Lefty Gabriel Moya auditions with the Twins

Back on July 27th, the Minnesota Twins traded catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Arizona Diamondbacks from left-handed pitcher Gabriel Moya. The southpaw was untouchable in the minors this year and the Twins have promoted him to the majors for the September stretch run. Here’s a quick take.

Moya is from Venezuela, signed by the Diamondbacks as a free agent in 2012. He got beaten up in the Pioneer League as a starter in 2014 but moved to the bullpen in 2015 and took off, posting a 1.93 ERA in 23 innings. His 2016 season was excellent (1.55 ERA, 82/17 K/BB in 64 innings in A-ball) and his 2017 campaign was even better (0.77 ERA in 58 innings in Double-A, 87/15 K/BB, 24 saves in 24 attempts).

Listed at 6-0, 175, Moya is 22 years old, born January 9th, 1995. As you can see his numbers since moving to the bullpen are insane, especially in 2017. He doesn’t have a blazing fastball, generally 90-93, but he mixes it effectively with an average breaking ball and an above-average change-up. The change helps his fastball play up.

I can’t find any video of the change-up but you can at least see his delivery here.

Moya has a history of reverse platoon splits, holding right-handers to a mere .094 average this season. That’s too extreme to hold up over the long-term but it does indicate that he is not necessarily confined to LOOGY work down the line. If his command holds up he could have a long and successful bullpen career.