Photo by Chris Mezzavilla/KNBR
SAN FRANCISCO–It’s better late than never.
After start No. 25 of the season, Matt Moore is finally beginning to resemble the type of starter Bruce Bochy and the Giants’ front office envisioned him as.
Moore was nearly spotless in Friday’s 10-2 win over the Phillies, allowing two hits over 7.1 innings of scoreless ball. Two earned runs were tacked onto Moore’s line after he departed, when two of his inherited runners scored on a Freddy Galvis single off of Cory Gearrin. Despite that, Moore was unstoppable.
He noticed, and the crowd did too.
It was almost a peculiar occurrence when Moore departed in the eighth inning to a standing ovation from AT&T Park, given that his last win during a home game was over three months ago on May 13. Still, after an exasperating season — one that has his future with the team in question, the applause was considered a huge reprieve.
“I definitely noticed,” Moore said about his ovation after the game. “I think it’s something that I think is one of the coolest parts about playing here is how loud it can get, the appreciation. It was definitely nice to have that.”
Since his disastrous first half (one in which his ERA was statistically the worst in the National League), optimism and confidence regarding Moore’s status with the team had been fleeting. Even Bobby Evans didn’t hesitate to express his concerns regarding Moore.
“It’s important for him. It’s important for us,” Evans said Thursday. “I mean, there’s some advantages to him being on the free agent market, even with the rough year he’s had. He’s also had some very good outings which show what he’s capable of. I hope he wants to come back, but at the same time, there’s probably some advantages to a guy like that being on the free agent market. It may be a win-win for him, but in our case, we’ve got to have the best rotation possible. But I think in our case, we don’t necessarily have to make that decision this winter. We can decide that in the spring and I think that he has proved enough in his career that he has value if not for us, then for somebody else.”
With doubts in mind, Moore has shown recent moments of promise. Although Friday’s win was his first since July 22, it came on the tails of a solid stump of a boisterous Washington Nationals’ lineup last Sunday when he scattered seven hits and two earned runs over seven innings. He ultimately finished with a no-decision, but it could be dubbed the start that sparked Moore’s confidence — something that’s been missing from the right-hander the majority of the season.
“I think for a lot of the season I was overthrowing,” Moore added. “I found myself throwing each pitch too hard. As a starting pitcher throwing 110 pitches in a game and 70 to 80 getting ready for the game, it’s just too much to be gritting through. I do feel like after the break that was something I was working on — just making sure I’m not white-knuckling too much.”
Moore credited the help of fellow rotation pals Ty Blach and Madison Bumgarner by comparing pressures on the ball during delivery.
“The changeup by far has been the most improved pitch in the last month or so,” he said. “I think overthrowing you just wind up getting yourself in a spot where you can’t get the extension that you want. I’ve talked to a lot of our starters, just ‘Hey, how are you holding the ball, what’s your pressure like?”
With a team-option for $9 million next year on Moore’s contract, Evans and the front office have a tough decision regarding Moore and it will without a doubt take more than just a couple quality starts. But Bochy was optimistic with Moore’s progress, complimenting him on the changes he’s made.
“He’s got a good rhythm going,” Bochy said. “He’s not overthrowing at all. It looks like he’s playing catch with Buster, that’s the effort he’s putting in right now. I think he’s helped his command on all of his pitches and he’s throwing quality strikes — he’s got a good breaking ball going with the changeup. He used all four pitches. It was a really, really nice game tonight. It’s good to see him go back-to-back good starts.”
“It’s important to Matt, I think it’s important for all of us. We’ve talked about this, that’s our goal, to finish strong. Whether it’s an individual player like Matt or us as a club, we just want to play better ball. We owe it to each other, we owe it to the fans, ownership, everybody.”
For Moore, continuing to build on his successful starts and finishing strong is a must. He’ll need to establish himself closely to the pitcher that gave the Cubs a run for their money in Game 4 of the NLDS in 2016. It’ll take a continuation of progress and rising confidence with each start. It may be too late to save Moore’s record this year, but it’s not too late to save his season — or his future with the team.