Matt Moore's Journey To Rangers Bullpen

Former Tampa Bay ace has overcome injuries and bouncing around the Majors to become Texas' indispensable middle reliever

There was a time when Matt Moore’s blazing fastball was the future of the Tampa Bay Rays starting rotation.

Now, 11 years, four Major League teams and one Japanese League squad later, Moore is the backbone of the Rangers bullpen.

Baseball can be a strange journey, and it gets no stranger than Moore, who recorded his first MLB save on Monday against the Houston Astros.

“Usually when I come off the field the game’s not over,” Moore said with a chuckle.

Moore was pressed into service after Rangers closer Joe Barlow pitched in back-to-back games at the Chicago White Sox on Saturday and Sunday. Moore thought he might have been entering a game when the Rangers were down a run before they cobbled together three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward stuck with Moore, even though he had never been in that situation before.

“I was telling him that, ‘You made that look so easy,'” Rangers pitcher Taylor Hearn said. “He’s been in the game for a long time. I’m happy for him.”

Moore’s journey to Texas started with the Rays, who made him an eighth-round pick out of high school in 2007. His fastball caught everyone’s attention, and by September 2011 he was in Tampa and for two years, he became one of the game’s most intriguing young pitchers.

The Rays signed him to a five-year, $14 million guaranteed deal that December on the strength of a Sept. 22 start in which he became the first pitcher in MLB history to record 11 strikeouts in five innings or fewer against the New York Yankees. He later started in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against Texas.

In his only All-Star season in 2013, he won 17 games and finished ninth in Cy Young voting. During that season he became the first left-handed AL pitcher to begin a season with an 8–0 record at age 23 or younger since Babe Ruth in 1917.

Then the elbow troubles began two starts into 2014. Tommy John surgery followed. He missed most of 2015 and returned for a full season in 2016 but was dealt to San Francisco at the deadline. He lost a National League-high 15 games in 2017, and that was it for Moore in the Bay Area.

He signed with the Rangers in 2018 and went 3-8 with a 6.79 earned run average in 12 starts and 39 appearances. In 2019, he moved on to Detroit, pitched two games, tore a meniscus in his knee and missed the rest of the season.

He played 2020 with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. His form started to return. He threw 85 innings. He was part of a combined no-hitter. He helped Fukuoka win the Japan Series.

Philadelphia took a flier on him in 2021, and he went 2-4 with a 6.29 ERA. He struggled, but he also showed flashes. He struck out nine hitters in 4 1/3 innings against Miami. He later threw six innings of no-hit ball against Cincinnati. But the Phillies weren’t interested in keeping him.

The Rangers signed Moore again on March 14. Woodward said going into spring training that he had heard something was different about Moore this time around.

“I got word from a good friend of mine in Arizona who reached out to me before the season and said, ‘Hey, this guy is in the best shape I’ve seen him,’” Woodward said. “During camp you could see him start to figure out that curveball.”

It wasn’t enough for the Rangers to carry Moore to Arlington, so they sent him to Triple-A Round Rock. But they called him up on April 22, and Moore doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.

Through Wednesday’s game, Moore is 3-0 with the save and a 2.54 ERA. The earned run average is significant. He hasn’t had one that low since the 2.70 he posted in the two games he pitched for Tampa in 2014. In fact, the only time Moore had a sub-3.00 ERA in the Majors was in 2011, his call-up season, and 2014. He threw in a combined five regular-season games in those two seasons.

Moore has emerged as a flexible option for the Rangers out of the bullpen. His stuff is still good enough to give the Rangers one hard-throwing inning. But the bite on his curveball makes him a better option for multiple innings, which is the primary role he’s taken on with the Rangers.

At age 32, and given everything he’s experienced, he’s also become the bullpen’s elder statesman.

“It’s so important to what we’re trying to do here,” Woodward said. “You know, guys like John King, who had a rough day the other day, (Moore) sits with him and talks him through it. There’s more stuff like that. That’s so invaluable to our culture. I can’t say enough about that.”

Meanwhile, Moore continues to take the ball and continues to reinvent himself, from starter to reliever to closer in a pinch.

“I don’t think I ever really considered the ninth inning, you know?” Moore said. “As a starter, I was never like, ‘Oh man, I wonder if I could do that?’ You know? Not too seriously. And, now being in the bullpen, you just never know.”

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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