Tag Archives: Southern League

23 Jun

second chances

To win a second-half title in the Southern League South, the Mississippi Braves need to:

a. Score more runs;
b. Hit more home runs;
c. Win more home games.

Any of the three would help, but obviously it’s not that simple. The M-Braves went 34-35 in the first half, ending up third, 6 1⁄2 games behind champion Pensacola. Pitching never seems to be a problem at Trustmark Park, a notorious pitcher’s yard. The M-Braves’ staff ERA of 3.13 is second in the league. They’ve allowed the fewest homers and are tied for the most strikeouts. Having lost ace Chris Ellis, the former Ole Miss star, to promotion, keeping up those numbers might be tougher in the second half. But there are still plenty of prospect-type arms around. Scoring, not preventing it, has been the issue for Luis Salazar’s team. They’re 25-6 when they score four runs or more. But they average just 3.6 runs per game, tied for last with Biloxi. They’re last in on-base percentage, last in steals and seventh (of 10) in homers. They’re 21-6 when they hit a homer — they just don’t hit many, especially at the TeePee. Dustin Peterson and Jacob Schrader have 14 of the club’s 37 bombs. Where would the boost in offense come from? It would help if top prospect Dansby Swanson would get hot again; he’s down to .242. A little more all-around production from Johan Camargo, Carlos Franco, Levi Hyams or Dian Toscano might go a long way, too. And then there’s the new guys, just added to the roster today: catcher Joe Odom and first baseman Joey Meneses up from Class A Carolina, outfielder Connor Lien off the disabled list where he spent most of the first half. Lien was a Carolina League All-Star in 2015. Odom was batting .292 with eight homers and 29 RBIs for the Mudcats this year, and Meneses was at .342 with five homers and 31 RBIs. Here’s a big thing: The team was 16-19 at home in the first half; that’s gotta change if they hope to contend. By contrast, Pensacola went 25-11 at home.

20 Jun

seeing stars

The stars will come out to play on Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, sometime around 7:30 p.m. The 2016 Southern League All-Star Game will feature a bunch of “local talent,” with Mississippi Braves Dansby Swanson and Dustin Peterson and Biloxi Shuckers Brett Phillips, Garrett Cooper and Jacob Nottingham expected to be in the starting lineup for the South stars, managed by Luis Salazar. Biloxi’s Josh Hader, who leads the league with a 0.95 ERA, and hard-throwing Atlanta prospect Mauricio Cabrera are on the South pitching staff. League home run leader Daniel Palka (Chattanooga), stolen base leader Yefri Perez (Jacksonville) and pitching strikeout leader Jacob Faria (Montgomery) are also on the rosters, along with highly rated MLB prospects such as Amir Garrett (Pensacola), Willy Adames (Montgomery) and Jake Peter (Birmingham). This is the second SL All-Star Game to be held at the TeePee. The other was in 2007, when eight M-Braves played for the South Division team managed by Phillip Wellman. J.C. Holt and Carl Loadenthal had three hits apiece, but the South stars lost the game before an announced 4,555. Jackson hosted two Texas League All-Star Games at Smith-Wills Stadium, in 1984 and 1992. Both were decided by walk-off home runs by East Division stars, the first by the Jackson Mets’ Billy Beane, the second by Greenville native Adell Davenport, who was playing for Shreveport.

16 Jun

big league chew

Freddie Freeman was touted as a future star when he arrived in Mississippi in July of 2009, and he is one former Mississippi Braves player who has lived up to that billing. Freeman became just the third player in the Atlanta Braves era (1966-now) to hit for the cycle in leading the Braves to a 9-8, 13-inning win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Freeman’s numbers aren’t jaw-dropping this season — .257, 11 homers, 22 RBIs – but keep in mind that he is surrounded by a weak team. If Atlanta has only one player picked for the All-Star Game, Freeman certainly should be it. It would be his third trip in the last four years. … Craig Kimbrel, another ex-M-Brave who has become a bonafide MLB star, notched his 15th save for Boston in its 6-4 win against Baltimore in a big American League East showdown. … Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College alumnus, is getting a lot of credit for rejuvenating the Chicago White Sox. Anderson, now leading off, went 3-for-5 and scored three times in the ChiSox’s 5-3 win against Detroit. Chicago climbed back to .500 and is just 2½ games out in the AL Central. Through six games, shortstop Anderson is batting .320 with three doubles and a triple. He hasn’t stolen a base yet, but those will come. … Mississippi Gulf Coast CC product Tony Sipp got one out and a win for resurgent Houston in a 4-1 victory against St. Louis. Sipp retired Matt Carpenter with runners at second and third in the seventh inning, keeping the Cardinals’ lead at 1-0. A George Springer homer in the eighth put the Astros on top. Left-hander Sipp (1-2) has a 3.22 ERA in 29 appearances. … Mitch Moreland, the former Mississippi State star from Amory, extended his hitting streak to seven games in Texas’ 7-5 win against Oakland. Moreland is batting .370 during his streak with four homers. For the year, he is at .227 with 10 bombs and 28 RBIs for a Rangers club that has opened up a 6½-game lead in the AL West. … Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson was 1-for-3 with two RBIs for Tampa Bay, which beat Seattle 3-2. Dickerson’s average is up to .209, and he has 12 homers and 31 RBIs for the Rays, who are fighting to stay in the AL East race. P.S. Former State standout Brandon Woodruff had a rough start in a big game for Biloxi in the Double-A Southern League. He yielded three hits, two walks and three runs in a third of an inning in a loss to Jacksonville, dropping his record to 2-3 and jacking his ERA to 4.71. The Shuckers are still tied for first with Pensacola in the SL South; the first half ends Sunday.

10 Jun

debut alert

Former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson has been called up by the Chicago White Sox and likely will be in the lineup tonight against Kansas City. The highly rated shortstop prospect, 22, was batting .304 with four homers, 20 RBIs and 11 steals at Triple-A Charlotte. Anderson led ECCC to the MACJC championship in 2013 and was drafted in the first round that same year. He was a Southern League All-Star for Birmingham in 2015.

31 May

going coastal

Round 2 of Season 2 of Mississippi Braves vs. Biloxi Shuckers starts tonight at MGM Park on the Coast. Alas, the pitching matchup that would have been so cool to see apparently won’t happen in this series. Mississippi State alum Brandon Woodruff is set to make his third Double-A start tonight for the Shuckers. Rated Milwaukee’s No. 30 prospect by mlb.com, he is 0-2, 8.00 ERA. Ole Miss product Chris Ellis, Atlanta’s No. 13 prospect, is slated to go Wednesday for the M-Braves. Ellis, after two straight uneven starts, is 6-2, 3.00. Former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney, who has pitched well out of the M-Braves’ pen (2 saves, 2.95 ERA), surely will make an appearance or two during the five games. The Shuckers took three of five from the M-Braves in Pearl in April and lead the series 15-13. Biloxi is 29-21, second to Pensacola in the Southern League South by a game; the M-Braves are 22-28 and fourth, 8 games back of first. Perhaps Biloxi will see an attendance spike for this series. The club is averaging an announced 2,596 fans per game, which ranks eighth in the 10-team loop. The M-Braves are seventh at 3,097 per game at Trustmark Park.

25 May

not to be overlooked

Of the four young players Atlanta got from San Diego in the Justin Upton trade in 2014, the least heralded was Dustin Peterson. Jace Peterson, Mallex Smith and Max Fried were the attention-grabbing names in the deal, but Dustin Peterson has begun to garner his share. Now playing left field for the Mississippi Braves, and playing in the shadow of top prospect Dansby Swanson, Peterson is leading the team in homers and RBIs with five and 25. He heads into tonight’s game at Trustmark Park in Pearl with six hits in his last 14 at-bats, boosting his average to .262. Peterson, listed at 6 feet 2, 210 pounds, appears to have legit right-handed power. Four of his homers have come at the TeePee, where right-handed hitters especially have trouble knocking the ball out. Peterson was a second-round pick by San Diego out of high school in Arizona in 2013. Originally a third baseman, he was shifted to the outfield by Atlanta. At high Class A Carolina in 2015, he hit .251 with eight homers and 62 RBIs, and he entered this season rated the Braves’ No. 21 prospect by mlb.com. Only 21, Peterson is holding his own in his first tour of Double-A ball. P.S. The M-Braves are 20-25 with a three-game win streak entering the five-game homestand against Jacksonville. Trailing first-place Biloxi by 6½ games in the Southern League South, the M-Braves have plenty of time to make up ground – the first half ends June 19 – but need to step it up at home, where they are 8-12.

20 May

standing out

With so many talented young arms now at work in the Atlanta system, it’s not easy to stand out. Chris Ellis has found a way. The Ole Miss alum goes to the mound tonight for the Mississippi Braves at Mobile with a 6-0 record and a 2.06 ERA. The 6-foot-5 right-hander, who throws three quality pitches, has 36 strikeouts and 19 walks in 48 innings. He leads the Southern League in wins, ranks eighth in ERA, ninth in WHIP and fifth in innings (an underrated stat). He is even swinging the bat: 5-for-13. Ellis, a third-round draft selection by the Los Angeles Angels in 2014, made it to Double-A last summer and went 7-4, 3.92. The Braves acquired him in the Andrelton Simmons trade, and he is rated their No. 14 prospect by mlb.com. Nine other pitchers, scattered throughout the system, are ranked above Ellis, but none is having more success this year. P.S. M-Braves catcher Willians Astudillo recently was highlighted in Baseball America for his uncanny ability to make contact. Astudillo has struck out just two times this season in 114 at-bats. (He has only walked twice while batting .272.) A minor league free agent signee by Atlanta this off-season, Astudillo has fanned just 53 times in 1,651 at-bats, with a .314 career average. … The M-Braves have hit seven home runs as a team in 20 games at spacious Trustmark Park this season, four of those by Dustin Peterson. Oxford High’s Thomas Dillard hit two bombs at the TeePee on Thursday in the Chargers’ MHSAA Class 5A championship clincher against Hattiesburg. Dillard finished the year with 16 homers.

22 Apr

together again

Mississippi Braves vs. Biloxi Shuckers. We want this to be a rivalry. Rivalries are good. They demand attention. Remember Jackson-Shreveport from the old Texas League days? The M-Braves and Shuckers meet for the first time in 2016 tonight at Trustmark Park. They split their 24 meetings in 2015, but, M-Braves fans should recall, the Shuckers clinched — and celebrated — the Southern League South first-half championship at the TeePee last June. So, there’s that. Biloxi comes in tonight leading the SL South at 11-3. The M-Braves are last at 5-10. The Shuckers again feature a bevy of top Milwaukee prospects, including No. 2 Brett Phillips, who is batting .311 with a homer and eight RBIs, and right-hander Adrian Houser, tonight’s starter, who is 0-1, 5.73 ERA. Biloxi has three of the SL’s top 10 hitters: Phillips, Victor Roache (.333) and Javier Betancourt (.314). The M-Braves have one: Ozzie Albies, who’s third at .350. Both teams pitch pretty well, ranking second (Biloxi) and fourth in the league in ERA. Lucas Sims, one of several pitching prospects on the M-Braves’ roster, gets the start in Game 1; he is 0-2, 1.84. P.S. Big league chew: Ex-Ole Miss star and veteran big leaguer Alex Presley got a hit in his Milwaukee debut on Thursday. … Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Jarrod Dyson is 3-for-9 with two steals since Kansas City activated him from the disabled list. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton has a thumb injury (from last week’s home run-robbing catch) that is keeping him out of the Cincinnati lineup. … Former Pillow Academy standout Louis Coleman has been placed on the bereavement list by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

17 Apr

searching …

Trustmark Park is not a great place to find your offense, but the Mississippi Braves open a 10-game homestand tonight desperately searching. The M-Braves, off to a 2-8 start, are batting .218 and have scored just 27 runs, ninth in the 10-team Southern League. Nine of those runs came in one game, a win at Montgomery on Friday. Maybe that was a sign that a breakout is imminent. There are only 10 position players among the top 30 prospects (as rated by mlb.com) in Atlanta’s refurbished minor league system, and three of them are playing for the M-Braves. No. 3 Ozzie Albies is off to a fine start, batting .310. No. 21 Dustin Peterson also has played well, hitting .308 with a homer (in Friday’s game) and seven RBIs. No. 24 Johan Camargo, like Albies and Peterson, playing his first Double-A season, has scuffled (.179). The pitching depth in the Braves’ system is impressive, but they’re going to have to produce some hitters, too. There are less-heralded players on the M-Braves’ roster who could be part of the rebuild in Atlanta but who need to get it going. First baseman Jacob Schrader, who hit .268 and belted 15 homers at Class A Carolina in 2015, has hit one bomb this year (Friday in Montgomery) and is batting just .214. Third baseman Carlos Franco, who had 11 homers at Carolina last year, is still looking for his first in Mississippi and is hitting .125. Infielder Emerson Landoni, a .297 hitter for the M-Braves a year ago, is at .118. Outfielder Dian Toscano, the 27-year-old Cuban signee, is 1-for-8 in his two games since being activated, though the one hit was a two-run triple in that Friday game at Montgomery. He’s one to watch. Outfielder Connor Lien had good numbers at Carolina in 2015 (.285, nine homers, 32 steals) but is currently on the disabled list. He could boost the attack, too, whenever he returns. The M-Braves’ pitching staff, armed with prospects, has a 3.19 ERA. If they could only get them some runs. P.S. On Chattanooga’s roster is former Ole Miss star Stuart Turner, a catcher who is batting .364, ranking among the SL leaders. … Mississippi State product Tyler Moore is hitting .282 with a home run and seven RBIs in eight games at Triple-A Gwinnett. Former M-Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz is hitting .314 for the G-Braves; he hit .229 in Pearl last season. … Dansby Swanson, the Braves’ No. 1 prospect, is killing it at Carolina, hitting .350 in 10 games for the high-A club.

16 Dec

who’s the boss?

The Mississippi Braves will be under the charge of a new manager in 2016, with former major leaguer Luis Salazar succeeding Aaron Holbert in that role. Salazar, a native of Venezuela, managed Atlanta’s high Class A club the last five years. Salazar, some may recall, lost his left eye when struck by a foul ball during a spring training game in 2011, his first year with the Atlanta organization. He becomes the sixth manager of the Double-A M-Braves since the franchise moved to Pearl in 2005, following Brian Snitker, Jeff Blauser, Phillip Wellman, Rocket Wheeler and Holbert. Holbert, the club’s winningest manager, did a four-year stint, same as Wellman. The team won its only Southern League title under Wellman in 2008. Salazar hit .261 over 13 seasons in the majors and has worked for many years in the minors as a manager and hitting coach. Dennis Lewallyn returns as M-Braves pitching coach and Garey Ingram as hitting coach. The team opens the 2016 season at Trustmark Park on April 7.