In 2017, Scott Moss was dominant at times for the Dayton Dragons. He threw 135.2 innings with just 114 hits allowed, gave up 48 walks, and he struck out 156 batters. That also came with a 3.45 ERA. The lefty was among the league leaders in several categories. That earned him a promotion in 2018.
The Cincinnati Reds sent Scott Moss back home when they assigned him to the Daytona Tortugas. Moss went to high school at DeLand High School, which is 21 miles from Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona. The homecoming started out well. In his first start of the year, taking on Florida at home, he allowed a run in 5.2 innings with nine strikeouts. Things did not go nearly as well the next two times out, though. The lefty allowed 12 earned in 6.0 total innings, giving up 18 hits and two more walks. In the final two starts of April he gave up four runs in 11.0 innings with five walks and six strikeouts. In total, the month was a struggle as he posted a 6.75 ERA in 22.2 innings.
May was a short month for Scott Moss. The first start of the month didn’t go well as he allowed four earned in 5.1 innings. On the 10th he’d take the mound against Clearwater and put up a quality start, giving up three runs in 6.0 innings. The final two starts of the month were strong. In 11.2 innings he allowed just two earned runs. Rain took out most of the final week of May, limiting Moss to just those four starts. He posted a 3.52 ERA in 23.0 innings with six walks and 14 strikeouts.
Things started out well in June for a well-rested Scott Moss. He threw 5.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in the second game of a double header on the 1st of the month. That didn’t translate into his next start where he lasted just 3.0 innings against Clearwater – though only allowed two runs. In the second game of another double header he walked the tightrope. He gave up just one earned in 5.0 innings while allowing 10 baserunners. In what would be his final start of the month on the 23rd against Florida, things went a bit better as he allowed one earned over 5.2 innings. From an ERA standpoint, June was the best month of the season for Scott Moss. he posted a 1.93 ERA in 18.2 innings with seven walks and 15 strikeouts in four starts. The weather once again took a toll on the Tortugas schedule.
July got out to a great start for Scott Moss. In his first three starts of the month he allowed three earned over 18.2 innings pitched. He also struck out 20 batters with just four walks. On July 16th he would have a hiccup against Clearwater, allowing six runs on three homers in 5.0 innings. But he rebounded well in the final two starts of the month. Against Palm Beach and Fort Myers he allowed three earned runs in 10.2 innings. That helped him finish the month with a 3.15 ERA in 34.1 innings, to go along with 11 walks and 30 strikeouts.
The final month of the season was more of the same for Scott Moss. He kicked off the month by allowing one earned in 8.0 innings against St. Lucie. In his next two starts he racked up 11 strikeouts in 11.2 innings where he gave up just four earned runs. On the 21st Moss struck out a season best 10 batters while allowing just one earned in 5.0 innings against Lakeland. That was followed up with 7.0 innings of no earned run baseball against Tampa. His regular season came to an end on a down note against Dunedin as he allowed six earned without making it out of the second inning. That final start put a bit of a damper on an otherwise dominant run. He posted a 3.24 ERA in 33.1 innings with 10 walks and 30 strikeouts.
2018 Season Stats for Scott Moss
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Scott Moss Scouting Report
Fastball | Scott Moss throws with average-ish velocty on his fastball for a lefty. Some days he’s below-average with velocity in the 88-90 MPH range. Other days he’ll be 90-93.
Slider | The pitch works in the low 80’s and can flash itself as a slightly above-average offering. When it’s on, it’s his put-away offering with good sweeping action across the zone and solid bite.
Change Up | It also works in the low 80’s. The pitch is fringe-average and the pitch he goes to less frequently.
Scott Moss doesn’t blow you away with his stuff. He doesn’t throw particularly hard. His offspeed stuff isn’t off the charts. But he knows how to pitch, and his mechanics give him some deception to work with. The left hander throws plenty of strikes, and you can see that in his walk rate of just 7.3% on the year. His strikeout rate, though, took a big step backwards in 2018 when compared to 2017. It dropped from a very high 27.3% to a slightly below-average rate of 19.9%. There were some highs, and some lows, with his strikeout rate.
Looking long term, as a lefty he will get plenty of chances to stick in the rotation. He may project as a bottom of the rotation starter if there’s not an unforeseen development with at least one of his pitches moving forward. The bullpen could ultimately be the place where Scott Moss could thrive a little bit. His fastball and slider could play up very well against left handers, especially with the deception he brings to the table. This season lefties slugged just .324 against him and his strikeout-to-walk ratio against them was better than 3-to-1.
Interesting stat on Scott Moss
In both July and August he had more strikeouts in each month than he had in May and June combined. Bonus interesting stat on Scott Moss: He locked in with runners on versus no one on. With the bases empty hitters had a .762 OPS against him with 31 walks and 54 strikeouts. When runners were on base they had a .647 OPS against him with just 10 walks and 58 strikeouts.