"One and done" for Mitre as Moseley heads to the rotation

Before Monday's game, Joe Girardi announced that Dustin Moseley, and not Sergio Mitre, will be starting against the Indians on Thursday night. Mitre pitched poorly in his return from the DL last Saturday, while Moseley threw zeros for 4 2/3 innings in relief that game. Girardi said that given Mitre's current health, a return to the bullpen seemed more reasonable than starting every fifth day. This switch gives me the opportunity to examine Moseley's season thus far.

I'll make it quick, because there's only so much you can say about a 157 pitch sample over 4 appearances. Over 10 2/3 innings, Moseley has allowed 4 walks and has struck out 5, which are unimpressive numbers. He had a 2.2 BB/9 in 12 starts at Scranton this year, so I wonder if the walks will start returning to his minor league levels or if facing major league hitters will hurt his control. Early on, Moseley has a spectacular .625 ground ball rate, which matches up nicely with his .594 mark in the minors. Moseley's repertoire features a two-seam fastball (a bit less than 50% of the time), a cutter, a curveball, a changeup, and maybe a few four-seam fastballs. Over his four games, the fastball has averaged 89-90 mph, the cutter around 86, the change 83-84, and the curve 78. He fits a similar bill as Mitre as a ground-ball specialist with solid control; the Yankees are certainly hoping that he can perform better than Mitre has in the rotation.

Gameday data is from MLB Advanced Media; it can be easily accessed through Joe Lefkowitz's invaluable tool.

Other stats are from Baseball-Reference and Minor League Splits.