Steven Moya

Steven Moya

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 230 lb.

• Debut September 1, 2014
• Final Game October 1, 2016
• Born August 9, 1991 in Rio Piedras, P.R.

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Biographical Information

Steven Moya played in the minor leagues, Japan, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Taiwan.

Moya was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 2009, and he hit .252/.361/.372 for the DSL Tigers in his first year as a professional player. He only hit .190/.229/.299 in the DSL in 2010, then he recorded a .204/.234/.362 batting line with the West Michigan Whitecaps in 2011. Moya's batting line was .288/.319/.482 with 9 homers in 2012, and he underwent the Tommy John sgruery. He came back and crushed 12 homers with a .255/.296/.433 batting line for the Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2013.

In 2014 with the Double A Erie SeaWolves, Moya blasted 35 home runs with 105 RBI in 133 games with a .276/.306/.555 batting line. He led the Eastern League in homers and RBI, ranking 2nd in doubles (3 behind Reynaldo Rodriguez) and 3rd in hits (tied with Ben Gamel). He was also selected into the 2014 Futures Game, and he was named the 2014 Eastern League Player of the Year. Moya made his Major League debut on September 1 against the Cleveland Indians, and he collected his first hit from Austin Adams. He ended up having a 3-for-8 record with the 2014 Tigers.

Moya stayed in the AAA Toledo Mud Hens in 2015, and he crushed 20 homers with a .276/.306/.555 batting line. He was 4-for-22 with the 2015 Tigers, and he collected his first triple on September 13 against Cody Anderson of the Indians. He then hit .284/.310/.501 with 20 homers in Toledo in 2016, and he .255/.290/.500 in 31 games with the big club. He crushed his first home run in The Show on June 19 against Chris Young. However, Moya's batting line fell to .166/.222/.344 in 2017, and he also batted .246/.305/.446 with AA Erie SeaWolves. He became a free agent after the 2017 season.

The Chunichi Dragons of the NPB signed him in 2018, and he hit .301/.347.441. Since the Dragons already had foreign slugger Dayan Viciedo and solid reliever Raidel Martinez, Moya was mainly placed in the NPB Farm Leagues in 2019, and he only played 7 games with the big club. His batting line was elite .315/.353/.537 with 12 homers in the ni-gun, and the Dragons traded him to the Orix Buffaloes for cash on June 30. Moya hit .244/.278/.397 with 10 homers for Orix, and he was the fourth NPB player to homer in both leagues in the same year, following Dave Roberts, Katsuya Kishikawa and Saburo Omura.

Moya crushed 12 homers with a .274/.324/.567 batting line in 2020, then he recorded a .229/.261/.373 batting line with 13 homers in 2021. In the 2021 Nippon Series, he crushed a game-tying pinch-hit solo shot off Yasunobu Okugawa in the 7th inning of Game 1. He collected another two hits as a pinch-hitter, and he became the first player to got 3 pinch-hit hits in a Nippon Series. The Yakult Swallows beat the Buffaloes in 6 games. Moya then went 5-for-23 with the Toros del Este, and he hit .321/.435/.804 with 16 homers for the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League in 2023. He also played 3 games for the Acereros de Monclova.

The newly-founded TSG Hawks of the CPBL signed Moya in 2024, and he was their starting first baseman in their first game in the league on April 3. He got the first hit of the Hawks on the 2nd inning, against Jose De Paula of the CTBC Brothers. He then blasted 2 homers against Brandon Brennan on April 5.

Notable Achievements

• 2014 Player of the Year Eastern League Erie SeaWolves

Related Sites

• Steven Moya on mlb.com