IL notes: Bisons' Tice continues charge
It's not as if Ty Tice is looking to sneak up on anyone, but the Buffalo Bisons reliever has shown a knack for moving up.In fact, the 16th-round pick in 2017 has reached Triple-A with hardly a blotch on his résumé.
It's not as if Ty Tice is looking to sneak up on anyone, but the Buffalo Bisons reliever has shown a knack for moving up.
In fact, the 16th-round pick in 2017 has reached Triple-A with hardly a blotch on his résumé.
Despite a background in high school basketball that gained him clout, he's listed at 5-foot-9. On first glance, he won't make batters tremble in the box.
"My stature probably doesn't scare anybody," Tice said. "But I hope my stuff does."
He has exited each level with measly ERAs, the highest a 2.70 mark with Class A Advanced Dunedin. After 20 games with Double-A New Hampshire this spring, he joined the Bisons.
Perhaps the underdog mentality has served him well.
"I always feel I have to prove something," Tice said. "I kind of take that on and kind of run with it."
In college with Central Arkansas, his teammates heard the stories about his prep basketball days and were somewhat leery. On the mound, there was no question something was there.
"He just threw really hard," said former college teammate Will Hancock, now a catcher in the Kansas City organization. "That fastball in college caught your attention."
Yet for a while, Tice wasn't much of a pitching prospect at Central Arkansas, where he spent three seasons after going unnoticed in recruiting from power-conference schools. He was primarily an outfielder with some time as a second baseman.
Then he spent a summer in the Northwoods League, a summer college circuit, and went to the mound enough to generate curiosity.
"After my sophomore year when I went to the Northwoods, I started getting seen," he said.
Tice has used a mix of fastballs, sliders and curves to carve through lineups. Whatever Tice has, he'll use. Buffalo manager Bobby Meacham likes that.
"He's not afraid to challenge hitters," Meacham said. "He's willing and able to get guys out in the strike zone."
Tice has found himself on the back end of the Bisons' bullpen, often in a set-up capacity.
"I can pitch every day," Tice said. "I feel like I can. I prepare like I can pitch every single day."
Meacham said it's not necessary to label Tice with any particular role. "It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be that way with us," the manager said. "You label pitchers way too early."
Tice is averaging more than a strikeout per inning as a pro pitcher. During that time, batters are collectively hitting below .200 against him.
"You see what comes out of his hand," Meacham said. "It doesn't matter how big or tall he is."
In brief
Power outage: The league's top two home run hitters were called up to the Major Leagues during the past week -- Gwinnett's Adam Duvall to Atlanta and Louisville's Aristides Aquino to Cincinnati -- after belting 29 and 28 homers, respectively. But there are several others who could approach the IL's highest homer count in a dozen seasons since Charlotte's Brad Eldred smacked 35 in 2008.
Hit and pitch: League batting leader Jake Cronenworth of the Durham Bulls has been out since suffering a hamstring injury during a 4-for-4 outing July 16 at Toledo. The shortstop is batting .342, when not making brief pitching appearances that have been deemed largely successful. He's expected to return to action soon, though Bulls manager Brady Williams said the pitching might be curtailed for this season. "There was enough, not just from my eye, but the organization's eyes, that there's enough there to continue to develop that," Williams said of the long-term view.
Make a decision: The International League hasn't had a pitcher with double-digit wins and losses since 2015, but Louisville starter Keury Mella could be on a pace even with a no-decision last week. The right-hander is 7-10 in 22 starts, logging a league-high 116 innings. The 2015 season resulted in Rochester pitchers Pat Dean (12-11) and Taylor Rodgers (11-12) racking up decisions.
Bob Sutton is a contributor to MiLB.com.
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring
'Hungry' Alcántara hoping to pounce on big league prey in '25
MESA, Ariz. -- The thing about jaguars is, you don’t want to see one when it’s hungry. So when Cubs legend Sammy Sosa spoke to the organization’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- and the No. 89 prospect overall -- the former slugger gave him some apt advice. “His
Rainiers broadcaster Pay talks historic role on MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Prospect Santos 'electric' in Spring Breakout start
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Malcolm Moore knew Winston Santos was locked in before he even threw a pitch. In the second annual Spring Breakout game, Santos -- the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- was throwing to Moore, the Rangers’ No. 4 prospect and highest-ranked catcher. The battery more
Switch-pitcher Cijntje deals from both sides in Spring Breakout
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Jurrangelo Cijntje knew who’d be waiting for him in the batter’s box when he emerged from the visiting bullpen on Friday evening. The Mariners’ switch-pitcher had seen Guardians infielder Travis Bazzana recently at a card-signing event, to which they each joked, “I’m going to see you soon,”
Fans in this Minor League town are hungry for ... the Spicy Meatballs?!?
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Chandler adds mix to upper-90s heat in stellar Spring Breakout start
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- In the inaugural Spring Breakout game a year ago, as he was coming out to pitch the ninth inning, Bubba Chandler slammed a Red Bull and declared “let’s do this” before pumping upper-90s heat.