Moore Looks to Help the Rays Win Now

The Rays’ success over the last half decade had revolved around drafting, acquiring and developing young pitchers. Up and down their roster are names that have come up through their system and been major contributors once they’ve made it to the big leagues. James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson and David Price are just a few of the Rays to find success early in their careers and soon they hope to add another name to that mix.

Over the weekend the Rays made the highly anticipated move to bring up pitcher Matt Moore. Some wondered whether Moore, who started the year in Double-A, would actually be called up to Tampa this season. He helped the Durham Bulls reach their fifth straight playoffs after being promoted to Triple-A during the year and the question remained as to how many innings Moore would pitch this year. He has been seen by most as a can’t miss talent at the major league level.

With Kyle Farnsworth struggling and dealing with some arm issues, the Rays may look to use Moore as they did David Price in their World Series run in 2008. Although the Rays certainly don’t project Moore as a closer, he could give them a live arm out of the bullpen as the season closes. The Rays have managed to piece together a decent bullpen after losing a lot of talent this past offseason. They lead the league in opponents’ batting average and are middle of the pack in bullpen ERA, but they have blown over 30% of their save opportunities. The addition of Moore will get him some big league experience and help shore up the back end as the Rays try to overtake the Red Sox in the AL Wildcard.

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