here and there

Tyler Moore has been sent down to Triple-A Syracuse by the Washington Nationals, who want the former Mississippi State standout to get more at-bats. Moore, in his second big league season, had only 95 ABs this year and was hitting .158 with two home runs. “He’ll be back soon,” Nats manager Davey Johnson, the former Jackson Mets skipper, told mlb.com. “He’s an outstanding player.” Moore said he understood the move. … The New York Mets, making several roster changes on Sunday, sent former Hattiesburg High star Robert Carson to Triple-A Las Vegas. Left-hander Carson had an 8.47 ERA. … Miami placed Ole Miss alumnus Chris Coghlan on the disabled list on Saturday with a calf injury. The resurgent Coghlan was batting .277. … Ex-Holmes Community College star Roy Oswalt is 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA in four tuneup starts for Double-A Tulsa. No word as to when Colorado might summon the veteran right-hander to The Show. … Southwest Mississippi CC product Jarrod Dyson, on the DL for Kansas City since mid-May with an ankle injury, is rehabbing at Triple-A Omaha. … Former Itawamba CC star Tim Dillard, re-signed by Milwaukee from an independent club last month, has a 2.31 ERA in 12 games at Triple-A Nashville.

mining the jucos

Major league scouts don’t sleep on the Mississippi junior colleges. Among the eight state juco products picked in the MLB draft were the 17th overall selection (shortstop Tim Anderson of East Central Community College by the Chicago White Sox) and three players from Northwest Mississippi CC (including second-rounder Cody Reed, a left-hander pegged by Kansas City). Farther down the list was Hinds CC’s Beau Wallace, a corner infielder from Vicksburg. The third Mississippi-connected player picked by Pittsburgh in the first 12 rounds, Wallace could be one to watch if he elects to go pro this summer. He was an NJCAA All-American in 2012, when he batted .387 with three homers and 37 RBIs for a state championship club. His numbers fell a bit in 2013 — as did the Eagles, who failed to make the postseason after being ranked in the top 10 to start the year — and he wound up at .321 with four homers, 33 RBIs and a .533 slugging percentage. ... Also commanding attention is Silento Sayles, the national high school stolen base king from Port Gibson who was drafted 411th overall by Cleveland. Will he sign or go to Chipola (Fla.) Junior College? Signing deadline is July 12. Sayles figures to be a project in pro ball, but you can’t teach his kind of speed. Alcorn State doesn’t have many players drafted, so it was good to see shortstop Angel Rosa go to the Los Angeles Angels in the 13th round. He is reportedly a slick fielder with speed, and he hit .294 this season. P.S. The Mississippi Braves fell out of first place on Saturday when they lost to Pensacola and Mobile beat Tennessee. The M-Braves are a half-game back in the Southern League South with eight to play as they chase their first postseason berth in five years. Also still in the hunt are Jacksonville and Montgomery. It could be a crazy finish. … Former Alcorn star Cory Wimberly, who began this season in the Atlanta Braves’ system, now plays for Pensacola, a Cincinnati affiliate.

how was your day?

JaCoby Jones had a pretty fair day on Friday. The former Mississippi Mr. Baseball from Richton, now at LSU, was drafted in the third round (87th overall) by Pittsburgh, which means he’ll get some nice bonus money to sign. With thoughts of his pro career no doubt dancing somewhere in his head, Jones came up in the eighth inning of a scoreless Super Regional game in Baton Rouge and ripped a triple off Oklahoma’s Jonathan Gray, who was drafted third overall on Thursday. Jones scored the first run in LSU’s 2-0 win in Game 1 of the best-of-3 series that sends the winner to the College World Series. … Interesting that the Pirates picked Jones, a shortstop at Richton and second baseman this year at LSU, as a center fielder. The Bucs already have a pretty good one, guy named Andrew McCutchen. … Jones was one of two players with Mississippi ties picked by Pittsburgh on Day 2 of the MLB draft. Mississippi State shortstop Adam Frazier went in the sixth round. … Toronto, which drafted D.J. Davis of Stone County High in the first round in 2012, took two Mississippians early this year: State pitchers Kendall Graveman (eighth round) and Chad Girodo (ninth). ... St. Louis, which also seems to like Mississippi kids, took two on Friday, as well: Ole Miss’ Mike Mayers and Southern Miss’ Andrew Pierce, both pitchers. Both should be charged up; the Cardinals do a great job of developing arms. … Four Mississippi State players went in the first two days, led by Hunter Renfroe, 13th overall by San Diego. ... Two Mississippi juco products were among the first 46 picks: Tim Anderson of East Central Community College to the Chicago White Sox as No. 17 overall and lefty Cody Reed of Northwest CC, 46th to Kansas City. ... Biggest surprise of the draft so far might have been seeing Ole Miss’ Bobby Wahl slide to the fifth round, where he was picked by Oakland. Not so long ago, he was considered a first-round candidate.

commencing countdown

It might be Hunter Renfroe. Maybe Tim Anderson. Perhaps Bobby Wahl or even Stuart Turner. The top MLB draft pick from Mississippi will be revealed tonight. MLB Network has live coverage. Meanwhile, here’s a quick glance at the top picks from the Magnolia State in recent years: In 2008, Ole Miss’ Lance Lynn was a supplemental first round selection (39th overall) by St. Louis. He is currently a mainstay in the Cardinals' rotation (8-1, 2.76 ERA), a potential All-Star next month. In 2009, Taylorsville High’s Billy Hamilton went to Cincinnati in the second round. After setting a pro record with 155 stolen bases last season, Hamilton is currently batting .250 with 32 steals at Triple-A Louisville. The top pick in 2010 was Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss; he went fifth overall to Cleveland. The left-hander is currently pitching for Colorado’s Triple-A Colorado Springs club and is 6-1 with a 4.26 ERA. In 2011, the Florida (now Miami) Marlins took Connor Barron of Sumrall in the third round, but he didn’t sign. He just finished his sophomore campaign at Southern Miss. Last year’s top pick from the state was Stone County’s D.J. Davis, 17th overall by Toronto. He spent most of 2012 in the rookie Gulf Coast League (.233, four homers, 12 RBIs) but finished the campaign with Vancouver in the short season Northwest League. P.S. Mitch Moreland, the former Mississippi State star now with Texas, could be headed to the disabled list after leaving Wednesday’s game with a hamstring injury. He was to have an MRI today. Moreland is having a big year: .288, 12 home runs and 29 RBIs for the first-place Rangers.

numbers to crunch

2 — Games ahead in the Southern League South for the first-place Mississippi Braves, who won their third straight game Monday night behind rehabbing big leaguer Brandon Beachy. 7 — Number of players at Mississippi schools who are listed on Baseball America’s Top 200 draft prospects chart (June 11 issue). They are Mississippi State’s Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier, Ole Miss’ Bobby Wahl, Stuart Turner and Mike Mayers, East Central Community College’s Tim Anderson and Northwest CC’s Cody Reed. Also on the list are Richton’s JaCoby Jones (LSU) and Pascagoula’s Colin Bray (Faulkner, Ala., State JC). 8 — Wins by former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn of St. Louis, after beating Arizona on Monday. 10 — Complete games this season by Belhaven’s Chris Good, who earned second-team NAIA All-America laurels after a 14-3, 2.18 season. 12 — Times reached base by State’s Alex Detz in the Starkville Regional; he was the MVP as the Bulldogs advanced to play Virginia in a Super Regional. 1,000 — Hits in the big leagues by Brian McCann, the former M-Braves star who reached the milestone in Monday’s win against Pittsburgh. 61,433 — Total attendance at the Starkville Regional, including 8,662 on Monday, when the Bulldogs beat Central Arkansas for the championship.

something in maroon

Mississippi State — present, future and past — is making headlines today. The current Bulldogs are 2-0 in the Starkville Regional and could wrap up the championship tonight. The hero of Saturday night’s 6-2 win over South Alabama was sophomore Ross Mitchell, who tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The left-handed reliever has had a profound if somewhat unheralded impact on State’s season. Mitchell is now 12-0, with every win coming in relief. (He is the first Bulldogs pitcher to reach 12 wins since Bobby Reed won 15, as a starter, in 1990.) Mitchell has worked 83 innings in 30 appearances and has a 1.41 ERA. … Also on Saturday, State signee Reid Humphreys of Northwest Rankin took Most Valuable Offensive Player honors in one of the D.M. Howie high school all-star games at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. Humphreys, the brother of former State star and current big leaguer Tyler Moore, is also the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. … In Atlanta today, ex-Bulldogs ace Paul Maholm (a 27-game winner in maroon from 2001-03) starts for the Braves against Washington (Tyler Moore’s club). Maholm is 6-4 with a 3.74 ERA for first-place Atlanta, which is 5.5 games up on the Nationals in the National League East.

cut to the chase

The Mississippi Braves managed to hang around the top of the Southern League’s South Division despite a six-game losing streak that was snapped in strong fashion on Saturday night. That trouble behind them, they hope, the M-Braves (30-25, tied for first with Jacksonville) can focus on what’s left: 15 games in the first half, a division crown hanging in the balance. Are they up to it? Aaron Holbert’s club has weathered — so far — the loss of three members of its vaunted starting rotation; Gary Moran and J.R. Graham have been injured and Alex Wood was promoted to Atlanta on Thursday. But holdovers Dan Schlosser (5-2, 2.97) and Aaron Northcraft (who pitched brilliantly in Saturday’s 6-1 win over Montgomery) have been solid, along with Cody Martin. The bullpen has blown seven saves, though Mark Lamm (1.41 ERA) has converted five of six. He could be a key factor down the stretch. Jose Martinez (.310, three homers, 26 RBIs) and Edward Salcedo (.286, seven, 25) have been sparks for the offense, which has gotten a lift also from Tommy La Stella (.302 in 22 games since coming up from A-ball). The catching tandem of oft-injured Christian Bethancourt (.274) and Braeden Schlehuber (four homers in 23 games) has been productive, too. Starting today, the M-Braves play five games at Chattanooga, five at home against Pensacola (June 7-11) and five at Tennessee. Note that they don’t play Jacksonville or the two teams tied for second in the South, Mobile and Montgomery, both 2 games behind. Without that head-to-head drama, the M-Braves may need some help in securing their first postseason berth since 2008. P.S. The resurgent Chris Coghlan (see previous posts) had three hits on Saturday for the Miami Marlins, extending the former Ole Miss star’s hitting streak to eight games and lifting his average to .274. … Ex-Rebels standout Alex Presley was recalled to the big leagues by Pittsburgh and is 3-for-6 since his return.