Matt Moore (baseball)

Early life

Matt Moore was born on June 18, 1989, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. At the age of 7, he and his family moved to Okinawa, Japan to live on Kadena Air Base, where his father, Marty, was stationed. Moore and his family then moved to Edgewood, New Mexico, after living on Kadena Air Base for four years. There, he attended Moriarty High School and in 2007, he was named Gatorade’s New Mexico Player of the Year. Moore was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft.

Minor Leagues

Moore was with the Rookie League Princeton Rays for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In 2007, he posted a 2.66 ERA in 20.1 innings. In 2008, he had a 2-2 record and a 1.66 ERA in 54.1 innings. He struck-out 106 batters over both seasons. He was named the Baseball America Rookie All-Star at the conclusion of the 2008 season.

In 2009, Moore was with the Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods. There, he had an 8-5 record, 3.15 ERA, and struck-out 176 batters in 123 innings pitched. He was also named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week, for the week of June 8.

In 2010, Moore pitched for the Class A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs. He had a 6-11 record and a 3.36 ERA in 144.2 innings. He also struck-out a league-leading 208 batters. He was named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week four times in 2010 and was also named FSL Post-Season All-Star. At the conclusion of the season, he was named the Baseball America Minor League All-Star. In the off-season, Moore was named the Topps Class A All-Star and the MILB.com Organization All-Star.

For the first part of the 2011 season, Moore pitched with the Double A Montgomery Biscuits. There, he posted a 2.20 ERA, with an 8-3 record, and 131 strikeouts. During his time with Montgomery, he was named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week, for the week of May 31, he was named a SOU Mid-Season All-Star, and at the conclusion of the season, he was named SOU Post-Season All-Star and the SOU Most Outstanding Pitcher. On June 16, 2011, Moore threw the first no-hitter in Montgomery Biscuits history, defeating the Mobile BayBears. Moore struck-out 11 batters and walked two, in the Biscuits' 8-0 victory. Finally, Moore was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game. He pitched for one inning and struck-out the three batters he faced and even reached 100 mph during his performance. In September 2011, he was named the Baseball America Double A All-Star.

In July 2011, Moore was promoted to the Triple A Durham Bulls. He pitched 52.2 innings, recording a 1.37 ERA, 4-0 record, and 79 strikeouts. He was named International League Pitcher of the Week, for the week of August 8. At the conclusion of the season, Moore was named the Baseball America Minor League All-Star, MLB.com Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year, and the MILB.com Organization All-Star.

Tampa Bay Rays

Moore was called up on September 12, 2011. On September 14, 2011, Moore made his Major League debut against the Baltimore Orioles when he pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief. He gave up a two-run home-run to Matt Wieters and struck out two. On September 22, 2011, Moore made his first start against the New York Yankees. He struck out 11 batters, gave up four hits, and walked one in five scoreless innings. Moore made his second start in Game 1 of the 2011 American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers. Moore gave up just two hits in seven innings, striking out seven. He finished the 2011 season with a 1-0 record, 2.89 ERA, and 15 strikeouts in 9.1 innings for the Rays. On December 9, 2011, Moore and the Rays agreed to a five-year, $14 million dollar contract with club options that could extend the contract to eight years and $39.75 million dollars, and could also buy out Moore's free agency for two years.

In 2012, Moore pitched 177.1 innings, recording an 11-11 record, 3.81 ERA, 158 hits, 75 earned runs, giving up 18 home-runs, walking 81, and striking out 175 batters. On June 15, 2012, Moore and two other relievers combined for one-hit shutout against the Miami Marlins, in which the Rays went on to win 11-0.

In 2013, Moore recorded a 3.29 ERA, with a record of 17-4. He was the first Major League pitcher to get eight wins and became the first left-handed pitcher under the age of 23 to begin the season with eight wins, the previous lefty was Babe Ruth who started his 1917 season with eight wins at the age of 22. Moore was also named to the 2013 MLB All-Star Game to replace the injured Yu Darvish on the American League roster. Moore finished the 2013 season having given up 119 hits, 55 earned runs, walking 76, and striking out 143 in 150.1 innings of work.

In April 2014, Moore tore a ligament in his left elbow, which required Tommy John surgery, and forced him out for the 2014 season.

Moore began the 2015 season on the 60-day disabled list to continue recovery from Tommy John surgery and was projected to return possibly by June. He made his first start in over 450 days on July 2 against the Houston Astros, giving up 4 runs in four and two thirds innings. He fell into a losing streak before being sent to the Triple A Durham Bulls on August 11. On September 12, 2015, Moore allowed David Ortiz's 500th career home run. Moore finished the 2015 season 3-4 with a 5.68 ERA. After a slow start to the season, Moore turned it around in the months of June and July, lowering his ERA to 4.08 in 21 starts.

San Francisco Giants

On August 1, 2016, the Rays traded Moore to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Matt Duffy, Michael Santos, and Lucius Fox. He made his Giants debut on August 4, 2016 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He went six innings giving up three hits and two earned runs and was credited with a no-decision. The Giants won the game in extra innings off a go-ahead home run by Denard Span in the 10th inning.

On August 25, Moore took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, which was broken up by a single into right field by Corey Seager with two outs. After throwing a career-high 133 pitches, Moore was promptly taken out and replaced by Santiago Casilla. The Giants went on to win the game 4-0 after Casilla got Justin Turner to pop out.

Pitching style

Moore throws four pitches: a four-seam fastball at 92–95 mph, a changeup at 83–86, a knuckle curveball at 79–83 mph, and an occasional two-seam fastball. The changeup is used mostly against right-handed hitters, and his curveball is used most often in 2-strike counts.

Personal life

Moore's father, Marty, spent 23 years in the US Air Force. He worked for the Air Force Special Operations Command as a crew chief and maintainer of the MH-53 Pave Lows. Moore has an older brother, Bobby, who was also a left-handed pitcher.

Moore is Catholic and has a tattoo of Saint Michael, the patron saint of battle, on his left shoulder. St. Michael was Moore's sponsor saint when he received the Sacrament of Confirmation and Moore believes it is a symbol of both baseball and life being a battle.