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Tuesday, June.04, 2013

Matt Moore has jumped out of the gate 8 – 0 in April + May combined. He is tied for 1st in the AL with Masterson and Buchholz. The 23 Year Old man from New Mexico, is also 3rd in the AL for ERA (2.18) behind Buchholz (1.62) and Iwakuma of Seattle (2.13).  These totals were accrued before the start of play Tuesday June.4/2013.  Moore has helped keep the Tampa Bay Rays in contention for the AL East – and one shutters to think, where the club would be without his brilliant performance to start the year.

By Chris Lacey (Featured Baseball Columnist) Follow @aecanada12

The best teams in baseball that have success on a consistent basis seem to have one thing in common, and that is they have a strong pitching staff. The Tampa Bay Rays are one of these teams that always receive great contributions from their pitchers.

This is one of the reasons that in past couple of seasons, they either have a great chance of winning their division or earning a wild card berth.

They have a pitcher that is having a spectacular season for them. The one pitcher that comes to mind when you think of the Rays is David Price. That would make sense, but Price has battled injuries this season. The pitcher that has stepped up in his absence is talented left-hander Matt Moore.

Matt Moore’s quick Start – Mature Lyrics so parental guidance is advised

After authoring a 5 – 6 record with a 4.42 ERA in the 1st half of 2012 – Moore went 6 – 5 down the stretch – with a very ‘ace like’ 3.01 ERA. It was a sign of things to come for 2013.  With David Price being ineffective in 2013, plus now being hurt, the guy has taken over the reigns for the Tampa Bay franchise.

This is only his second full season in baseball, but you would not know that by the way he is carving up the opposition. The opposition is having a tough time figuring him out, as indicated by their .178 batting average against him. He also has a 2.18 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and has an 8-0 record in 62 innings thrown this season.

Moore is one of a handful of starters that have yet to lose a game this season. He does not receive much national attention like Matt Harvey or Clay Buchholz, but that will change if he is able to lead Tampa Bay to a division title.

The Rays in the off season traded away one of their most dependable starters in James Shields to the Kansas City Royals for outfield prospect Wil Myers. When this deal was completed, many were wondering why they would make this decision.

The front office for Tampa Bay knew the type of pitcher they had in Moore, and he showed flashes of brilliance in the previous season by striking out 175 batters in 177 innings along with a 3.81 ERA.

The biggest difference for him this season is that he is a pitcher and not a thrower. He does possess a mid 90s fastball, but he has learned not to rely on that pitch alone and trust his breaking pitches.

Forget about Tuesday nights start.  In the course of every season, most pitchers have 2 – 3 regrettable starts, (yes, even the best aces of the game).

You could see how good this young man was going to be last year based on his second half stats.  While he struggled in the first part of his campaign, he was one of the better American League Starters Post All – Star Break.

Moore is emerging as one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game, and the scary part about him is that he will only get better with more experience.

One of the reasons why Moore has had so much success this year is his league leading 5.7 Hits /Per 9 IP allowed. His walks are more than he would like at 4.3/Per 9 IP, however he has a nice WHIP of 1.08. In an absolutely sensational move by Rays management, Moore was locked up to a 5 YR/$11 MIL deal prior to his 2012 season. The club also holds 3 consecutive Team Options in 2017, 2018 and 2019 for $7 MIL, $9 MIL and $10 MIL respectively. He will undoubtedly be a bargain if he keeps his career trajectory going.  His emergence also will cushion the blow of David Price eventually leaving the franchise.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our ”Diamondbacks Correspondent’ and busy Baseball Writer Chris Lacey. Chris has been a fan of watching baseball since the age of 13. Now he does like all sports – but his favorites after baseball are  hockey and basketball.  Chris is very good with computers and is a college graduate.  

Chris is very active on Twitter and especially during the baseball season chatting with other Diamondbacks fans. Be sure to follow him and talk about the great game of baseball. Chris is addicted to writing baseball.  Check out his work for http://www.rantsports.com here , for http://www.baseballhotcorner.com here , for venom strikes here and if you can believe it http://www.fanrag.com here Follow @aecanada12

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