Tag Archives: Trustmark Park

23 Jul

upwardly mobile

Gloom has gathered over the Chicago White Sox’s season. Fans of the last-place club needing something to brighten their day can look to Double-A Birmingham, where shortstop Tim Anderson is having a star-quality season. Rated by some as the organization’s top prospect entering 2015, the East Central Community College product appears close to being big league-ready. Anderson, 22, the Southern League All-Star Game MVP, is batting .311 with seven triples, 35 RBIs, 53 runs and 35 steals for the Barons. An athletic 6 feet 1, 185 pounds, he is hitting .298 with 69 steals over his three pro seasons. If there is a negative in his offensive numbers, it’s that he doesn’t walk much (15 times this season while serving primarily as a leadoff batter). Reports indicate that Anderson’s defense is steadily improving; in fact, some of the reports are glowing. Anderson made his Double-A debut, with a bang, at Pearl’s Trustmark Park last August. The Barons come to the TeePee again this August (18-22). Of course, by then Anderson might be in Triple-A. P.S. Thirty games into his pro career, LaDarious (aka LeDarious) Clark, the East Mississippi CC alum from Meridian, paces the short-season Class A Northwest League in homers (8, including two on Wednesday), average (.377), hits (49), slugging percentage (.685), runs (32), triples (5) and total bases (89). He also has 20 RBIs and 14 stolen bases for Texas’ Spokane club. Promote him, already. … After roughly a month in the high Class A Florida State League, former Petal High star Anthony Alford is batting .333 with a homer, nine RBIs and 18 runs at Dunedin. Toronto promoted the 21-year-old outfielder, playing his first full pro season, after he hit .293 with 49 runs and 12 steals in 50 games at low-A Lansing.

17 Jul

wild, wild life

File it under Crazy. The Mississippi Braves rallied from a 10-0 deficit with a 10-run inning, squandered two late leads and then won in walk-off fashion in the 10th inning Thursday night against Jacksonville at Trustmark Park. The final was 15-14 in a game that featured 33 hits and five errors, four by the visiting Suns. Steve Rodriguez, hitting .184 entering the game, knocked in the winner with his third hit. David Rohm, who had reached on an error to start the M-Braves 10th, scored the decisive run. Jacksonville KO’d M-Braves starter Andrew Barbosa – who threw seven shutout innings in his debut last week – in a six-run second inning en route to building a 10-0 lead heading to the bottom of the third. The offensively challenged M-Braves promptly erupted for 10 runs. The M-Braves took leads of 13-10 and 14-13 but couldn’t hold them. Rodriguez then came through in the 10th to end a 4-hour, 6-minute affair that can’t be classified as anything but crazy. Eric Garcia, filling in at shortstop for hot-hitting Emerson Landoni, had four hits, three RBIs and three runs for the M-Braves, now 11-9 in the second half of the Southern League season.

15 Jul

step right up

The award-winning Emerson Landoni Show comes to Trustmark Park in Pearl tonight. The Mississippi Braves shortstop put up back-to-back five-hit performances at Chattanooga on Sunday and Monday. Prior to Monday’s game, Landoni was named the Southern League player of the week for July 6-12. He batted .566 in that span, getting 14 hits in a six-game streak and picking up 10 runs and five RBIs. For the year, the 26-year-old Venezuela native, getting a fourth look in Double-A, is batting .281 with 11 doubles, three triples, 22 RBIs and 30 runs. The M-Braves, back at the TeePee to start a five-game series against Jacksonville, have been searching for some offense. They are 10-8, hanging a game back of first-place Pensacola in the SL South. The M-Braves won four of five games at Chattanooga, a nice run that included strong pitching performances from Andrew Barbosa and Greg Ross as well as Landoni’s heroics. Landoni is now the team’s leading hitter, just ahead of Matt Lipka (.279). P.S. Former M-Braves ace Tyrell Jenkins, who threw seven shutout innings in his Triple-A debut on July 9, is in line to start for Gwinnett on Thursday or Friday at Syracuse. Right-hander Jenkins, one of Atlanta’s top prospects, was 5-5 with a 3.00 ERA for the M-Braves this season before his promotion. … On the subject of the Braves and pitchers, here’s an interesting fact: There are 17 former M-Braves pitchers on the 40-man rosters of other major league clubs, including Craig Kimbrel, Charlie Morton, Blaine Boyer, J.J. Hoover, Chasen Shreve and J.R. Graham. Two others, Zeke Spruill and Todd Redmond, who have pitched in the big leagues this year, recently were assigned to the minors, and yet another, Paul Clemens, was among Philadelphia’s last cuts in the spring. The Braves also have traded in recent weeks John Cornely, Ian Thomas and Juan Jaime, each of whom pitched for Atlanta this season.

08 Jul

ebb and flow

First, the good news. The Mississippi Braves’ slumbering bats suddenly perked up on Tuesday night, when they scored a season-high nine runs to beat Jackson (Tenn.) at Trustmark Park. Now, the bad news. Staff ace Tyrell Jenkins was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett. Jenkins, 5-5 with a 3.00 ERA, deserved to go (just as the team’s best hitter, Mallex Smith, deserved to go at the end of the first half). But the M-Braves’ chances of winning a second-half title took another blow. Perhaps Steve Janas, a 6-foot-6, 198-pound right-hander promoted last week from Class A Carolina, can help soften this latest one. Janas, who starts tonight against the Generals, was dominating the Carolina League at 5-0 with a 0.49 ERA. The former Kennesaw (Ga.) State star threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his Double-A debut at Biloxi on July 3. That extended a scoreless streak he carried over from Carolina to 28 2/3 innings. The M-Braves are threatening the Southern League record for lowest slugging percentage in a season, but as they demonstrated in Tuesday’s 9-1 victory, small ball can work, especially at the spacious TeePee. Of their 13 hits, 12 were singles. All eight hits in their six-run sixth inning were singles. Every player in the lineup had at least one hit, another good sign for a team that needs some. At 6-6, the M-Braves are just a game out of first in the SL South.

25 Jun

starting over

Minus their sparkplug, the Mississippi Braves start the second half of the Southern League season tonight against Pensacola at Trustmark Park. Mallex Smith, the All-Star center fielder who was batting .340 with a team-best 35 runs, has been promoted – and deservedly so — to Triple-A Gwinnett. Even with Smith at the top of the lineup, the M-Braves faded from contention late in the first half and wound up with a 33-35 record, a distant 10 games behind South Division champion Biloxi. It would certainly help the M-Braves’ cause if Rio Ruiz could get it going. The highly rated prospect, acquired in the trade that sent Evan Gattis to Houston, hit .211 in the first half with no homers and 12 RBIs. A lefty-hitting third baseman, Ruiz batted .293 with 11 homers and 77 RBIs in the high Class A California League in 2014 and hit .260 with 12 homers in low A ball in 2013. The M-Braves rank ninth in the 10-team league in runs and last in homers. Smith had 23 of their 38 steals. First baseman Seth Loman, the club’s home run leader with four, was released today. Where is the offense going to come from? Somebody needs to step up. P.S. The M-Braves have added an outfielder: Sean Godfrey, who was batting .304 with five homers, 22 RBIs and 10 steals at Class A Carolina. He was a 22nd-round pick last year out of Ball State, where he was the Mid-American Conference player of the year.

23 Jun

star power

Mississippi’s minor league clubs will be on prominent display in tonight’s Southern League All-Star Game at Montgomery, Ala. The Mississippi Braves’ Mallex Smith and the Biloxi Shuckers’ Orlando Arcia, Nick Ramirez and Michael Reed are in the projected starting lineup for the South stars, and there are several pitchers from the two teams on the roster, including highly rated prospects Tyrell Jenkins of the M-Braves and Tyler Wagner of the Shuckers. In addition, Ramirez will participate in the pre-game Home Run Derby. Smith, a center fielder and leadoff batter, has emerged as one of the most exciting players in the Double-A loop. He is second in the league in hitting at .340 and in steals with 23. Penciled in at Nos. 3-5 in the lineup, Arcia is hitting .307, Ramirez .289 (with nine homers) and Reed .300 for first-half champion Biloxi. Former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson is slated to play shortstop and bat second for the North. He is hitting .313 with 23 steals for Birmingham. Game time is 7:20 (MiLB.TV). The 2016 SL All-Star Game will be at Trustmark Park in Pearl; the M-Braves previously hosted the game in 2007. P.S. Scott Copeland, the ex-Southern Miss ace, made his first MLB start for Toronto on June 10, allowing one run in seven innings. His next start came June 16, when he yielded three runs in four innings. Then came Sunday: seven runs in 1 1/3 innings. Currently back at Triple-A Buffalo, Copeland has been up and down so many times he could be excused for suffering dizzy spells.

07 Jun

the core four

There is a special group of former Mississippi Braves playing in the big leagues. Call them the Core Four. As the M-Braves celebrate the 10th anniversary of their first season at Trustmark Park, there are four players from the team’s original 2005 roster still in The Show. Each was a star in Double-A, and each is still capable of shining moments. Saturday was such a day for all four. Brian McCann, a perennial All-Star catcher, went 2-for-5 with a home run (No. 9) as his first-place New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-2. Gregor Blanco, who has won two World Series rings in San Francisco, went 1-for-4 with a run to help his second-place Giants beat Philadelphia 7-5. Jeff Francoeur, who made the Phillies’ roster as a minor league free agent this spring, went 2-for-4 with a grand slam (off Madison Bumgarner); he’s at .252 with four homers for the struggling Phils. And Blaine Boyer, who has bounced around the last several years, threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for first-place Minnesota in a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee; Boyer has a 2.17 ERA. McCann was the first of this foursome to make the big leagues, promoted on June 10, 2005. Boyer and Francoeur followed that summer. Blanco didn’t get up until 2008. Two other original M-Braves, Anthony Lerew and Matt Wright, are still pitching in the independent Atlantic League. … An M-Braves alum of more recent vintage, Christian Bethancourt, hit his first career home run for Atlanta on Saturday, a ninth-inning game-winner in a 5-4 victory against Pittsburgh. P.S. Biloxi won its long-awaited first home game at MGM Park on Saturday, topping Mobile 5-4 in 14 innings. The first-place Shuckers lead the M-Braves, who lost at Montgomery, by 3½ games in the Southern League South. The teams meet in what could be a pivotal five-game series at Trustmark Park June 11-15. The first half ends June 21.

05 Jun

good stuff

The 200th minor league appearance for Jake Brigham was no doubt the best. The Mississippi Braves right-hander took a perfect game into the ninth inning and wound up with a one-hit gem as the M-Braves beat Jackson (Tenn.) 8-1 Thursday night at Trustmark Park. “I’ve never done that before,” the 27-year-old Brigham told milb.com. It was his second career complete game and first since 2010, when he threw a shutout in the Class A South Atlantic League while in the Texas organization. Brigham was drafted by the Rangers in 2006 and also has pitched in the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh organizations, reaching the Triple-A level. Atlanta signed him in the off-season, and he has been a dependable member of an improving rotation. Brigham is 5-2 with a 3.42 ERA. The team also has a 3.42 ERA, third in the Southern League, and two other regular starters are in the top 20 in the SL in ERA: Victor Mateo at 2.74 and Tyrell Jenkins at 2.86. Highly rated Jason Hursh, who has begun to round into form, has a 5.61. The M-Braves (29-23) will throw Jorge Reyes against Jackson in tonight’s series finale. Reyes is 5-2 with a 1.36 while working mostly in relief.

27 May

change in the wind

Maybe Jason Hursh has started to turn it around. Maybe the Mississippi Braves right-hander will take another step in the right direction tonight at Trustmark Park when he faces Pensacola in the opener of an 11-game homestand. Hursh, Atlanta’s first-round pick in 2013 and a highly rated prospect, has had a rough go in his second tour of Double-A ball. Through nine starts, Hursh is 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA. He has worked only 39 2/3 innings, with 25 strikeouts and 21 walks. The Oklahoma State alum went 11-7, 3.58 for the M-Braves in 2014. “(A) little adversity sometimes helps,” Hursh told milb.com recently. Maybe. For sure, Hursh’s last two outings have been solid. He beat Pensacola on May 16, throwing six shutout innings. He went 6 1/3 against Jacksonville last Thursday, allowing 10 hits but just two runs in a no-decision. Hursh, 23, is in a big group of young arms the Braves are counting on to emerge in their rotation over the next couple of years. But he needs to step it up. Refining his off-speed pitches (curveball and changeup) are the keys to his advancement, according to mlb.com’s preseason scouting report. Hursh will take the hill tonight for an M-Braves team that went 6-4 on its road trip and is 24-20 on the season, trailing first-place Biloxi (27-18) by 2½ games in the Southern League South. Mallex Smith continues to ignite the M-Braves’ attack with a .345 average and 15 steals. Eric Garcia is batting .340, Matt Lipka .286. The club, as well as the organization, are still waiting for a breakout from prospect Rio Ruiz (.169). P.S. M-Braves fans know the TeePee doesn’t give up a lot of home runs. For the record, the Pearl ballpark yielded 0.57 homers per game in 2014, the lowest average (by a good margin) among all Double-A and Triple-A stadiums, according to a recent Baseball America feature.

06 May

something new — sorta

The first of presumably many Mississippi Braves-Biloxi Shuckers games will go down tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Perhaps a rivalry will develop, who knows? The teams are in the same division – the South – in the Southern League, and the Shuckers (a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) are tied for first with a 16-9 record despite playing only road games. (This five-game series was supposed to be played on the Coast, but MGM Park isn’t finished yet.) The M-Braves are 11-12 and in the midst of a 15-game homestand. Intra-state battles among professional clubs were once a common thing in Mississippi. The last time Biloxi had a minor league team was in 1908, when the Gulfport-Biloxi Sand Crabs played in the Cotton States League, which included the Jackson Senators, as well as teams in Vicksburg, Columbus and Meridian. The Cotton States League, a low-level minor league which operated off and on from 1902-55, also had teams at various times in Cleveland, Clarksdale, Greenville, Greenwood, Hattiesburg, Natchez, Yazoo City, Laurel and Brookhaven. In 1921, the Mississippi State League consisted of four Magnolia State cities: Jackson, Clarksdale, Greenwood and Meridian. Jackson, Meridian and Vicksburg also had teams at times in the Southeastern League, which operated in the early to mid-1900s. As recently as 2000, the independent Texas-Louisiana League included the Jackson DiamondKats and the Greenville Bluesmen. In 1997, the indy Big South League featured teams in Meridian, Greenville and Tupelo. Still, Game 1 of the Mississippi-Biloxi series is something special. The pitching matchup tonight could be a good one: Jason Hursh (0-1, 8.50 ERA), an Atlanta prospect, against Brooks Hall (3-0, 0.96). The Shuckers’ Orlando Arcia, rated the Brewers’ No. 1 prospect by mlb.com, is second in the SL in hitting at .381, and Nick Ramirez is tied for the league lead with six home runs. P.S. Former M-Braves star Jose Peraza, Atlanta’s top prospect, is on a roll at Triple-A Gwinnett. The second baseman is batting .394 over his last 10 games and is at .320 for the year, with two triples, nine steals and 12 runs in 25 games.