Replacing the injured Evan Meek on Pittsburgh’s roster will be 2007 first-round pick Daniel Moskos, the Pirates announced Saturday.
It will be the first trip to the majors for Moskos, who was drafted fourth overall behind David Price (Rays), Mike Moustakas (Royals) and Josh Vitters (Cubs) four years ago. The Pirates weren’t interested in spending the money to secure Matt Wieters, who went fifth to the Orioles, and ended up choosing Moskos over talents like Jason Heyward, Madison Bumgarner and Jarrod Parker.
Moskos gets the call after opening the season with a 1.69 ERA and a 7/1 K/BB ratio in 10 2/3 innings out of the pen for Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates made him a full-time reliever last year, and he ended 2010 with a 4.14 ERA and 22 saves between Double- and Triple-A.
So, perhaps it’s not fair to call him a bust just yet. He does have a chance of developing into a steady left-handed reliever. But when the best-case scenario for the fourth overall pick is John Grabow’s career, it’s safe to say something went wrong.
