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Suburbs Guy pointed out that Andrew Moore is only the 3rd Mariner to post two 7 IP quality starts in his first two games.  Moore is going to be consistently good, as opposed to terrifying.  But there is a place in the game for the Rick Porcellos, Mike Leakes, J.A. Happs and .. Hisashi Iwakumas.  Pitchers who will post 20 quality starts a year, even if they aren't in the top 10 Cy voting.  Much MORE is there a place for Hisashi Iwakuma if he's making the league minimum...

Four things we admired in Andrew Moore's 8 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K performance on Monday night:

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1)  He stays ahead in the count.  Before the game the TV crew had a grafx showing a crazy % of 0-1, 1-2 counts in Moore's first game.  He didn't disappoint the second time around.  Listen, kiddies, if the count is 1-and-2 you are going to be okay.  The swings are different.  As Billy Beane put it about Jamie Moyer, "We get better swings off Pedro than we do off him."

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2)  He throws offspeed -- first pitch, and also when behind in the count.  Second hitter of the entire game now, Moore started him with a bloop 76 MPH yakker.  Third hitter, an 85 MPH slider.  These macho MLB brutes want to swing from their wallets at a 92 fastball up in the zone.  ... Nada.

Moore threw 70% strikes with his changeup last night.  He threw 70% strikes with his slider.  He threw 63% strikes with his change curve.  This dude is the anti-IKEA.  He came out of the box all ready to go.  Who does that?  Throw four pitches at will the moment he arrives?  By count it was 61 offspeed and 40 fastballs last night.  As Dr. Mike Marshall said, hitters tee off when they get the timing right.

Dr. D can't overstate the value of a 3-2 offspeed pitch.  The batters are jittery on 3-2.

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3) He works quickly and confidently.  Moore's pace, rhythm, and attack keep the batter in a relative state of reaction.

In his first two starts as a rookie, Andrew Moore felt more predictable and reliable, on an intuitive level, than Iwakuma does.  The Zen calm on Moore's part is off the charts.

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4) He consistently makes them hit his pitches.  Even the Royals' first three hits yesterday ... the lined double was off a beautiful 92 MPH fastball that bisected the outside edge.  The homer by Moose was off a quality jam pitch, but Moose has 23 jacks.  The second homer was a full-count offspeed pitch.  As a separate issue, his fastball has a natural gloveside cut to it, which will reduce the Back Leg Specials, especially from lefties.

Moore will give up runs, but you will earn each and every one of them.

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5) Consistent 7 IP, 3 ER is a bee-yoo-tee-ful match for Dyson and Heredia.  And for a deep offense.  We said four things; this one is a teamwide deal.

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It's a funny thing, Moore was matched up against Ian Kennedy, almost a split-screen Old Guy Young Guy.  Kennedy of course has a 91 fastball and command of four decent pitches.  Kennedy has figured out how to parlay that into 8 strikeouts a game, which, Andrew Moore has even a bit better command than Kennedy.  Moore has a long ways to go in terms of expanding the zone with 2 pitches, of tricking the enemies into some swings and misses, but I'll take him.

Moore has thrown two games and gone 1-1; if he throws a bunch more like that, it'll be more like 15-10 with this club.  Which is okay from your #4 starter.  You think DiPoto just added a key rotation piece in July?

Cheers,

Dr D