Diego Moreno (baseball)
Diego Rafael Moreno is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Caciques de Distrito of the Venezuelan Major League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hanshin Tigers.
Career
Pittsburgh Pirates
On August 21, 2006, Moreno signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as an international free agent. He made his professional debut with the Venezuelan Summer League Pirates in 2007, recording a 2.42 ERA in 13 games. He returned to the team in 2008, registering a 3-1 record and 0.87 ERA in 7 appearances. In 2009, Moreno split the season between the Low-A State College Spikes and the Single-A West Virginia Power, accumulating a 2.52 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 50.0 innings of work. The following season, Moreno split the year between the High-A Bradenton Marauders and the Double-A Altoona Curve, posting a 4-1 record and 2.15 ERA in 35 appearances. In 2011, Moreno again split the year between Altoona and Bradenton, logging a 3.63 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 45.2 innings pitched.New York Yankees
On February 19, 2012, Moreno was traded by the Pirates alongside Exicardo Cayones to the New York Yankees in exchange for A. J. Burnett. Prior to his acquisition, the Yankees had contemplated taking Moreno in the Rule 5 draft. Moreno did not play in a game in 2012 due to injury. In 2013, Moreno split the season between the High-A Tampa Yankees and the Double-A Trenton Thunder, posting a 3-4 record and 3.89 ERA in 24 appearances. The next season, Moreno split the year between Trenton and the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, pitching to a cumulative 4.06 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 57.2 innings of work.On June 21, 2015, Moreno was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the following day, pitching a scoreless inning of relief against the Philadelphia Phillies. In a July 28 start against the Texas Rangers, Moreno threw scoreless innings, while allowing no hits, one walk, and five strikeouts, en route to getting his first career win. Moreno was placed on the disabled list on August 2 with right elbow inflammation and finished his rookie season with a 5.23 ERA in 4 big league games. On November 2, Moreno was activated off of the disabled list and outrighted off of the 40-man roster. He elected free agency and re-signed with the Yankees on a minor league contract on November 30. Moreno recorded a 7-1 record and 4.82 ERA in 32 games between Scranton and Trenton before he was released on August 19, 2016.