The Cubs announced the hiring of former major leaguer Daniel Moskos as their assistant pitching coach. The 35-year-old has spent the past two seasons coaching in the Yankees’ farm system, but he’ll now get his first opportunity to join a big league staff.
Moskos is best known for his early-career playing days with the Pirates. Pittsburgh selected the southpaw out of Clemson University with the fourth overall pick of the 2007 draft. He was one of the Bucs’ top pitching prospects early in his pro career, but Moskos’ velocity backed up pretty early into his minor league tenure. By 2010, he’d been moved to the bullpen full-time, but he did contribute for Pittsburgh in 2011.
Working primarily as a situational reliever, Moskos tossed 24 1/3 innings of 2.96 ERA ball as a rookie. He didn’t miss many bats, though, and the Pirates waived him midway through the 2012 campaign. Moskos spent the next few seasons bouncing between teams’ Triple-A affiliates and made a comeback effort in the Mexican League in 2018, but he never got back to the bigs as a player.
He’ll now earn the opportunity to return to the major league level as a coach. Moskos will pair with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy to lead a Chicago pitching staff that ranked in the bottom ten in 2021 in ERA (4.88) and strikeout/walk rate differential (12.3 percentage points).
Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times first reported Moskos’ hiring prior to the team announcement.
Moskos will make the difference. Cubs will win 90 games now
The old “those who can’t, teach” angle, eh
There are a good amount of managers in the HOF who were garbage players that would agree with that statement.
Impressed that this article got written without mentioning Matt Wieters. Well done! Also I hate the Pirates.
ARRRRR you not crazy about eye patch
Well the pirates hate you too…..and by the way to the author of this article. Daniel Moskos was drafted by the pirates as a relief pitcher.
I wish they hated me then they’d stop soliciting season ticket sales etc.
You still owe the pirates for season tickets that you purchased in 1997
Guy couldn’t hit the side of the barn as a pitcher. Sounds like a great choice as a pitching coach.
Maybe he was standing in front of barn.
He missed that too. And every other building in the general area code.
Maybe he was standing in Antarctica.
Actually he could hit the side or the front of the barn. The problem is the barn hit the ball back. )
Because so many of the great pitching coaches today are former great pitchers…even pitchers?
Chris is Taylor made for Angels
I had completely forgotten about this guy. One of the all time worse picks in the first round.
Remember the days when a pitching or hitting coach had to have done something significant as an MLB player to be considered?
Over the years there have been many journeyman pitchers and hitters become pitching coaches or hitting coaches. The first name that came to mind was Ray Miller, one of the great pitching coaches. Never made it to the Majors as a player I believe.
I agree there have been many but that was the exception. Now it seems like a successful MLB player being a coach is now the exception.
May have to do with the money made by successful players. They don’t need to stay in the game to make money.