Tag Archives: Southern League

23 Aug

action-packed night

Eventful game at Trustmark Park. Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College star, made his Double-A debut for visiting Birmingham, went 3-for-3 with a sac bunt and handled everything hit to him at shortstop. (Note: The 2013 first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox is really good.) Meanwhile, Gustavo Nunez of the Mississippi Braves hit an inside-the-park home run (poorly played by the Barons left fielder) and later scored the game-winning run (with a nice slide) in the eighth inning on a sac fly by Seth Loman. With the 3-2 win, the M-Braves maintained a one-game lead in the Southern League South with nine to play. P.S. In Cincinnati, Billy Hamilton, the Taylorsville Tornado, broke up former M-Braves lefty Mike Minor’s no-hitter (and shutout) with two outs in the eighth inning — but Atlanta beat Cincinnati 3-1 in 12. Hamilton had the Reds’ only two hits in the game, the lone RBI and stole three bases to run his season total to 49. (Note: Hamilton is going to win National League rookie of the year honors.)

22 Aug

collision course

The Mississippi Braves are running some playoff fever as they return to Trustmark Park for their final homestand of the season. Question is, Are M-Braves fans feeling it, too? Baseball and high school football go head-to-head tonight. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd turns out to see the first-place M-Braves, who are averaging around 3,000 (announced) per game. The M-Braves are 36-24 after beating Mobile three straight on the road and hold a one-game lead over Jacksonville in the Southern League South. Mobile, the first-half champ, is 2 games behind. The M-Braves face Birmingham tonight in the opener of the five-game set. The M-Braves lead the league in batting (.264), though they are just sixth in runs, and are No. 2 in ERA (3.43). P.S. Down on the farm, former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney, an eighth-round pick by Atlanta this year, has a 4.12 ERA, a 2-2 record and one save in 16 games for short-season Danville. … Up on the farm, ex-M-Braves standout Joey Terdoslavich has homered in five straight games for Triple-A Gwinnett. He is batting .256 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs – and itching for a September call-up. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson is playing again. The Chicago White Sox shortstop prospect is 4-for-17 with two homers in six games in the rookie Arizona League. Anderson, a first-round pick in 2013, was batting .297 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 10 steals at high Class A Winston-Salem before suffering a wrist injury. … Former Harrison Central High star Bobby Bradley is killing it in the AZL, batting .374 with eight homers, 47 RBIs and 36 runs in 35 games. The lefty-hitting first baseman was a third-round pick by Cleveland in June.

19 Aug

ouch

The Mississippi Braves’ hopes for a second-half championship took a blow on Monday when Jose Peraza was placed on the disabled list with a groin injury. The 20-year-old second baseman is the team’s best player, batting .341 with 25 steals since his mid-June promotion. He played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game and was the Southern League player of the month for July. The second-place M-Braves (33-24) are battling Jacksonville (34-23) and Mobile (33-22) for the SL South second-half title; the BayBears won the first half, so the wild card could also come into play for the second postseason berth. The M-Braves, currently at Mobile, have 13 games left, only five of those at home (starting Friday) and none with Jacksonville. If Peraza, who hasn’t played since Aug. 14, is shut down for the rest of the season, the M-Braves’ task will be that much tougher. P.S. Kudos to ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson for winning National League player of the week honors. Dickerson, with Colorado, batted .393 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in seven games last week. For the year, he is at .326 with 17 homers and 57 RBIs.

14 Aug

leader of the pack

Which member of the Mississippi Braves’ current rotation has the best ERA? It’s not highly rated prospect Jason Hursh, All-Star Williams Perez or the unbeaten Mitch Atkins. It’s Greg Ross. Remember the name. He threw 6 2/3 shutout innings at Montgomery on Wednesday night to reduce his ERA to 2.12, the only sub-3.00 ERA among the five starters. Ross, a right-hander in his fourth pro season, was promoted to Double-A in late June — he was 5-3, 3.50 at Class A Lynchburg — and has been lights out. He is now 6-2 in 10 games (nine starts) with 33 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 59 1/3 innings. He tossed a nine-inning shutout in his second game with the M-Braves back on June 30. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Maryland native was an 18th-round pick by Atlanta in 2011 out of Frostburg (Md.) State, where he was an NCAA Division III All-America selection. He went 11-2 with a 1.49 ERA and a school-record 112 K’s in 90 2/3 innings that final season at Frostburg. He now has a 35-24 pro record. Ross’ efforts on Wednesday at Trustmark Park led the M-Braves to a 2-0 win and kept them in the heat of a three-team battle for the second-half title in the Southern League South. Mississippi is 31-21, a half-game back of first-place Mobile. Perez (4-6, 3.27) starts tonight in Game 3 of the series.

01 Aug

home cooking

The Mississippi Braves are surging. Sorta. Having limped in last Saturday after a rough road trip, the M-Braves have won five of six during the current homestand. But … they’ve gained no ground in the Southern League South during this stretch. At 23-18, the M-Braves are 3 games behind Jacksonville, which has displaced Mobile at the top of the standings. Still, Thursday’s 7-4 win over Mobile was significant. The BayBears, first-half champs in the division, took a series at Trustmark Park in mid-July, winning three straight after dropping the first two. In the opener of the new series on Thursday, the M-Braves got home runs — a rarity at the TeePee — from Cedric Hunter and Rich Poythress and some nice pitching — a regular occurrence — from J.R. Graham and Jason Hursh. Hunter, a one-time big leaguer, leads the M-Braves with 12 bombs. Poythress, the big first baseman signed recently to replace injured slugger Seth Loman, hit his first homer with the club. Graham, still on the mend from arm issues, threw two scoreless innings before giving way to Hursh, who worked six strong to get the win. The 2013 first-round pick by Atlanta out of Oklahoma State is now 10-6 with a 3.56 ERA. His future looks bright. P.S. Philadelphia did make a move on Thursday with ex-Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee. The Phillies put the veteran left-hander back on the disabled list after he experienced elbow discomfort during his start against Washington. Lee only recently returned from a two-month stint on the DL with the same problem. The chances he might be traded now look rather slim. In fact, his season may be over.

26 Jul

need for speed

The Mississippi Braves are slumping. Even with their big comeback victory in Friday’s series finale at Tennessee, they’ve won just four of their last 12. They are 18-17 in the second half, fourth in the Southern League South, 3 games behind first-place Mobile. They’ve got a 10-game homestand ahead, starting tonight against Pensacola. Mobile comes in for five following the Blue Wahoos series. Can the M-Braves get the knots out of their rope during this stretch and launch a playoff push? Well, one thing you have to like about this club is its ability to run; that’s a weapon that generally plays well at Trustmark Park, where the long ball is hard to come by. The M-Braves lead the league with 107 stolen bases. Jose Peraza, batting .356 in his 30 games with the M-Braves, leads the team in steals with 18. Kyle Kubitza has 17 (plus an amazing nine triples), as does Mycal Jones. Kyle Wren has eight bags in 24 games. Speed could be the key to getting over this funk. P.S. Who’s hot? The Tampa Bay Rays, who have won eight straight games and climbed back into the American League playoff picture. Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings, often the Rays’ leadoff batter, has contributed to their rise, batting .292 (7-for-24) with six runs over his last six games. He belted his ninth homer of the year on Friday. … Who’s not? The Cincinnati Reds, who are 0-7 since the All-Star break. Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton, the Reds’ tablesetter, is hitting .222 (6-for-27) during the skid and has managed to cross home plate just three times for a run-starved club. Hamilton did get his 41st stolen base Friday (and, yes, that is a record for a Mississippi native in MLB).

10 Jul

summit meeting

Even though there are 50 games left in the Southern League season, the next five may be bigger than most for the Mississippi Braves. The M-Braves, 12-8 and running second in the SL South, play host to first-place Mobile (13-7) in a five-game series at Trustmark Park that begins tonight. Mobile, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, won the first half in the division. The BayBears lead the league in ERA (3.13) and runs (433), a pretty good combination. The M-Braves, however, are right on their heels. They actually have a better team batting average (a league-best .269) to go with a 3.59 ERA (third) and 397 runs (fourth). Bottom line: This ought to be a whale of a series. Even with the recent loss to injury of slugger Seth Loman (11 homers, 53 RBIs), the M-Braves can trot out a pretty impressive lineup; they’ve got nine players batting .271 or better. Recent newcomers Kyle Wren (.368) and Daniel Castro (.355) have adjusted quite well to Double-A pitching. Jose Peraza is clipping along with a .342 average, and Cedric Hunter is at .319 with nine homers and 47 RBIs. Jake Lamb, a prospect at third base, leads Mobile with a .314 average, 13 bombs and 68 RBIs. Jason Hursh (6-6, 4.08) takes the bump for Mississippi in the opener (7 p.m.), facing A.J. Schugel (4-1, 3.81).

03 Jul

who’s on third?

Third base is a position of tradition for the Braves, thanks to Chipper Jones (and Eddie Mathews, for those who go back that far). Since Atlanta moved its Double-A team to Pearl in 2005, we have seen a parade of third basemen come and go: Wes Timmons, Van Pope, Eric Campbell, Donell Linares, Joe Leonard, et al. Not one of them has made the big leagues. (Martin Prado played primarily second base for the Mississippi Braves, and that remains his best position.) Kyle Kubitza is the latest to man the hot corner here, and he might just be the one who breaks through. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Texas native is having a very good Double-A debut. He went 3-for-4 on Wednesday night, with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs, as the M-Braves topped Huntsville 5-1 at Trustmark Park. Kubitza, a left-handed hitter, is at .306 for the year and is batting .351 over his last 10 games, with two three-hit games in the last five. He shows no signs of hitting the wall. He has four homers, 26 RBIs, 21 doubles, six triples, 15 steals (in 16 attempts) and 46 runs in 77 games. He needs to hit more home runs, but he is capable. He went deep 12 times at Class A Lynchburg in 2013. He is solid with the glove, as well, and has an outstanding arm. A third-round pick out of Texas State (yes, it’s NCAA Division I) in 2011, Kubitza turns 24 on July 15. He was rated Atlanta’s No. 22 prospect by Baseball America entering this season, but his stock surely has risen. And his shot at the revered third-base job in Atlanta might not be far off. P.S. There are two Mississippi natives working out of the Huntsville bullpen: David Goforth, from Meridian and Ole Miss, and Tim Dillard, from Saltillo and Itawamba Community College. Goforth, 25, is a Milwaukee closer prospect trying to move up, Dillard, 30, a big-league vet trying to get back. The M-Braves and Stars (the future Biloxi team) conclude their five-game Southern League series tonight at the TeePee.

29 Jun

something new

The Mississippi Braves, 6-4 in the second half, will have a new look when they take the field at Trustmark Park today to begin a five-game series with Huntsville. All-Star shortstop Elmer Reyes is gone, sent to Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday. Kyle Wren, an outfielder, and Daniel Castro, an infielder, were promoted from Class A Lynchburg. Neither played in the series finale at Birmingham, so they could make their Southern League debuts today. Wren, son of Atlanta general manager Frank Wren, was batting .296 with 33 steals at Lynchburg. The lefty-hitting center fielder was an eighth-round pick last June from Georgia Tech. Castro, a Mexico native who can play second base and shortstop, was hitting .292. The M-Braves also lost right-hander Aaron Northcraft, who led the team with seven wins, to promotion last week. They do come home on a roll, having won the last two games at Birmingham in dramatic fashion: with a nine-run ninth inning on Friday and with a go-ahead, eighth-inning home run by Cedric Hunter on Saturday. Hunter, a onetime big leaguer, is batting .311 with seven bombs. Second baseman Jose Peraza, who arrived from Lynchburg during the previous homestand, is hitting .425 in nine games. P.S. Some big league chew from Saturday: Former M-Braves star Christian Bethancourt got his first big league hit for Atlanta in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia that completed a twinbill sweep. … Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings, who went 0-for-9 in a doubleheader on Friday, led off Saturday’s game with a homer (No. 7) that propelled Tampa Bay to a 5-4 win over Baltimore. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton got three hits and a steal — he’s batting .282 with 34 bags — and Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart added a couple of hits to help Cincinnati win its fourth straight, 7-3 over San Francisco in 11 innings. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Alex Presley went 2-for-4 with a homer (No. 4) and three RBIs as Houston fell to Detroit 4-3. … UM product Lance Lynn, coming off a brilliant outing at Colorado, lasted just two innings at Dodger Stadium, yielding nine hits, two walks and six earned runs in St. Louis’ 9-1 loss to Los Angeles.

20 Jun

nice start

Speed is the word that dominates scouting reports on Jose Peraza, and he didn’t waste much time before showing it off in his Double-A debut on Thursday night at Trustmark Park. The Mississippi Braves’ new second baseman ripped a shot to the gap in left-center in the sixth inning and easily turned it into a triple for his first hit in the Southern League. The 20-year-old Venezuelan, batting leadoff, wound up 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI as the M-Braves opened the second half with a 9-4 win over the Jackson (Tenn.) Generals. Peraza also turned two double plays. A consensus top 10 prospect in the Atlanta system, he was tearing it up at Class A Lynchburg, batting .342 with 27 RBIs, 44 runs and 35 stolen bases in 66 games. Baseball America says he has “plus-plus speed.” Listed at 6 feet, 165 pounds, Peraza hasn’t hit much for power as a professional but reports say that may come. He is an exciting addition to an already solid M-Braves lineup.