Phillies add a rare lefty to rotation mix

The veteran options were there on the market for teams looking to upgrade their starting rotation ahead of the 2021 season. The Philadelphia Phillies have found their veteran option to add to the mix, they just had to search a little deeper for him.

As announced by Jim Salisbury of NBCSports, the Philadelphia Phillies have brought in left-handed pitcher Matt Moore to compete for a rotation spot. The deal is worth a surprising $3 million.

Philadelphia Phillies sign LHP Matt Moore to a one-year deal

Seeing as the Phillies are giving Moore $3 million next season, it appears that they may have bigger plans for him than just competing for the fifth spot in the rotation with the likes of Spencer Howard and Vince Velasquez.

Moore hasn’t pitched a full season in the majors since 2018, logging just 10 innings with the Detroit Tigers in 2019 and spending the 2020 season pitching in Japan with the SoftBank Hawks of the NPB.

Once considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Moore’s career hasn’t exactly panned out as well as many of his top prospect peers. Despite a dominant swing-and-miss curveball, Moore has been hampered by injuries while bouncing between organizations over the last few years.

After pitching to a 6-3 record with a 2.65 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across 78 innings in Japan, Moore was at least able to show MLB teams that he’s healthy again, even striking out 10.3/9 IP with SoftBank, an uptick from his 8.1 K/9 IP he’s recorded in MLB.

The interesting note with Matt Moore’s signing is that he now becomes a rare left-handed pitching option for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Only a small handful of lefties have taken the bump to start a game for the Phillies over the last half a decade, with Adam Morgan leading the way at only 21 starts. Morgan has pitched out of the bullpen full-time since making those 21 starts back in 2016.

With less than three weeks to go before spring training, the Phillies now feature a rotation of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, Vince Velasquez and Moore, with Spencer Howard also in the mix. Recent veteran depth signings Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell will also get their opportunity to log some innings as teams adjust to a 162 game schedule again.

Matt Moore is the only lefty of the bunch.

Now healthy and with a full season of pitching in the NPB under his belt, Matt Moore is a veteran addition with a bit of upside for the Philadelphia Phillies as they look to round out their starting rotation ahead of the 2021 season.