DIEGO MORENO
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RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
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Born: July 21, 1986 Height: 6′ 1″ Weight: 177 Bats: Right Throws: Right Country: Venezuela Signed: Int. FA, Pittsburgh Pirates, 2006 How Acquired: International Free Agent Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
The Pirates didn’t sign Moreno until he was 20, which is relatively old for a Latin prospect to sign, but he’d had a jump in velocity. His fastball regularly reaches 97. He also throws a sharp slider that registers in the mid-80s, and an occasional change. He throws from a 3/4 angle that probably adds to the difficulty for RH hitters. So far, he’s had very good control.
2007 Pitched in relief in the VSL and allowed very few baserunners. 2008 Returned to the VSL and had largely the same results, this time as a starter. He allowed very few runners but didn’t fan many. He only started six games. 2009 The Pirates jumped Moreno up to State College and, after two outings, moved him up again to West Virginia. He dominated in relief in low A, usually pitching 2-3 innings, allowing very few baserunners and running up high K totals. He only stumbled a bit in his last three outings, allowing seven of his total of thirteen earned runs. Prior to those three outings, his ERA was 1.42. He had more trouble with LH hitters than RH (the former hit .250 against him, the latter just .146). His velocity was consistently in the mid-90s or higher. 2010 Moreno started the season at Bradenton and was just about unhittable, especially against RH batters, who hit a miniscule .088 off him. The Pirates promoted him to Altoona in July, but he missed nearly a month with a rotator cuff strain. He struggled on returning, although he still fanned hitters at an extremely high rate, but the Pirates suspended him for undisclosed inappropriate conduct. When he returned they sent him back to Bradenton. 2011 Surprisingly, the Pirates sent Moreno back to Bradenton to start the season. He struggled through mid-May, mainly with his control, which had never been a problem before. Despite a 4.96 ERA, the Pirates promoted Moreno to Altoona. In seven outings there he had a 4.91 ERA, but his other numbers were good: he allowed ten hits and three walks in 11 innings, while fanning 14. The Pirates sent him back to Bradenton anyway. He got much better results there, but although his velocity was the same as always, he didn’t dominate as he had previously. Moreno’s 2011 season was a setback. His problems at Altoona in 2010 may have resulted from the rotator cuff strain, but I don’t know what the trouble was in 2011. The Pirates’ handling of him–promoting him when he was struggling at Bradenton and then demoting him when he was pitching decently at Altoona–suggests there’s something going on behind the scenes. Whether it’s a health issue or something else I don’t know. The drop in his K rate and sudden, although not drastic, control problems have to be concerns, too. Moreno was eligible for the Rule 5 draft and, in a minor surprise, was not added to the 40-man roster. He was widely regarded as a good candidate to be selected, but wasn’t, which says something about standing with scouts now. He’ll open the 2012 season at 25 and he has yet to stick in AA. He start off at Altoona, but then, that’s what I thought a year ago. |
STATS
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Baseball Reference–Minors Fangraphs MiLB.com |
CONTRACT INFORMATION
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2012: Minor League Contract |
PLAYER INFORMATION
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Signing Bonus: $7,000 MiLB Debut: 2007 MLB Debut: N/A MiLB FA Eligible: 2014 MLB FA Eligible: N/A Rule 5 Eligible: 2011 Added to 40-Man: N/A Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
TRANSACTIONS
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2007: Signed as an international free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates with a $7,000 bonus. |