Mariners call up No. 4 prospect RHP Andrew Moore

The Seattle Mariners announced on Wednesday they selected RHP Andrew Moore from AAA-Tacoma, optioned RHP Christian Bergman to the Rainiers, and designated RHP Tyler Cloyd for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Moore.

Moore was MLB.com’s No. 4 overall Mariners prospect and No. 2 pitcher.

This is a big jump for the quickly rising 23-year-old Moore. He started the season in AA-Arkansas, where he went 1-2 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.067 WHIP in six games, five starts. He was then promoted to AAA-Tacoma and went 3-1 with a 3.19 ERA and 0.958 WHIP over eight starts. He has struck out 77 in 82 2/3 innings this season between the two levels.

Moore doesn’t do anything particularly spectacular, but he does most things pretty well. His fastball is average, ranging 89-92, but has good movement which allows him to strike guys out while throwing strikes, a luxury not all pitchers have. He has an above-average changeup which keeps hitters from sitting dead-red, and mixes in a useful curveball and occasional slider. His biggest strength is throwing strikes and changing speeds.

The biggest thing the scouts and the M’s like about Moore is his competitiveness and intelligence. A guy with his stuff has to have both to continue to succeed at the upper levels and as he climbed the ladder this spring he showed that his stuff continued to play as he moved up.

This type of arsenal doesn’t scream top of the rotation, but he should be a solid mid-rotation addition to the M’s if he’s indeed ready for this big promotion.

GM Jerry Dipoto told the media at Safeco Field today that Moore was called up to start.

“He’s been the definition of steady since entering the system,” Dipoto said. “He’s mature in his preparation, knows himself, understands his strengths, controls the zone and has consistently performed at every level.

“He’s earned an opportunity to pitch here.”

Moore was a second-round pick in the 2015 draft after a two-time All-American college career at Oregon State. He was the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year last season.

Bergman went 4-4 with a 5.44 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 46 1/3 innings and nine games (eight starts) for the Mariners. Bergman, 29, was always organizational depth and with all the injuries to the rotation early on was pressed into more duty that Dipoto or anyone else could have expected.