Former P-Ray Matt Moore Wins Spink Award as Topps/Minor League Player of the Year

Former Princeton Rays' pitcher Matt Moore, who in 2011 went a combined 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA for the Montgomery Biscuits and Durham Bulls, is the winner of the 52nd annual J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/Minor League Player of the Year. Moore finished second among all MiLB pitchers with 210 strikeouts and a .184 average against. His WHIP of 0.95 ranked third best.

The announcement was revealed on October 31 from the home office of Minor League baseball in St. Petersburg, FL.

The left-hander went 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 18 starts with Double-A Montgomery, including a June 16 Southern League no-hitter at Mobile. He then went 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in nine starts with Triple-A Durham in the International League.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who selected Moore in the eighth round in 2007, called him up to the majors on September 12, 2011. Two days later, the Edgewood, NM, resident made his Major League debut in a relief appearance against Baltimore. Moore earned a win in his first big league start when he struck out 11 in tossing five scoreless innings on the road against the New York Yankees on September 22.

In Game 1 of the American League Division series at Texas, the southpaw pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball in Tampa Bay's 9-0 victory.

"Even being considered for this award is an honor, and to actually win it is very special to me," Moore said. "I am truly honored. After starting the year in Montgomery and then being a part of the playoffs with the Rays, this award is the icing on the cake for a season I'll never forget."

Moore's professional career started with his arrival in Princeton as an 18-year old in 2007, when he made eight appearances (three starts), and struck out 29 hitters in 20.1 innings of work to register an excellent 2.66 earned run average. He then really got down to business the following summer for the 2008 P-Rays, when his ERA dropped a whole run to a stingy 1.66 and he led the Appalachian League in strikeouts with 77 in 54.1 innings. He led all of minor league baseball with a 12.75 SO/9 IP ratio and was the hardest pitcher to hit in the minors as hitters only touched him for a .154 batting average. That year, he led the entire Tampa Bay organization in earned run average and was sixth among all minor league pitchers.

Moore is the second Tampa Bay farmhand to win the honor. Delmon Young, who's currently with the Detroit Tigers, also starred at Montgomery and Durham when he won the award in 2005.

Other former Spink winners include Mike Trout (2010), Buster Posey (2009), Josh Beckett (2001), Andruw Jones (1996), Johnny Damon (1995) and Derek Jeter (1994).

The best performances in all classifications of Minor League Baseball again this year are being honored by the Topps Company of New York, N.Y., in conjunction with Minor League Baseball.

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