Moses, Simmons, former Southeast Missouri State baseball players, adjust to life as pros

Trenton Moses and Shae Simmons, two local high school graduates who starred at Southeast Missouri State, are just short of a month into their professional baseball careers.

Moses, a third baseman from Advance High School, and Simmons, a pitcher from Scott City High School, both were selected by the Atlanta Braves in this year's amateur draft. Moses was taken in the 26th round, while Simmons went in the 22nd round.

During recent telephone conversations, Moses and Simmons discussed their first few weeks on a path they hope eventually will lead them to the major leagues.

Moses in Virginia

Moses is playing for the Advanced Rookie Level Danville (Va.) Braves of the Appalachian League. He has had his share of ups and downs, which he expected.

Simmons (Shae)

"I knew it was going to be a tough adjustment, but it's really everything I thought it would be," he said. "There's a lot more ups and downs than you realize, but things are going pretty good for the most part."

Moses has played in 13 of Danville's 21 games. He is batting .250 (13 for 52) with four doubles, five RBIs and seven runs scored.

Those are respectable statistics but a far cry from the monster numbers Moses put up during his junior and senior All-American and Ohio Valley Conference player of the year college seasons.

"I've been struggling a little bit at the plate for the past week," Moses said. "We're facing some really good pitching, a lot more velocity than I have before. These guys are all pros. You expect it, but it's kind of hard to go from killing it [in college] to this."

Moses said a big adjustment is transitioning from college aluminum bats to the wood bats used in the pro ranks.

"We're still adjusting to wood," he said. "It's a lot different than aluminum. It's about finding the right bat. I have to get used to it because I know I'll never use aluminum again."

Moses said the biggest change from college baseball to now is the fact Danville plays a game just about every day.

"You basically have no free time at all," he said. "We had our first off day [recently], and I almost didn't know what to do with myself. What I really didn't realize before is how much time we actually spend at the ballpark every day. We're here from 2, 2:30 in the afternoon until 10, 10:30 at night every day. It's pretty time consuming, that's for sure."

Moses has gotten something of a break regarding travel. While the teams in many low minor leagues are spread out, which makes for torturously long bus trips, the Appalachian League is not that way.

"Our furthest trip is about four hours, and the closest is about 45 minutes," Moses said. "We just got off a six-day road trip, but the travel really isn't that bad, not as bad as college. All the teams are right here close to each other."

Moses has been sharing an apartment with five teammates.

"It's pretty cramped, but it's not too bad," he said. "Overall I'm having a lot of fun so far."

Simmons in Florida

Simmons is with the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League Braves, who play at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla. He has had far more ups than downs to this point.

Simmons has not allowed an earned run while giving up just two hits over nine innings in five appearances. He is 2-0 with 10 strikeouts and six walks after notching a victory Wednesday with two innings of one-hit relief.

"I've been throwing well," said Simmons, who has started one game. "Sometimes I'm wild, but it hasn't been too bad."

Staying sharp can be a problem, Simmons said. The Gulf Coast League Braves have 22 pitchers on their roster, so consistent innings are hard to find.

"It's tough, but we understand," he said. "We have a lot of pitchers on the team, and they all have to get work. We know what to do to prepare, but it's hard. You might throw one inning on a Friday, then maybe not throw again until Thursday."

Simmons said one of his biggest adjustments from college is learning how to take care of himself both on and off the field.

"The biggest change is probably just trying to stay on a routine for each individual because we've just got one coach to deal with so many pitchers," he said. "We have to kind of watch out for ourselves. You have to keep yourself going. We're there [at the park] all day, so you have to go to bed a lot earlier, treat it like a regular job."

Simmons, like Moses, has not had to endure any long bus rides, although he knows that eventually will be in his future if he advances through the system like he hopes.

"All the teams are pretty close," he said. "Our furthest bus ride is about two hours away. It's nice. But I can't wait to move up."

Simmons also has no complaints about his living arrangements.

"We live in a hotel. Everybody rooms with one other teammate," Simmons said.

While Moses' team plays most of its games at night, Simmons' squad plays the majority of its contests during the day.

"Down here it rains about every evening," he said. "I think they just try to get the games in early."

Simmons, who left Southeast following his junior season, has not been disappointed by his career choice so far.

"It's awesome," he said. "It's hard to explain. Just growing up, always wanting to do this."

Moses and Simmons originally were scheduled to both play in Danville before those plans changed, but that hasn't kept the former teammates from keeping in touch.

"We try to talk about once a week," Simmons said.