You can never have too much pitching, and the Boston Red Sox are taking that to heart, as they reportedly add another veteran arm to the mix.
The Sox have agreed to a minor league deal with left-hander Matt Moore, according to multiple reports. Audacy’s Rob Bradford was the first to report the agreement, a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
Moore should be a familiar name and face to Red Sox fans. He enjoyed the best years of his career with Tampa Bay after breaking into the big leagues with the Rays in 2011. He got his first and only All-Star Game selection in 2013 when he went 17-4 with a 3.29 ERA over 27 starts for Tampa Bay, finishing ninth in American League Cy Young Award voting.
He bounced around from there; the Red Sox will be the 35-year-old’s eighth team since spending the first six years of his career with Tampa Bay. He was with the Los Angeles Angels in 2024, appearing in 51 games as a reliever. Moore hasn’t started a game since 2021. With the Halos, he posted a 5.03 ERA where command was an issue. He walked a career-high 4.8 batters per nine innings, and the two home runs allowed per nine also marked a career-worst.
He did, however, induce some bad contact throughout the season. His .216 expected batting average was in the 79th percentile, while his 35.5% hard-hit percentage was in the 76th percentile.
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A lot of those underlying metrics point to a general lack of command. Moore missed the plate more often than he had in the past, and when he did find the zone, hitters took advantage. The weak contact is nothing new for him, so if he can get back to being more consistent in the zone, he could still be useful.
There’s reason to believe he could get back to being effective. Moore allowed just 31 earned runs in 126 2/3 innings over 2022 and 2023 with a 191 ERA+ and 10 strikeouts per nine innings, based largely on an ability to consistently generate swings and misses.
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