Daniel Moskos is Terrible
by Charlie
on Jul 23, 2008 11:01 PM EDT
No offense to him personally, but he is. Whether or not you saw the article in the Post-Gazette, you need to check out the numbers:
91.2 IP, 73 R, 64 ER, 62 K, 32 BB, 7 HR, 6.28 ERA
73 runs allowed in 91.2 innings! From the #4 overall pick in last year's draft! Even I didn't think he'd be this bad.
Moskos has been pelted in all of his last several starts, and Pirates farm director Kyle Stark suggests in the Post-Gazette article that that may have something to do with the fact that Moskos has now pitched more innings this year than he ever did in his college career. It's possible there are workload issues, but Moskos pitched 90 innings between college and the pros last year without completely coming apart.
It's more likely that his stuff just isn't good enough to be a starter. I watched Moskos start for Clemson last year and he wasn't at all impressive--his fastball was in the high 80s, and he never flashed anything resembling the "wipeout" slider he was reported to have coming out of the draft.
It's easy to forget here that although practically everyone regarded Moskos as a baffling pick at fourth overall last year, he was regarded as a likely first-round pick. John Sickels, for example, named Moskos the eighth-best pitching prospect in the draft.
This is strange, because there was no reason to think the player I saw start for Clemson would be a first round pick. I'm not a scout, but it was plain to me that there was nothing special about his stuff.
I never saw Moskos relieve for Clemson, but pitchers often have better stuff as relievers, and I wonder if Moskos might be an extreme case for some reason. Since Moskos made two thirds of his 2007 college appearances as a reliever, it's possible most people's opinions were formed by his relief appearances and not by his starts.
It may be a bit too early for the Pirates to just declare Moskos a reliever, but that point can't be far off. His season so far has been a bad joke, and contrary to the Post-Gazette's report, there was never anything "encouraging" about it--look at his monthly splits. His best month was in June, when he struck out 18 batters in 26 innings and posted a 4.15 ERA. For a 22-year-old in Class A, that's not "encouraging." That's not anything.
UPDATE: Moskos will move to the bullpen for the rest of the season to combat fatigue. The Pirates say we shouldn't read much into this, but it wouldn't surprise me if he pitched in relief next year too.
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couldn't agree more
about moskos. i remember when we drafted him, it did not make much sense. I have never seen him pitch, so i can’t give any personal insight on him. but just looking at his box scores every day he pitches, he does not seem like it should be a starter.
I know they are going to put him in the bulpen and have him pitch multiple innings, but i would like to see how he does as just a relief pitcher. Because at the way he’s going starting every 5th day, he is never going to get above single-A.
by northsidenotch on Jul 23, 2008 11:18 PM EDT 0 recs
I believe the Pirates moved Moskos to the rotation...
...in order to get him innings (experience). The plan, so far as I know, had Moskos returning to the bullpen at some point in the future.
Steve Z
by steve_z on
Jul 23, 2008 11:38 PM EDT
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if you read the article
today, it says that Moskos will be in the bullpen, but he will pitch multiple innings on scheduled days. And that his move to the bullpen should not be seen as a move to being a reliever.
by northsidenotch on
Jul 23, 2008 11:42 PM EDT
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By in the future I believed...
...Moskos would return to the bullpen when he reached the majors or Indianapolis.
Steve Z
by steve_z on
Jul 24, 2008 12:25 AM EDT
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Bright Spot for Moskos
The bright spot for him is that he was pitching well until he hit about 70 innings pitched. Take for his instance his June numbers. He started off going 3-0 allowing only 2 runs in 19 IP. He also had 13 K, 14 hits, and 4 BB for those 3 starts. That is on top of what was looking encouraging.
Then he went over 70 IP and started to get knocked around and his numbers went horrible.
I am not suggesting that Moskos is a top prospect or anything, but he did show some signs early on of something, but he was not consistent enough. I think he will be a reliever and the numbers sort of suggest that he can’t take a high workload.
http://hyzduhq.blogspot.com
by hyzduhq on Jul 23, 2008 11:58 PM EDT 0 recs
Moskos
He was an absolutely terrible selection, and I said so on this blog after I saw him pitch on TV last year in the NCAA regionals. Whoever claimed he was a top prospect, Sickels or anyone else, made a serious error in TALENT EVALUATION.
Moskos’ numbers at Clemson were NOT outstanding in any way.
Whether or not Wieters was selected, there were far better picks on the board than Moskos when the Pirates’ draft number was called. Still, we can blame this one on the old regime.
My sense is that there will plenty more that we can blame on the new management.
But I’m happy that Moskos got his nice bonus. It had to go to somebody, although, this year, maybe the money will stay either in Wheeling or in the PNC bank account.
by thegunner on Jul 24, 2008 12:29 AM EDT 0 recs
This thread
is linked in today’s PG blog. Congrats, Charlie.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -- HST
by cocktailsfor2 on Jul 24, 2008 7:52 AM EDT 0 recs
Rate stats tell the story:
Moskos K/9: 6.09
League K/9: 7.19
Moskos BB/9: 3.14
League BB/9: 3.39
Moskos HR/9: 0.69
League HR/9: 0.75
None of those are that bad. I mean, they’re very disappointing for a 22-year-old high-round college pick in the Carolina League, but they aren’t 6+ ERA material. The killer:
Moskos H/9: 10.41
League H/9: 8.84
On the one hand, a high hit rate in the low minors is often a serious negative indicator as to the quality of a pitcher’s stuff. On the other hand, virtually everybody on Lynchburg’s staff has a high hit rate this year, which suggests that either all of our pitchers there suck (maybe) or that the defense is playing a part in the problem (also maybe – some of them, such as Negrych and Lerud, have a pretty brutal rep with the glove).
I’d be interested to see his LD%...
by Vlad on Jul 24, 2008 11:35 AM EDT 0 recs
just eyeballing it but
9 unearned runs in 90 innings makes me think the defense certainly isn’t helping
by johnnycuff on
Jul 24, 2008 12:20 PM EDT
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DL said Moskos would be a closer down the road-
but it`s been pretty obvious from day one that he`ll be lucky to be the next John Grabow.
I hope he can get himself back on track in the bullpen and hopefully move up in the system quickly next year as a reliever. That pig will probably fly by my window again in a minute, but we`ve got to hope that something positive will come out of all this.
by patthatt on Jul 24, 2008 12:05 PM EDT 0 recs
if I remember correctly,
pitchers coming into the system are to work as starters to develop a multiple pitch repertoire instead of becoming a one pitch pitcher. Then, if working as a starter showed little to no direction, they would be turned into relievers to see if they could handle that work. In theory, having a reliever who has a multiple pitch repertoire is more valuable than a one pitch pitcher if he can get guys out. Whether or not Moskos can be a MLB caliber pitcher remains to be seen.
Just a quick question, wasn’t Matt Capps a horrible starter in low A ball before being converted into a reliever?
by ElliottBayBucco on Jul 24, 2008 1:26 PM EDT 0 recs
re: Capps
http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=18062
assuming this info is complete, Capps made 7 appearances after signing in 2002, all in relief, but pitched well in 11 starts in 2003. those 11 starts were his only appearances in 2003, which to me suggests an injury, and perhaps foreshadows his uninspiring record as a starter in 2004 (5-8, 6.90 ERA in 23 games, including 19 starts). in 2005, Capps moved to the bullpen for good.
by humbucker on
Jul 24, 2008 1:59 PM EDT
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sorry about that!. no Capps injury in 2003
I hadn’t realized that the GCL Pirates (Rookie) only played 56 games that year.
http://minors.baseball-reference.com/teams.cgi?yid=2003&lid=GCL&tid=PIR
by humbucker on
Jul 24, 2008 2:18 PM EDT
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There really isn't a whole lot of factual basis
to believe Moskos will fare much better as a reliever. But many pitchers have done it before. Taylor Buchholz was terrible as a starter and is lights out coming out of the pen.
Regarding his apparent lack of the reported “wipe out slider,” a lot of young pitchers have trouble throwing a couple of different breaking pitches when they are in the development phase of a new pitch. I am not sure about Moskos’ repertoire this year, but if he was learning a curve ball (or instructed to throw it more), this can often change a slider a little bit until the pitcher becomes comfortable with both pitches.
If you have taken the mound and thrown fastball/slider your whole career, adding in different pitches can not only mess with your head, but also with your grip and release point.
by DITO on Jul 24, 2008 2:42 PM EDT 0 recs
From what I recall...
...Moskos’s task this year was working on his change. That’s usually the bright line between a starting prospect and a “relief prospect”.
by Vlad on
Jul 24, 2008 3:16 PM EDT
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Good to know, although the issue may not have been that he was learning a new pitch at the time. The breaking ball he was throwing was kind of slurvy-a bit too hard and not quite enough break to be a real curveball-but it may well have been what people were calling the slider. It’s possible he just couldn’t throw it as hard if he knew he’d have to go five or six innings.
by Charlie on
Jul 24, 2008 3:37 PM EDT
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