Texas Rangers: Matt Moore rant; who replaces him in the rotation

The Texas Rangers need to remove Matt Moore from the rotation. He’s simply not giving the team a chance to win games and his replacement is obvious.

Texas Rangers Matt Moore gave up five earned runs on nine hits in three innings in Sunday’s start against the Houston Astros. He has now failed to reach the 4th inning in four of his 12 starts this season. Of course, his other eights starts are nothing to write home about either.

Moore has an American League worst .354 BAA (Batting Average Against) among pitchers with more than seven starts this season. In addition, his 8.02 ERA is worst in the AL among pitchers with more than eights starts on the year. With no further evidence needed, the resounding question begs, why in the world does Matt Moore keep getting starts?

Why Matt Moore needs to stop starting

We get it, the Rangers have a 27-41 record and are 15.5 games out of first place. They won’t be contending in 2018. But that does not excuse them from putting an intended winning product on the field. It’s one thing to try guys out for the sake of the organization’s future; however, Matt Moore will not be a part of the future. It doesn’t make sense to send him out on a routine basis just to watch him fail. That is not doing Moore any favors, nor is it doing the Texas offense any favors.

Nothing is more annoying to an offense than being down 5-0 after two innings. Hitters will naturally feel more pressure to score runs fast, and that mentality generally doesn’t get results. A negative mentality does not only overcome players when they are down a bunch of runs; it also exists before the game even starts.

Right now, I don’t think it would be too far fetched to think Rangers players are rolling their eyes when they hear Matt Moore is slated to start a game. They may not physically roll their eyes, but they’re certainly doing it in their minds. Simply put, that is what a bad pitcher does. It’s not just the pitcher who’s confidence is shot, it’s also the pitcher’s teammates when the pitcher takes the mound.

His replacement is right behind him

The Texas Rangers have a nice routine going. They let Matt Moore pitch to an early deficit and then they bring in Jesse Chavez to get some long relief work. Moore pitches terribly and Chavez pitches really well. Let me say that again…Moore pitches terribly and Chavez pitches really well. Does Manager Jeff Banister not see this trend?

The simplest solution is to swap each pitcher’s role. Let Jesse Chavez start and deem Moore the long reliever.

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Chavez has earned the right to start. Obviously, he has done an outstanding job in long relief, but most of his efforts are wasted. Sure he saves other relievers from being worked; however, the vast majority of the time Chavez is entering a game that has already been lost. Given Texas’ current standing, they can tweak the rotation without any sweat.

They have every reason to let Chavez start games and there is no way he pitches worse than Matt Moore. It’s not like Jesse Chavez has never been a starting pitcher. He actually has multiple seasons in which he has made 20+ starts.

Moore used to be a nice prospect, but that was many years ago. Reality should have set in by now. A pitcher with a 1-5 record that is giving up more than a hit per inning should not be a major league starting pitcher. The Texas Rangers don’t have any minor league pitchers that are ready to be promoted to the big leagues. With that said, that doesn’t mean management can’t adjust the major league active roster.

Next: Is Joey Gallo worth keeping around?

Swapping Matt Moore and Jesse Chavez is the necessary move. The move is worth a shot as it is better than forfeiting one out of every five games. That is how the season is playing out with Moore in the five-man rotation.