Tag Archives: Tigers

09 Jul

mission(s) accomplished

Small matter first: Will Warren kept Cal Raleigh in the yard on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Big picture: Jackson Prep product Warren bounced back from a rough start last week to throw 5 2/3 shutout innings for New York in a 10-3 win against Seattle. It was the Yankees’ second straight win after six straight losses, including four in Toronto last week. Warren, rookie right-hander, gave up eight runs in four innings in one of those losses. “I would like to say that I flushed it right away, but I think you take every outing and learn from it — good or bad,” he said in an mlb.com story. “He was filling up the strike zone, which was good to see,” manager Aaron Boone said. Warren is now 6-4 with a 4.70 ERA in 19 starts (and 3-1 over his last seven appearances). He allowed just four hits and two walks against Seattle, which came in with a 48-42 record, led by the All-Star masher Raleigh. “The Big Dumper” bounced out twice and walked against Warren before hitting his 36th homer later in the game when the Yanks were comfortably ahead. New York (50-41) remains 3.5 games behind the Blue Jays — who won their 10th straight on Tuesday — in the American League East. P.S. Milwaukee rookie Jacob Misiorowski, former Biloxi Shuckers ace, beat the Los Angeles Dodgers (and Clayton Kershaw), fanning 12 in six innings in the 3-1 victory. “The Miz” is 4-1, 2.81, in five starts. … Ex-Biloxi High standout Colt Keith homered for the second straight day for Detroit, a go-ahead shot that helped the Tigers beat Tampa Bay 4-2 for their fifth straight win. Keith has eight homers on the year. … Arizona has sent Mississippi State alum Kendall Graveman on a rehab assignment in rookie ball. … Toronto put former Southern Miss star Nick Sandlin on the injured list with an elbow issue.

08 Jul

seizing the spotlight

On a Detroit team with four 2025 All-Stars, Colt Keith typically plays a supporting role. On Monday, the former Biloxi High star took center stage, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a long home run in the Tigers’ 5-1 win over Tampa Bay at Comerica Park. Actually, no player for the runaway Tigers is on a hotter streak than Keith, batting .435 (10-for-23) over his last seven games. He is batting .321 over his last 15 games with three homers, seven RBIs and 11 runs, mostly out of the leadoff spot. Keith credits a change in his approach for this surge. “Lately, I’ve been swinging, like, 75 percent and just trying to be short to the ball,” he told the Detroit Free Press. The second-year big leaguer, 23, who got a big contract before his rookie season, started slowly this year, batting .181 with a lone homer and five RBIs through April. He is currently at .264 with seven homers, 27 RBIs and 40 runs in 80 games. After playing second base in 2024 — a new position for the lefty hitter — he has bounced between second, first, third and DH this season. Mississippi’s Gatorade player of the year in 2019, Keith was drafted in the fifth — and final — round in 2020 and proved a quick study in the minors, batting .300 over his three seasons. P.S. Washington named bench coach Miguel Cairo as its interim manager after firing Dave Martinez on Sunday. Nationals pitching coach Jim Hickey, who filled that role for the Double-A Jackson Generals some 30 years ago, will stay on, for now. … Mississippi Mud Monsters Brian Williams, Victor Diaz and Travis Holt have been chosen for the Frontier League All-Star Game, set for next Wednesday at Troy, N.Y. The independent Mud-sters resume their homestand tonight against Windy City at Trustmark Park.

02 Jul

who’s no. 1?

Fun facts: Raise a foam finger for the Detroit Tigers, ranked No. 1 again this week, a spot they’ve occupied for several weeks in the USA Today/Sports Weekly poll. Granted, an MLB poll doesn’t seem as significant as college football and basketball polls, but it does say something about the national perception of the 30 teams. And the Tigers, at 54-32 after an 11-2 win over Washington in Game 1 of a Wednesday doubleheader, do have the best record in the majors and a huge division lead. They also have a prominent Mississippian on their roster: Colt Keith, the former Biloxi High star now in his second big league campaign. After a 3-for-5 effort Wednesday from the leadoff spot, Keith is batting .254 with six homers, 13 doubles, 25 RBIs and 36 runs. It’s interesting to note that four of the top seven in the latest Sports Weekly poll have a Mississippi product on their active roster. (It’s also interesting, if that’s the right word, that seven of the bottom nine in the latest poll also deploy a Mississippian.) The No. 4 team is the Chicago Cubs (50-35 entering play Wednesday), who feature former Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz in their bullpen. The veteran lefty has not allowed an earned run in 25 appearances since he was acquired from Seattle. At No. 6 is the New York Yankees (48-37), who will trot out Jackson Prep product Will Warren (5-4, 4.37 ERA) in a big game Wednesday night against Toronto, 12th in the poll but just a game back of New York in the American League East. No. 7 is Tampa Bay, which improved to 48-39 with a 6-5 win against Oakland on Wednesday; former Mississippi State star Jake Mangum hit his second homer in that game and is batting .313 as a rookie. … Ranked ninth is Milwaukee, 48-37 after beating the New York Mets 7-2 in the first of two games Wednesday. The Brewers have penciled in ex-MSU standout Brandon Woodruff for his 2025 debut on Sunday; he is 46-26, 3.10, for his career but has been shelved (arm surgery) since September of 2023. For the record, third-ranked Houston (51-34 entering play Wednesday) has MSU alum J.P. France on the injured list but working his way back to active duty, which should come sometime after the All-Star break. … At the bottom of the poll is Colorado, 19-66 and threatening to post the worst record in modern MLB history, breaking the lowly mark set just last year by the Chicago White Sox. Former Ole Miss standout Ryan Rolison is a 27-year-old rookie pitcher for the Rockies, and he has a 7.78 ERA in 16 games, fitting right in on a struggling staff. Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet had the misfortune to pitch for the moribund ChiSox last year but has since escaped (via off-season trade) to Boston.

24 Jun

noteworthy

Justin Foscue made his 2025 debut with Texas on Monday night, becoming the 26th Mississippian (native or school alum) to play in the big leagues this season. Seventeen are currently on active rosters. Three have been released and are free agents, the others are either on the injured list or back in the minors. Ex-Mississippi State star Foscue, called up from Triple-A on Saturday, played first base and went 0-for-3 in the Rangers’ loss to Baltimore. … Brent Rooker moved up to third and Colt Keith to fourth in the latest All-Star Game balloting for American League DH, and Austin Riley rose to sixth in the National League third base race. Rooker, an MSU alum, is hitting .275 with 15 homers and 41 RBIs for the A’s. Keith, a Biloxi High product, is at .243 with six bombs and 24 RBIs for Detroit, which has the best record in MLB. Former DeSoto Central star Riley is hitting .275 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs for Atlanta; he was 2-for-4 with a triple in the 3-2 win vs. the New York Mets on Monday night. The All-Star Game is July 15 in Atlanta. … Connor Hujsak, former MSU standout, was named the Carolina League player of the week on Monday; he was 10-for-29 with two homers and nine RBIs last week for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay chain. Hujsak is the 11th Mississippi product to win a minor league player or pitcher of the week award this season, joining Konnor Griffin, Kemp Alderman, Blaze Jordan, Tyson Hardin, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Niko Mazza, Braden Montgomery, Rowdey Jordan, Blaine Crim and J.T. Ginn.

09 May

merry old month of may

If Colt Keith was suffering from a sophomore slump in April, it seems he has pulled out of it in May. Ex-Biloxi High standout Keith went 2-for-5 with a 450-foot home run on Thursday in Detroit’s 11-6 win at Colorado, the second game of a twinbill. At April’s end, Keith, 23, was batting .181 with a lone homer and five RBIs. He is 7-for-21 with three homers and six RBIs in May, helping the Tigers climb to 25-13, matching the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the big leagues. His average has risen to .215. “The clubhouse is great, we’re on the field picking each other up,” Keith said in an mlb.com piece. “We’re making plays, doing the things we need to do to win.” Mississippi’s 2019 Gatorade player of the year, Keith got a big contract (six years, $28.6 million plus options) before his rookie season even began, then hit .260 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs as the Tigers made a late drive into the postseason. Asked to move from second base to first this season, lefty-hitting Keith has wound up playing mostly at second again, accommodating Spencer Torkelson’s resurgence at first. Keith’s turnaround at the plate might have been predictable. He batted .163 in April last year, .342 in May. … Meanwhile, Kansas City has stayed on the Tigers’ heels in the American League Central but without much help from veteran Hunter Renfroe. The Royals routed the Chicago White Sox 10-0 Thursday to improve to 23-16 with a sixth straight win. Former Mississippi State star Renfroe went 0-for-4 and is in a 1-for-17 funk that has sunk his average to .152. Entering this season, the 33-year-old outfielder had 192 career homers. He has yet to hit one in 2025 and has just four RBIs. Renfroe is making $7.5M this season, but his roster spot still might be in jeopardy.

01 May

names to know

JoJo Parker (No. 14), J.B. Middleton (31), Landon Harmon (47), Talon Haley (84), Pico Kohn (102) and Mason Morris (116): All are ranked among MLB Pipeline’s new Top 150 MLB draft prospects for 2025. Parker (Purvis), Harmon (East Union) and Haley (Lewisburg) are high school players; Middleton pitches at Southern Miss, Kohn at Mississippi State and Morris at Ole Miss.
Brent Rooker: The ex-Mississippi State All-American hit his eighth homer to spark a six-run ninth as the A’s, 16-15 with six wins in eight games, beat Texas 7-1 in the major leagues on Wednesday.
Colt Keith: The former Biloxi High star, battling a sophomore slump in MLB, hit his first homer of the season and scored twice for Detroit in a 7-4 victory at Houston; Keith, a .260 hitter in 2024, is batting .181.
Brandon Johnson: The Ole Miss alum, a fourth-year pro, notched his fourth save for Double-A Northwest Arkansas (Kansas City chain) and now has a 1.42 ERA over 10 appearances.
Konnor Griffin: The ex-Jackson Prep standout, Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect, belted his fifth homer for Low-Class A Bradenton and is batting .265 over 20 games as a pro rookie.
Ti’Quan Forbes: The Columbia High product, the state’s Mr. Baseball in 2014, has signed with the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters; Forbes, 28, an infielder, was a second-round draft pick by Texas 11 years ago and reached the Triple-A level in affiliated ball.
Austin Canale: The Belhaven freshman shortstop drove in five runs on a four-hit day as 2-seed Belhaven beat Huntingdon 16-1 on Wednesday in the first round of the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn.
Eli Collins: The senior outfielder went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs to lead William Carey to a 15-5 win against Tennessee Southern in the first day of pool play in the SSAC Tournament.
Mason Nichols: The Ole Miss senior pitcher has been named the 2024-25 SEC Male H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference office. Nichols, a Jackson Prep grad, is a biological sciences major and is 3-1 with a 5.40 ERA this season.

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.

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.

30 Dec

position switch, take two

Prior to last season, the Detroit Tigers gave raw rookie Colt Keith a big contract — which could be worth some $80 million — and a new position to play. The former Biloxi High standout, a third baseman in high school and the minors, switched to second base for his MLB debut — and handled the move with aplomb. Keith has been named the second baseman on Baseball Digest’s MLB Rookie All-Star Team for 2024, joining the likes of Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill, Colton Cowser and Jackson Chourio on the venerable magazine’s honored list. Mississippi’s 2019 Gatorade player of the year, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Keith batted .260 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs in 148 games for the Tigers, who made the postseason. What’s next for Keith? Well, the Tigers will ask him to switch positions again in the spring, moving to first base to accommodate the arrival of free agent signee Gleyber Torres. Expect Keith, 23, to make a smooth adjustment, just as he did last spring. P.S. Waiting to see what’s next for Grae Kessinger, the Oxford native and ex-Ole Miss star who was designated for assignment by Houston last week. Kessinger could return to the Astros’ system if he clears waivers or he could wind up somewhere else as a minor league free agent. The 27-year-old infielder has been in pro ball since 2019, with 49 games in the big leagues. In 23 games with the Astros in 2024, he was 0-for-21. He batted .262 in Triple-A. … Entering the final day of the Mexican Pacific League regular season, Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton leads the winter league with 38 stolen bases. The former big leaguer — who has 838 steals overall in pro ball — is batting .246 for Jalisco. Ex-Gulfport High standout Bobby Bradley, also an ex-big leaguer, is tied for third in the MPL with 10 homers for Navojoa.

10 Oct

postseason potpourri

A former Mississippi Braves player enjoyed a star turn for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday night. It wasn’t Freddie Freeman, who sat out the Dodgers’ stunning 8-0 win vs. San Diego with an ankle injury. It was Evan Phillips, who got four outs — against the biggest bats in the Padres’ lineup — and earned the win at Petco Park. The series is 2-2 heading back to Dodger Stadium on Friday. One of the eight pitchers LA deployed in Game 4, Phillips entered in the fifth inning of a 5-0 game with two on and two out and got Fernando Tatis Jr. to fly out. The 30-year-old right-hander then mowed down Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill in the sixth. Now in his fourth year with the Dodgers, Phillips has not allowed an earned run in nine postseason appearances. A former Atlanta draftee, Phillips pitched in Pearl in 2016 and ’17, posting modest numbers over 37 games in Double-A. The Braves traded him to Baltimore at the deadline in 2018. He signed with Tampa Bay in 2021 and was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers that summer. He has a 3.43 ERA and 45 saves in 243 MLB games. … The New York Mets, who eliminated Philadelphia in a Game 4 on Wednesday, might have a good luck charm in their dugout: first-year bench coach John Gibbons. Gibbons, a former big league manager, was a catcher for the Jackson Mets in 1982 — the Darryl Strawberry year — and ’83 and also played for the 1986 big league Mets. Of course, that was the last time New York won a World Series. (Gibbons didn’t play in the ’86 Series.) … Biloxi High product Colt Keith got his first postseason knock and scored a run in Detroit’s 3-0 win against Cleveland on Wednesday. The Tigers take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 tonight at Comerica Park. Rookie Keith is back in the lineup at second base, hitting fifth. … Ex-Mississippi State standout Adam Frazier made his first appearance of the ’24 postseason, got a hit and scored a run for Kansas City in a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. Frazier has been in the postseason each of the last three years with a different team each time; he is 6-for-31 in eight games.