Speed, discipline, and a lineup with a little more bite.
PEARL, Miss. - If our story starts on the mound, then the batter’s box is where we introduce our rising action. When bat meets ball, anything can happen, and much like last year, the Mud Monsters will rely on their plate discipline and speed to leave the rest of the Frontier League in their dust.
In 2025, the team led the entire Frontier League in steals with 178, thanks to blazing speed around the basepaths. Carrying the load on that front was leadoff man Brayland Skinner, who returns to Pearl for his second season with the Mud Monsters. Another trait to continue into 2026 is plate discipline. Mud Monsters’ batters struck out the least number of times compared to the rest of the league with 600 Ks. The next best team, the Tri-City ValleyCats, had 620.
With the top third of the lineup set to return, as well as hitting coach James McOwen, the traits of last year’s team should be repeatable as 2026 begins. Not only does Skinner return to set the tone at the top of the order, but home run king Travis Holt, who monster mashed 11 home runs, brings a big swing back to the order. Kyle Booker comes back to Pearl with elite bat-to-ball skills and speed on the bases.
Monster Notes
Fast feet. Fewer whiffs. More bats crawling out of the swamp.
- 178 stolen bases led the Frontier League in 2025.
- 600 strikeouts were the fewest by any team in the league.
- Seven returning bats give the lineup a familiar core.
- New firepower arrives behind the plate, in the infield and across the outfield.
Returners
The familiar bats are back in the mud.
Returning bats: Brayland Skinner, Kyle Booker, Travis Holt, Kasten Furr, Samil De La Rosa, Charlie Updegrave and Jack Holman.
Brayland Skinner, OF
As the leadoff man in the first Mud Monsters season, Skinner holds many firsts in the history of the organization. The first walk, run, steal and leadoff home run in team history are all credited to the Southaven, Mississippi native. Stolen base number one would be the first of many, as Skinner would blaze around the bases and finish with 49 swiped bags. That total led the Midwest Conference in steals and helped the Mud Monsters to their Frontier League lead.
For Skinner, he is aiming for an even higher number.
On being the sparkplug at the leadoff spot, Skinner says, “It’s big time fun just being out there with the guys and trying to get the energy and motivation up.”
With 105 hits, Skinner, the first signee in team history, tied with outfield patrol mate Kyle Booker for the team lead. He finished the year with a .294 batting average, three home runs and 44 RBIs.
Kyle Booker, OF
Booker brings his .297 batting average back to Mississippi as the leading returning batter by average. The outfielder played in all but one of the team’s 96 games last season and hopes to continue his success on the field and at the plate. Playing next to Skinner in the outfield, he also is in the batting order right next to the leadoff man. Booker is everything the Mud Monsters want out of the two-hole in the lineup. With an elite eye at the plate, the outfielder tied for fourth in the league in walks with 54.
Travis Holt, IF
Holt is the current leader in home runs in team history after hitting 11 bombs last season with 61 RBIs as the third batter in the order. The infielder out of Florida looks to increase that total this year, and if Booker and Skinner continue their trajectory, the RBI opportunities should remain in 2026.
Kasten Furr, IF
Kasten Furr, an infielder from Ruston, Louisiana, spent all of 2025 with the Mud Monsters and was a key contributor. Furr played in 62 games for last year’s squad, hitting .289 with one home run, 22 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.
Samil De La Rosa, IF
Samil De La Rosa is the first and only Mud Monsters player to have a two-homer game after doing so on July 24, 2025, at Schaumburg. The infielder out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, finished the year with 59 games under his belt while hitting five homers and picking up 21 RBIs. After his bat came alive late in the year, De La Rosa hopes to continue the production in another full season with the Mud Monsters.
Charlie Updegrave, IF
Updegrave signed with the Mud Monsters on August 16 of last season. The Oregon native appeared as a first baseman in all 14 of his games while picking up five RBIs over 10 hits. After the brief two-week stint to end the year, he looks to get a full season in Pearl under his belt in 2026.
Jack Holman, IF
At 6’4”, Jack Holman is the tallest position player on the Mud Monsters. The Fontana, California native brought his lefty power bat to Mississippi and hit .303 in 10 games, with five of his 10 hits being doubles. The infielder also managed to walk five times in his brief 2025 season. Now, with a chance to contribute even more, Holman should continue to be a big left-handed bat in the order.
The shape of the thing
Last year’s offense was not built on one trick. It ran. It made contact. It made pitchers work. The 2026 version brings those same bones back with a few new teeth added.
Newcomers
New bats. New stories. Same weird little world in Pearl.
Newcomers: Austin Chouinard, Andrew Semo, Tevis Payne II and Gray Bane behind the plate; Jake Zitella, AJ Fritz, Vantrel Reed, Slater Schield, Nathan Rose and Jackson Nicklaus in the infield; and Sam Schner, Trey Rutledge, Landon Wallace, Peter Bocchino and Christian Hall in the outfield mix.
Jake Zitella, IF
Zitella joins the Mud Monsters and immediately becomes the youngest member of the team. At 21, the infielder was drafted in 2023 by the New York Mets organization out of St. Charles East High School in Illinois. While with the Mets, he appeared in 56 games with the Florida Complex League team in Port St. Lucie.
While in the FCL, he played under current Mud Monsters manager Jay Pecci in 2023 and 2024.
After only appearing in five games due to herniated discs in his back, the Illinois native sets his sights on winning: “I just want to win here and do what I can in any play, spot or situation and have fun while doing it.”
AJ Fritz, IF
AJ Fritz hails from Lebanon, Ohio. The infielder joins the Mud Monsters after spending the past two seasons with the Great Falls Voyagers of the Pioneer League. After starting his collegiate career in 2019 with the University of Evansville, Fritz wrapped up his college stint at LSU Shreveport and joined the Voyagers for 17 games to end the 2024 season. Back for a full season, Fritz played 82 games while mashing 12 home runs and driving in 67 runs. Now a part of the Frontier League, he looks to continue his hot bat into 2026 with the Mud Monsters.
Vantrel Reed, IF
Vantrel Reed, Fritz’s former teammate at LSU Shreveport, is a Vicksburg native and played at Warren Central High School. The infielder spent two seasons at Hinds Community College before making the move to join the Pilots baseball program. Reed helped lead the team to their first NAIA National Championship in 2025. After graduating, he spent the rest of the year in the MLB Draft League with the Williamsport Crosscutters and now joins the Mud Monsters for his first professional season.
Slater Schield, IF
Schield is a speedy infielder that may give Brayland Skinner competition for fastest man on the team. After graduating from high school in 2020, he began his collegiate career playing for two seasons at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. The infielder then transferred to Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana for his final two years of college.
Schield instantly made an impact, hitting .299 in 52 games in 2023 and .314 in 57 games in 2024. After the 2023 season, the Nashville native played summer ball for the Terre Haute Rex in the Prospect League and set the record for stolen bases with 52 bags swiped in 52 games.
The decision to turn pro came after his final collegiate season. Starting in the Pioneer League, Schield split eight games between the Ogden Raptors and Rocky Mountain Vibes in 2024. He joined the Atlantic League in 2025, splitting 76 games between the Lancaster Stormers and Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.
Nathan Rose, IF
Rose arrives in Pearl after beginning his professional career with the Seattle Mariners organization in 2025. Before signing with the Mariners as a minor league free agent, the Shaker Heights, Ohio native spent his collegiate career from 2020 to 2023 at Bowling Green State University before transferring to Tulane for the 2024 season.
While in the Arizona Complex League with Seattle, Rose appeared in 40 games and hit five home runs while driving in 18. Once the ACL season concluded, he signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association and appeared in nine games. The middle infielder looks to make his mark with the Mud Monsters here in 2026 as he continues his professional career.
Jackson Nicklaus, IF
After spending his college career with the University of Oklahoma, Jackson Nicklaus brings a second lefty bat to the Mud Monsters’ infield. In 2022, he was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team and finished his time with the Sooners with 27 career home runs and 112 runs driven in.
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Nicklaus was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 2024. Nicklaus spent 2025 playing 78 games between two levels in the Dodgers Minor League system with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Great Lakes Loons. From the left-handed batter’s box, he hit five home runs and drove in 26 runs. Now in Pearl, Nicklaus will look to provide another spark to the Mud Monsters’ infield and batting order.
Sam Schner, OF
Sam Schner looks to continue his professional career with the Mud Monsters after spending 2025 in the United States Professional Baseball League with the Eastside Diamond Hoppers. The Boca Raton, Florida native played college in the Sunshine State Conference with Florida Tech from 2021 to 2023, batting .318 in 49 games in 2022 and .303 in 48 games in 2023. The outfielder finished his career with High Point University after transferring there in 2024.
Trey Rutledge, OF
Trey Rutledge, from Irondale, Alabama, joins the Mud Monsters after spending his college career at Miles College and Alabama A&M. Rutledge walked on with Miles College in 2022, and in 89 games from 2023-2024, the outfielder hit 11 home runs with 67 RBIs and stole 52 bases in 58 attempts.
After transferring, Rutledge played 41 games and stole 34 bases in 37 attempts. His collegiate stats got him signed by the Mets earlier this year, though he did not make any appearances for the organization. Now in Pearl, Rutledge has all the tools to make an instant impact.
Landon Wallace, OF
Landon Wallace, from Roseville, California, comes to the Mud Monsters after spending 2025 with the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers in the Pioneer League. The outfielder was signed by the Los Angeles Angels in 2023 after playing collegiately at Nevada and West Virginia. While with the Angels, Wallace saw action at five different levels during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
After signing with the High Wheelers in 2025, Wallace’s bat broke out as he clubbed 10 home runs and drove in 34 runs in 59 games. Now in the Frontier League, his bat should be a force in Pecci’s lineup.
Peter Bocchino, OF/IF
Peter Bocchino is a veteran who joins the Mud Monsters with professional experience in both foreign and domestic leagues. The outfielder’s collegiate career includes stops at Saint Michael’s College, Bentley University and Lander University. Bocchino most recently played for the Trinidad Triggers of the Pecos League from 2022-2024, highlighted by a 2022 season in which he hit .364 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs in 42 games. He provides veteran leadership and a big bat.
Christian Hall, OF/IF
Christian Hall played for the Pioneer League’s Great Falls Voyagers and Ogden Raptors in 2025. Hall had a momentous year at the plate, batting .311 while launching 18 home runs and driving in 62 RBIs in 70 games.
From Calera, Alabama, Hall began his college career in 2020 with UT Martin before transferring to UAB for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 106 games at UAB, Hall hit 19 home runs and drove in 82 RBIs. He later transferred to Auburn, where he added seven home runs and 17 RBIs. He looks to be an impact bat for the Mud Monsters in 2026.
Austin Chouinard, C
The backstops are all new to Pearl for 2026. Austin Chouinard is from Chandler, Arizona and spent the past three seasons in the Pioneer League. After playing for the Grand Junction Jackalopes in 2023, Chouinard spent 2024 and 2025 with the Rocky Mountain Vibes. In 57 games in 2025, Chouinard batted .370 while hitting four home runs and driving in 46 RBIs.
Andrew Semo, C
Andrew Semo, like Bocchino, has experience playing professionally both overseas and in the United States. A San Diego, California native, Semo began his pro career in 2024 with the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League. He later played for both the Lancaster Stormers and Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. In 52 games in the Atlantic League, the backstop hit two home runs and drove in 17 runs. Prior to starting his professional career, Semo played at Fordham University before finishing at the University of San Diego.
Tevis Payne II, C
Tevis Payne II is the second Californian catcher to join the Mud Monsters in 2026. He begins his professional career after collegiate stops at Mission College, Vanguard University and Houston Christian University. In 156 college games, Payne II hit 11 home runs, drove in 100 RBIs and posted a .291 batting average.
Gray Bane, C
Gray Bane, from Olive Branch, Mississippi, returns to his home state to begin his professional career. While at Lewisburg High School, he was rated among the top players in the state. The catcher began his college career at Mississippi State before moving to Itawamba Community College, where he earned All-MACCC honorable mention honors, and later transferred to Southern Miss and the University of the Incarnate Word in 2025.
With UIW, he finished his college career appearing in a career-high number of games while hitting five home runs in 34 contests.
One more thing before first pitch
With an offensive identity built by speed, discipline, and new firepower, the Mud Monsters enter 2026 ready to make noise. Because if the story starts on the mound, every swing brings the opportunity to decide how that story is told.
About the Mississippi Mud Monsters
Baseball Lives Here. It Just Got a Little Weirder.
The Mississippi Mud Monsters are a professional baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, competing in the Frontier League. Built in the mud and rooted in Mississippi, the Mud Monsters believe baseball should be unapologetically fun, a little weird, wildly welcoming, and deeply tied to the place it calls home. Real baseball. Real people. This is swamp-built, Mississippi-made baseball, where the vibes matter just as much as the final score.