Pittsburgh Pirates: Three College First Basemen To Watch This Year

Jack Moss

The third player we’ll look at today is Texas A&M infielder Jack Moss. Moss has some very nice skills at the plate, driving the ball with authority with plus-plus bat-to-ball ability, but he struggles with something that the Pirates’ current third baseman, Ke’Bryan Hayes, also struggles with; consistently lifting the ball.

Despite that, he’s still batted .351/.407/.508 with an OPS of just over .900 at .915. Even though Moss has struggled with getting the baseball in the air, he still has a dozen home runs in 479 plate appearances and 27 doubles. Moss has an 8.4% walk rate, which isn’t too impressive, but he’s only struck out at a 15.9% rate. His ability to consistently make contact is his strongest suit on the offensive side of the ball.

While Moss has had trouble with his launch angle, there’s certainly a lot to like about his overall game. He still hits the ball hard, with Prospects Live praising his raw power, placing it in the ‘plus’ range. Prospects Live also states that Moss has struggled to get lift on off-speed and breaking stuff, as his bat path can cause him to hit ground balls. But he started to show some improvement at the tail-end of the 2022 season.

Moss is a physical specimen, standing at 6’5”, 205 pounds. There’s no doubt the first baseman has the physical strength and tools to be a power hitter who doesn’t strikeout often in the future. He’ll need to keep improving on his swing to fully take advantage of his raw strength and bat-to-ball skill. Those two things could be a deadly combination if he puts everything together, and he could go within the first 3-5 rounds if he does make those improvements.