Mississippi State Bulldogs Playing Major League Baseball

As you may have noticed in an earlier article on this site, Jacob Lindgren was called up to the Yankees. Lindgren hasn't given up a home run yet in professional baseball. He already has an article about him, so I'll skip him and write about the four other former MSU players in the MLB.

Jonathan Papelbon: The biggest story with Papelbon hasn't been has performance this year, but which team might be willing to trade for him. The Phillies are 19-26,and are somehow not in last thanks to the Marlins. At the age of 34, Papelbon has made it clear that he would like to play for a team that could go to the postseason. The Marlins were interested in trading for him earlier in the year, but they aren't going to the postseason without a massive turnaround. The Blue Jays, Brewers, and a "mystery team" were also mentioned as being interested in Papelbon earlier this season. Since the Phillies need prospects to rebuild, and Papelbon is pitching well this year, he will probably get traded before the trade deadline. Papelbon has 1.50 ERA, while striking out 32% of the batters he has faced, and only walking 6%. The velocity on his fastball has dropped, but he has adjusted by throwing more sliders. There is a much more detailed article about it on his player page on Fangraphs.com.

Kendall Graveman: After starting his MLB career with the Blue Jays, Graveman was one of the four players traded to the Athletics for Josh Donaldson. Toronto's park is a much more difficult place to pitch than Oakland's, so the trade was a good one for Graveman. Graveman started throwing a cut fastball in the minor leagues, and it helped him make the A's out of spring training. He struggled a lot in his first four starts, and was demoted to the A's AAA team in Nashville. Due to injuries, he got another chance to start against the Rays, and did very well. He threw six scoreless innings, and got six strikeouts while giving up two walks and three hits. He also got a lot of ground balls, which is something he had trouble doing earlier in the year. With all of Oakland's injury issues, Graveman has a good chance to start regularly for Oakland and try to displace Terrell Owens as the best professional athlete from Alex City.

Mitch Moreland: Moreland is off to an outstanding start this season, hitting .314/.384./535 (that is his average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage). He hit a home run off Graveman during Graveman's first MLB start. Moreland has mostly played first base for the Rangers, since he is better athlete than Prince Fielder.

Tyler Moore: Tyler Moore is doing what he usually does for the Nationals, which is hitting with some power (and maybe lifting weights with former Braves player Dan Uggla) but not getting on base very often. He is hitting .209/.277/.465. Moore has played first base and left field, and has gotten some chances to pinch hit. He is stuck behind rookie Michael Taylor in left field, Ryan Zimmerman at first, and for some reason, isn't stealing any playing time from Bryce Harper in right. Pending a Papelbon trade, Moore has the best chance of former MSU players of getting to the playoffs. According to Fangraphs, the Nationals have a 97% chance of getting to the playoffs this season.

Paul Maholm: He isn't on a team right now after having a bad year with the Dodgers last season, but he is still attempting to get on an MLB team. He was released by the Reds before the season started, and turned down an offer to pitch for their AAA team.