Reds reliever Sam Moll went a long way to get Shohei Ohtani out twice
Los Angeles Dodgers MVP Shohei Ohtani has one of the best batting averages in baseball and is one of the best power hitters of his generation. Cincinnati Reds reliever Sam Moll is a 5-foot-9, 190 pound left-hander with a unique delivery and a slider that he trusts.
In back-to-back games, Ohtani faced Moll in a high-leverage situation. On Friday, Moll threw back-to-back sliders and got Ohtani to pop out to the shortstop on the second pitch of the at-bat in a scoreless sixth inning. One night later, Moll threw four straight sliders and got Ohtani to whiff at strike three in a perfect eighth inning.
As the Reds won consecutive games against the Dodgers on Friday and Saturday, Moll shut down the top of Los Angeles’ order twice. Just nine days before the Dodgers came to town, Moll was in Triple-A.
“It’s been a ride,” Moll said.
The Reds optioned Moll to the minor leagues in early May in a controversial move. After joining the team at the 2023 trade deadline, Moll had a 0.60 ERA in 30 innings with the Reds. He was their setup man behind closer Alexis Díaz down the stretch, and Moll hadn’t allowed a run in 2024 when he learned he was getting demoted to Triple-A.
At the time, the Reds had to make room on the 26-man roster for starting pitcher Frankie Montas, who was coming off of the injured list on May 7. The Reds only had three relievers with minor league options, meaning that they wouldn’t have to go on waivers if the Reds took them off the 26-man roster. Those relievers were Díaz — their All-Star closer, Cruz — their best reliever this year –– and Moll.The Reds options were sending Moll to Triple-A or keeping him in the big leagues and designating for assignment a veteran reliever like Buck Farmer or Justin Wilson.
“I knew getting optioned was the best fit for the team at the time, keeping all of our talent here,” Moll said. “This is just the nature of the beast when you have options. That’s a part of the game. Usually, you get those options out of the way when you’re younger. But it’s a part of the game. You put your blinders on and look forward.”
Moll said the team told him to just keep working. “It wasn’t performance based,” Moll said, and everyone expected that he’d be back soon when a spot opened up on the roster.
“It was just to keep the guys that we have here,” Moll said. “It’s unfortunately the business side of the game. But you just go down to Triple-A and work on what you need to work out.”
Moll used the opportunity to fix his changeup. Previously, Reds manager David Bell didn’t show a lot of confidence in pitching Moll against right-handed hitters because Moll had some of the most significant left-right splits on the team.
During his MLB career, right-handed hitters have a .762 OPS against him while left-handed hitters only have a .554 OPS.
On Friday night, Moll used that changeup to get former MVP and seven-time All-Star Mookie Betts to fly out to center field.
“I’m obviously getting lefties out better than righties by a good clip,” Moll said. “That’s why it’s good to continue to add to your pitch repertoire. You add a bit more doubt into their head. You get them off the pitch they think is coming. Mookie is such a patient hitter. He battles, battles and battles. It’s like, come on, roll over a pitch or something. It’s cool to get those types of guys out.”
Moll got Betts on both nights, but Ohtani’s presence in the lineup was the biggest reason that Bell put him in the game to face the top of the Dodgers’ order in each of the first two games of the series.
Facing the best hitter in baseball, Moll trusted the slider that has taken him on a heck of a ride.
Moll has been designated for assignment, changed teams via the Rule 5 draft or changed teams via minor league free agency eight different times in his 10-year professional career. Moll has average velocity, and so many teams gave up on him because he wasn’t showing signs of developing a standout pitch or anything particularly special about his game.
“Data and analytics saved my career,” Moll said. “Without that, I could be working a 9-to-5 job right now.”
One of the secrets behind Díaz’s success is how far he pushes off the pitching rubber. Díaz creates more extension than any other pitcher in baseball, and he throws the ball closer to home plate than anyone else. As a result, 95 mph fastballs look like 100 mph fastballs.
On the other end of that spectrum, there’s Moll, who creates less extension off of the pitching rubber than anyone in baseball.
“I’m probably in the 0th percentile in that,” Moll said.
Moll sees his lack of extension as an advantage. His pitches appear slower, and his limited velocity gives his slider more time to spin.
“My lack of extension helps when you’re short,” Moll said. “My perceived velocity could be down because of it, but it maybe actually gives my pitches more time to move. It’s just the way I throw.”
He developed the slider in 2019 with the San Francisco Giants, when their coordinator of pitching sciences Matt Daniels gave Moll some new ideas.
They studied pitch design and ball flight. They reverse-engineered a plan for Moll to be a more dynamic pitcher. The goal was to develop a sweeping slider that spun a lot, and Moll worked through different mechanics and different grips until it clicked.
“I revamped my career,” Moll said.
When Moll developed that pitch, he was just hoping to get back to the big leagues. High-leverage situations against the best hitter in the game were a long, long way away.Moll made it to that point over the weekend against Ohtani and the Dodgers. And Moll won the battle.
“I just try to execute my pitches,” Moll said. “Obviously it’s Ohtani. He has done so much for the game. There’s a cool admiration, and I enjoy watching him pitch. He’s just a good dude, fortunately, for me to get out.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds reliever Sam Moll went a long way to get Shohei Ohtani out twice
