Tag Archives: spring training

22 Mar

sitting on ready

No one would appear more ready for the MLB season (stateside version) to begin than Garrett Crochet. The former Ocean Springs High standout, now with the Boston Red Sox, threw 5 1/3 shutout innings Friday in a Grapefruit League game against Pittsburgh and pronounced himself “pumped” for his opening day start. The Red Sox launch the 2025 campaign at Texas on Thursday. Crochet, a 2024 All-Star acquired in an off-season trade, has a 0.57 ERA over 15 1/3 innings this spring. Commanding a 97-mph four-seamer, a sinker and a cutter, he has struck out 30, roughly half the batters the 6-foot-6 left-hander has faced. Crochet was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA for the lowly Chicago White Sox last season, when he threw just 146 innings. The Red Sox will want their new ace to shoulder more of a load in his second season as a starter. … Who else is ready? Jackson Prep product Will Warren, likely to be in the New York Yankees’ rotation, has posted a 1.09 WHIP and a .219 average against this spring over 19 1/3 innings. His big league debut was a little rocky last year, but he appears primed for much better things in 2025. … Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner has belted six home runs for Minnesota, tied for the spring training lead entering today’s play. The lefty-hitting outfielder is batting .231 with 14 RBIs. He has been pegged by mlb.com as an X-factor in the Twins’ bid to make the playoffs this season. … Colt Keith, the ex-Biloxi High standout who shined (.260, 13 homers) as a rookie with Detroit in 2024, has hit the ground running this spring, ranking among the top hitters with a .320 average in 50 at-bats. Having moved from second base to first, the 6-foot-2, 211-pound Keith has four doubles and five RBIs.

20 Mar

roster reality bites

The wait will continue for Jake Mangum, the ex-Mississippi State star who was optioned to Triple-A by the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. Mangum, 29, in pro ball since 2019 but yet to make his MLB debut, batted .429 with two homers and nine RBIs this spring. “The disappointment of not making the club is real, and it should be real for them because of the type of camp they had,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told mlb.com, referring to Mangum and fellow outfielder Kameron Misner. Tampa Bay is the third organization Mangum has played for, and this is his first spring on a 40-man roster. “Just going to keep going. I think one day it will happen,” Mangum told Rays Beat last week. Flowood native Mangum, who left MSU as the all-time hits leader in the SEC, is a .296 career hitter in the minors. … Also sent down by the Rays on a day when the MLB transactions page was humming was Ole Miss alum Jacob Waguespack, 31, who has a 5.11 ERA in 31 big league appearances spread over three seasons (2019, ’20 and ’24). All told, nine Mississippi products on 40-man rosters have been optioned out so far. … On the minor league level, ex-Southern Miss pitchers Hunter Stanley (Cleveland), Walker Powell (Chicago Cubs) and Billy Oldham (Minnesota) landed on the injured list to start 2025, as did Ole Miss products Jack Dougherty (Minnesota) and Cole Tolbert (Boston). Tolbert apparently will miss the entire season. P.S. Tim Anderson, the former MLB All-Star out of East Central Community College, apparently will make the Los Angeles Angels’ 26-man club as a non-roster spring invitee. Anderson, working at second base, shortstop and center field this spring, is batting .267 in the Cactus League. A .278 career hitter, he was released by Miami last summer with a .214 average. … Tampa Bay recently signed MSU alum Hunter Stovall as a minor leaguer. He batted .277 over six seasons in the Colorado system before becoming a free agent last fall.

17 Mar

digging the long ball

Brewton-Parker Field in Mount Vernon, Ga., isn’t especially small, but for William Carey University’s hitters, it played like a bandbox over the weekend. The Crusaders hit 19 home runs and scored 75 runs all told — 31, 11 and 33 — in a three-game sweep of the Southern States Athletic Conference series. “(P)laying in some of the smaller parks really plays into our power throughout the lineup,” Carey coach Bobby Halford said in a school release. Carey, ranked 12th in NAIA, is 22-4 and 13-2 in the SSAC with eight wins in a row. Brewton-Parker fell to 9-15, 4-11. High-scoring games aren’t uncommon at BP Field: Four times previously visiting teams had scored 13 or more runs in 2025. The host scored a season-high 17 in Game 1 vs. Carey. But still, the Crusaders’ show of power was jaw-dropping. Jayden Mark had a three-homer game, his first three of the season. Josh Alexander, Carey’s homer leader at 10, had two two-homer games, and Preston Ratliff and Rigoberto Hernandez each produced a two-homer game. The Crusaders entered the series with 17 homers over 23 games. … Of the state’s big four NCAA Division I schools, only one came out of the first weekend of conference play feeling very good. Southern Miss (14-6) took two of three from visiting Old Dominion to start Sun Belt play, though the Golden Eagles lost Game 3. Ole Miss (15-4) dropped two of three at home against Arkansas, Mississippi State (13-7) was swept by visiting Texas and Jackson State (12-6) went 1-2 at Prairie View A&M. … Millsaps College rallied from four runs down to beat Centre 5-4 at Twenty Field to split a Sunday doubleheader; Charles Hunt, a pinch hitter, knocked in the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh. The Majors are 12-5, 1-1 Southern Athletic Association. Centre, nationally ranked in Division III, is 12-2, 4-1. P.S. In MLB, ex-State star Hunter Renfroe hit two doubles and a triple and drove in five runs for Kansas City in a Cactus League game. Veteran outfielder Renfroe is batting .348 with a homer and nine RBIs this spring. … Brandon Woodruff, former Bulldogs pitcher, threw a scoreless inning for Milwaukee in his first MLB game action since 2023. “It was a big day for me,” a beaming Woodruff, coming off shoulder surgery, told reporters. … Right-hander J.T. Ginn, another MSU product, was optioned to Triple-A by the A’s; Ginn made his MLB debut last season.

16 Mar

good vibes

Atlanta Braves fans breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday when Austin Riley returned to the lineup following a worrisome HBP the day before. “We dodged a bullet,” the former DeSoto Central High star told reporters after an impressive display in batting practice. Riley was hit in the right hand and left Friday’s game, but he returned Saturday to play third base and hang out a 1-for-3 in a 4-0 loss against Minnesota. Riley missed several weeks at the end of last season with a broken right hand. He is hitting .310 with a homer this spring. A two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner, he enters 2025 with a .272 career average and 153 bombs. … In that same Saturday game, former Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner went 1-for-3 with his 13th RBI of the spring for Minnesota. Wallner, batting leadoff (see previous post), is tied for second in MLB spring training stats in both RBIs and homers (five). He hit two on Friday. He’ll enter the new season with 29 career bombs in 169 games. … Elsewhere, Tanner Hall, the 2022 Ferriss Trophy winner from USM, started and threw two scoreless innings for the Twins’ Spring Breakout team. Hall, a fourth-round draft pick in 2023, went 4-3 with a 5.40 ERA in A-ball in his pro debut last season. He was 22-8 with a 2.92 in three years in Hattiesburg. Hall is not listed among the Twins’ Top 30 prospects. … Ole Miss alum Doug Nikhazy, Cleveland’s 22nd-ranked prospect, was optioned to Triple-A. He had a (misleading) 7.27 ERA in four spring appearances and impressed Guardians staff, who reportedly want him to build up innings in the minors.

13 Mar

breaking out

The Spring Breakout games, featuring most of the best minor league talent, begin today with Boston’s squad taking on Tampa Bay (MLB Network, 6:05 p.m.). On the Red Sox’s roster is former DeSoto Central High star Blaze Jordan, while the Rays’ roster includes Mississippi State product Colton Ledbetter. The games, 16 all told, will run through Sunday. Among the Mississippians who could be featured are Konnor Griffin (Pittsburgh), Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox), Tim Elko (White Sox), Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee), Dakota Jordan (San Francisco), Jurrangelo Cijntje (Seattle) and Tanner Hall (Minnesota). MLB Pipeline has pegged David Mershon, former All-SEC shortstop out of MSU, as a sleeper prospect on the Los Angeles Angels team. Though not ranked among the Angels’ Top 30, the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Mershon’s star appears to be ascending. From mlb.com: “He’s a switch-hitter with on-base skills and speed who can play excellent infield defense.” Drafted in the 18th round last summer after two years at State (.347, 27 steals last year), the South Carolina native went straight to Double-A and hit .254. The Angels then sent him to the Arizona Fall League, another high-talent loop, and Mershon batted .263 there. Invited to big league camp, he is 3-for-14 in A-games. The Angels’ Spring Breakout game is slated for Saturday (MLBN, 8:05 p.m.) against the Cubs. P.S. Justin Foscue, another former MSU infielder, was optioned to Triple-A by Texas on Wednesday. Foscue, batting .235 in big league games this spring, made his MLB debut in 2024 but hit just .048 (2-for-42). The 14th overall pick in the 2020 draft, he has a .278 career average in the minors with 60 homers. … MSU alum Kendall Graveman, recently signed by Arizona as a free agent, has not pitched this spring because of a reported back issue. He missed all of the 2024 season following shoulder surgery.

11 Mar

quick pitches

On a windy day in Arizona, Justin Steele got blown away by Milwaukee hitters. The former George County High star, expected to start the second game of the Chicago Cubs’ season next week in Japan, gave up 10 hits — three home runs — and seven runs all told in 3 2/3 innings. The left-hander now has a 9.72 ERA in 8 1/3 innings this spring. The 2023 All-Star went 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 24 starts in an injury-curtailed 2024 season. He won 16 games in 2023. … Also in Cactus League action today, ex-Ole Miss standout Doug Nikhazy, making a start for Cleveland, got knocked around by the Los Angeles Dodgers, yielding four hits, four walks and seven runs in 1 2/3 innings (55 pitches). The left-hander gave up a two-run homer to Tommy Edman, the second batter he faced. In camp as a new member of the Guardians’ 40-man roster, Nikhazy has a 7.27 ERA in 8 2/3 innings and is likely ticketed to return to Triple-A to start 2025. … Brandon Woodruff, the Mississippi State alum from Wheeler, pitched in a minor league game for Milwaukee in Arizona, his first live appearance since shoulder surgery 17 months ago. He reportedly threw 94 mph and unveiled a new cutter. Woodruff, a two-time All-Star, is 46-26, 3.10, for his career. His projected return to the Brewers’ active roster is mid-May. … On Monday in Florida, Jackson Prep product Will Warren threw 3 2/3 innings (two hits, one walk, one earned run) for the New York Yankees in a win against Detroit. Warren, 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings this spring, appears to be a viable candidate for the Yanks’ tattered rotation with Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil both out. GM Brian Cashman, asked about looking for arms outside the organization, told mlb.com: “We’ll just evaluate what’s available, and this time of year, very little is available.” For the record, former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn and Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull, both MLB vets, are free agents. … Nick Sandlin, ex-Southern Miss standout, got a win for Toronto on Monday with a scoreless inning in relief. A newcomer to the Blue Jays (trade from Cleveland), he has made just two appearances this spring. … Ole Miss alum Ryan Rolison, a first-round pick back in 2018, has thrown three scoreless innings with three K’s this spring for Colorado; the 27-year-old lefty (4.55 ERA in 83 minor league games) is in camp as a minor leaguer. … Kansas City optioned Eric Cerantola, Mississippi State product, to Triple-A, and the A’s did the same with ex-UM star Gunnar Hoglund.

08 Mar

rebuilding project

Blaze Jordan seems to have been overshadowed by other prospects in Boston’s loaded minor league system. The precocious slugger out of DeSoto Central High, entering his fifth pro season, did not get an official non-roster invite to big league camp this spring, and he dropped off the Red Sox’s Top 30 prospects list released by MLB Pipeline this month. And yet, Jordan is still only 22 years old, and the Red Sox put him on the Spring Breakout roster with a bevy of their top prospects. The Red Sox will play the first game of the star-powered minor league event, facing Tampa Bay on March 13 on MLB Network. Jordan, who has played first and third base in the minors, batted .261 with seven homers and 61 RBIs in Double-A last year, when injuries limited him to 89 games. For his pro career, the righty hitter is batting .287 (.345 OBP) with 43 homers and 241 RBIs in 359 games. Jordan made news as a kid in Southaven by belting tape-measure bombs in national home run competitions, and he was Mississippi’s Gatorade player of the year in the abbreviated 2020 season. Boston took him in the third round as a 17-year-old that summer. He has been ranked as high as No. 6 on the club’s prospect list — based largely on his power potential — and has twice been an organization postseason All-Star (in 2022 and ’23). Injuries apparently set him back in 2024, but the fact the Red Sox have given him some at-bats with the big club this spring and put him on the Spring Breakout team indicates he hasn’t been forgotten. Jordan figures to make the majors someday — though it might not be with Boston. … Also on the Spring Breakout rosters are many of the Mississippians on Top 30 prospect lists (see previous post) and a few who are not. To wit: Ex-Southern Miss ace Tanner Hall, who pitched in A-ball in 2024, is on Minnesota’s squad; Will Bednar, a star on Mississippi State’s College World Series winner in 2021, is on San Francisco’s roster; Itawamba Community College alum Will Verdung, a 2023 draftee by Atlanta, is on the Braves’ team; and ex-MSU standout David Mershon, a 2024 draftee who debuted in Double-A, made the Los Angeles Angels’ roster. … Other games of note that could involve Mississippians: Pittsburgh-Philadelphia March 14 (MLBN), Texas-San Francisco March 15, Detroit-Atlanta March 16 (MLBN), Cincinnati-Milwaukee March 16 (MLBN) and Colorado-Chicago White Sox March 16.

07 Mar

spring flings

Jake Mangum, vying for a spot on Tampa Bay’s opening day roster, had a double and two RBIs in Grapefruit League action today. The Mississippi State alum, who was subbed in in left field, is batting .417 with three RBIs in 12 at-bats. … Ex-State slugger Hunter Renfroe checked in with his first homer of the spring, a 422-foot blast for Kansas City in the Cactus League. Renfroe is sitting on 192 career homers, tied for fifth (with Brian Dozier) on the all-time list of Mississippi natives in MLB. … Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College star, went 2-for-3 while playing shortstop today for the Los Angeles Angels. The former All-Star, in camp as a non-roster invitee, is batting .217 in 23 ABs with one homer and two steals. He has worked at short, second base and center field this spring. … Former DeSoto Central High star Blaze Jordan, in Boston’s A-game today as a minor leaguer, went 2-for-2 with a triple, two runs and an RBI as the Red Sox put up 20 runs against Miami. … The Milwaukee Brewers rank No. 7 in MLB Pipeline’s new list of the top farm systems in the majors. Biloxi, which started play in 2015 after moving from Huntsville, Ala., hosts Milwaukee’s Double-A team and should have a stacked roster this summer, including former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt. P.S. Fun Fact: Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, son of former Forrest County AHS and MLB star Charlie Hayes, mentioned on MLB Network’s Hot Stove today that his mom, Gelinda, was pregnant with him when dad made the catch that ended the 1996 World Series. “They call me the World Series baby,” Ke’Bryan said. That Series, won by the New York Yankees, ended in October. Ke’Bryan was born Jan. 28, 1997, in Tomball, Texas. Speaking about his dad, who played 14 years in The Show, the younger Hayes said, “He’s my biggest fan. … He eats and breathes baseball 24/7. … Our whole family (he has two brothers), we eat and breathe baseball. It’s what we love to do.” Hayes is entering his sixth MLB campaign; he hit .233 with four homers in an injury-curtailed 2024 season.

06 Mar

leading man

Though he doesn’t profile as an old-school leadoff batter, it’s looking like that might be Matt Wallner’s role for Minnesota in 2025. The Southern Miss product, a corner outfielder/DH who goes 6 feet 4, 220 pounds, has been used there exclusively this spring, including in today’s Grapefruit League game, when he hit a three-run bomb off New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said putting Wallner atop the lineup is “a concept in action right now.” The lefty-hitting Wallner is just 2-for-20 this spring, both hits homers, with two walks, two HBPs and seven strikeouts. “He gets on base and hits balls hard,” Baldelli told The Minnesota Star Tribune. That he does. USM’s career homer king, Wallner hit .259 with 13 homers in 75 games for the Twins last season. He posted a .372 on-base percentage, having drawn 24 walks and been hit by a pitch 16 times. He joked in an ESPN interview today that Baldelli calls him “Cement Bones.” He has 29 career homers and 31 HBPs over 169 games. In an 82-80 2024 campaign, Minnesota reportedly used 10 different leadoff batters. Wallner hit there once. He told the ESPN crew that he’s fine with giving it more of a go in 2025.

04 Mar

one fine day

Making a strong bid for a role on the New York Yankees’ pitching staff come opening day, Will Warren threw three strong innings against Philadelphia today in the Grapefruit League. The former Jackson Prep star allowed one run with four strikeouts — Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner — and now has an ERA of 1.13 over eight innings. The Yankees’ No. 5 prospect, right-hander Warren apparently has enhanced his repertoire from last season, when he endured a wobbly six-game MLB debut. “Getting ahead is the biggest thing,” Warren recently told mlb.com. “Looking back at some stuff last year, I was always fighting back (in the count).” He is 25-18 with a 4.31 ERA over three minor league seasons after being an eighth-round pick out of Southeastern Louisiana in 2021. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Matthew Etzel, in Tampa Bay’s camp as a non-roster invitee, put on a show today, banging out a double and a home run with three RBIs in the Rays’ 4-1 win against Detroit. Etzel, a 10th-round pick in 2023 by Baltimore, is 3-for-16 this spring. He reached Double-A last season, when he was traded from the Orioles to Tampa. Overall in 2024, the 6-foot-2, 211-pound outfielder belted 11 homers and stole 45 bases. Jake Mangum, another ex-Prep star and Mississippi State alum who is battling for an opening day roster spot with the Rays, went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and a sac bunt. The 28-year-old outfielder is 4-for-10 in Grapefruit games. … In that same game today in Clearwater, Fla., Biloxi High product Colt Keith was 1-for-3 with a run for Detroit and is batting .375 in 16 spring at-bats. He hit .260 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs as a rookie for the Tigers last year.