mettle test

The Texas Rangers are hot: 12 straight wins. Mitch Moreland is not: a .133 average in July. The second-year first baseman from Amory and Mississippi State is facing some real adversity for the first time as a big leaguer. Dealing with slumps and figuring a way out of them is how players prove their worth in The Show. Every player goes through it. This is Moreland’s time. It’ll be interesting to watch how he responds. He’s still getting playing time; the Rangers haven’t given up on him by any means. He hit a three-run homer Sunday, possibly a good sign. For the year, the lefty hitter is batting .262 with 12 homers and 27 RBIs. The RBI total is low in part because Moreland hits low in a power-packed order. But he needs to step it up. Odds are he will.
P.S. Props to the Hattiesburg Black Sox, who came through the loser’s bracket to win the Mississippi Baseball Congress (semi-pro) state tournament at Smith-Wills Stadium on Tuesday night. The top-seeded Sox’s Trey Jones was named MVP and two of his teammates, Tony Phillips and Josh Sherman, also made the MBC All-State team.