As a standout lefthander at Clemson, Daniel Moskos found success initially in the bullpen before he moved into the weekend rotation midway through his junior season.
Moskos continued with stellar results as a starter, but he knew that for him, nothing beat coming into a tight game out of the pen in a crucial situation.
"That's how I knew what my role was," Moskos said. "It's more of what my personality was and what I thrived on-heart definitely pounding out of the chest-but I thrived on that... The bigger the moment, the better I usually was."
The opposite tended to be true, too. Moskos often struggled in games without much on the line.
“If it was like a mop-up situation or something and I was just trying to get work in—I wasn’t very good,” said Moskos.
“It kind of took that extra little sauce for me to be the best version of myself.”
As the 2007 draft approached, the jury was out on whether Moskos could start in pro ball, but his above-average velocity and wipeout slider gave him a good shot to reach MLB quickly as a high-leverage reliever. The Pirates drafted him fourth overall.
But what many Pirates fans had in mind with that pick was switch-hitting Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters, who went fifth overall to Baltimore. Wieters signed for $6 million, the highest bonus in the 2007 draft and $3.5 million more than Moskos. But in some fans’ eyes, Moskos would forever be linked to who the Pirates didn’t pick—which Moskos understands.
“Well, if I was an MLB (general manager), of course I would want to draft Matt Wieters,” Moskos said. “I think it gets blown out of proportion, because fans are very passionate about their team and the makeups of their team.”
After spending his first two full seasons as a starter, Moskos moved back to the bullpen and even...
Moskos continued with stellar results as a starter, but he knew that for him, nothing beat coming into a tight game out of the pen in a crucial situation.
"That's how I knew what my role was," Moskos said. "It's more of what my personality was and what I thrived on-heart definitely pounding out of the chest-but I thrived on that... The bigger the moment, the better I usually was."
The opposite tended to be true, too. Moskos often struggled in games without much on the line.
“If it was like a mop-up situation or something and I was just trying to get work in—I wasn’t very good,” said Moskos.
“It kind of took that extra little sauce for me to be the best version of myself.”
As the 2007 draft approached, the jury was out on whether Moskos could start in pro ball, but his above-average velocity and wipeout slider gave him a good shot to reach MLB quickly as a high-leverage reliever. The Pirates drafted him fourth overall.
But what many Pirates fans had in mind with that pick was switch-hitting Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters, who went fifth overall to Baltimore. Wieters signed for $6 million, the highest bonus in the 2007 draft and $3.5 million more than Moskos. But in some fans’ eyes, Moskos would forever be linked to who the Pirates didn’t pick—which Moskos understands.
“Well, if I was an MLB (general manager), of course I would want to draft Matt Wieters,” Moskos said. “I think it gets blown out of proportion, because fans are very passionate about their team and the makeups of their team.”
After spending his first two full seasons as a starter, Moskos moved back to the bullpen and even...
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Baseball America (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2023