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Former hurler Moncrief goes deep to fence
By JON MOFFETT
NILES
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Carlos Moncrief
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Travis Fryman, manager of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, talks baseball with reporters during the team’s media day Thursday at Eastwood Field in Niles.
Carlos Moncrief is preparing for a new year, in a new league, in a new city and at a new position.
The former Arizona League Indians pitcher will be seeing the field in a different light for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers starting tonight. Moncrief will exchange the dirt from the pitcher’s mound to that of the warning track in the outfield.
Moncrief, 21, said he is up to the challenge.
“It was my decision,” he said. “I had a shoulder injury as far as tight muscles in my shoulder. So I asked if I could be a hitter, and they watched me to see how I would do. And it worked out well.”
The position isn’t completely foreign to him, Moncrief said. He played in the outfield in 2008 at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla. But later that year, as a member of the Gulf Cost League, the Jackson, Miss., native moved to the mound.
“It’s a big difference. And it’s definitely a big difference in professional ball,” Moncrief said. “Probably the last time I hit and played outfield was two years ago, so I have to get readjusted to that and get my swing back. It’s kind of difficult, but it’s coming around.”
A 14th-round pick of the Indians in 2008, Moncrief said there is a little rust. But he said he isn’t worried because being up at the plate is just like riding a bike: once you start, it’s hard to unlearn.
“But I’ve been hitting all my life,” he said. “I pitched some in college, but I was primarily a right fielder. So I have pretty good experience as a hitter.”
Moncrief said he doesn’t expect many setbacks during the transition. In fact, he’s happier to take the field and would rather be a batter rather than face them.
“I like hitting better anyway,” he said. “I think I’m a smart hitter than I am a pitcher anyway.”
Moncrief’s father, Homer, was also a two-way player in the Detroit Tigers’ and Chicago White Sox’s minor league systems. The younger Moncrief said he inherited a lot of his father’s baseball skills.
One of several new faces, Moncrief said he hopes to improve upon the Scrappers’ excellent 2009 season. The team posted a 49-27 record and made a postseason trip in the New York-Penn League. He said he is excited about the possibility of a repeat performance.
“From the looks of it, I think we have a pretty good team,” he said. “I’m not really worried about bad things happening. I’m looking forward to a good team in the Mahoning Valley ... I always expect to go to the top.”
Moncrief said he first arrived in the Mahoning Valley on Monday and is staying with a host family nearby. When asked what highlights of the area he’d seen, he admitted not very many.
“The [Eastwood] Mall,” he said. “It’s nice. I like it.”