Matt Moore, In A Historical Context

Last season, Matt Moore pitched 123 innings for Bowling Green with a K/9 of 12.9. This season with Charlotte, he's at 111 innings and a K/9 of 12.4 K/9. Here's a list, going back to 1990, of pitchers who have pitched at least 100 innings with a K/9 of 12 or better. Arbitrary? You betcha! In fact, in 2004, Chuck Tiffany pitched 99 2/3 innings with a 12.7 K/9 but doesn't make the list. Sorry, Chuck. In 2003, Scott Kazmir was over 100 innings with an 11.9 K/9.

Year Player               Age    Level     IP   K/9
2009 Matt Moore            20        A  123.0  12.9
2009 Ben Hornbeck          21  A/A+/AA  116.1  12.3
2009 Christian Friedrich   21     A/A+  119.2  12.0
2007 Clay Buchholz         22   AA/AAA  125.1  12.3
2007 Clayton Kershaw       19     A/AA  122.0  12.0
2006 Rich Hill*            26      AAA  100.0  12.2
2005 Rich Hill*            25 A/AA/AAA  130.2  13.4
2004 Adam Bostick          21        A  114.0  12.9
2004 Yusmeiro Petit        19  A/A+/AA  139.1  12.9
2003 Cole Hamels           19     A/A+  101.0  13.1
2001 Josh Beckett          21    A+/AA  140.0  13.0
2001 Jake Peavy            20    A+/AA  133.1  12.7
2001 Nick Neugebauer       20   AA/AAA  130.2  12.1
2001 Erik Bedard           22       A+  102.1  12.0
2001 Boof Bonser           20        A  134.0  12.0
2000 Ryan Anderson         20      AAA  104.0  12.6
2000 Ben Howard            21       A+  107.1  12.6
2000 Nick Neugebauer       19    A+/AA  128.0  12.2
1999 Rick Ankiel*          19   AA/AAA  137.2  12.7
1999 Tim Redding           21        A  105.0  12.1
1998 A.J. Burnett          21        A  119.0  14.1
1998 Rick Ankiel           19     A/A+  161.0  12.4
1998 Ryan Anderson         18        A  111.1  12.3
1996 Mike Villano          24     A/A+  100.0  12.6
1994 Billy Wagner          22        A  153.0  12.0
1993 Tim Davis             22     A/A+  108.1  12.0
*Major league data not included 

Four players to appear twice, as Moore could possibly do: Rich Hill, who was 25 and 26 years old for his seasons. Nick Neugebauer and Ryan Anderson, who were among the game's premier prospects before succumbing to arm problems(for Neugebauer, rotator cuff surgery, for Anderson, his labrum). And Rick Ankiel, who was the game's best prospect. For fun, let's narrow it down a bit futher and make the cutoff 120 innings, which Moore will almost assuredly get to this season:

Year Player               Age    Level     IP   K/9
2009 Matt Moore            20        A  123.0  12.9
2007 Clay Buchholz         22   AA/AAA  125.1  12.3
2007 Clayton Kershaw       19     A/AA  122.0  12.0
2005 Rich Hill             25 A/AA/AAA  130.2  13.4
2004 Yusmeiro Petit        19  A/A+/AA  139.1  12.9
2001 Josh Beckett          21    A+/AA  140.0  13.0
2001 Jake Peavy            20    A+/AA  133.1  12.7
2001 Nick Neugebauer       20   AA/AAA  130.2  12.1
2001 Boof Bonser           20        A  134.0  12.0
2000 Nick Neugebauer       19    A+/AA  128.0  12.2
1999 Rick Ankiel*          19   AA/AAA  137.2  12.7
1998 Rick Ankiel           19     A/A+  161.0  12.4
1994 Billy Wagner          22        A  153.0  12.0
*Major league data not included 

Now it's down to Neugebauer and Ankiel who have done it twice. As for the others: Clayton Kershaw and Clay Buchholz are among the game's top young pitchers. Rich Hill relied mainly on his knockout curveball, kind of like Matt Moore, but Moore's fastball has more juice. Yusmeiro Petit and Boof Bonser relied more on pitchability and location than pure stuff to get the job done. Josh Beckett, Jake Peavy, and Billy Wagner all went on to very successful major-league careers.

So if Moore were to finish the season with, say, a 12.4 K/9, he would join Rick Ankiel as the only player of the last 20 years to twice post minor league seasons of at least 120 innings pitched with a K/9 of 12.4 or better in each. Now, the caveats: Ankiel did it younger, significantly younger, and with better control of his pitches. This list also excludes pitchers who were so good they were called up to the majors before they had a chance to put up such numbers in the minors(three names who would be slam-dunks: Mark Prior, Pedro Martinez, and Stephen Strasburg, plus Josh Beckett would've been a good candidate to do it twice).

Still, it's clear that the sentence "Matt Moore is striking out batters at a historical rate" is not an exaggeration.