4 former Pirates first-round pitchers who missed expectations in Pittsburgh

Daniel Moskos

Best known as the guy taken before Matt Wieters in the 2007 draft, Daniel Moskos certainly has had an interesting career. He was taken fourth overall that year out of Clemson. The Tigers won the ACC and made the College World Series his sophomore year. Moskos had a 2.54 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched and picked up 10 saves that season. College pitchers tend to make their MLB debuts sooner, but this wasn’t the case with Moskos. He remained the minors for several years before making any considerable progress.

Moskos found his stride in Altoona during the 2010 season after fully converting to a relief pitcher. As the Curve’s closer, he maintained an improbable 1.52 ERA, 1.016 WHIP and earned 21 saves. He continued to perform well in Indianapolis in 2011 and was later promoted to the majors. Moskos made his major league debut on April 30 against the Colorado Rockies, and pitched a scoreless eighth inning in the loss. In 31 relief appearances as a rookie, he had a 2.96 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched. However, Moskos never made it back to the big leagues after 2011. 

The following season, he was claimed off waivers by the White Sox, where he remained in Triple-A Charlotte. He would later pitch for the Dodgers' and Padres' top affiliates, in Albuquerque and El Paso, exclusively as a reliever. Moskos also spent time as a professional overseas, pitching for the then-EDA Rhinos (2013) of the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the Tijuana Toros (2018) of the Mexican Baseball League, where he had a 1.26 ERA in 14 games.

After retiring as a player, Moskos served as the pitching coach for both the Charleston RiverDogs and Somerset Patriots before moving up the ladder. Since the 2022 season, he has been the assistant pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs. Most Pirates fans will remember him as a bust, and will remark that they should have taken Wieters, Madison Bumgarner or Jason Heyward with their fourth overall selection instead. While this makes sense in hindsight, the truth is that every team makes mistakes in the draft. This isn’t just a Pirates problem, believe it or not. When a player doesn’t live up to the hype, it’s usually due to injuries that derail their careers.