Moore thriving with Nats since return from Minors

WASHINGTON -- Having a great attitude is one of the reasons Nationals outfielder/first baseman Tyler Moore is back in the big leagues.

After getting demoted to the Minor Leagues on June 9, according to a baseball source, Moore had an "aw shucks" type of attitude. He was glad to be reunited with close friend, outfielder Corey Brown, and Moore improved his skills at the plate while working with Triple-A Syracuse hitting coach Troy Gingrich.

During his time in Syracuse, Moore was productive, hitting .318 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs in 45 games. Since being promoted to be big leagues on Aug. 17, Moore entered Wednesday 12-for-25 (.480) with three RBIs.

When told what the source said about his great attitude, Moore said, "I'm not going to sit here and say I had a great attitude. It was tough going down. It was tough, but the only thing I could control was the way I treat people. I can't control whether I'm in the big leagues or not or whether I'm getting hits or not.

"There are some great guys in Syracuse. I have a bunch of friends. It was fun going back to Syracuse. I'm glad I'm back with the Nationals. I have friends within both spots. You don't ever want to be the sour guy on the team. You can control your attitude, and that is a huge thing."

Before he was sent back to Syracuse, Moore will be the first to say he was helping the opposing pitchers out by swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. Moore credits Gingrich for helping him slow his game down and look for better pitches to hit.

"Troy is awesome. He is very good with hitters, very good with people, he knows how to communicate well," Moore said. "He got me right fast. That's the main thing about the hitting coach."