Even though Matt Moore was in Baltimore for Monday night’s game, he did not make his Major League debut. I thought that Rays’ skipper Joe Maddon might call upon Moore to close out the game in the ninth, but Joel Peralta received the nod instead and went on to collect his third save of the season.
Here is a collection of articles/links from around the web about Moore’s arrival:
Sunday brought the news that the Tampa Bay Rays, who are now just 3.5 games back in the Wild Card after a weekend sweep of the Red Sox, have finally called up their top prospect, LHP Matt Moore. Not only is Moore the best pitching prospect in their loaded system, he’s the consensus (including all of us here at the Sombrero) top pitching prospect in baseball. And with good reason.
The left-hander enjoyed a breakout season in 2010 for High-A Charlotte in the Florida State League. There he posted a 6-11 record with a 3.36 ERA over 144 2/3 innings. He allowed 109 hits and walked just 61 hitters while fanning 208, as he became the first pitcher since Francisco Liriano in 2005 to record a 200-strikeout season.
This season, the 22-year-old went 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA and 210 strikeouts across two levels. Ranked as The Golden Sombrero’s No. 31 prospect headed into the season, Moore dominated for Double-A Montgomery, posting an 8-3 record with a 2.20 ERA and 131/28 K/BB ratio over 102 1/3 innings. Shortly before he was promoted to Triple-A Durham, Moore fired a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts against Mobile on June 16.
After the promotion to Triple-A, Moore absolutely dominated, posting a 4-0 record, 1.37 ERA, 0.968 WHIP, and 79/18 K/BB over 52 2/3 innings. He finished the regular season with a ridiculous 210/46 K/BB, as he became the first pitcher in nearly two decades to record back-to-back 200+-strikeout seasons in the Minors.
Moore’s insane talent will now be on full display for baseball fans as the southpaw will be called up before Monday’s game against Baltimore. While he will likely work out of the Rays’ bullpen, especially with Kyle Farnsworth experiencing elbow discomfort, Moore should receive at least one start when the Rays play a double-dip against the Yankees on September 21.
It’s one thing to keep a player in the Minors if you’re out of the playoff race so that his arbitration clock doesn’t start too early. But when every game matters and your harboring a pitcher with video-game stuff in Triple-A, all concerns are thrown out the window. With the promotion, he instantly becomes the Ray’s third-best starter and their best reliever.
This September call-up carries extra significance for our staff, as Dee and Griff are both New Mexico HS alums like Moore and have been tracking his progress since he was drafted in 2007. We are all pumped to watch him continue his ascent to greatness as begins what will surely be an outstanding MLB career. Happy Matt Moore day, Sombrero Nation.
Bottom 5: struck out swinging against Jordan Lyles
Bottom 7: struck out swinging against Lance Pendelton
Bottom 8: struck out on a foul tip against Mark Melancon
Final Line: 1-for-5, R, 4 K
Notes: Werth picked up his third golden sombrero of the season on Sunday afternoon against Astros. The real story of the game was that Ian Desmond, Rick Ankiel and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back-to-back jacks off of Henry Sosa in the third. Oh yeah, and that Strasburg guy pitched. There’s nothing noteworthy about Werth’s season that his .164 ISO and .727 OPS doesn’t already suggest. He’s now tied with Adam Dunn, Grady Sizemore and Kelly Johnson for the league lead in golden sombreros at three.
Notes: Ibanez added to his impressive -1.1 fWAR on Sunday when he collected his first golden sombrero of the season against the Brew Crew. In defense of the 39-year-old (wow), Gallardo was absolutely nasty on Sunday as he fanned 12 over seven innings. For those of you who didn’t realize he was that old, then get this: the Seattle Mariners drafted Ibanez in the 36th round of the 1992 draft
Notes: Normally I’d take some time to enjoy Reynolds’ golden sombrero, especially after it took 139 games to happen. However, the incredibly rare platinum sombrero always trumps a golden, and on Wednesday Chris Davis entered elite terroitory. Hitting sixth in the Orioles’ lineup, just two spots behind Reynolds, Davis had a day to remember (or forget if you’re him) at the dish. In six at-bats in the 11-inning contest, the recent import fanned five times to secure the first platinum sombrero of the 2011 season. He even had a chance for a sixth strikeout in the 11th inning, but somehow managed to weakly ground out to the right side and spare himself the agony.
But seriously, it’s hard to have a worse day at the plate than Davis did on Wednesday. He saw a total of 20 pitches (Burnett 11; Robertson 3; Noesi 6) over six at-bats. I guess 20 pitches might be acceptable for a player with a high contact percentage or average on balls put in play, but definitely not Davis. It also just adds to insult that he was down in the count—either 1-2 or 0-2—in every at-bat.
September 13, 2011
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Posted by Mike Rosenbaum
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