{"id":32806,"date":"2019-03-10T17:38:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-10T21:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/?p=32806"},"modified":"2019-03-10T17:38:50","modified_gmt":"2019-03-10T21:38:50","slug":"daniel-moskos-pitcher-recalls-journey-from-high-draft-pick-to-lengthy-professional-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/10\/daniel-moskos-pitcher-recalls-journey-from-high-draft-pick-to-lengthy-professional-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Moskos: Pitcher Recalls Journey from High Draft Pick to Lengthy Professional Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are no guarantees in baseball. Literally none. Professional players must fight and earn everything they achieve without exceptions. This includes former top draft picks like pitcher\u00a0Daniel Moskos<\/a>, who had a 12-year professional career and reached the majors leagues, but had nothing given to him along the way.<\/p>\n

The left-handed Moskos was highly coveted while in college for the Clemson Tigers. So highly was he thought of that the Pittsburgh Pirates took him with the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft. A starter by trade, he transitioned to the bullpen during the 2009 season, and was called up to the Pirates in 2011. He appeared in 31 games in relief for them, going 1-1 with a 2.96 ERA.<\/p>\n

Moskos was stuck in Triple-A the next season and was ultimately claimed by the Chicago White Sox off waivers. He has since pitched in the organizations of the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Independent ball and in the Mexican League, but has not made it back to the big league to date. Injuries and personal issues have kept him off the field at various times, but he has kept pushing through it all.<\/p>\n

Still just 32, he has accumulated a professional record of 48-37 with a 3.83 ERA. He is not currently pitching but is not officially retired either. He is currently working within the baseball world and still has a thing or two to prove if another team picks up the phone and gives him a call. Keep reading for more from the southpaw about his career in baseball.<\/p>\n

Daniel Moskos Interview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who was your favorite player when you were growing up, and why?:<\/strong>\u00a0My favorite player growing up was\u00a0John Smoltz<\/a>.\u00a0 I was a huge Atlanta Braves fan, and I actually got the chance to meet him when I was about 5 years old, so I always thought that was really cool.\u00a0 Plus, he would dominate as a starter and a reliever, whatever the team needed.<\/p>\n

Can you please describe what your draft experience was like, being taken as the 4th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007?:<\/strong>\u00a0The draft was really stressful, but obviously worked out pretty well for me.\u00a0 It is still a lot to handle as a 21-year-old kid.\u00a0 Between playing baseball, going to class, and having to meet with scouts it was a lot.\u00a0 So, when the day came, which was the day before our super regional series against Mississippi St., it was quite a relief.\u00a0 I actually didn\u2019t know that the Pirates were going to draft me, I found out when everyone else did.\u00a0 I was fortunate enough to have my parents and my girl friend(now wife) with me.\u00a0 For the record, I thought I was going to the Rockies.\u00a0 The feeling of getting drafted was everything I thought it would be and more, just amazing.<\/p>\n

Being a high draft pick, how stressful was the extra attention you received as you worked your way up the minors?:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t really find extra stress with being a high draft pick.\u00a0 Baseball is hard enough as is, so I simply focused on what I could control, which was to work on getting better one day at a time.\u00a0 The Pirates were very good at focusing on the process, and not so much about the results.\u00a0 The concept was to make you the best big leaguer you can be, not just be good in High-A, Double-A, or where you are playing.<\/p>\n

What do you remember most about your major league debut?:<\/strong>\u00a0I remember pretty much everything.\u00a0 From my flight getting in that morning, to taking a cab to the field, shagging batting practice, my name getting called to warm up in the bullpen, and throwing my first pitch; a fastball that was a called strike to\u00a0Carlos Gonzalez<\/a>, lol.\u00a0 It was a dream come true.<\/p>\n

In your opinion, who was the most underrated player you ever played with or against, and if you are feeling bold, is there anyone you can think of who was overrated?:<\/strong>\u00a0The most underrated player that I played with, at the time, was\u00a0Josh Harrison<\/a>.\u00a0 Obviously, he turned out to have a really good career, and is super versatile, but when I played with him he was relatively unknown.\u00a0 I always thought he was going to be a everyday regular that needed more recognition.\u00a0 Not going to touch the overrated side, hahaha.<\/p>\n

What is your favorite moment from your baseball career?:<\/strong>\u00a0My favorite moment would have to be my big league debut.\u00a0 I have a lot of great moments that I will always cherish, but the debut confirmed what I had always dreamed of as a kid.\u00a0 I was a major league. It still feels surreal to say that, and I would never take it for granted.<\/p>\n

What pitches did you throw, and what was your best weapon?:<\/strong>\u00a0My repertoire was a two-seam and four-seam fastball, slider, and a changeup.\u00a0 My best offering was my fastball.<\/p>\n

Given how well you pitched for Pittsburgh in 2011 (and in subsequent minor league seasons) what are your thoughts on not having gotten back to the major leagues since?:<\/strong>\u00a0Baseball is a game where opportunity is very important.\u00a0 Unfortunately for me I got hurt at the wrong time.\u00a0 My elbow started bothering me in spring training of 2012.\u00a0 It nagged me all season and I had surgery that offseason.\u00a0 Just a clean up procedure. The next year it still didn\u2019t feel right, and my results showed that.\u00a0 Then in 2014 it finally blew out on me, and I had Tommy John surgery.\u00a0 It has felt amazing ever since, but I think it might have been too little too late.\u00a0 The game is going younger, and I am getting older.\u00a0 I believe that I can still get big league hitters out, but I guess major league organizations don\u2019t agree.<\/p>\n

What are your 2019 baseball plans and how long would you like to keep playing?:<\/strong>\u00a0My 2019 plans were originally to go back to Mexico to play another year.\u00a0 However, that all changed when I came to\u00a0Driveline<\/a>\u00a0to train.\u00a0 It\u2019s a facility in Seattle that is changing the game of baseball, and they caused me to change the way I looked at my career.\u00a0 So, I talked to some of the employees about the idea of me working with the company, and now I\u2019m an employee of the company.\u00a0 I still throw and keep myself in shape, if an MLB team comes calling for my services I would have to at least consider it.\u00a0 Right now though, I couldn\u2019t be happier with where I am at.<\/p>\n

Who is a current or former player you wish you had the chance to pitch against, and how would you approach that at-bat?:<\/strong>\u00a0Barry Bonds<\/a>.\u00a0 He\u2019s the best hitter there ever was and probably ever will be.\u00a0 My approach would be to hope he hits it at someone, lol.<\/p>\n

Andrew Martin is the founder of\u00a0\u201cThe Baseball Historian\u201d blog<\/a>\u00a0where he posts his thoughts about baseball on a regular basis. You can also reach him on Twitter at\u00a0@historianandrew<\/a>\u00a0or on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are no guarantees in baseball. Literally none. Professional players must fight and earn everything they achieve without exceptions. This includes former top draft picks like pitcher\u00a0Daniel Moskos, who had a 12-year professional career and reached the majors leagues, but had nothing given to him along the way. The left-handed Moskos was highly coveted while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":798,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[532,2490],"class_list":["post-32806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-dodgers","tag-pirates"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/798"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}