[Zenny]

Baseball America's Daily Dish:

GREENSBORO, N.C.--Sometimes, guys seem to come out of nowhere.

But no matter how it appears, Class A Augusta left fielder Brandon Moss hasn't exactly come out of the woodwork--unless you're talking about emerging as one of the best hitting prospects in the Red Sox system.

After being drafted as a second baseman in the eighth round in 2002 out of Loganville High in Monroe, Ga., Moss landed in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and hit just .204-0-6 in 113 at-bats.

The 20-year-old outfielder worked hard that offseason to improve his stroke and make adjustments to the pro level, and he came back to hit .237-7-34 for short-season Lowell the following season.

"When I got to Lowell, everything just fell apart and my confidence went way down," Moss said. "I had worked so hard before that, just trying to get it together, and it sucks to work that hard and get no results out of it."

Moss appeared to be running in place. Until this year.

The Moss show has been fully unveiled this season in the South Atlantic League, where he is hitting .356-8-56 with a 37-48 walk-strikeout ratio in 306 at-bats for the Greenjackets. He worked hard again this past offseason on his approach at the plate and is finally getting some results.

"It's definitely a surprise to be doing so well, but I worked really hard this offseason at my approach at the plate," Moss said. "I kind of went back to the way I hit in high school where I wasn't standing completely straight up. Last year, I struck out a lot because I had no balance in my swing. It was all just swinging at everything. So I really got back to being balanced and set up right and it really has cut down on my strikeouts. If you strike out less, you're putting the ball in play all the time and that's what I've been trying to do."

Moss's breakout season is leaving an impression on the Boston brass as well.

"We knew he was a good hitter coming out of high school, but up to this point he's exceeded expectations," farm director Ben Cherington said. "He's refined his overall approach at the plate and really worked hard to become a better hitter. He's got a better understanding of the game now. He's hitting close to .360--but it's a hard .360."

Cherington also calls Moss a "high-energy" guy--a label that has proved to be a double-edged sword. He leaves everything on the field--no matter what happened the day before.

"I've always been a loud mouth, which has been a problem for me too," Moss said. "When we lose or if I go 0-for-4 and the next day I come back all happy-go-lucky, people took it the wrong way like I wasn't taking it seriously. But it's not me not taking it seriously; it's me forgetting about it. It's like it's a new day and who cares? I was 3-for-5 yesterday but who cares? That doesn't mean anything about today.

"That's just the way I go--I don't care about anything that happened yesterday. If you carry it into the next day, you're going to be pissed off the whole day. Who needs to be around some guy like that?"

So far this season, everything has fallen into place for the lefthanded-hitting Moss. On top of the staggering numbers, he appeared in his first all-star game and took home MVP honors. He doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth and was the only player to have two hits in the game.

"That was something that I really didn't expect to get," Moss said, laughing. "I was just out there and swinging at everything just because I was having so much fun and I was totally caught up in the moment. I didn't really hit anything hard there. I just found some hits and took home the MVP, so that was really nice."

The all-star experience was also a breeding ground for new friendships and catching up with some old ones.

"That was the best experience I've ever had in baseball--by far," Moss said. "It was amazing. I got to hang out with a couple guys I was already friends with in Ian Bladergroen and Ryan Harvey. They're just really great guys. And I got to meet Delmon (Young). I never really talked to Delmon before and he's a great guy. It was neat to see what some of those guys are like. It was definitely the best time ever."

No matter how hard of a .360 Moss is hitting right now, he was happy to see Capital City righthander Yusmeiro Petit get called up to high Class A St. Lucie--tagging him as the toughest pitcher he faced this season.

"I just can't hit him," Moss said. "No question about it--he was the toughest. I'm 1-for-6 off him with five strikeouts. He's good--he really is good. You just can't pick the ball up off him."

Moss used to say that about a lot of pitchers. That hasn't been the case in 2004.