Mariners’ Andrew Moore looking to build off of strong spring debut
Feb 24, 2018, 6:00 AM | Updated: 7:33 am
Andrew Moore, a 2015 Mariners second-round pick, was traded to Tampa Bay in 2018. (AP)
(AP)
As a rookie in 2017, Andrew Moore found himself thrown right into the fire by joining an injury-plagued Mariners starting rotation around midseason. Moore navigated his first three games just fine, throwing quality starts in each of them. But major league hitters soon got to him and he bounced back and forth between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma for the rest of the year.
Now in spring training with the Mariners, Moore is looking to show that he can handle the big leagues for more than a few starts at a time.
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The 23-year-old Moore joined Danny, Dave and Moore on Friday after making his spring debut in the Mariners’ 3-2 win over the Padres to open Cactus League play. He talked about what he learned from his rookie season.
“Going through that rough stretch right in the middle of the season, then being able to make some adjustments during the season on the fly and then see some results in September where I had a couple good outings,” Moore said he took away from his first foray into the majors. “Physically I wasn’t 100 percent as strong as I was (earlier in the year), but still was able to have some quality outings, so now just seeing my pitches and stuff does play at that level definitely gives me that little bit of confidence.”
As for his two innings of scoreless ball on Friday against the Padres, Moore was happy even though he did deal with a little bit of wildness.
“I felt good,” he said. “I was happy with especially the fastball command, going to both sides of the plate up and down and then threw some good changeups. … For the first (spring appearance), I was happy with how it went. Obviously a walk and a hit by pitch in the same inning is not ideal, but I survived it so just building off of it for now.”
Moore looks to be battling Ariel Miranda in spring for the fifth and final spot in the Mariners rotation while Erasmo Ramirez attempts to heal from a lat strain suffered last week.
You can hear a clip of Moore’s interview above and find the full segment in this podcast.
