Matt Moore Is A Baseball Monster, Rays Take Game One

After pitching only nine-and-a-third Major League innings during the regular season (amassing 15 strikeouts in that time), Joe Maddon selected him to start game one of the ALDS, proving that those glasses he wears don’t just make him look smart. Despite the prevailing baseball wisdom that places the emphasis on things like veteranness, wilyness, and craftiness, Moore decimated the Rangers to the tune of 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, and 6 K in the Rays 9-0 victory.

Moore was certainly impressive, averaging nearly 95 mph with his fastball, but he probably benefited from the lack of information the Rangers had on him. While the Rangers had access to game tape and scouting reports, no one had actually faced him before, which allowed Moore to live almost entirely off his fastball, throwing the pitch 76% of the time. For comparison’s sake, only two pitchers threw fastballs more often, being Bartolo Colon (82.9%), an anomaly if there ever was one, and Justin Masterson (84.4%), who leans extremely hard on his sinker and the groundballs it nets him. Moore, hidden away in AAA for most of the year, now gets to play the role of the company softball ringer, the one with the cushy IT job who only needs to show up on-time on game days.

Naturally, Kelly Shoppach, who had only 39 hits and 22 RBI during the regular season, outhit the Rangers 3-to-2, hit two home runs, and drove in five runs. It was the kind of performance on an elevated stage that allows us to tell children that they anything is possible and that they can follow their dreams. Actually, when you think about it, that’s kind of the story of the Rays for the last five years.

The Rangers will try to even the series tomorrow night at 7 pm ET with Derek Holland taking on James Shields.