Wednesday, March 30, 2011

K king Moore, sans bone chip, excited about year

Matt Moore has won two straight minor league strikeout titles. Imagine how he'll do that he feels better after having a bone chip removed.

"I'm very excited," Moore said. "So far, the spring is going well and I'm going to try to carry it into the season."

The 21-year-old left-hander had a bone chip removed in October and says he feels great now. The bone chip had pestered him the last two years, though not enough to keep him from pitching.

"It never hurt me bad enough that I didn't want to throw," Moore said. "I guess I built a tolerance to it and almost expected it every day."

Moore, Montgomery's Opening Day starter, has gotten off to shaky starts the last two seasons, something he hopes to avoid this year.

Moore was 0-6 with a 6.63 ERA in his first 11 starts last year at high-Class A Charlotte. Over his final 15, he was 6-5 with a 1.79 ERA. Moore totaled 208 strikeouts.

In 2009 at low-Class A Bowling Green, he was 2-2 with a 4.33 ERA at the end of May. From there, he was 6-3 with a 2.67. Moore totaled 176 strikeouts.

"It was disappointing, but at the same time I understand you have to go through experiences like that," Moore said. "When I was 0-2, 0-3 (last year), I said I was going to rattle one off, but it seemed like one inning would get me."

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