After having a dominant 2019 season with the then Advanced-A Daytona Tortugas (beginning in 2021 they were the Low-A affiliate), Dauri Moreta sat out the 2020 cancelled minor league season. But when the 2021 season began the right-handed reliever was placed with Double-A Chattanooga by the Cincinnati Reds. After a hitless inning in his first game of the year, Moreta allowed two runs in 1.1 innings on May 7th against the best named team in sports – the Rocket City Trash Pandas. It would be the last game he would allow an earned run in for the next seven weeks as he reeled off 13 straight games without an earned run that spanned 20.1 innings, saw him walk just three batters, and pick up 31 strikeouts along the way. On June 27th it was the Trash Pandas that got to him again, snapping his streak when they plated a run against him. A week later he’d give up another run to Birmingham as his ERA ballooned to 1.35 on the season.
That was his final outing with the Lookouts as he was promoted to Triple-A Louisville and made his first appearance on July 7th. He picked up where he left off, and then some. Dauri Moreta didn’t allow an earned run with the Bats for the first two plus months. It wasn’t until Memphis finally put an earned run on the board against him on September 17th that his ERA moved above the 0.00 mark in Triple-A. They would get another run against him the next time out, giving him a 0.68 ERA at the level before getting a late season call up to Cincinnati where he allowed one run in four outings.
For all 2021 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Dauri Moreta Scouting Report
Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 185 lbs | Drafted: International FA (2015)
Born: April 15, 1996
Fastball | An above-average pitch that works 94-96 MPH and touched 99 during the 2021 season.
Slider | An above-average pitch that he throws in the mid-80’s.
Change Up | A solid offering that works in the mid-to-upper 80’s.
Dauri Moreta has three pitches, but he does use his fastball at a very high rate despite that. Of course the old saying “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” seems to apply fairly well here, too. As a reliever he can get away with being more fastball heavy than a starting pitcher can, and the results over the last several years have been incredible – granted it’s come mostly at the minor league level. His fastball has a little bit of a cutting action to it, and his slider is almost a hybrid cutter/slider. Hitters have a tough time squaring up the ball against him, which can be evidenced by his extremely high infield fly rate throughout his career.
Moreta throws a lot of strikes. Over the last two seasons he’s walked 18 batters in 110.1 innings pitched. Part of that may be due to how often he throws his fastball, but he can and does throw his other pitches for strikes at a good rate.
A reliever that is ready to step onto the big league mound from day 1 of the 2022 season, his floor is very high – he’s a big league reliever of some sort. Where his ceiling falls is a bit more debatable. He’s probably not a closer, at least in a traditional sense. But he could pick up some saves along the way while being a guy who could pitch in the latter half of your bullpen for 1-2 inning stints.
Interesting Stat on Dauri Moreta
Including his time in the Major Leagues in 2021, opponents hit .163/.203/.267 against Dauri Moreta in 213 plate appearances.
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