The Rays will demote Matt Moore to Triple-A Durham on Monday, as MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes. Moore has struggled at the Major League level this season and the Rays hope that a stint in the minors will help him get back on track. The move also gives Tampa Bay the opportunity to go with a four-man rotation.
“One, this is the first time we’ve had an opportunity to go to a four-man rotation,” manager Kevin Cash said. “It’s definitely not fair to ask Matt Moore to go into the bullpen. We need to get his innings on a consistent track, because that factors into what he’s capable of doing next year for us. But most importantly, we need to get Matt back to being the guy that he is. We know, as an organization going forward, he’s a huge part of what we’re doing. And I think this stability, keeping him on his five days, will help.”
Moore, a top prospect who emerged as a budding star in 2012 and 2013, has been battling his way back from a UCL replacement. So far in 2015, he has not looked like the same pitcher, posting an 8.78 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. With some time in the Rays’ farm system, the club hopes that he can get closer to his old form. In 2013, Moore earned his first All-Star appearance and posted a 3.29 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.
Marc Topkin of the TB Times reported this yesterday and had it the the paper this morning. You guys have been slow to report some things lately.
Catching their breath after a mad deadline.
What I am more surprised in is that the Rays are going to a four man rotation. I wonder why they are choosing to go this route instead of just replacing him. It seems the league is leaning more towards a six man rotation than a four man. I actually like the idea to going back to throwing more innings with a four man rotation and see if this causes less injuries.
The Rays aren’t going to a traditional four man rotation. They have 3 off days in the next 2 weeks and won’t need a fifth starter again until Aug 18. At that point I wouldn’t be surprised to see Moore called back up.
1. Remember when Matt Moore signed that 5yr/$14 MM deal? Not looking like a total steal by Tampa Bay now, is it?
This is the precise reason why it’s not a bad idea for young pitcher to do long-term deals a young age, because you never know if TJ surgery will strike, and whether it will screw up your career. However, the 3 additional club options were a bit over-the-top.
2. If Tampa Bay is serious about keeping Matt Moore healthy, if/when he comes back to MLB, the team should consider a piggy back system. Set a hard 5 inning per outing rule and have a AAAA calibre pitcher ready to pitch the 6 – 9th inning.
Moore signed the deal for the very reason you mention — he understood the possibility of a major injury/surgery. In the case of the Rays, deals like these are extremely valuable given their limited resources. The reward outweighed the risk by a mile. And, even given Moore succumbing to TJ surgery, missing 14 months, and now struggling, they are paying him what they would be in arbitration any way.
Interestingly, he’s already provided 5 fWAR – which for 14mil is a steal.
However, not AS much as it could have been. Still time..
Even before he was injured, Moore had trouble controlling the ball at nearly every level. I think his ceiling was significantly lower than we all thought. If he regains some of his lost velocity, he might just be a bullpen arm from here on out.
Sorry, this is simply not true. Control was never his marquee asset, but it was hardly holding him back. He went from awful (5.12 BB/9) in 2009, to passable (3.79 BB/9) in 2010, both large samples. In 2011 he was borderline elite at AA (2.46 BB/9), and good at AAA (3.08 BB/9), spanning 155 innings between the two and all while posting superb K rates. At this point he’s a barely 22 year old, sitting 94-96, having dominated the high minors with elite MLB translations. Bright kid. Unequivocally a top-3 prospect, when the other two are Trout and Harper (at times rating ahead of either). After some relief appearances during a September call-up, he goes 5 innings @NYY (4 H, 0 ER, 11 K, 1 BB). Adds another brilliant start in the postseason. Even though the walks rose in 2012 (4.11 BB/9), he was still averaging over 94 on his fastball and was incredibly difficult to hit, ranking 8th among qualified pitchers in swinging-strike%, and 5th in zone-contact%. If you watched him, it was clear — his ceiling was immense. Injuries suck.
I really don’t see this being an issue. He was thrown in quickly, and into a time where the Rays had a lot hinging on winning. Let him catch his breath, and he’ll be fine.