-contender Seattle on Monday night. Ex-Ole Miss star Nick Fortes and former Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum combined for five hits, four runs, three RBIs and a stolen base as the Rays claimed a 10-2 victory against the visiting Mariners. Fortes, who has not been much of an offensive contributor since the Rays acquired him in July, delivered a jarring blow early, a three-run homer in the second inning. A .218 hitter, catcher Fortes has four homers, two with Tampa Bay. Best known for his defense, he threw out a Seattle runner trying to steal. Mangum, the rookie outfielder, banged out three hits to raise his average to .291, scored a run (on Fortes’ homer) and stole a base, his 21st. The fall left the Mariners with a 73-65 record, second in the American League West and third in the wild card standings. The Rays haven’t yet tapped out — they’ve won four straight — but at 68-69, their playoff hopes have faded. P.S. Ole Miss alum Ryan Rolison, back with Colorado as a September call-up, worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings Monday in an 8-2 loss to San Francisco. The lefty — a rookie at 28 — trimmed his ERA to 7.15. … Boston’s Aroldis Chapman registered his 28th save on Monday with a 1-2-3 ninth and ran his remarkable streak of consecutive batters faced without yielding a hit to 46. MLB Network displayed a list of the longest such streaks since 2019 and ex-Ole Miss star Mike Mayers was No. 2 with 48 back in 2020. Mayers, who had an ERA of 5.21 in eight seasons, had a career year in 2020 for the Los Angeles Angels, putting up a 2.10 ERA in 30 relief appearances. … Today is Garrett Crochet day in Boston, where the Ocean Springs native and Red Sox ace will go for his 15th win against Cleveland. Crochet is 14-5 with a 2.40 ERA and is 10-1 in his last 15 starts. With the 6-4 win on Labor Day, Boston (77-62) is just 2.5 games behind Toronto in the AL East.

17 Aug

in the spotlight

Will Warren and Garrett Crochet, a couple of Mississippi high school grads now pitching in the American League East, will go to the mound today with something to prove. Warren, ex-Jackson Prep standout, starts for the New York Yankees at St. Louis. The rookie right-hander has been a reliable rotation piece for the Yankees, with a 7-5 record and 4.34 ERA. On the road, however, Warren has wobbled: 1-2, 6:48 ERA, in 12 starts. He is also 1-3, 6.06, in day games. Game time at Busch Stadium is 1:15. The Yankees, who have won the first two against the Cards, are 66-57, third in the AL East and barely hanging on to third in the wild card race. So, every game is a big one. Warren will face a sub-.500 Cardinals club that likely will trot out some of the same players he faced last year, when he gave up four runs in five innings and took a loss. … Crochet, the former Ocean Springs standout, gets the call for Boston against Miami at Fenway Park. Considered a Cy Young Award candidate, Crochet ranks among the Al leaders in wins (13), ERA (2.48), strikeouts (188) and, perhaps most notably, innings (152 1/3). He is coming off his shortest — and worst — start of the season: four innings, five runs in a loss at Houston. In just his second season as a starter, the 26-year-old left-hander already has exceeded his innings total from last year with the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox, sitting in second place in the AL East and tied for first in the wild card, no doubt want to keep Crochet as fresh as possible for the postseason. Can he give them enough length today to beat a fading Marlins team? P.S. Milwaukee won its franchise-record 14th straight on Saturday, getting a three-run pinch-hit homer in the 11th inning from Andruw Monistereo (Biloxi Shuckers 2022) to top Cincinnati 6-5. … Ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison notched his first career win, benefiting from Colorado’s six-run eighth inning in a 10-7 victory against Arizona. Rolison pitched a clean top of the eighth, trimming his ERA to 7.41 for the 34-89 Rockies. … Former Mississippi Braves lefty Joey Wentz, another member of Atlanta’s patchwork rotation, got his second straight win for the Braves, tossing six innings (three hits, one run) in a 10-1 romp past Cleveland. The well-traveled Wentz is 2-2, 2.60, in seven games for the Braves, his third MLB team this season.

05 Aug

just doing his thing

Minnesota Twins management may have waved the white flag on this season, purging the roster at the trade deadline, but Matt Wallner is still out there battling, doing Matt Wallner things. The Southern Miss product — the school’s all-time home run leader — hit his 15th homer on Monday night. The sixth-inning shot at Detroit’s Comerica Park gave the Twins a brief lead before they ultimately fell to the first-place Tigers 6-3. It was the Twins’ fifth loss in six games and they now stand 52-60. If the club is fading away, Wallner is not. The 6-foot-4 lefty slugger, at .217 on the season, is batting .368 over his last seven games and has four homers in his last eight. He is one of those proverbial “three true outcome” players: In 259 plate appearances this season — he missed a chunk of time early on with an injury — he has struck out 75 times and walked 32 (with four HBPs) in addition to his career-high homer total. He has 44 career bombs in 240 games. When Wallner hits the ball, he hits it hard: Of his 48 hits in 2025, 28 are for extra bases. In Monday’s game, his homer off Casey Mize carried 436 feet to center field. Wallner also walked once and struck out once. And, oh yeah, he has a cannon for a right arm; USM used him as a closer at times. Playing right field on Monday, he threw out two Tigers on the bases. The Minnesota native may give disheartened Twins fans something to cheer about down the stretch. P.S. Wallner is tied for third in the all-Mississippi home run derby for 2025. Brent Rooker leads with 23, followed by Austin Riley at 16 and Wallner and Nathaniel Lowe at 15. Jordan Westburg — hitting .419 in his last seven games — belted his 13th homer for Baltimore in a losing cause on Monday. … On the topic of homers, ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison yielded a bomb in Colorado’s blowout loss to Toronto at Coors Field and has now allowed 10 homers in 34 2/3 innings this season, his first in MLB.

27 Jul

for the win

Despite surrendering two home runs in the first inning, Garrett Crochet notched his 12th win for Boston on Saturday, going six innings in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The big lefty from Ocean Springs is having a superb season, but he is likely to come up short of being the first Mississippi native to win 20 games since Roy Oswalt in 2005. Crochet is 12-4 over 22 starts. With just 46 games left in the ’25 campaign, he may not get enough opportunities even for eight more wins. Oswalt won his 20 in 2005 over 35 starts; the Kosciusko native also won 20 in 2004 in 36 appearances, 35 of them starts. In the era of the five-man (or more) rotation, 20 wins just isn’t the hallmark it used to be. For the record, the record for wins in a single season by a Mississippi native is 22, by Reb Russell with the Chicago White Sox in 2013. He made 52 appearances, 36 of them starts. Guy Bush won 20 (in 41 games) for the Chicago Cubs in 1933, and Claude Passeau got 20 (in 46 games) with the Cubs in 1940. Among pitchers from Magnolia State schools, Cliff Lee (Meridian Community College) won 22 — along with a Cy Young Award — for Cleveland in 2008, and Hall of Famer William Foster (Alcorn State) got 21 wins for the Negro League Chicago American Giants in 1927. P.S. Colorado optioned ex-Ole Miss standout Ryan Rolison (7.43 ERA as a 27-year-old rookie) back to Triple-A. … The White Sox have promoted Jacob Gonzalez, former first-round draft pick out of Ole Miss, to Triple-A Charlotte from Double-A Birmingham. He hit .244 with six homers and 47 RBIs for the Barons. He played second base Saturday for Charlotte and went 0-for-4. … Luke Hill, a fourth-round pick out of Ole Miss earlier this month, has signed with Cleveland; the bonus figure has not been reported. Hill was UM’s leading hitter in 2025 and a second-team All-SEC shortstop.

22 Jul

names to know

Brandon Woodruff: The Mississippi State product from Wheeler threw six commanding innings for Milwaukee on Monday, driving the Brewers to a 6-0 win at Seattle. Milwaukee has won 11 straight, taken over first place in the National League Central and claimed the best record in the majors (60-40). In his third start since coming off the injured list, Woodruff (2-0) limited the Mariners to two hits, walked none and struck out five. He has a 1.65 ERA on the season with 23 K’s and no walks in 16 1/3 innings.
Reed Trimble: The ex-Southern Miss star from Tupelo takes a 20-game on-base streak into Double-A Chesapeake’s contest tonight at Altoona. He was batting .119 when his streak began; he is hitting .283 in July and .211 with seven homers and 10 steals overall for the Baysox, a Baltimore affiliate. The 65th overall pick in the 2021 draft, the 25-year-old outfielder has battled injuries ever since.
J.B. Middleton: The 2025 draftee out of USM reportedly has signed with Colorado for $2.07 million. A first-team All-America selection and the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner, he was the 45th overall pick, the highest any Golden Eagles pitcher has ever been picked. Middleton is the third player drafted on Day 1 this year from a Mississippi school confirmed to have signed, joining JoJo Parker and Jake Cook.
Banks Tolley: The former St. Andrew’s standout from Madison is one of the leading hitters for Schaumburg, which hosts the Mississippi Mud Monsters tonight to start a Frontier League series. Tolley is hitting .318 with eight homers and 36 RBIs in 44 games for the independent club. He led St. Andrews to a state title in 2018, starred at Meridian Community College for two years, played a reserve role on Ole Miss’ 2022 national title team and got All-America recognition at Appalachian State in 2024.

02 Jul

who’s no. 1?

Fun facts: Raise a foam finger for the Detroit Tigers, ranked No. 1 again this week, a spot they’ve occupied for several weeks in the USA Today/Sports Weekly poll. Granted, an MLB poll doesn’t seem as significant as college football and basketball polls, but it does say something about the national perception of the 30 teams. And the Tigers, at 54-32 after an 11-2 win over Washington in Game 1 of a Wednesday doubleheader, do have the best record in the majors and a huge division lead. They also have a prominent Mississippian on their roster: Colt Keith, the former Biloxi High star now in his second big league campaign. After a 3-for-5 effort Wednesday from the leadoff spot, Keith is batting .254 with six homers, 13 doubles, 25 RBIs and 36 runs. It’s interesting to note that four of the top seven in the latest Sports Weekly poll have a Mississippi product on their active roster. (It’s also interesting, if that’s the right word, that seven of the bottom nine in the latest poll also deploy a Mississippian.) The No. 4 team is the Chicago Cubs (50-35 entering play Wednesday), who feature former Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz in their bullpen. The veteran lefty has not allowed an earned run in 25 appearances since he was acquired from Seattle. At No. 6 is the New York Yankees (48-37), who will trot out Jackson Prep product Will Warren (5-4, 4.37 ERA) in a big game Wednesday night against Toronto, 12th in the poll but just a game back of New York in the American League East. No. 7 is Tampa Bay, which improved to 48-39 with a 6-5 win against Oakland on Wednesday; former Mississippi State star Jake Mangum hit his second homer in that game and is batting .313 as a rookie. … Ranked ninth is Milwaukee, 48-37 after beating the New York Mets 7-2 in the first of two games Wednesday. The Brewers have penciled in ex-MSU standout Brandon Woodruff for his 2025 debut on Sunday; he is 46-26, 3.10, for his career but has been shelved (arm surgery) since September of 2023. For the record, third-ranked Houston (51-34 entering play Wednesday) has MSU alum J.P. France on the injured list but working his way back to active duty, which should come sometime after the All-Star break. … At the bottom of the poll is Colorado, 19-66 and threatening to post the worst record in modern MLB history, breaking the lowly mark set just last year by the Chicago White Sox. Former Ole Miss standout Ryan Rolison is a 27-year-old rookie pitcher for the Rockies, and he has a 7.78 ERA in 16 games, fitting right in on a struggling staff. Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet had the misfortune to pitch for the moribund ChiSox last year but has since escaped (via off-season trade) to Boston.

23 Jun

and they’re back

After a long road trip that lasted two weeks and rambled through four Midwest towns, the Mississippi Mud Monsters return to the sultry South for a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. The independent Frontier League club, now 18-21 on the season, went 5-7 on the trip but did finish on a high note, beating Gateway 8-7 on Sunday. Nick Hassan hit his first homer of the season and drove in four runs as part of Mississippi’s 17-hit attack. Brayland Skinner continued to fuel the offense, going 3-for-6 from the leadoff spot. Luis Devers went seven innings for the win. Skinner, former Mississippi State standout, is hitting .300 with a team-leading 28 runs and a league-best 25 steals. Kyle Booker, a DeSoto Central High product, is batting .314 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 14 bags. Travis Holt (.268) leads in homers and RBIs with six and 22. Tyree Thompson (4-0, 2.84), Brian Williams (2-2, 2.97) and Devers (4-3, 5.21) have been effective starters for manager Jay Pecci’s club. Chris Barraza, who got the save Sunday, has three and a 0.50 ERA in 13 games. Sergio Sanchez has five saves despite a 7.07 ERA. The Mud-sters, fourth in the Midwest Conference South, will face a Down East team that is 14-23 and fourth in the Atlantic Conference East. The Bird Dawgs are managed by Brett Wellman, whose dad, Phillip, managed the Mississippi Braves to a Southern League pennant back in 2008. Brett served as a bullpen catcher at times during his father’s four seasons in Pearl. … Former Mud-sters lefty Zack Morris has made two appearances (2.25 ERA) for Colorado’s rookie-level team since being signed by the Rockies on June 13. P.S. Congratulations to Conner Ware, Germantown High and Pearl River Community College product and a member of LSU’s national title team. Ware, a junior, did not pitch in the College World Series. (Of note: Former Taylorsville High pitcher Aiden Moffett was on the LSU roster when the Tigers won the 2023 CWS crown; he was at Texas this season.)

18 Jun

around the horn

Flushing a night of frustration, Austin Riley hit a walk-off 10th-inning sacrifice fly Tuesday that gave Atlanta a 5-4 win over the visiting New York Mets. “Hopefully it’s some momentum to carry the rest of the series,” the DeSoto Central High product said in a postgame interview. The Braves are a wobbly 32-39 with two games left in the series against the Mets, who lead the National League East at 45-28. Riley, an All-Star candidate who has had his struggles both at the plate and in the field, was 0-for-4 with a strikeout when he came up in the 10th with the bases loaded and one out. He had popped up in a similar situation in the eighth when the Braves trailed 4-1. This time — with the score knotted thanks to Marcell Ozuna’s three-run double in the eighth — he drove a fastball to the warning track in center field, scoring the game-winner. It was the fourth walk-off RBI in Riley’s career, including one in the 2021 National League Championship Series. He is batting .277 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs this season. … Jordan Westburg, the ex-Mississippi State star, went 3-for-5 with two runs in Baltimore’s 5-1 win against Tampa Bay. Westburg is batting .385 with three homers and eight RBIs in seven games since coming off the injured list. The Orioles (31-41) are 5-2 in those games. … Will Warren, the former Jackson Prep standout, struck out a career-high 11 batters in six innings but took a loss as the New York Yankees were shut out — again! — by the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Warren, who gave up three early runs, is 4-4 with a 4.83 ERA. … MSU alum Nathaniel Lowe hit his 10th homer for Washington, but Colorado blasted seven bombs — seven! — all told in a 10-6 win that sent the Nationals to their 10th straight loss. … Zack Morris, who demonstrated punch-out stuff with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, has signed with the Colorado Rockies and been assigned to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League team. Left-hander Morris, 24, a former Arkansas and TCU star, posted a 3.86 ERA over 16 1/3 innings for the independent Mud Monsters with 29 strikeouts and just three walks. “This is exactly the kind of moment we coach for,” Mud-sters manager Jay Pecci said in a team release. “Zack came in, did the work, and got better every time out.” Morris had a 5.48 ERA over five college seasons and pitched in the indy Frontier League last year with New Jersey. … Jackson State will be well-represented in the HBCU Swingman Classic, with six Tigers bound for Atlanta’s Truist Park on July 11. Robert Tate Jr., Jordan McCladdie, Joseph Eichelberger, Eric Elliott, Nkosi Didder and Erick Gonzalez are among the 50 HBCU players chosen for the third annual all-star game. Jaylon Burrell of Alcorn State and Kade Wood of Mississippi Valley State also have been invited, along with Chenar Brown, who played two years at JSU before transferring. Former Alcorn star Corey Wimberly is one of the coaches for the game. … Jackson State’s Omar Johnson is on the coaching staff for the Collegiate National Team’s training camp at Cary, N.C., USA Baseball has announced. The staff will be split into two units for the Stars vs. Stripes series, set for June 29-July 3 at sites in North Carolina. The roster of players has yet to be announced.