job hunting

Former Picayune High star T.J. House has earned a spot in the Cleveland Indians’ rotation, the team said Sunday. House, a left-hander, is 2-2 this spring with a 5.70 ERA. He made his big league debut in 2014, posting a 5-3, 3.35 ledger with some strong work down the stretch. The Indians’ pitching coach is former Ole Miss hurler Mickey Callaway, who was House’s coach in A-ball in 2011 when, as the story goes, he delivered a stern postseason lecture that turned House’s foundering career around. House, reportedly on the brink of being released, responded with a solid year in Double-A in 2012 and made the big leagues (though he didn’t get in a game) in 2013. … Mississippi State alumnus Kendall Graveman appears to have won a job in Oakland’s rotation with a brilliant spring. Graveman is 3-0 with a 0.42 ERA in five games. The former 2013 eighth-round pick went from A-ball to the majors with Toronto last season and was acquired by the A’s as part of the Josh Donaldson deal. “He’s pretty cerebral in the way he (pitches),” A’s manager Bob Melvin told mlb.com. … Drew Pomeranz out of Ole Miss, also vying for a rotation spot with Oakland, pitched today and blanked Colorado for six innings on two hits with six strikeouts. He has a 2.04 ERA this spring. P.S. Corey Dickerson, the ex-Meridian Community College standout from McComb, earned some high praise from a scout speaking to Sports Illustrated (March 30 issue): “He’s probably got as good a barrel-to-the-ball ability as any young hitter I’ve seen in a long time.” Dickerson is having a good spring (.273, a homer, six RBIs) for Colorado after hitting .312 with 24 home runs in 2014. … Ed Easley, the longtime minor leaguer and MSU product, was sent down to Triple-A Memphis by St. Louis, and ex-Bulldogs star Paul Maholm, a big league vet, has been released by Cincinnati.