Brandon Moss is now a St. Louis Cardinal.
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St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday left Wednesday night’s game with the Cincinnati Reds with a right quad strain after pulling up while running to first base on a double play that ended the first inning.
The Cardinals lead the NL Central by 4 1/2 games over Pittsburgh. The Indians are a disappointing 46-54 and six games back of a wild-card spot. Murphy was hitting. 297 with five home runs and 27 RBI.
Since All-Star break last year Moss has hit.202/.297/.362 in 511 AB. Moss was out on the play. This year it’s Kaminsky for Moss. In three minor league seasons, the 20-year old has gone 14-10 with a sparkling 2.15 ERA, striking out 186 in just over 217 innings of work. That might be too much for a platoon corner outfielder/first baseman with a bad hip. He signed a one-year, $6.5 million contract with the Indians in January after spending the previous three seasons with the Oakland Athletics and will be a free agent after the season.
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The Indians acquired Moss in a December 2014 trade for Joey Wendle, the team’s 2012 sixth-round pick. Per MLB.com, he was the No. 3 prospect in the Cardinals’ system and the No. 88 overall prospect in baseball. Who knows how this will turn out – Kaminsky is still in Single-A after all, and the Cardinals know pitching, so there might be a reason he was available – but right now this looks like a fantastic trade for the Tribe. Kaminsky’s wicked fastball/curveball combo suggests that at the very least he projects as a fine reliever, but the 20yo (who is pitching to an impressive 2.09 ERA/2.53 FIP in 17 starts at A+) still has very good starting potential.
