Tag Archives: Royals

04 Apr

ups and downs

Louis Coleman, the former Pillow Academy star, cleared waivers on Friday and was outrighted to Triple-A Omaha by Kansas City. The Royals reportedly wanted to keep the right-handed reliever in their system; he posted a 3.55 ERA this spring and has a 3.25 career MLB mark, though he struggled in 2014. … Expectations certainly have changed for Lance Lynn. Entering the 2014 season, the Ole Miss product was considered St. Louis’ No. 4 or 5 starter. He went to the post 33 times, worked over 200 innings, won 15 of his 25 decisions and put up a 2.74 ERA. For 2015, he gets the nod in Game 2 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Lynn capped his spring with six shutout innings against the New York Mets on Thursday. “He was great – everything we needed to see,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told FoxSports.com. … Former UM standout Alex Presley, designated for assignment by the Houston Astros earlier this week, is likely to be traded, according to reports. Presley, an outfielder with five years of big league experience, hit .244 with the Astros in 2014 and has a career .259 average. … Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson, who had been out of the Colorado lineup with a back problem, returned on Friday. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton got a pair of hits Friday for Cincinnati to boost his spring average to .240. The speedster is 2-for-4 on stolen base tries.

24 Feb

speed reader

Jarrod Dyson is all about that next base, which is most evident from his stolen base numbers. The Southwest Mississippi Community College product has swiped 100 bags over the last three seasons for Kansas City, with a team-high 36 in 2014. Plus, he goes first to third like a jackrabbit. His speed also plays in center field, where he gets to a lot of balls. Last season, Dyson played 691 1/3 defensive innings over 108 games, posting a .983 fielding percentage on 236 chances with four errors and four assists. Beyond those numbers, ESPN the Magazine’s March 2 issue presents a list of the American League’s top outfielders under the category of “Highest Defensive Runs Above Average in 2014.” Dyson ranked No. 1, ahead of teammates Alex Gordon (a Gold Glover) and Lorenzo Cain, who were 2 and 3. Not sure what that stat means, but it must be significant. The Royals did win the AL pennant. And Dyson, who doesn’t play regularly, got a $1.23 million contract for the coming season. P.S. A story about MLB replacement players from spring training 1995 in the Feb. 23 issue of Sports Illustrated includes references to former Jackson Mets standout Terry Blocker and Mississippians Oil Can Boyd, Chris Brown and Ted Williams. Boyd, from Meridian and Jackson State, was attempting a big league comeback in ’95 — when owners locked out the regular players from spring training — as was Jackson native Brown, aka Downtime Brown or the Tin Man. Williams, a star at Columbus’ Caldwell High who went on to play at Alabama, never made the majors but was an intriguing talent. In 10 seasons in various minor and indy leagues, Williams stole 458 bases, including 74 and 71 in back-to-back campaigns in A-ball. His nickname, the SI story notes, was the Splendid Sprinter, a clever takeoff on the Splendid Splinter moniker given to his namesake, Hall of Famer Ted Williams. … Add Brent Leach to the list of Mississippians in major league camps. The 32-year-old right-hander is a non-roster invitee with Milwaukee; he pitched the last couple of years in the Brewers’ minor league system, including stints at Huntsville in the Southern League. Leach, a Brandon High, Southern Miss and Delta State alumnus, last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2005. … And scratch from the spring invite list ex-Hattiesburg High pitcher Robert Carson, whose 50-game drug suspension apparently cost him his spot with the Dodgers.

31 Oct

lefty for hire

The list of free agent pitchers includes some big names: Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, James Shields, Ervin Santana, to name a few. It also includes many more names from the MLB rank-and-file, role-fillers such as Paul Maholm, the former Mississippi State star from Greenwood. Maholm, a 32-year-old left-hander, was a late signee last off-season by the Los Angeles Dodgers and had a generally lackluster year: 1-5, 4.84 ERA in 30 games (eight starts). Over 70 2/3 innings, he yielded 82 hits and 28 walks with just 34 strikeouts. And he finished the season on the disabled list. Maholm was a first-round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2003 and spent his first seven MLB campaigns with the then-lowly Pirates. He has bounced from the Chicago Cubs to Atlanta to the Dodgers over the past three seasons. His career numbers: 77-100, 4.30 ERA. Since he is a lefty who can start or come out of the pen, Maholm should get another shot in 2015. But he again might have a long wait this off-season. P.S. Read an interesting comment from Kansas City’s Alex Gordon, who was held at third base while his two-out hit was misplayed in left field in the bottom of the ninth inning of World Series Game 7. “I’m not as fast as Jarrod Dyson,” Gordon told mlb.com. “If I was, I probably would’ve scored (the tying run).” He’s probably right. Of course, a pop up ended the game and gave San Francisco the title. Former Southwest Mississippi Community College standout Dyson, who swiped 36 bags during the season, didn’t get to use his speed much in the Series. He wasn’t on base very often and never attempted a steal.

28 Oct

the hustle factor

The last time the Kansas City Royals were in the World Series, in 1985, they had their backs to the wall in Game 6 against St. Louis and won 2-1, then went on to win Game 7. People remember Game 6 because of umpire Don Denkinger’s missed call in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jorge Orta reached first base on that play, and KC, down 1-0, rallied from there (with the aid of some misplays by the Cardinals). Orta, when he was the hitting coach for the Jackson Generals in 1998, said when asked about the play that he hoped people would remember how he busted it down the first-base line and turned what appeared to be a routine 3-1 putout into a close play. Yes, Denkinger missed the call. Replays showed that. But Orta’s hustle — in a situation where some players might not have gone full-bore — was a factor. Hustle always plays. P.S. Much is made about how the 2014 Royals were built through the draft, and it is interesting to note that McComb’s Jarrod Dyson has some of the deepest roots on the current roster. Drafted by KC in 2006, he is the only homegrown player on the World Series roster from that draft. Dyson, a small but swift center fielder at Southwest Mississippi Community Colleger, was picked in the 50th round. Luke Hochevar, a pitcher, was the Royals’ top pick — the No. 1 overall pick, in fact — but he missed the entire 2014 season after having elbow surgery in March. Dayton Moore, who was Atlanta’s farm director when the Mississippi Braves were hatched in 2005, took the Kansas City GM job in June 2006, just after the draft was conducted.

24 Oct

just looking

While looking forward to tonight’s Game 3 of the World Series — and the possibility that McComb native Jarrod Dyson might be in the starting lineup for Kansas City — it’s worth taking a few moments to look back at some notable anniversaries of Fall Classics in which Mississippians played a role. … It was 30 years ago that the Detroit Tigers, with a pair of Magnolia State natives in their starting outfield, capped a dominating season with a World Series triumph over San Diego. In Game 3, with the series tied, the Tigers capitalized on 11 walks and won 5-2. Sunflower native Larry Herndon (5-for-15 in the Series) went 1-for-4 with an RBI on a walk in that game, and Jackson native Chet Lemon (5-for-17) went 2-for-5 with a run. The Tigers, who started that season 35-5 and won 104 games, took the Series in five games. Lemon, known for his defense in center field, had 15 putouts. … It was 40 years ago that the Oakland A’s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games for their third straight world championship. That Oakland team included Belzoni native Herb Washington, the ex-track star and so-called designated runner. Washington, who stole 29 bases that season and never batted, made three Series appearances, getting no bags and scoring no runs. He was famously picked off in the ninth inning of Game 2, the only game the Dodgers won. Oakland released him the next year. … And it was 80 years ago that the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers engaged in a rollicking seven-game battle notable in part because the Dean brothers, adopted Mississippian Dizzy and Paul, earned all four of the Cardinals’ W’s. In Game 2, Gulfport native Gerald “Gee” Walker delivered a game-tying pinch single in the ninth inning and the Tigers went on to win in 12. That was Walker’s only hit in the Series.

22 Oct

bits and pieces

The big stuff was provided by other hitters, but former Mississippi Braves standout Gregor Blanco did a lot of little things Tuesday night that helped San Francisco win Game 1 of the World Series. Blanco went 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and two runs — plus a couple of nice catches in center field — as the Giants whipped Kansas City 7-1. Blanco played for the M-Braves in 2005 and ’06 and was — trivia alert! — the first player to bat in the very first M-Braves game on April 7, 2005, in Montgomery, Ala. He won a ring with the Giants in 2012, going 4-for-15 with a run and an RBI — plus some nice D in left field — in the Series victory over Detroit. … Former M-Braves reliever Tim Collins, buried in KC’s deep bullpen, made just his second postseason appearance, working two scoreless innings, though he did allow an inherited runner to cross in the seventh. Collins, a 5-foot-7 lefty who throws gas, put up a 1.13 ERA and two saves in six games for the M-Braves in 2010 after he was acquired by Atlanta from Toronto as part of the Yunel Escobar trade. A couple of weeks later, Collins went to Kansas City (along with Blanco, coincidentally) in the deal that moved Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth to the Braves. P.S. Ex-Mississippi State star Tyler Moore smacked his second home run in the Dominican Winter League, this time going deep against ex-M-Braves ace Randall Delgado. Moore is batting .417 in four games for Toros del Este. … Former Hattiesburg High standout and onetime big leaguer Robert Carson has re-signed as a minor leaguer with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A 14th-round pick by the New York Mets in 2007, the big left-hander pitched at two levels for the Dodgers this past summer, going 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 25 innings in Triple-A. He began 2014 in the Angels’ system before getting released.

21 Oct

see how they run

You have to be hoping that McComb native Jarrod Dyson gets on base tonight in Game 1 of the World Series. Even some San Francisco Giants fans have to be hoping for that. You want to see the Kansas City Royals speedster run. And you want to hear what he says about it afterward. Dyson has always been fast — and he’s always been outspoken. “That’s J-Rod,” said Chuck Freeman, Dyson’s coach at McComb High from 2002-04. “We tried to keep the reins on him, but his personality always shined through. That’s how he is.” Dyson, who stole 36 bases for KC in the regular season — four against the Giants in the Royals’ three-game sweep back in August — and is 120-for-140 in his big league career, has gotten just one bag in the postseason. But he’s a major threat to steal, as are several of his teammates, which makes for compelling theater. As Dyson told mlb.com, “They give us an inch, we are going to run a mile.” P.S. Both Pittsburgh and Oakland made the postseason this year but both lost in the wild card round (to the Giants and Royals, as a matter of fact.) Still, both towns have reason to celebrate this month. The Pirates won the World Series in 1979 — 35 years ago — and the A’s captured the Fall Classic in 1989 — 25 years ago. Significant anniversaries, to be sure, and Mississippi native Dave Parker was a common thread. He batted .345 with four RBIs for the Pirates in the ’79 Series and contributed a homer and two RBIs for the A’s in ’89. The oft-controversial slugger, one of baseball’s first big-money players, batted .290 with 339 homers over a 19-year career spent with six different clubs. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame this summer, though his chances of making it into Cooperstown appear slim. Sadly, Parker is battling Parkinson’s disease.

18 Oct

spirit of ’76

The most famous player on the 1976 Jackson Mets arguably was pitcher Mike Scott, who became a Cy Young award winner. You could make a case for outfielder Lee Mazzilli, who played briefly in Jackson that season and went on to be a fairly successful big leaguer. A few others from that team also made the majors, including Roy Lee Jackson, Dwight Bernard and, of course, Ned Yost, who is certainly the most talked-about former JaxMets player at the moment. The Kansas City Royals manager played 83 games for Jackson in ’76, which was the second year the New York Mets’ Double-A club operated at Smith-Wills Stadium. Yost, a catcher, batted just .199 with three homers and 25 RBIs for manager John Antonelli. Yost was back in Jackson to start the 1977 campaign, batted .309 in 30 games and was promoted to Triple-A Tidewater, where he hit .299 with 12 homers in 60 games. He made it to the big leagues in 1980 with Milwaukee. Yost married a Jackson girl, and their son, former minor league player Ned Yost IV, was born in the Capital City in 1982. P.S. Gavin Collins, a catcher who made the All-SEC Freshman team in 2014 for Mississippi State, clubbed a walk-off homer Friday night as the Gray beat the Maroons 4-3 in a fall ball scrimmage in Starkville. The Bulldogs will play an intrasquad game at Smith-Wills today at 4 p.m. … Former State star Tyler Moore hit his first homer on Friday in the Dominican Winter League.

15 Oct

full speed ahead

Tuesday’s League Championship Series games had the feel of defining moments. And a pair of Mississippi-connected players — former Southwest Mississippi Community College standout Jarrod Dyson and ex-Mississippi Braves star Gregor Blanco — were involved in crucial plays. Blanco’s bunt — and subsequent hustle down the first-base line — drew a wild throw from pitcher Randy Choate and sent the winning run home in San Francisco’s 5-4, 10-inning victory over St. Louis. The Giants, who blew a 4-0 advantage on Tuesday, lead the NLCS 2-1 with two more games ahead in the tricky confines of AT&T Park. Blanco, the Giants’ leadoff batter, is just 2-for-14 with no runs in the series, but that sac bunt was as big as any hit the Giants got in Game 3. In Kansas City, Dyson scored the game-winning run on a sac fly in the sixth inning as the Royals beat Baltimore 2-1 and went up 3-0 in the ALCS with two games left at crazy Kauffman Stadium. Dyson’s “bold” and much-publicized prediction that the series would not be returning to Baltimore may well hold up. Dyson is 0-for-3 in the series and twice has been caught stealing. But his speed has had an influence. The Orioles are using that strange ploy to hold Dyson on at first base, and it might have been a factor in the game’s key hit in the pivotal sixth inning. Dyson entered as a pinch runner in the 1-1 game and bolted to third when Eric Hosmer slapped a single to the right of first baseman Steve Pearce, who was still very close to the bag. According to an mlb.com story, Statcast tracking technology showed Dyson reached 21 mph en route to third base. He also reached that speed as he scored the go-ahead run — quite easily — on Billy Butler’s sac fly to left. A mad dash here and a mad dash there, and now we appear headed for a Giants-Royals World Series.

04 Oct

been there, done that

Lance Lynn, the former Ole Miss standout, gets the ball tonight for St. Louis with a chance to drop the hammer on the Los Angeles Dodgers. After their stunning comeback against Clayton Kershaw at Dodger Stadium on Friday, the Cardinals are up 1-0 in the National League Division Series. If they head back to St. Louis with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5, it’s all but over. Lynn, who went 15-10, 2.74 ERA this season, faced LA twice in 2014. In a July 18 game at Busch Stadium, he beat them, allowing just four hits and two runs over six innings. In a June 28 game in Dodger Stadium, he didn’t fare so well. Lynn lasted just two innings, allowing nine hits, two walks and seven runs (six earned). Zack Greinke, who starts tonight for the Dodgers, was the winner in that 9-1 game. Lynn doesn’t lack for postseason experience; this will be his 22nd appearance over the past four years. He has both started and relieved, compiling a 5-4 record and 4.81 ERA. One of his wins came against the Dodgers, in LA, last Oct. 15 in the Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, which the Cards won in six. If there is a troubling aspect on Lynn’s ledger it might be that he failed four times to get win No. 16 down the stretch this season as the Cardinals were fighting to win the NL Central title. P.S. McComb’s Jarrod Dyson was at it again on Friday, this time using his arm to help Kansas City take a 2-0 lead in its American League Division Series against the LA Angels. Dyson, freshly inserted as a defensive replacement in center field in a 1-1 game, threw out a runner at third base in the eighth inning to complete a double play. “I assume they thought I don’t have a good arm,” the ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star said in a TV interview. Ned Yost’s Royals won 4-1 in 11 innings, their third straight extra-inning postseason victory. Dyson, as a pinch runner, contributed a stolen base and a key run in the wild card game against Oakland on Tuesday. … Ole Miss product Aaron Barrett, a righty reliever, made Washington’s postseason roster but didn’t get into Game 1 of the NLDS on Friday as the Nationals lost at home to San Francisco.