Jon Moscot came into the 2013 season after a lot of success with the Billings Mustangs in 2012, albeit in limited action of just 25 innings where he posted a 2.88 ERA with 6 walks and 26 strikeouts. The Reds skipped him over Dayton and sent him to the California League to pitch for the Bakersfield Blaze.
To say that April was a struggle for the right handed starter would be an understatement. In his first start he lasted just 3.2 innings and allowed 4 runs. In the next two starts he would allow 6 runs in each, lasting just 3 and 4.2 innings in those starts. He walked two batters in each of the starts. Moscot would settle down in the final two starts of the month allowing 2 earned over 5.2 innings with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks on the 21st and throwing 5.2 shutout innings in the final start on the 27th with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. He would finish the month with a 7.15 ERA in 22.2 innings with 11 walks and 21 strikeouts. His walk rate was a bit on the high side at 10.7% and his strikeout rate was good at 20.4%.
Moscot began May with another solid start as he allowed 2 earned in 5.2 innings without a walk and with 5 strikeouts, but he stumbled in his next outing as he allowed 6 earned over 3 innings with a walk and 2 strikeouts. The right hander would rebound well as he allowed 2 earned over 7.1 innings with a walk and 8 strikeouts in his next start. He was even better the next time out as he threw 6 shutout innings with a walk and 9 strikeouts. The final two starts of May both allowed 2 earned over 5 and 6 innings with 2 walks in each and 9 total strikeouts. He would finish out May with an ERA nearly cut in half from April at 3.82 over 33 innings with just 7 walks and 33 strikeouts. His walk rate was an impressively low 5.1% and he struck out 24.1% of the batters he faced with a 4.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
June began with a bump in the road as Moscot allowed 4 earned in 6 innings with a walk and 7 strikeouts. In the next start he allowed one earned over 4 innings with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts, but his defense struggled behind him as he allowed 2 unearned runs. In the third start of the month control problems came about as the righty walked 4 batters in 4 innings while allowing 4 runs with 4 strikeouts. He would rebound well and allow just a run over 5.2 innings in the next start with just a single walk and 5 strikeouts. In the final start of the month against Lancaster he allowed three runs in 6 innings with all three runs coming via the solo home run. He would finish the month with a 4.56 ERA in 25.2 innings pitched, 9 walks and 24 strikeouts. His walk rate jumped up to a solid 8.3% on the month and he struck out 22% of the hitters he faced with a 2.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
July began with two lackluster starts against Lancaster and Lake Elsinore that each lasted 5 innings with a total of 7 runs allowed, 6 walks and 12 strikeouts. He rebounded well with a second start in a row against Lake Elsinore where he allowed just one run in 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. His next two starts both lasted 6.1 innings where he allowed 3 runs in each with 3 walks total and 9 combined strikeouts. The final start of the month was his best of the season as the right hander fired 8 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts. Moscot would finish the month with a 3.44 ERA in 36.2 innings with 9 walks and 34 strikeouts. His walk rate was a low 6.3% on the month with a strong 23.9% strikeout rate to go along with a 3.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
A strong run after a slow start capped off by his best start to end July led to a promotion to Double-A Pensacola to join the Blue Wahoos rotation. He made his first start on the 2nd of August and he really struggled as he allowed 7 earned in 3 innings while giving up 3 homers, walking 2 and striking out 4. Moscot would rebound rather well by throwing 7.1 shutout innings against Jacksonville (which you can see plenty of in the video below) with a walk and 5 strikeouts. The next start was a step back as he struggled with his control as he walked 4 batters and struck out just 3 in 5 innings while allowing 4 runs. That was the last day he would allow an earned run as the next three starts went for 5, 6 and 5.2 innings without an earned run (just one unearned run) with 5 total walks and 16 strikeouts combined. Moscot finished the month with a 3.09 ERA, all at the Double-A level, to go along with 12 walks and 28 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched. His walk rate went up to 8.7% on the month and he struck out 20.3% of the batters he faced while posting a 2.3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Season Stats
| Team | W | L | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| Bakersfield | 2 | 14 | 4.59 | 115.2 | 109 | 17 | 36 | 112 | 1.25 | 7.3% | 22.8% | 3.1 |
| Pensacola | 2 | 1 | 3.19 | 31.0 | 34 | 3 | 12 | 28 | 1.48 | 8.7% | 20.3% | 2.3 |
| Total | 4 | 15 | 4.30 | 146.2 | 143 | 20 | 48 | 140 | 1.30 | 7.6% | 22.3% | 2.9 |
Overall Thoughts
Moscot got off to a rough start as the California League and Sam Lynn Ballpark welcomed him in a way that only they can combine to do, but he quickly made the adjustments that he needed to run off plenty of success before earning a promotion out of the extremely hitter friendly league and continued the success that he had turned in after a rough start with Pensacola. The righty showed off solid control for most of the season, he missed a lot of bats as well with at least a 20% strikeout rate in each month of the season. The Reds have fasttracked Moscot pretty quickly, but I would look for him to start the season back in Pensacola in 2014 before eventually pushing his way up to Louisville later in the year as his performance dictates.
Video
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