Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Low Cost High Reward Free Agent Targets

Matt Moore

Matt Moore’s career has not gone the way many thought it would. Once ranked as a better prospect than the likes of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, the lefty looked like a rising star early in his career with Tampa Bay. Through his first 337 career innings, Moore had pitched to the tune of a 3.55 ERA, 3.89 FIP and 1.32 WHIP. Moore only allowed home runs at a 0.88 per 9 rate, but he didn’t have a great walk rate (11.1%) or strikeout rate (23.1%). This was reflected in his ERA estimators with a 4.27 xFIP and 4.11 SIERA.

Still, Moore looked like his career trajectory was heading upward until he needed Tommy John surgery early into 2014. Between the next two seasons, Moore only pitched in 73 innings. He returned healthy in 2017, pitching 198.1 innings with the Rays and eventually the San Francisco Giants who he was traded to at the deadline. All told, he had a 4.08 ERA, 4.18 FIP and 1.29 WHIP with a similar strikeout rate (21.2%) improved walk rate (8.6%), but increased HR/9 (1.13).

The next two seasons of Moore’s career would be extremely rough for the southpaw. In 276.1 innings between the Giants and Texas Rangers, Moore had a 5.99 ERA, 4.93 FIP and 1.57 WHIP. He saw his HR/9 spike to 1.5 in this time while striking out batters at a sub-20 rate (18.6%). He also gave up a ton of hard hit contact with a 90 MPH exit velocity. In 2019, Moore latched on with the Detroit Tigers and pitched just 10 scoreless innings before having to undergo season ending knee surgery.

Moore headed overseas this past season to pitch in Japan. He pitched pretty well over in Japan, having a strong 2.65 ERA, 2.98 FIP and 1.11WHIP in 85 innings of work. He saw his strikeout rate rise to a strong 28.1% mark while having a 7.4% walk rate and allowing home runs at a 0.7 per-9 rate. Moore averaged out in the lower-90’s with his fastball while topping out in the mid-90s, showing he still has some life left in his arm.