He might just make it after all

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Tyler Moore is hitting .455 with four homers and 10 RBI in 11 games this month.

Yes, the entire Nationals lineup has turned things up a notch or five the last two nights in Denver. Twenty-three runs scored in 18 innings? Not even the most cockeyed optimist out there could have predicted that.

But let's turn our attention away for a moment from the sudden resurgence of the likes of Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse and Adam LaRoche and focus on really the only player who has consistently produced at the plate this month: Tyler Moore.

Yes, the 25-year-old rookie has been tearing the cover off the ball since the Nationals called him back up from Class AAA Syracuse on June 7. In 12 prior games -- his first 12 in the big leagues -- Moore looked a bit overwhelmed. He hit .158 (3-for-19), didn't drive in a run and didn't draw a walk.

Fast-forward to last night's game at Coors Field, when Moore demolished another home run into the thin mountain air and added two more hits for good measure to continue his remarkable turnaround. In 11 games during this second big-league stint, he's now hitting .455 with four homers, 10 RBI, six walks and even three stolen bases.

Moore has recorded at least one hit in nine of his 10 starts, at least two hits in four of those games. And now he's left Davey Johnson with no choice but to make him a regular in the starting lineup.

Having previously worked his way into something of a platoon role, getting starts against left-handers, Moore has established his bat is just as potent against right-handers. He's hitting .412 (7-for-17) with two of his homers and seven of his RBI off righties.

So don't be surprised if you start seeing the young slugger at either first base or in left field just about every day of the week right now.

Too small of a sample size, you say, to draw any significant conclusions about Moore's ability to hit major-league pitching? Perhaps. But compare his numbers in this small sampling at baseball's highest level to his numbers in the minors, and you start to think this isn't a fluke.

Moore has homered once in every 13 at-bats with the Nationals. How does that compare? Well, he homered once in every 11 at-bats at Syracuse to start this season. But he homered "only" once every 17 at-bats at Class AA Harrisburg last year and once every 16 at-bats at Class A Potomac in 2010.

Point is, Moore has hit for power at every level, and his rate of success hasn't diminished by any significant amount since he arrived in D.C.

Moore's increased playing time will probably come at the expense of Steve Lombardozzi, who had become the de facto starting left fielder against right-handed opponents. But Lombardozzi has fallen into a prolonged funk at the plate, has just nine hits in 59 at-bats this month and has seen his batting average plummet to .259 from .320 in only 27 days.

At this point, Johnson just can't say no to Moore, a bit of a late bloomer who finally is reaping the benefits of his first opportunity to play on a regular basis in the big leagues.