Tag Archives: yankees

28 Jun

worth noting

Bobby Bradley made some headlines with a three-homer game for Double-A Akron on Tuesday. The former Harrison Central High star also drove in seven runs, boosting his season totals to 14 homers and 48 RBIs. Bradley, who recently turned 21, is on a 12-for-36 roll that has raised his average to .254. He has struck out just four times in that stretch. Cutting down on the punchouts is a key to his advancement, various scouting reports say. First baseman Bradley, who hit 29 homers a year ago and 27 in 2015 in A-ball, is rated Cleveland’s No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline with an ETA of 2018. … The headlines weren’t as welcome for another Gulfport native, Jonathan Holder, who was sent down to Triple-A by the New York Yankees. Holder was 1-1 (0-for-2 in save chances) with a 3.78 ERA in 32 games, all in relief. Drafted in 2014 out of Mississippi State, Holder reached the majors last summer, then won a big league roster spot in spring training this year. The 24-year-old right-hander will be back. … Ole Miss product Mike Mayers, recently promoted by St. Louis, has yet to make his 2017 debut for the Cardinals. He was 5-6, 3.74 ERA as a starter at Triple-A Memphis but is expected to work in long relief in the big leagues. The right-hander pitched in four games for St. Louis in 2016. … The current list of Mississippians on the MLB disabled list: Anthony Alford, Chris Coghlan, Zack Cozart, Kendall Graveman, Alex Presley, Bobby Wahl and Brandon Woodruff.

03 May

holding his own

The shadows cast in the New York Yankees’ bullpen are considerable. There’s Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Tyler Clippard, Adam Warren — they get most of the high-leverage work. But Jonathan Holder, the Mississippi State product from Gulfport, has earned his seat in that bullpen. And he figures to get more pressurized opportunities as the season progresses for a team that looks like a playoff contender. Scouting reports rave about Holder’s swing-and-miss stuff. In his second big league tour, he has posted a 3.00 ERA in 11 appearances, including a scoreless ninth inning in Tuesday’s 11-5 win over Toronto. He has fanned 10 and walked one in nine innings, yielded no homers and been credited with two holds. He didn’t get a hold on April 28, when he did some of his most impressive work. When Holder came on in the seventh, the Yankees trailed Baltimore 11-4. Holder shut the O’s water off, retiring all five batters he faced. The Yankees rallied for a stunning 14-11 win in 10, with Clippard and Chapman also hanging up scoreless frames. Holder was a record-setting closer at State and was drafted in the sixth round in 2014 by New York, which converted him to starter in the minors for two years. He went back to the pen in 2016 and sailed through three levels – with a 1.65 ERA — to arrive with the Bronx Bombers on Sept. 2. He had mixed results (5.40 ERA) then, but he made the big club out of spring training and has continued to impress. P.S. Former Petal High star Anthony Alford made Baseball America’s All-Prospect team for April. The highly regarded Blue Jays farmhand, now playing in Double-A, hit .356 with two homers, eight RBIs, 12 runs and seven steals.

02 Apr

let’s get it started

It’s here. Opening Day. New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays. Tropicana Field. OK, there’s no mystique and aura – or even sunshine — at The Trop, but it’s still Opening Day. And the first game of the 2017 season (noon, ESPN) could give us a matchup of Mississippi natives. McComb’s Corey Dickerson is expected to be in the Rays’ lineup as the DH batting leadoff. Gulfport’s Jonathan Holder is working out of the Yankees’ bullpen. Dickerson, a lefty hitter, is a veteran of 413 big league games and has a .279 career average. In his first season in Tampa in 2016, the Meridian Community College alum batted .245 with 24 homers. Holder, a right-hander, pitched in eight games (5.40 ERA) for the Yankees last summer and is still classified as a rookie. Drafted out of Mississippi State in 2014, he posted a 2.50 ERA (and a bunch of strikeouts) as he rose through the Yankees’ system. He pitched in Atlanta in the soft opening of SunTrust Park on Friday night; he wasn’t sharp. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan signed a minor league deal with Toronto and, according to reports, will start the season with Triple-A Buffalo. He had been released by Philadelphia. … Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings was given his release by Cincinnati.

29 Mar

departures and arrivals

Chris Coghlan will get a World Series ring next month. He’s looking for a uniform to wear. The Ole Miss alum was released by Philadelphia in a bit of a surprise move on Tuesday. Trying to make the lowly Phillies as a non-roster invitee, Coghlan, 32, didn’t have a great spring (.231, five RBIs) but did offer a left-handed bat and the versatility to play several positions. Coghlan batted .250 with six homers last year, which he split between Oakland and the champion Chicago Cubs. Over an eight-year career interrupted by injuries, Coghlan batted .260 with 52 homers. He hit .321 with Florida in 2009 when he won rookie of the year honors but never came close to that figure again. … Catching up on other roster news: Former Rebels star Stuart Turner apparently will make Cincinnati’s big club as a backup catcher, and lefty Cody Reed out of Northwest Mississippi Community College is going to stick in the Reds’ bullpen. However, Greenwood native Louis Coleman, a relief pitcher, was sent to the minor league camp, as was ex-Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings, who reportedly can choose to be a free agent. … JaCoby Jones – who, it should be noted, did play a little football at Richton High – appears to have won Detroit’s center field job after batting .333 this spring. He debuted with the Tigers last summer. Former Ole Miss standout Alex Presley, despite batting .452 in a bid to win an outfield spot, was sent down by the Tigers. … Ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Holder, who made his MLB debut last summer, appears to have claimed a job in the New York Yankees’ bullpen. He has had a strong spring (3.00 ERA). … MSU product Chad Girodo was sent out by Toronto. The lefty had a 2.08 ERA this spring after posting a 4.35 as a rookie last season.

20 Sep

watch for it

A sliver of the baseball spotlight will be trained tonight on Memphis’ AutoZone Park, where Hunter Renfroe will lead El Paso against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a one-game showdown for the Triple-A championship. Renfroe, the ex-Mississippi State star from Crystal Springs, hit .306 with 30 home runs and 105 RBIs and won Pacific Coast League MVP honors with the Chihuahuas, a San Diego affiliate. International League champ SWB, a New York Yankees affiliate, is managed by former Jackson Mets star Al Pedrique. Both clubs feature several top prospects. Jonathan Holder, another MSU product, spent part of this season with SWB but is now in the big leagues. Renfroe, rated the Padres’ No. 3 prospect by mlb.com, may be in line for a call-up to The Show, but he says all he is focused on at the moment is his current team and tonight’s game. “San Diego will always be there, and when the time comes for them to make a decision, I’ll be here,” he told The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal. The NBC Sports Network will televise the 7:05 game. P.S. For the first time in his seven seasons in the majors, Mitch Moreland was ejected from a game. Former State standout Moreland got tossed in the fourth inning Monday by home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley after “disputing,” while walking away, a called third strike during Texas’ game against the Los Angeles Angels. “It was obviously a pitch I didn’t agree with,” Moreland said in an mlb.com article. The Rangers won 3-2 in walk-off fashion, reducing their magic number for clinching the American League West to 3.

29 Aug

k-rations

Jonathan Holder was almost perfect on Sunday. The right-hander out of Mississippi State, pitching for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, faced 13 batters and struck out 12 of them. He registered the save in a 3-1 win that clinched an International League playoff berth for SWB, a New York Yankees affiliate. Gulfport native Holder, a sixth-round pick by the Yankees in 2014, put up a 2.20 ERA at Double-A Trenton with 10 saves in 11 chances. He has been even better for SWB, going 6-for-6 in save opps with an 0.89 ERA, 35 strikeouts and no walks in 20 1/3 innings. Punchouts are not Holder’s forte, or so he says. “Getting swings and misses is a plus, but letting hitters get themselves out is my game plan,” he told milb.com. For the record, he has 225 K’s in 219 2/3 career innings. Holder is not on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, but he has positioned himself for a possible September call-up. P.S. Pittsburgh sent former State star Adam Frazier down to rookie-level Bristol on Sunday. Why Bristol? Because, according to mlb.com, Frazier can be recalled as soon as Bristol’s season ends, which is Thursday. The versatile Frazier is hitting .321 with a home run and seven RBIs in 39 games with Pittsburgh, which is still chasing a wild card in the National League.

13 Jun

shining moment

Charlie Hayes had just three hits in 16 at-bats in the 1996 World Series, but what New York Yankees fans seem to remember is that the Hattiesburg native caught the foul pop that wrapped up the Yanks’ first championship in 18 years. The Yankees celebrated that title during their annual Old-Timer’s Game on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, and Hayes, now 51, was there with the likes of John Wetteland, Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill, other heroes of ’96. Though Hayes played only 262 of his 1,547 career games with the Yankees, he’ll be forever linked with the boys in pinstripes thanks to that Series victory over Atlanta. In the Game 6 clincher, Mark Lemke hit the pop that settled into Hayes’ glove and sent him leaping into the air. “I think I’ve had over four million people tell me they were at the game, so, it’s kind of unique,” Hayes said in a story on mlb.com. Hayes, drafted by San Francisco out of Forrest County AHS in 1983, actually had many shining moments in a 14-year MLB career spent with five different clubs. He hit 144 homers, including 25 with Colorado in 1993, when he led the National League in doubles with 45 and batted a career-high .305.

27 Apr

minor matters

A four-hit game on Monday moved Tim Anderson’s average above the Mendoza Line. But an 0-for-5 followed on Tuesday. It hasn’t been a silky smooth season for the former East Central Community College star now playing at Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox’s system. After a big year in Double-A in 2015, Anderson is batting .221 with three doubles, two RBIs, seven runs and four steals in 15 games for Charlotte. “You’ve just got to keep grinding and stay focused and keep dreaming about what you’ve been working for all your life,” Anderson told milb.com. Veteran Jimmy Rollins is currently handling shortstop duties for the ChiSox, but Anderson, the 17th overall pick out of ECCC in 2013, is expected to take the job by 2017 if not before. Anderson’s speed is considered his standout tool. P.S. Mississippi State alum Jonathan Holder got the last three outs of a combo no-hitter for Double-A Trenton on Tuesday. Fellow New York Yankees prospect Ronald Herrera worked the first eight innings against New Hampshire. Gulfport’s Holder got two strikeouts and made a nice defensive play in the ninth. “I’m thankful to be part of something that goes into history here in Trenton,” Holder told milb.com. He has a 1.08 ERA in four appearances at Trenton this season. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Orlando Arcia, the heir apparent for Milwaukee’s shortstop job, is batting .313 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 17 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs. “He loves to play the game and he’s always having fun out there,” Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet, the former Jackson Generals skipper, told milb.com.

14 Mar

status update

Making strides on the comeback trail, Zack Cozart got a hit in his first game of the spring and went deep in his second game. “(T)errific to see,” Cincinnati manager Bryan Price told mlb.com. Former Ole Miss star Cozart appeared to be on course for his best season in the big leagues in 2015 when he suffered a knee injury that required surgery. In 53 games, the slick-fielding shortstop batted .258 with nine home runs. Meanwhile, also in Reds camp, Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, still has played in only one game, that as a DH. Hamilton, Cincy’s center fielder, is coming back from shoulder surgery and coming off a tough year (.226). P.S. Mississippi State alum Jacob Lindgren was sent to the minor league camp by the New York Yankees. The left-hander, who made his MLB debut last season, had a 15.43 ERA in three spring appearances for a Yankees club with a deep bullpen.

04 Jan

the road ahead

In the 2014 MLB draft, major league clubs plucked the likes of Jacob Lindgren, Chris Ellis, Bobby Bradley, Justin Steele, Auston Bousfield and Jonathan Holder out of the Magnolia State. Lindgren has already made it to The Show, and the others have shown nice progress. Blake Anderson, drafted ahead of all of them at 36th overall by Miami out of West Lauderdale High, has lagged. Anderson, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound catcher, spent his second pro summer in short-season A-ball and batted .220 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 31 games. The Marlins are very high on Anderson’s defense, especially his arm, and he is rated their No. 23 prospect by mlb.com. But he still has some things to figure out at the plate. To wit: He struck out 42 times and drew three walks in 118 at-bats. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” Anderson tweeted that last summer. He turns 20 in January, still very young, but the 2016 season could be a pivotal one for him. P.S. Wonder how the New York Yankees’ acquisition of Aroldis Chapman will impact Lindgren’s future with the club. Lindgren, a lefty reliever out of Mississippi State, had a 5.14 ERA in seven games for the Yanks last year before having elbow surgery in June. He is healthy now, but there may not be a spot for him in a stacked bullpen. … Donnie Veal, the well-traveled Jackson native and big league veteran, has signed a minor league deal with Texas. Lefty Veal pitched for Atlanta briefly in 2015 and has been wintering in the Dominican Winter League (1.69 ERA in 17 appearances).