Tag Archives: yankees

09 Aug

ecstasy and agony

When it ended, on an unforgettable, jaw-dropping play, Brandon Woodruff was just a spectator. The Mississippi State product had done his part for Milwaukee on Friday night, throwing a season-high seven innings and leaving with a lead. In the top of the ninth inning, the New York Mets — who put the Brewers out of the playoffs last fall — got the tying run to second base with two down. On a single to center field by Jeff McNeil, Blake Perkins came up throwing and nailed Starling Marte at the plate, ending the game and sending the 43,000-plus at American Family Field into a frenzy. “I was running up and down the hall after it happened. It was incredible,” Woodruff said in an mlb.com story. The 3-2 victory was the Brewers’ seventh straight. “A perfect representation of the way this team’s playing,” said catcher William Contreras, the former Mississippi Braves standout who made the tag on Marte that ended it. Milwaukee has the best record (71-44) in the majors and a 5-game lead in the National League Central. Woodruff, making his sixth start since coming off the injured list, is 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA. Though his fastball velocity is down a bit, the Wheeler High grad is still racking up strikeouts: eight on Friday and 45 (with only six walks) in 35 2/3 innings all told. “That is what a horse looks like,” Brewers broadcaster Brian Anderson said when Woodruff walked off the mound after a 1-2-3 seventh. … New York’s other team also suffered a crushing defeat on Friday night, and a pair of Biloxi Shuckers alums played key roles. Devin Williams, the Yankees’ embattled reliever, allowed three runs in the 10th inning, two on a Taylor Trammell homer, and the scuffling Yanks fell to Houston 5-3 at raucous Yankee Stadium. One of the best closers in the game with Milwaukee before joining the Yankees this season, Williams saw his ERA rise to 5.73. He has allowed eight runs in his last five appearances, though he did manage to notch a save in that span. “It’s pretty simple. I stink right now,” Williams told mlb.com. Josh Hader, another former Shuckers star and now the Astros’ closer, worked the ninth and 10th for Houston, stranding the tying runs in the final frame. Hader is 6-2, 2.05, with 28 saves. The American League West-leading Astros improved to 65-51. New York, third in the AL East, is 61-55. P.S. Alex Wood, an ace for the M-Braves back in 2013, announced his retirement after 12 MLB seasons. He was not on a team this year. The 34-year-old left-hander went 77-68 with a 3.78 ERA for his career, which included winning a World Series ring with the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers. … Former MSU standout Preston Johnson was released by Baltimore; he had reached the Triple-A level this season but struggled there (14.73 ERA in seven games).

31 Jul

just stuff

The St. Louis Cardinals, in the process of trading away big league pitchers, have added a couple of Mississippi products to their farm system. Former DeSoto Central High star Blaze Jordan was acquired from Boston as part of a deal for Steven Matz and ex-Mississippi State standout Nate Dohm was picked up from the New York Mets in the Ryan Helsley trade. Corner infielder Jordan, Boston’s No. 17 prospect (MLB Pipeline), is batting .308 with 12 homers and 62 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A. Dohm, a hard-throwing right-hander drafted in the third round in 2024, is 3-5 with a 2.87 ERA as a starter in A-ball. He was the Mets’ No. 14 prospect. … Also on the move on Wednesday was veteran third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, traded from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. Hayes is the son of Hattiesburg native and ex-big leaguer Charlie Hayes. The trade deadline is today at 5 p.m. CDT. … Mississippi college products Brent Rooker (23), Matt Wallner (13) and Jordan Westburg (12) all went deep in MLB games on Wednesday, and in his first game on a rehab assignment in Triple-A, Tim Elko hit his 17th minor league bomb. He has four big league homers. … Cool Moment, Take 2: Former Jackson Prep teammates Jake Mangum and Will Warren faced off for the second time this season in the Tampa Bay-New York Yankees game. Warren struck out Mangum in Wednesday’s first confrontation, then Mangum got an infield hit in the second. Mangum also got an infield hit off Warren back in April. Warren (4.64 ERA) allowed one run is six innings but got a no-decision in a game the Yankees won in extra innings. Mangum (.288) was 1-for-5 with a highlight-reel catch. … MSU product Konnor Pilkington from Pascagoula has thrown six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts since Washington called him up on July 22. … At Trustmark Park in Pearl, former St. Andrew’s standout Banks Tolley homered for visiting Schaumburg, but Brayland Skinner and Kasten Furr combined for nine RBIs as the Mississippi Mud Monsters took a 14-9 victory in the Frontier League contest.

20 Jul

‘be that guy’

The Boston Red Sox had won 10 straight heading into the All-Star break, clawing back into the American League East race. Since play resumed, they’ve lost two straight to the surging Chicago Cubs. In need of a hero today, the Red Sox will send Garrett Crochet — the pride of Ocean Springs — to the mound at Wrigley Field. As the old saw goes: This is why they pay you the big bucks. Acquired from the White Sox for a boatload of prospects in the off-season and then given a 6-year, $170 million contract extension, Crochet has not disappointed. The 6-foot-6 left-hander is 10-4 with a 2.23 ERA and 160 strikeouts. He leads the majors in strikeouts and is tied for first in ERA and tied for third in wins. He is what the Red Sox needed. “You have to be that guy,” Boston manager Alex Cora said in a recent mlb.com story. “(N)ow that he’s the ace of the Red Sox, he’s doing an amazing job.” Crochet was converted from reliever to starter just last season — his third in pro ball — and went 6-12, 3.58 ERA, over 146 innings for the lowly White Sox. He is at 129 1/3 innings this season but shows no signs of wearing down. He is 6-0 in his last eight starts, with wins over the New York Yankees, Seattle and Tampa Bay. Today, with his team trying to get back on the winning track, Crochet faces the Cubs, who have the best record in MLB. The stage is his. The spotlight is bright. Time to be that guy. P.S. Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren and Mississippi Braves alum Joey Wentz put on a good show — for a short time — Saturday at Atlanta’s Truist Park. Brandon native Warren, pitching for the Yankees against the team he grew up rooting for, allowed one run through his first 3 2/3 innings. Things then went sideways for the rookie right-hander. Atlanta scored four times and chased him from the game. Wentz, a 2016 Braves draftee in just his second game back with Atlanta, threw four scoreless innings, then was pulled. Disaster followed. The Braves’ wonky bullpen coughed up 12 runs in the final five innings, and the Yankees took a 12-9 victory. … Ex-Madison Central star Spencer Turnbull, recently signed by the Cubs, threw four innings in a rookie ball game on Saturday as he tunes up for a potential return to the majors. … Lewisburg High alum Talon Haley, a 12th-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Angels, reportedly has agreed to sign for $897,500.

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.

18 Jun

around the horn

Flushing a night of frustration, Austin Riley hit a walk-off 10th-inning sacrifice fly Tuesday that gave Atlanta a 5-4 win over the visiting New York Mets. “Hopefully it’s some momentum to carry the rest of the series,” the DeSoto Central High product said in a postgame interview. The Braves are a wobbly 32-39 with two games left in the series against the Mets, who lead the National League East at 45-28. Riley, an All-Star candidate who has had his struggles both at the plate and in the field, was 0-for-4 with a strikeout when he came up in the 10th with the bases loaded and one out. He had popped up in a similar situation in the eighth when the Braves trailed 4-1. This time — with the score knotted thanks to Marcell Ozuna’s three-run double in the eighth — he drove a fastball to the warning track in center field, scoring the game-winner. It was the fourth walk-off RBI in Riley’s career, including one in the 2021 National League Championship Series. He is batting .277 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs this season. … Jordan Westburg, the ex-Mississippi State star, went 3-for-5 with two runs in Baltimore’s 5-1 win against Tampa Bay. Westburg is batting .385 with three homers and eight RBIs in seven games since coming off the injured list. The Orioles (31-41) are 5-2 in those games. … Will Warren, the former Jackson Prep standout, struck out a career-high 11 batters in six innings but took a loss as the New York Yankees were shut out — again! — by the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Warren, who gave up three early runs, is 4-4 with a 4.83 ERA. … MSU alum Nathaniel Lowe hit his 10th homer for Washington, but Colorado blasted seven bombs — seven! — all told in a 10-6 win that sent the Nationals to their 10th straight loss. … Zack Morris, who demonstrated punch-out stuff with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, has signed with the Colorado Rockies and been assigned to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League team. Left-hander Morris, 24, a former Arkansas and TCU star, posted a 3.86 ERA over 16 1/3 innings for the independent Mud Monsters with 29 strikeouts and just three walks. “This is exactly the kind of moment we coach for,” Mud-sters manager Jay Pecci said in a team release. “Zack came in, did the work, and got better every time out.” Morris had a 5.48 ERA over five college seasons and pitched in the indy Frontier League last year with New Jersey. … Jackson State will be well-represented in the HBCU Swingman Classic, with six Tigers bound for Atlanta’s Truist Park on July 11. Robert Tate Jr., Jordan McCladdie, Joseph Eichelberger, Eric Elliott, Nkosi Didder and Erick Gonzalez are among the 50 HBCU players chosen for the third annual all-star game. Jaylon Burrell of Alcorn State and Kade Wood of Mississippi Valley State also have been invited, along with Chenar Brown, who played two years at JSU before transferring. Former Alcorn star Corey Wimberly is one of the coaches for the game. … Jackson State’s Omar Johnson is on the coaching staff for the Collegiate National Team’s training camp at Cary, N.C., USA Baseball has announced. The staff will be split into two units for the Stars vs. Stripes series, set for June 29-July 3 at sites in North Carolina. The roster of players has yet to be announced.

07 Jun

always compelling

Whenever the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees get together — as they did on Friday night — something buzzworthy is bound to happen. Flash back to June 7, 2011. At Yankee Stadium, former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, pitching for the Red Sox, nailed down his 200th career save, doing so in his 259th appearance, faster than any reliever ever. The previous record was held by none other than Yankees legend Mariano Rivera. Papelbon gave up a walk and a hit but struck out two, including Alex Rodriguez for the final out, in Boston’s 6-4 victory. Papelbon had a tremendous career. He had 13 saves in three years at MSU before Boston took him in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. He still ranks 11th on the all-time MLB saves list with 368 and holds the career record for both the Red Sox (219) and Philadelphia (123). During his occasionally tempestuous 12-year big league career, he made six All-Star Games and won a World Series with the ’07 Red Sox, closing out the clincher against Colorado. Alas, he lasted just one year (in 2022) on the Hall of Fame ballot. … Flash forward to June 6, 2025. At Yankee Stadium, former Jackson Prep star Will Warren, pitching for New York, got his first taste of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and came away a winner. Given an early lead, rookie Warren blanked Boston for four innings before yielding a homer in the fifth and three runs in a clunky sixth. Warren went 5 1/3 innings in the 9-6 victory, running his record to 4-3 with a 5.34 ERA in 13 starts. Before a crowd of 46,783, he struck out the first batter of the game and six all told and now has 75 K’s in 57 1/3 innings for the first-place Yanks. Friday’s game was the first meeting of the season between the old rivals. Stay tuned. P.S. Spencer Turnbull, Madison Central High alum, had a rough outing in his latest minor-league tune-up. The veteran right-hander, who recently signed with Toronto as a free agent, gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings Friday for Triple-A Buffalo. He is 0-3 with a 7.13 in five minor league appearances between A-ball and Triple-A.

21 May

together again

MACCC powerhouses Pearl River Community College and East Central CC, who just met last week in a three-game showdown for the Region 23 crown, could collide again in the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Okla. PRCC is the No. 2 seed, while ECCC is seeded sixth on the same side of the bracket in the 12-team, double-elimination event. PRCC (50-8) earned the automatic bid by winning the region title in a winner-take-all game Saturday. ECCC (42-14) got one of the two at-large bids and is in the field for the third straight year. PRCC won the national in 2022. ECCC will play Catawba Valley on Saturday. PRCC gets a first-round bye before taking on the winner of the Southeastern Iowa-Kellogg contest on Sunday. Pearl River leads the nation in staff ERA and ranks among the leaders in home runs, a pretty sweet combo. The big mashers for the Wildcats include Caston Thompson (13 homers, .372 average), Jackson Hood (12 homers, .344) and Topher Jones (10 homers, .377). The twin aces are Jacob Johnson (12-1, 1.62 ERA) and K.K. Clark (10-2, 1.75). Johnson shut out ECCC in the deciding game of the region title series. East Central’s top hitters are Barret Rodgers (.359) and Pablo Roque (.352, seven homers), and the Warriors’ ace is Bryson Goff (9-1, 2.81). P.S. In MLB, former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren, now with the New York Yankees, struck out 10 batters in 5 2/3 shutout innings to beat the Rangers and run his record to 3-2. … Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes hit his first homer of 2025, accounting for Miami’s only run in a 14-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. … Mississippi State product J.T. Ginn has gone back on the injured list for the A’s after making one rocky start in his first game off the IL.

10 May

not to be overlooked

The three-homer game by Jasson Dominguez — the rookie outfielder they call “The Martian” — deserved the spotlight, but don’t overlook what the rookie right-hander out of Jackson Prep did for the New York Yankees on Friday. Will Warren had a career night in his 14th MLB game, throwing 7 1/3 innings in a 10-2 win over the A’s at West Sacramento, Calif. Warren, now 2-2 with a 4.75 ERA in eight starts this season, retired the first 10 batters before yielding a walk and a hit — by Mississippi State alum Brent Rooker — in the fourth inning. He allowed just three more hits and a lone run while striking out seven. “It’s just executing every pitch, and tonight we did that,” the 25-year-old Warren said in a postgame TV interview. Warren, drafted out of Southeastern Louisiana in 2021, wasn’t even assured of a role on the Yankees’ staff back in spring training. But injuries opened up spots in the rotation, and Warren grabbed one. It hasn’t been smooth sailing: In four of his eight starts he has lasted less than five innings. But Friday’s outing against a tough lineup was certainly encouraging. “I thought he had a lot of weapons,” Yanks manager Aaron Boone said in a TV interview. “He was really good, man. … I feel like the last few times I’ve really seen the electricity with his stuff.” P.S. Down on the farm, former Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin went 4-for-4 with a home run for Low-Class A Bradenton. Pittsburgh’s No. 2-rated prospect — the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft — is batting .283 with six homers, 17 RBIs and 12 steals in 27 games.

25 Apr

noteworthy

Pitching on four years rest — no, not really — Drew Pomeranz worked a scoreless eighth inning today for the Chicago Cubs in their 4-0 win over Philadelphia at Wrigley Field. Ole Miss product Pomeranz, 36, last pitched in a big league game on Aug. 10, 2021, with San Diego. He has battled injuries and bounced through a number of organizations since then. This is his 15th pro season. Acquired from Seattle earlier this week, the big left-hander struck out Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to start, yielded an HBP and a walk, then got the final out of the inning. … Former Mississippi State standout Kendall Graveman, on the injured list all season with Arizona, has begun live pitching at the Diamondbacks’ spring facility, per reports. The nine-year big league veteran missed all of the 2024 season following shoulder surgery. … Colby White, an MSU product from Hattiesburg, has been released by the New York Yankees off the Double-A Somerset roster. Roughly two years ago, the right-hander appeared on the brink of making his MLB debut with Tampa Bay. A 2019 draftee by the Rays, he blew through four levels of the minors in 2021 and got a spring training invite in 2022 before having Tommy John surgery and missing that season. He has scuffled ever since. The Yankees claimed him of waivers from the Rays in May of last year but dropped him from their 40-man shortly thereafter. He had a 12.79 ERA in four games at Somerset this season. … Ex-Ole Miss star Doug Nikhazy is slated to make his big league debut for Cleveland on Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Lefty Nikhazy, in his fifth pro season, had a 3.44 ERA in four starts at Triple-A Columbus. A popular player in Oxford, he posted a 24-6, 2.81, record there from 2019-21. … Second baseman Angus Stayte, who hit .417 in the indy Pecos League in 2024, has signed with the Mississippi Mud Monsters. The team drafted two players, shortstop Roberto Gonzalez and catcher Elias Stevens, out of the Frontier League tryout camp on Wednesday. The new independent team now has 36 players on its preliminary roster. The FL season begins May 8.

21 Apr

remember them?

When you think of the many former Mississippi Braves and Biloxi Shuckers currently doing big things in the big leagues, the names Dylan Moore and Trent Grisham probably don’t come quickly to mind. Neither is the brightest of stars. But take a look: Quite a few years after they passed through Mississippi, both are among the most productive hitters on their current teams. Moore, the M-Braves’ regular shortstop in 2017, is batting .316 with five homers and five stolen bases in 19 games for Seattle. Grisham, who played for the Milwaukee-affiliated Shuckers in 2018-19, is hitting .320 with six homers and 13 RBIs over 20 games for the New York Yankees. And both have Gold Gloves on their resume. On Sunday, Moore — who can play any position — started at short and hit leadoff for Seattle, going 2-for-5 with a homer in the 12-10 Mariners’ win against Toronto. Grisham, playing center field, hit leadoff for the 14-8 Yankees and homered in a win against Tampa Bay. Moore, just a .207 hitter in Double-A Mississippi in 2017, played with Grisham in Biloxi for a time in 2018 and made the majors in 2019 with the Mariners. Grisham, a first-round pick by the Brewers in 2015, hit 20 homers over 170 games for the Double-A Shuckers and made his MLB debut with Milwaukee in 2019. He spent four seasons in San Diego and joined the Yankees in 2024.