Diego Moreno

Diego Rafael Moreno

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 216 lb.

• Debut June 22, 2015
• Final Game May 21, 2017
• Born July 21, 1987 in Higuerote, Miranda Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Diego Moreno is a pitcher who made his debut with the New York Yankees in 2015.

Moreno signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates at age 19. He debuted as a pro with the 2007 VSL Pirates, going 1-0 with two saves and a 2.42 ERA. With the same club in 2008, he improved to 3-1, 0.87. He helped his team take the title. Had he qualified, he would have paced the Venezuelan Summer League in ERA.

Diego made his US debut in 2009 with the State College Spikes, allowing one run in four innings and going 1-3 with five saves and a 2.60 ERA for the West Virginia Power (holding opponents to a .182 average and whiffing 57 in 45 innings). His fastball was being timed with a peak of 97 mph.

Moreno began 2010 with the Bradenton Marauders and was excellent (3-0, 1.37, 39 K, 2 BB, 11 H in 26 1/3 IP). He was promoted to the Altoona Curve but was soon put on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff injury, having gone 0-0 with a 7.04 ERA in 7 2/3 innings. He returned to Bradenton in 2011 and had another good year, with a 3.21 ERA in 31 games in relief, with a 2-4 record and 5 saves. Late in the year, he was promoted once again to Altoona, where he put up a 4.91 ERA in 7 games. Overall in 44 2/3 innings that year, he struck out 45 batters and gave up 18 walks.

On February 17, 2012, he and Exicardo Cayones were traded to the New York Yankees in return for veteran pitcher A.J. Burnett.

In his fourth season in the Yankees' organization, he finally received the call to the major leagues, making his debut on June 22, 2015 as he pitched a scoreless inning in an 11-8 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. It was an eventful effort, however, as he gave up a pair of hits and hit a batter with a pitch, and also struck out two opponents. He was the third Yankees reliever to make his big league debut in two days, as Danny Burawa and Jose De Paula had both done so the previous day. After returning to the minor leagues, he recorded his first career win in his third appearance on July 28th, after relieving Chris Capuano with two outs in the 1st after Capuano had already given up 5 runs. Moreno stopped the bleeding, pitching 5 1/3 hitless innings and the Yankees' bats came alive in the 2nd, exploding for 11 runs. Chris Young then added a grand slam in the 3rd and Diego received credit for the 21-5 beat-down. Adam Warren then succeeded him and pitched the final three innings to earn a save. He also did not allow a hit and it was only the second time in major league history that two relievers had each pitched 3 or more hitless innings for one team in a 9-inning game, after Ewald Pyle and Mickey Haefner had done so for the Washington Senators against the St. Louis Browns on July 3, 1943.

Sources

• 2010 Pirates Media Guide
• 2009-2010 Baseball Almanacs
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Related Sites

• Diego Moreno on mlb.com
• BR Minors page