INDIANAPOLIS – Max Moroff is enduring a learning curve during his first season at the Triple-A level.
There’s been some good. And some bad. Moroff has shown the type of inconsistency you would expect from someone jumping up a level, but at the same time he shows the promise that led to the Pirates naming Moroff their 2015 Minor League Player of the Year.
He had a breakout season last year, hitting .293 with a .783 OPS with Altoona. But his numbers at the plate are down this season with Indianapolis, hitting just .235 with a .711 OPS.
Moroff and Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor both attributed the average drop partly to the better pitching found at the Triple-A level, where many players have major league experience.
“I’m sure he’s not used to the sequences that these veteran pitchers have up here,” Treanor said. “He has to look for the fastball and when gets it he has to bang it.”
Moroff has had a pattern of ups and downs, putting up good numbers in small stretches, followed by big slumps that immediately follow the success. He attributes his struggles more to the mental aspects, instead of the physical side. When things are going well for Moroff, he’s going to the plate with an aggressive mindset. But when he’s been struggling, he’s been looking for the wrong pitches in the wrong counts, he said.
“What I’m trying to do is just stay on the fastball,” Moroff said. “Be ready for the fastball, be aggressive and make hard contact.”
Moroff has walked in 14 percent of his plate appearances this season, which for a full season would be the second-highest amount in his career. He walked 11.4 percent of the time in Altoona, 10.4 percent the previous year in Bradenton, and 12.8 percent in West Virginia in 2013.
One concern with Moroff in the past has been that he is too patient at the plate. Treanor isn’t quite ready to label him too patient, but feels there is a distinct trend when he is struggling at the plate.
“I think he’s taken some pitches he knows he should have been swinging at,” Treanor said. “I’m not sure if it’s patience or caught in between, Wherever we’re at out here, we want our guys to be aggressive. Whether it’s pitching, whether it’s defense, at the plate. This is a very, very good learning experience for him.”
Moroff is trying to carry that mindset into the way he plays in the field. That’s something he says is key as he adjusts to playing positions that are relatively new to him.
In Indianapolis, Moroff has played a majority of games at third base, making 29 starts there. But he’s also started 15 games at second and eight at shortstop.
“This year they told me they were going to move me around, so I was expecting it,” Moroff said.
During his first two seasons with the Pirates organization, Moroff played shortstop exclusively. Then he made 123 of 127 starts at second base with West Virginia. In Altoona, Moroff started getting a taste of being shuffled around the infield. He made 107 starts at second, 12 at shortstop, and 11 at third.
Moroff has committed seven errors at third base this year and has a .892 fielding percentage. But that’s slightly higher than the .875 fielding percentage he had playing third in Altoona. It’s not that Moroff feels uncomfortable at third base, but it’s simply needing to adjust to the intricacies of the position.
“You have to make split-second decisions, where at shortstop or second you have a little more time to react and that’s the big difference,” Moroff said.
He had two errors in one game earlier this season, but takes moments like that as learning experiences to get better. One of those errors delves back into Treanor’s idea of how the team needs to play in all aspects.
“I got caught in between [on one of the plays],” Moroff said. “I think I need to be more aggressive and go get the ball, instead of waiting back. I was stuck and didn’t have anything to do. I’m going to learn from it and move on. I can’t dwell on what I did right there.”
Treanor said Moroff will “tell us” what position is his best by the way he plays. But overall, he’s been pleased with the first-year Triple-A player.
“He’s done a nice job at third,” Treanor said. “He works hard and this is one of our hardest workers. He wants to get better.”
Moroff has shown periods of turning a corner offensively recently, a few nice games recently, and his cold stretches becoming more rare. And one day after making those two errors at third, Moroff bounced back with a nice put out at the position the very next night. The Pirates have shown faith in Moroff after struggles early in his career. He’s hoping to again prove their faith was well-placed, by overcoming some early season struggles with Indianapolis.
