The road to the major leagues has brought Matt Spring home to Peoria.

As a catching prospect with the Tampa Bay Rays, Spring has traveled throughout the team's minor-league system, making stops in locales as diverse as Hudson Valley, N.Y., Birmingham, Ala., and Durham, N.C.

His commute to the ballpark is decidedly shorter this winter as the Glendale Cactus High School graduate hones his skills as a member of the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.

"I've got 14 people on my pass list today, and that's pretty normal for me," Spring said Tuesday before the Javelinas' game with the Mesa Solar Sox. "Our organization doesn't have any teams west of the Mississippi River so it's nice for my family to come out and see me."

The Arizona Fall League is designed as a finishing school for players on the verge of the major leagues. The six-team operation features players from every team and has a distinguished list of alumni, including Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, David Wright and Ryan Braun.

In five minor-league seasons, Spring has established himself as solid defensive catcher who has struggled to find consistency as a hitter.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has exhibited those same tendencies in the fall league, hitting .158 with one homer and 7 RBI in 14 games.

"I haven't played as well as I wanted to, but I'm out here with the best players in the minor leagues," Spring said. "Everybody watches everything you do out here, and I think a lot of times they are just as interested in how you carry yourself as a player as much as how you do in the games."

Spring's work ethic has made a big impression on batting coach Ozzie Timmons.

"Nobody will outwork that kid," said Timmons, a coach in the Tampa Bay system. "It's tough being a catcher in this league because we carry three on the roster, and they all have to split time.

"Matt needs to play somewhere where he can get some consistent at-bats and play five days a week."

Spring conceded his .158 batting average would have nagged him incessantly several years ago. However, his minor-league travels have taught him to remain calm while traveling on baseball's version of a roller coaster.

"Any pressure you put on yourself is just added pressure you just don't need," said Spring, who played for Mike Tirella at Cactus. "Every time you get in a car, you can't worry about getting in an accident.

"That's how I was early in my career."

Part of that early-career pressure originated when Spring was taken in the fourth round of the 2004 draft. Spring had just helped Dixie State (Utah) win the national junior-college title and expected the same success when he arrived in the minors.

"I went from a high-round pick who was basically given a job to playing my way out of that," Spring said. "Then I had to learn to be a backup, then go from a backup to a starter.

"I'm right where I thought I would be as a player, but I didn't take the path I thought I'd take."

The 24-year-old Spring spent most of this past season with the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits in Alabama, where he earned accolades on and off the field.

On the diamond, he had a 6-RBI game in the Southern League playoffs to earn a postseason promotion to Triple-A Durham, N.C.

Off the field, he received the second annual Erik Walker Community Champion Award.

The award recognizes a Rays minor league player who exemplifies teamwork, sportsmanship and community involvement, attributes exhibited by a one-time Rays pitcher who died in a 2006 canoeing accident.

Spring spent part of his summer as a volunteer in the Alabama Summer Reading Program, where he read baseball-themed books to children ages 6 to 12. He also volunteered to field questions for two Junior Press conferences put on by the Biscuits, morning programs which allowed children ages 10 to 13 to "cover" a game and write a story.

"I learned the importance of community involvement from my parents," Spring said. "They taught me to expect nothing but the best of myself."

The Durham promotion capped a successful year, which began with Spring's invitation to big-league camp in the Grapefruit League and finished with his roster spot in the Arizona Fall League.

"Every time you get to play in the playoffs, it's great," Spring said. "But to contribute, it's even better."

The move to North Carolina also turned Spring's thoughts to baseball movies.

Spring found himself playing the same position as Crash Davis, the fictional character portrayed by actor Kevin Costner in the 1988 film, "Bull Durham."

"I don't know how many times I watched that movie as a kid," Spring said. "That was pretty cool."