In what was a historically bad first half for San Francisco, frustrations have run rampant through the Giants dugout since April. But perhaps nobody has been more frustrated with their performance than Matt Moore.
A year after coming over to the Giants in exchange for Matt Duffy (a trade that left many Giants fans upset, in case you forgot), Moore is nowhere close to the pitcher the Giants hoped he’d become. In his first 18 games, Moore’s gone 3-9 and his ERA is an NL-worst 6.04. In his last start before the All-Star Break, he lasted just 3.1 innings, giving up five earned runs on 12 hits.
Thankfully for Moore, the second half of July symbolizes much for the Giants, particularly a fresh start. Mike Krukow joined The Murph & Mac Show on KNBR Monday where he likened Moore’s first half struggles to teammate Sam Dyson, who has reestablished himself with the Giants after posting a dismal 10.80 ERA with the Texas Rangers to start this season.
“We saw it with Sam Dyson,” Krukow said. “He was completely screwed up mechanically. They made one tweak with him, they got his arm circle shortened and they got him back to the strike zone, to the point where he could at least throw a strike. But even then, it took a while for him to get the confidence that he had prior to him getting screwed up mechanically.
“It runs hand-in-hand and that’s basically what’s happening to Matt Moore,” Krukow added. “He doesn’t have consistency to location. He throws a pitch and he’s wondering where it’s going to go. He knows in his mind right now it’s a situation where ‘I want to throw this fastball above the hands to this guy — I can’t get it there.’ It becomes a mechanical problem but it affects your confidence too, dramatically. And when you start to get those mechanics back and you start to consistently get a feel of the strike zone and a command of your pitches, then slowly your confidence comes back. It takes a while to get everything back on track. [Moore] was very optimistic in a conversation I had with him yesterday in the parking lot waiting for our luggage. He said ‘I think you’re going to see a different outcome tomorrow, I’m feeling pretty positive about what we accomplished in between starts.’”
Moore will take the mound tonight against the Indians at AT&T Park as the Giants return home for the first time since the All-Star break.
Listen to the full podcast below. To hear Krukow’s remarks on Moore, skip to 14:47.
