MLB Prospects: Matt Moore Has Ace Potential in Loaded Tampa Bay Rays Rotation

Despite Joe Maddon’s claim that Matt Moore would have to compete for a spot in the starting rotation, no one actually believed him. Honestly, I don’t know how he could have thought that without dying a little inside.

Headed into spring training, it was clear that the first three spots in the Tampa Bay Rays’ rotation would be awarded to James Shields, David Price and Jeremy Hellickson, respectively.

The remaining two sports would therefore house two of the three remaining candidates: Moore, Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis.

Now, I think everyone is beginning to understand how I feel about Moore, so I’ll try my best not to gush too much.  Here is what I wrote about the left-hander on Monday, when I named him the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball:

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It's insane to think that there could be a better prospect than either Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, but there is.

Enter Matt Moore.

After striking out 700 hitters in 497 minor league innings, Moore offered a glimpse of his potential at the end of the 2011 season when he fanned 11 in his first major league start (against the New York Yankees nonetheless) and followed it up by two-hitting the Rangers over seven innings in Game 1 of the ALDS.

The left-hander features the easiest 94-98 mph fastball I’ve ever seen, a plus-plus wipeout curve and a plus changeup. He has the arsenal and makeup to be an immediate ace, which is exactly why the Rays locked him up this offseason with a five-year, $14 million contract with the potential for an additional $26 million between 2017-2019. 

Although he won’t head the young and talented Rays’ rotation in 2011, Moore is poised to dominate in his first full big-league season and should immediately insert his name into Cy Young contention.  

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In his first appearance of the spring on March 13, Moore looked absolutely flawless.  The southpaw didn’t allow a hit over 1.2 innings while fanning three and walking one.  His fastball looked as effortless and crisp as ever, reaching as high as 97 mph on the stadium’s radar gun.

In his second appearance five days later, Moore was a bit shaky and struggled to get ahead of hitters as he normally does.  In 2.1 innings, he surrendered four runs on two hits while waking three and striking out two. 

Yet despite the less impressive March 18 appearance, there was never even a discussion about how the outing impacted Moore’s chances at cracking the rotation.

Oh boy, here comes the gushing.

I honestly believe that Moore’s stuff is so good that he could serve as the Rays’ ace this season.  It’s not a knock on the abilities of Shields or Price, but more so a testament to the young phenom's ceiling—a ceiling that he has a realistic chance of reaching.

To think that Moore would be excluded from the Rays’ rotation is completely asinine.

On Tuesday, Maddon declared Niemann the team’s fifth starter, meaning that Davis would be relegated to bullpen role while Moore serves as the team’s No. 4—although he didn’t specify the exact order of the rotation.

And just as we all had suspected, the Rays’ skipper indirectly confirmed that Moore has been a lock for a spot in the rotation since the end of the 2011 season.