Pirates have few jobs to fill
13⅔ scoreless innings in the Arizona Fall League.
“His rise through our system has been terrific, and it’s for a reason,” Huntington said.
“He’s mature. He has a quality pitch arsenal. Still learning how to utilize that. We didn’t really see many changeups this spring and that can be a good pitch for him.”
Moroff won the organization’s minor league player of the year award in 2015, after he hit .293 with a .374 onbase percentage, seven home runs and 70 walks for Class AA Altoona. In Indianapolis last season, his batting average dropped to .230, and his strikeout rate increased by more than 6 percent.
“He has terrific command of the strike zone,” Huntington said. “Now the challenge has been increasing what he’s looking for just a little bit so he can do some damage in early counts, so that he doesn’t give pitchers free strikes as often as he did last year.”
The moves did little to clarify the few remaining unsettled roster spots. Huntington said Chad Kuhl has done nothing to change the fact that he has an inside track to a rotation spot, and the team has not selected a fifth starter.
Alen Hanson, Phil Gosselin and Jose Osuna remain options for the final two bench spots.
The number of free bench spots will remain at two because Jung Ho Kang still does not have a visa, and Huntington said Thursday that Kang will not be ready for opening day.
“We remain optimistic we’re going to get him here hopefully sooner than later,” Huntington said. “Now the challenge is if we don’t, if it takes some time, we’ve built this club and feel good about the guys we have here.”