it’s a spring thing

Players are flocking to major league camps in Florida and Arizona, and the first spring training games are just around the corner. Baseball is blooming again.
It’s an exhilarating time for many Mississippians in the game. Take Tyler Moore, for instance. The former Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State star is in big league camp officially for the first time, having made the Washington Nationals’ 40-man roster in the off-season.
“It’s a blessing,” Moore said in a recent interview. “I’m really excited about it.”
Moore played at the Double-A level in 2011. He enhanced his stock with the organization by blasting 62 homers over the past two seasons — but he’s a longshot to make the Nationals’ 25-man roster this spring. He’s just happy to be there. His time will come.
Jonathan Papelbon (another MSU product), Paul Maholm (MSU) and Seth Smith (Ole Miss) are in new places where they’ll be key figures this season. Papelbon, the former Boston closer, signed with Philadelphia and Maholm, a starting pitcher, with the Chicago Cubs as free agents. Smith, an outfielder, moved to Oakland in a trade.
Itawamba Community College product Desmond Jennings, who had big league trials the past two seasons, is likely to break camp with Tampa Bay as a starting outfielder for the first time. Lance Lynn, an Ole Miss alumnus, won a ring with St. Louis last year and is expected to have a role in the Cardinals’ bullpen again.
Zach Cozart, another ex-Rebels star, will be given every opportunity to claim the starting shortstop job with Cincinnati after an injury-curtailed 2011 debut. Southern Miss alumnus Brian Dozier, a top prospect for Minnesota, will be in camp as a non-roster invitee and will battle for a job in the Twins’ infield. He’s another whose time will come.
For quite a few other Mississippians, there is some anxiety this spring. Delta State product Eli Whiteside faces a fight for the backup catcher job in San Francisco, as does ex-MSU standout Craig Tatum with Arizona. Neither is assured of a big league roster spot when camp breaks.
Southwest Mississippi CC’s Jarrod Dyson (Kansas City), Starkville native Julio Borbon (Texas), Ole Miss’ Alex Presley (Pittsburgh) and UM’s Chris Coghlan (Miami) are all young outfielders on 40-man rosters who could wind up back in the minors if they don’t have a strong spring.
Former Rebels hurler Matt Maloney, a waiver claim by Minnesota from Cincinnati last October, faces a similar fate in Twins camp.
Even more stressful is the situation confronting the likes of Delta State’s Dusty Hughes (Atlanta), Mississippi Gulf Coast CC’s Fred Lewis (Cleveland), Nettleton native Bill Hall (New York Yankees), Ole Miss’ Matt Tolbert (Chicago Cubs) and USM’s Jarrett Hoffpauir (Washington).
All are going to big league camps on minor league contracts. They face high hurdles in making the 25-man opening day roster and could even be released if things don’t go well.