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Tampa Bay, however, isn't so cynical when it comes to the teenage left-hander. Moore, whom the Rays selected in the eighth round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, was 2-2 with a 1.66 ERA in 12 starts for Princeton. He finished an inning shy of qualifying for the ERA title but ended the year by throwing 16 consecutive scoreless innings, earning Princeton's Pitcher of the Year laurels.

Moore, who turned 19 in June, had a 2.66 ERA over 20 1/3 innings for Princeton in 2007. The Rays don't feel there's any need to rush the youngster, who could start next season at Hudson Valley of the short-season New York-Penn League or make the jump to one of the organization's full-season Class A clubs. Either way, he's in the Florida Instructional League this month, working to build on the successful season he just concluded.

"I think, like with all young kids, the thing we want him to work on is his consistency," said Mitch Lukevics, Tampa Bay's director of Minor League operations. "He has pure, raw stuff. But he needs to work on his consistency of keeping his fastball down in the zone and consistently throwing his breaking ball for strikes. For the most part, he does throw strikes, but it's all about consistency.

"Sometimes when you get asked about this stuff, it can sound generic. But it really isn't. When you look at him as a raw resource and see his raw tools, you see what we mean about consistency being a goal to achieve. Through side sessions and games down here, we're hoping for that consistency. It sounds kind of vanilla, but it's right on."

Moore's fastball is consistently in the low- to mid-90s, regularly topping out at 95 on the gun. He ranked third in the league with 77 strikeouts and walked only 19 in 54 1/3 innings this season while limiting opponents to a .154 batting average. He also didn't allow a homer and has given up just one in 74 2/3 professional innings. His ERA over 34 innings in his final seven starts was 0.53.

"When he came here, he had wonderful tools," Lukevics said. "And I've seen him over a dozen times since and, without a doubt, he has great composure on the mound and great stuff. It's not the norm in the age group that Matt Moore is in to have that kind of composure. It's more abnormal, but it's great to see.

"In Matt's case, he is very mature and was mature from the get-go. [Maturity and composure] goes hand in hand. He's a very confident young man, without question. Even though he's spent two years at Princeton, he's facing hitters two, three, four and in some cases five years older than him. It's a great barometer to see what he did this season."

In other Rays' news, shortstop Reid Brignac continues his comeback from a broken wrist. After working out with Durham during the International League Finals last month, he finally WAS ready to get back into game action and made his presence felt, collecting three RBIs in his first FIL game.

"He was never near ready to being activated during the playoffs," Lukevics said. "We just wanted to get him there, where they had a full staff and he could work out with them. And he's looked terrific [here]."

Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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