Tag Archives: Tigers

22 Aug

numbers can deceive

He has only four wins in 21 starts, but don’t let that fool you: Justin Steele has been an ace for the Chicago Cubs this season. The ex-George County High star threw seven superlative innings today in a 10-2 win against Detroit at windy Wrigley Field. He allowed just four hits — two by Biloxi High alum Colt Keith — walked none and struck out 10. Steele doesn’t have enough innings to qualify for the official ERA stats — he missed a month-plus at the start of the year with a hamstring injury — but his 3.07 would rank eighth. The 2023 All-Star’s career ERA over four seasons is 3.24. Not a flamethrowing type, he has 125 strikeouts and just 32 walks in 123 innings. The left-hander befuddled the Tigers with pinpoint command, throwing 68 of 94 pitches for strikes. The proverbial “one mistake” he made was surrendering a two-run homer to Spencer Torkelson with one out in the seventh. The Cubs are 63-65, with barely a pulse in the National League wild card race. Imagine where they’d be without Steele. P.S. Tough day for Southern Miss product Nick Sandlin, who made “one mistake” in his outing for Cleveland against the New York Yankees. With the Guardians down 1-0 in the fifth, the sidearming Sandlin was called on to face Aaron Judge with two runners on and one out. Sandlin threw two balls, then walked Judge intentionally. Good call. He got a sac fly from Austin Wells that made it 2-0. One strike from escaping the jam, on a 3-2 pitch, Sandlin gave up a three-run bomb to Giancarlo Stanton. Ouch. The Yankees went on to win 6-0. Sandlin, with a 3.88 ERA, has seven wins, eight holds and a save in 56 appearances — but Thursday was not one of his better days. … Former William Carey standout Patrick Lee, signed as an undrafted free agent by Detroit in May, was promoted to Double-A Erie. He hit .272 with five homers, 29 RBIs and 32 steals at two levels of A-ball.

04 Aug

that sinking feeling

Garrett Crochet, the All-Star from Ocean Springs, took the mound for the Chicago White Sox on Saturday and pitched well over his four innings, allowing just a single run. The good start did not matter. The hapless ChiSox lost for the 19th straight time, 6-2 at Minnesota. Chicago (27-86) hasn’t won since July 10. Crochet (6-8, 3.19 ERA, after a no-decision Saturday) hasn’t won since June 7. Converted from reliever to starter this spring, the left-hander is having his innings limited. He hasn’t thrown more than four in his last five starts. He is at 118 1/3 innings in 23 starts on the season. Saturday’s start was his first since the trade deadline, when the constraints he placed on his availability the rest of the way likely kept him from being dealt to a contender. So he is stuck with one of the worst teams in history, a team that is threatening the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies’ record for consecutive losses (23). The White Sox rank last in MLB in runs, batting and OPS and are 19th in homers and walks. (Though he hasn’t had much to work with this year, hitting coach Marcus Thames, the ex-East Central Community College slugger, probably won’t be back in 2025.) P.S. On a more positive note: Cheers for the late Red Barber, the Columbus native who was formally inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday. Barber, the legendary voice of the old Brooklyn Dodgers (among others from 1934-66), is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the first recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award. … Biloxi High product Colt Keith of the Detroit Tigers was named the American League’s rookie of the month for July. He hit .322 (.404 on-base percentage) with seven homers and 17 RBIs. … The North Delta Dealers and HillCountry Generals will meet today for the Cotton States League title at Legion Field in New Albany. Avery Benson, an MUW alum, homered and drove in three runs and Sam Roy (Holmes CC) delivered the walk-off knock as the Dealers beat Tallahatchie 8-7 on Saturday. Benji Webb (Blue Mountain Christian) pitched a complete game, fanning 12 over the seven innings, and Joseph Rollins (Eupora High) drove in three runs for the Generals in a 5-2 win against Tupelo. … Davis Bradshaw, former McLaurin High and Meridian CC star, was released by Miami. In six pro seasons, he had a .303 career average with five homers in 379 games, only 45 above A-ball.

28 Jul

three things

1) Having lost six straight, Atlanta was in desperate need of some positive energy on Saturday, and rookie right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach brought it. Schwellenbach stifled the New York Mets for seven innings in what was, considering the circumstances, perhaps the best performance of the season by a Braves starter. Maybe it will be a turning point. In the 4-0 win at CitiField, Schwellenbach allowed just two hits, no walks and struck out 11. He improved to 4-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 10 starts. Fans of the Mississippi Braves might recall his sparkling Double-A debut on May 15, when he tossed six shutout innings with nine K’s against Biloxi. He is the latest in a virtual parade of former M-Braves pitchers who have had significant impact as rookies in Atlanta over the past eight years as the team rose to the top in the National League East. It’s been cool to see. To wit: Sean Newcomb and Max Fried in 2017, Mike Soroka in 2018, Ian Anderson in 2020, Spencer Strider in 2021-22, Bryce Elder in 2022, Jared Shuster and AJ Smith-Shawver in 2023.
2) Former Biloxi High star Colt Keith might be clawing his way into consideration for American League rookie of the year. Keith, Detroit’s second baseman, went 2-for-4 with a homer, a triple and three RBIs in the Tigers’ 7-2 win against Minnesota on Saturday. The lefty-swinging Keith, 22, is batting .259 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs — .318 with eight bombs and 21 RBIs over the last 30 games. He got a rich contract in the off-season before ever playing a big league game, and he has held up his end. And the Tigers are 52-54, still lurking in the wild card race.
3) Nick Fortes hits at the bottom of the lineup for a team at the bottom of the standings. But the ex-Ole Miss catcher, who stays in the Miami lineup because of his defensive skills, has actually heated up with the bat this month. He went 2-for-4 with a squeeze-bunt hit and a run in the Marlins’ 7-3 win against Milwaukee on Saturday, raising his average to .203. He has just two homers and 17 RBIs in 74 games for a 38-66 club. However, in his last seven games he is batting .409 and in his last 15 he’s at .327.

23 Jul

ode to ‘sport’

Born on this date in 1874 in the Delta town of Austin, Lewis William “Sport” McAllister holds the distinction of being the first Mississippi native to appear on a major league roster in the modern era, which began in 1901. McAllister was a switch-hitter who played every position over a seven-year big league career which launched in 1896 in the National League. He hit .301 for the 1901 Detroit Tigers and .247 for his career. He played many years in the minors after his big league career ended and was head coach at Michigan for a time. McAllister also holds the less-honorable distinction of having played for the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, a team that went 20-134 in the NL and is generally regarded as the worst major league club of all-time. (McAllister’s exploits that season are chronicled in the book “Of Mudcat, Boo, The Rope and Oil Can.”) McAllister died in Michigan in 1962. P.S. The Kansas City Royals (56-45) matched their win total from 2023 with a 10-4 win over Arizona on Monday. Ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe hit one of the Royals’ three homers — it was his ninth — and MSU product Adam Frazier went 1-for-5 with a run in the leadoff spot. Ex-Ole Miss star James McArthur leads KC with 17 saves but hasn’t pitched during the four-game win streak that has followed the All-Star break. … Grae Kessinger, former Ole Miss standout, was sent back to the minors by Houston. He has appeared in 16 games (15 at-bats) without a hit in two MLB stints this season.

14 Jul

launch mode

Eighty-five games into his rookie campaign, Colt Keith may just have had his signature moment of 2024. The ex-Biloxi High standout launched a game-tying, two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday as Detroit pulled off an amazing comeback and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-9 in 10 innings. “That’s one of the coolest moments yet,” Keith, 22, told mlb.com. He’ll be hard-pressed to top it. Keith’s homer, a yanked 364-footer, came off Dodgers closer Evan Phillips, the former Mississippi Braves hurler. It capped the Tigers’ five-run ninth, and they won it on a Gio Urshela bomb in the 10th. Keith went 3-for-4, raising his average to .253. The homer was his ninth. He has 37 RBIs. He arrived in the regular lineup at second base this spring as Detroit’s top prospect, having hit 38 homers over three minor league seasons since being drafted in the fifth round in 2020. He was given a big contract in January, a six-year, $28.6M deal with options and bonuses that could make it worth much more. But on May 19, he was batting .197. He didn’t have an MLB home run as of May 23. Apparently, he has figured some things out. A powerfully built left-handed hitter, Keith is batting .407 his last seven games, .311 with seven homers his last 15. If there were doubters in Detroit, they’ve been silenced. P.S. Purvis High’s Jacob Parker hit 24 homers in two rounds of Saturday’s high school home run derby at Globe Life Field in Texas and advanced to Monday’s final against Josiah Hartshorn. … Former M-Braves catcher Drake Baldwin — Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect (by MLB Pipeline) — homered in Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life. … And current M-Braves catcher Tyler Tolve slammed a walk-off homer in the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory over Birmingham at Pearl’s Trustmark Park.

08 Jul

playing pepper

Matt Wallner, recalled to the big leagues by Minnesota on Sunday, got a hit and a walk and made a sweet catch in left field in the Twins’ 3-2 win over Houston. Southern Miss alum Wallner, hitting .259 with 19 homers in Triple-A, had two hits — a double and a home run — in 25 at-bats in his April stint with the Twins. … Former Biloxi High star Colt Keith banged out two more hits for Detroit in a 5-1 win at Cincinnati and has nine knocks — three homers — in his last five games. The rookie second baseman is up to .244 on the season. … Ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier came off the injured list and hit leadoff for Kansas City on Sunday. Alas, he was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .205, though the Royals beat Colorado 10-1. … MSU product Dakota Hudson, designated for assignment by Colorado, had a rough go this season, his first with the Rockies: 2-12, 5.84 ERA. He was especially bad at Coors Field, where many pitchers suffer: 0-6, 8.26 ERA, .359 opponents batting average. He had a 3.72 road ERA. The former first-round pick (by St. Louis) is 40-32, 4.15, for his MLB career. At 29, he might still have something left. … The hit watch continues for Grae Kessinger, the former Ole Miss star recently recalled by the Astros from Triple-A. The seldom-used Kessinger is 0-for-3 since his return and 0-for-14 on the year for Houston. He was batting .283 at Sugar Land. … Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College standout, cleared waivers and was formally released by Miami. There have been no reports of interest from other teams in the former batting champ, a .278 career hitter who tumbled to .214 this season.

06 Jul

change in the wind?

The zero is gone. Maybe the luck has changed, too. Justin Steele, the lefty from Lucedale, winless in 12 starts this season for the Chicago Cubs, got on the board Friday and did it in emphatic fashion. Steele threw a two-hitter at the Los Angeles Angels in a 5-1 victory at Wrigley Field. He walked two, fanned seven. He threw just 95 pitches, only four in locking down the W in the ninth inning. It was Steele’s first career complete game in 76 starts over four seasons. As he jogged to the mound for the ninth, the p.a. played his walk-out song, Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” and the Wrigleyville crowd got loud. “It was a special moment. Something I’ll never forget,” Steele said in an mlb.com piece. Steele won 16 games for the Cubs in 2023 and made the All-Star Game. The George County High product got hurt in the season opener this year, went on the injured list and endured nothing but tough luck after his return — before Friday, that is. He is now 1-3 despite a 2.95 ERA. Today at Wrigley there is a Justin Steele bobblehead giveaway. Talk about good timing. … Steele’s complete game was the first by a Mississippi native in MLB since Brandon Woodruff tossed one on Sept. 11 of last year. There were none in 2022. For the record — and as an indicator of how the game has changed — the career mark for complete games by a Mississippian is 188 by Claude Passeau (1935-47). Guy Bush (1923-45) posted 151. Roy Oswalt (2001-13) had 20. P.S. From all indications, Colt Keith has found his power midway through his rookie season. The former state player of the year from Biloxi High hit two 400-foot home runs Friday for Detroit, fueling a 5-4 win at Cincinnati. Lefty hitter Keith, 6 feet 2, 211 pounds, now has seven bombs on the year, four in his last 15 games. He didn’t hit his first MLB homer until May 24. A fifth-round pick in 2020, Keith hit 38 homers over his three minor league seasons.

23 Jun

tiger tales

Any conversation about the greatest major league teams of all-time has to include the 1984 Detroit Tigers, who started 35-5 en route to 104 wins and went 7-1 in the postseason to claim the World Series title. The “Bless You Boys” team, celebrating its 40th anniversary this season, was managed by Sparky Anderson and led by an array of stars, including a pair of Mississippi natives who were key cogs in the stacked lineup. Jackson native Chet Lemon played center field, led the American League in fielding percentage (.995) and hit .287 with 20 homers, 76 RBIs, 34 doubles, six triples and 77 runs. Sunflower native Larry Herndon, also a good defender, played left field and batted .280 with seven homers, 43 RBIs and 52 runs. Jack Morris was the ace of the staff, but closer Willie Hernandez, acquired from Philadelphia late in spring training, won both the AL Cy Young and MVP awards. The regular lineup featured — in addition to Lemon and Herndon — Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parrish and Darrell Evans. Signed as a free agent in the off-season, the 37-year-old Evans said, “I picked Detroit because it’s a hungry city and I’m hungry, too. I want that ring on my finger.” Street & Smith’s preseason magazine picked the Tigers to run second to Baltimore in the AL East. They never spent a day out of first place. The Tigers won their opener 8-1 against Minnesota with Lemon getting a triple and scoring a run and Herndon picking up a hit and an RBI. They started 9-0 and 16-1 and fairly coasted to the division title. They blew through Kansas City 3-0 in the ALCS and beat San Diego 4-1 in the Series. Lemon went 5-for-17 with an RBI and two steals against the Padres. Herndon went 5-for-15, including a go-ahead homer in Game 1, and caught the final out of Game 5 in left field. It was the only ring either of them won in lengthy careers, and Detroit hasn’t won a World Series since then either. P.S. The current Tigers team, picked by some to win the AL Central, got off to a hot start but has faded of late. And there is a Mississippian on the team: Second baseman Colt Keith, the former Biloxi High standout — and the state’s Gatorade player of the year in 2019 — who got the big contract this year before ever playing an MLB game.

18 Jun

eye on …

Patrick Lee, former William Carey University standout, took a winding road to reach affiliated baseball. Currently playing outfield — and faring well — for the Low-Class A Lakeland Flying Tigers, Lee wasn’t drafted out of high school — Resurrection Catholic in Pascagoula — or following a five-year stint at Carey, where he batted .335, stole 74 bases and played in the NAIA World Series in 2023. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Lee got a spot in the MLB Draft League last summer and hit .279 with 29 stolen bases. The Draft League is for players hoping to catch the eye of scouts ahead of the draft, but Lee didn’t get a call last summer. This spring, he signed with Evansville in the independent Frontier League and after batting .410 in 11 games there got an offer from the Detroit Tigers. He signed on May 25. Through 16 games at Lakeland, Lee is batting .289 with a homer, 11 runs, nine steals and a .467 OBP. At 24, he is a little old for the Low-A level and might be in line for a bump to High-A soon. P.S. Willie Joe Garry Jr., a Pascagoula High product, is currently playing for Schaumburg in the Frontier League, batting .191 in five games. Garry, drafted out of ‘Goula by Minnesota in 2018, spent six years in the Twins’ system, reaching the Double-A level briefly. The 24-year-old outfielder, a career .206 batter, was hitting .132 at High-A Cedar Rapids when he was released on May 21. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Dallas Woolfolk, a Hernando native, is also on the Schaumburg roster.

16 Jun

who’s hot?

Continuing to make his case for a return to the big leagues, Matt Wallner enjoyed another four-hit game — with a home run — on Saturday for Triple-A St. Paul. The ex-Southern Miss star, who also had a four-hit game on Thursday, is batting .396 in June (.458 OBP) with seven homers and 16 RBIs. He was sent down by Minnesota on April 16 following a horrid start. After his recent hot streak, the left-handed slugger is at .246 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs for St. Paul. … Grae Kessinger is also building a case for a return to The Show. The Ole Miss product went 3-for-5 for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday and is batting .341 since his June 5 demotion by Houston. Kessinger, a versatile infielder, rarely played (11 at-bats) while he was with the Astros, who are struggling mightily at 32-39. … Former Biloxi High standout Colt Keith, making his case to stay in the big leagues with Detroit, went 4-for-6 in the Tigers’ 13-5 whipping of the Astros on Saturday. After an early June swoon, rookie Keith, 22, is 7-for-13 in his last three games, boosting his average to .235. He has three homers and 20 RBIs. “For me, it’s not about the stats or the data,” he recently said in a FanGraphs article. “It’s a comfort-level thing.” … In four games since he was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett from Mississippi, Nacho Alvarez is making his case as a prospect to watch in Atlanta’s system. He put up a 4-for-4 game Saturday and is 9-for-18 with two homers in four games for the Stripers. With the Double-A M-Braves, the 21-year-old shortstop hit .265 with no homers in 49 games. … In Low-Class A, former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt is bidding for a move up in Milwaukee’s system. Pratt had a three-hit game for Carolina on Saturday — his fourth three-knock game in his last eight — and is raking at a .429 clip in June. For the season, the second-year pro, 19, is at .310 with two homers, 24 RBIs and 15 steals. He is the Brewers’ No. 8-rated prospect.