More on Moskos
Anyone watch him pitch on ESPN today? I DVR'd it and am watching it now. I will post thoughts on his pitching in the bottom of this post when I have them. If you saw him today, feel free to talk about it in the comments.
UPDATE (3:30)- So, having watched his 5 and 1/3 innings, I've got some thoughts on the guy. First off, he's going to fit in just fine. I don't mean the six runs in 5 and 1/3, I mean pitching well and watching your clueless teammates muck things up in the field. Of the runs he allowed, the first homer should've been a solo shot because the runner on base was only there after Clemson's right fielder badly misplayed a routine flyball into a single. His only mistake in the first five innings was shaking his catcher off and throwing a fastball that got whacked into the stands. In the sixth inning, the right fielder badly misplayed another flyball, the third baseman let a grounder under his glove, and Moskos gave up an aluminum bat homer, meaning that the batter reached way out, got a one hand swing off, and somehow the ball got over the centerfield fence. Clemson is a seriously bad defensive team, but that's neither here nor there.
As for Moskos, I saw his fastball quoted at 91-95. Today, he was more like 88-91. He definitely didn't top 91 from what I saw and mostly sat in the high 80s. He can throw a bunch of pitches (besides the fastball he's got a slider, curve, and change from what I saw) for strikes, and he does have a nice slider. He did seem gassed in the sixth and threw a couple fastballs around 85. Basically, this guy has to profile as a reliever in the bigs, I think. As a starter, he would be another Duke/Maholm type guy. If we were a really good team that was a left-handed reliever away from a top-notch playoff squad, I might be excited. But we're not. We're a bad team that had the fourth pick in the draft and a chance to pick a franchise player. Instead we picked a low-upside guy that we're planning on using as a reliever. Wilbur Miller writes at OnlyBucs that he thinks Moskos will be here very, very soon and that this was an image pick to get a guy that will be here and produce quickly in a role that's been a gaping hole for the Pirates this year. Or, you know, the exact opposite of what we should be doing with the fourth pick. Which mostly means that WTM is probably right,
UPDATE (3:30)- So, having watched his 5 and 1/3 innings, I've got some thoughts on the guy. First off, he's going to fit in just fine. I don't mean the six runs in 5 and 1/3, I mean pitching well and watching your clueless teammates muck things up in the field. Of the runs he allowed, the first homer should've been a solo shot because the runner on base was only there after Clemson's right fielder badly misplayed a routine flyball into a single. His only mistake in the first five innings was shaking his catcher off and throwing a fastball that got whacked into the stands. In the sixth inning, the right fielder badly misplayed another flyball, the third baseman let a grounder under his glove, and Moskos gave up an aluminum bat homer, meaning that the batter reached way out, got a one hand swing off, and somehow the ball got over the centerfield fence. Clemson is a seriously bad defensive team, but that's neither here nor there.
As for Moskos, I saw his fastball quoted at 91-95. Today, he was more like 88-91. He definitely didn't top 91 from what I saw and mostly sat in the high 80s. He can throw a bunch of pitches (besides the fastball he's got a slider, curve, and change from what I saw) for strikes, and he does have a nice slider. He did seem gassed in the sixth and threw a couple fastballs around 85. Basically, this guy has to profile as a reliever in the bigs, I think. As a starter, he would be another Duke/Maholm type guy. If we were a really good team that was a left-handed reliever away from a top-notch playoff squad, I might be excited. But we're not. We're a bad team that had the fourth pick in the draft and a chance to pick a franchise player. Instead we picked a low-upside guy that we're planning on using as a reliever. Wilbur Miller writes at OnlyBucs that he thinks Moskos will be here very, very soon and that this was an image pick to get a guy that will be here and produce quickly in a role that's been a gaping hole for the Pirates this year. Or, you know, the exact opposite of what we should be doing with the fourth pick. Which mostly means that WTM is probably right,