Rookie Andrew Moore set to pitch Mariners’ homestand opener Monday, says GM Jerry Dipoto

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said rookie pitcher Andrew Moore’s major league debut a week ago went about as well as anybody could expect. Then he shared when Mariner fans will be able to see the 23-year-old right-hander on the mound at Safeco Field again.

Seattle is planning on Moore starting Monday against the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a seven-game homestand, Dipoto told “Danny, Dave and Moore.”

“Andrew Moore moving forward will be in our rotation,” Dipoto said.

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Moore threw seven innings on June 22, holding the Detroit Tigers to three runs on six hits and no walks over seven innings, striking out four along the way to get the win. And while he was optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma the day after his debut to make room for Felix Hernandez’s return from the disabled list, that wasn’t because the Mariners had somebody else penciled into the rotation instead of him. Seattle had two off days coming up after Moore’s outing, so it only needed four starters to get through the following eight games. Moore stayed on his usual pitching schedule with the Rainiers, throwing five innings on Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits and no walks and striking out four, and now is set to rejoin the M’s early next week.

Dipoto is impressed by how the Oregon State product has handled a whirlwind week, and he said it’s something that Moore has shown throughout his baseball career.

“Andrew, first of all my impression was, if you were going to draw up expectations of what a player would do in his major league debut, that would be about the first percentile,” Dipoto said of Moore’s debut. “Ninety-nine percent of pitchers who go out there for the first time are not going to be able to maintain their composure, their command, and repeat their pitch quality the way Andrew did in his major league debut. But I say that … it’s about what you expect once you get to know Andrew Moore.

“He is a very well put together young guy, he’s very serious about his craft, he works harder at doing what he does than just about any pitcher I’ve come across in a minor league system in the years that I’ve been doing this. He’s smart, he studies it, he cares about fitness, he cares about arm health and care, he understands his pitch sequences, and he goes out there and he executes.”

That all bodes well for Moore’s future with the Mariners, even if he isn’t your typical hard-throwing, can’t-miss prospect.

“Despite the fact that he doesn’t have big, gaudy stuff, he gets fairly gaudy results,” Dipoto said. “He’s done that consistently for the last 2 1/2 years in our system and he did it at Oregon State, and my guess is he’s gonna keep right on doing it.”

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