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Tampa’s Matt Moore to Replace Yu Darvish in All-Star Game

By Brad Rowland

Jul 11, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Moore (55) high fives pitcher David Price (14) after he as taken out during the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 11, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Moore (55) high fives pitcher David Price (14) after he as taken out during the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 11, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Moore (55) high fives pitcher David Price (14) after he as taken out during the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 11, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Moore (55) high fives pitcher David Price (14) after he as taken out during the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Just after completing a 10-strikeout gem in route to a win over the Minnesota Twins, Matt Moore found out that he has been selected as an injury replacement for the 2013 MLB All-Star Game.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Moore would take the place of injured Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish on the team, and following his start, Moore’s manager, Joe Maddon alerted him of the news. Moore was tremendous on Thursday afternoon, throwing 7.1 innings of one-run ball, but it was the win column that likely got him selected to the game.

Moore’s win on Thursday gave him 13 on the season and, despite some mid-season struggles, that is usually good enough to make an All-Star team. He has been far from perfect this season, as his 4.61 BB/9 walk rate would suggest, but the left-hander has been able to get strikeouts (9.06 per 9) and keep an ERA low enough (3.44) to warrant a selection.

The loss of Darvish from the festivities could be a blow to MLB in Asian markets, but the bigger loss is being without him on the mound. Darvish is one of the most exciting pitchers in all of baseball today, and he currently leads all of MLB in strikeouts with a staggering 157 K’s in 119.1 innings to go along with a 3.02 ERA. He was placed on the DL on Wednesday after a rough outing against Houston, and you can definitely not blame Texas for shutting him down over the break.

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