20 Sep

love is all around

Amazon reportedly has sent out a press release promoting how Alexa, its heavily advertised digital assistant product, is being used by baseball fans. The release included a list of the top 10 most asked about players this season, according to Alexa. At the top of the list, ahead of Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and others you would expect to see, is … drumroll, please … Tyler Moore. Really? Moore, the former Mississippi State star from Brandon, is a fine player, a five-year MLB veteran known for his power. But he is batting .206 with six home runs this year as a bench player for a bad team, the Miami Marlins. Something’s clearly amiss. Craig Calcaterra of nbcsports.com sums it very well: “I suspect though, quite strongly, that Alexa — or the P.R. staff touting its abilities — is having trouble distinguishing between Tyler Moore and Mary Tyler Moore, who passed away back in January and was likely the subject of many more people’s curiosity than the Nationals’ 2008 16th round draft pick.” Of course, many a ballpark has played the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show whenever Tyler Moore has come to the plate. So, Alexa might have an excuse for being confused.

14 Dec

moving on

After an unproductive year in Atlanta’s system, Tyler Moore has moved on to Miami. The former Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State slugger signed a minor league contract with the Marlins on Tuesday. The initial reports did not indicate whether the right-handed hitting first baseman/outfielder will get an invite to big league spring training. Moore, who hit 24 homers in 277 games over four seasons with Washington, was on the disabled list much of 2016 after the Braves acquired him in a trade. He batted .229 with three homers in 25 games for Triple-A Gwinnett. The Marlins appear set at first base with Justin Bour and have Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna at the corner outfield spots. But Moore could provide power off the bench.

21 Jun

good vibrations?

Max Scherzer had a much-celebrated great game for Washington on Saturday. His teammate Tyler Moore had a much-needed good game, which makes two in a row for the former Mississippi State star from Brandon. While Scherzer was firing his first career no-hitter against Pittsburgh, Moore, starting for the second straight day, was going 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs in the 6-0 victory. Moore had two hits on Friday, when his average for the year stood at .177. He is now batting .200 with four homers and 13 RBIs. Moore, who gets most of his at-bats as a pinch hitter, has one homer and four RBIs for the month. Moore’s value is in his power. He perhaps could have used a tuneup trip to the minors this season, but he is out of options and the Nationals apparently don’t want to risk losing him by exposing him to waivers. Moore hit 10 homers as a rookie in 2012 but has only 12 over the past three seasons. Washington, pegged by many as a World Series team, is only three games above .500. Maybe Saturday’s emotional win will serve as a jolt, for both the team and Tyler Moore. P.S. Seth Smith, the Ole Miss alum from Jackson, homered for Seattle in a 6-3 win on Saturday, his sixth of the year and first off a left-hander. The lefty-hitting Smith rarely faces lefties (14 ABs in 2015), and Saturday’s bomb was the first allowed this year by Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. … Ex-MSU star Ed Easley, still without an MLB hit (see previous posts), has been sent back to the minors by St. Louis.

27 Oct

eye on 2015

The calendar still says 2014, but in a real sense the 2015 season already has started for Tyler Moore. And it has started well. The former Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State star hit his fourth home run on Sunday in the Dominican Winter League. Moore has 10 hits all told in 28 at-bats (.357) with 10 RBIs for Toros del Este. Moore, who spent most of 2014 with Triple-A Syracuse, will go to spring training in February vying for an MLB roster spot with Washington – or perhaps with some other big league club. The right-handed slugger, who has spent parts of three seasons in the majors with the Nationals, has 18 career MLB homers and 106 minor league bombs. P.S. Former Petal High standout Anthony Alford, returning to baseball in Toronto’s system, will play the outfield for Canberra in the Australian Baseball League. The Cavalry’s season starts Nov. 6. Alford, the former Ole Miss and Southern Miss football player, is joined on the Canberra roster by Marcus Lemon, a onetime Mississippi Braves player who is the son of Jackson native and former MLB star Chet Lemon.

17 Oct

back to work

After a tough year in limited time in The Show, Mississippi State product Tyler Moore is getting some extra work in the Dominican Winter League. Moore, a Brandon native who also played at Meridian Community College, went 1-for-2 with a run and two walks for Toros del Este in the DWL season opener on Thursday. Moore broke into the big leagues with a bang in 2012, belting 10 home runs and hitting .263 in 156 at-bats for Washington. His didn’t fare as well in 2013 (.222, four homers in 167 ABs) and scuffled again this season (.231, four homers in 91 ABs). Moore, 27, who can play first base or left field, has right-handed power that MLB clubs value. He twice hit 31 homers in a season in the minors and got 10 bombs (with a .265 average) at Triple-A Syracuse this year. Complicating Moore’s status in the Nationals’ organization is the emergence this season of Steven Souza Jr., another strong, right-handed hitting outfielder.

26 Mar

on the move

Tyler Moore will start the 2014 season at Triple-A Syracuse, having been sent down Tuesday by the Washington Nationals. Moore, who played at Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State, is a .241 career hitter with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs over parts of two seasons with the Nationals. The right-handed hitting Moore can play first base or the outfield and has power that Washington, the favorite in the National League East, surely will find use for later in this season. … Former Mississippi Braves standout Jeff Francoeur has signed a minor league deal with San Diego. Francoeur had a good spring with Cleveland but was cut last week. If you’re keeping score, Francoeur has now gone from the Braves to the Mets to the Rangers to the Royals to the Giants to the Indians to the Padres. He’s a good guy and a lot of people are hoping he’ll get some more big league time.