He spent parts of four seasons with the Washington Nationals, yet Tyler Moore may only be remembered for his lone postseason about with the team.
The Washington Nationals loved Tyler Moore. Enough so to draft him three times. Washington Nationals fans loved Tyler Moore, because of his clutch hit in the 2012 National League Division Series.
While he spurned the Nationals after they drafted him out of high school and community college, Tyler Moore finally signed when the Nats took him in the 16th round out of Mississippi State. After four years in the minors Moore received his call to the big leagues.
Moore would spent four seasons being shuttled back and forth from Triple-A to the majors. He was a right handed bat off the bench, seeing spot starts at both first base and left field.
His rookie year was his best, statistically speaking, and his lone postseason at-bat endeared him to Nationals fans moving forward.
At the time his ten home runs and .263 average in part-time play seemed like a glimpse into the future. They would turn out to be his career highs in both categories. His bat and potential were enough to land him on the postseason roster as the Nationals took on the Cardinals in the playoffs in 2012.
In Game 1 of the NLDS the Nationals trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning when the time came for a pitch hitter. With two runners on, and two out, Moore poked a 2-2 pitch weakly to right field. The bloop single was good enough to score both runners and send the Nats home happy.
As you know, four games later the Cardinals would send the Nats home for good.
In a sense, this was the apex of Tyler Moore’s baseball playing days.
Over the next three years he hit less and struck out more. Entering the spring training of 2016, Moore had to make the team or go through waivers, being out of options he couldn’t be sent to the minors without being offered to other teams first.
Towards the end of camp it became clear he was the odd man out. He ended up being traded to the Atlanta Braves for a minor leaguer who wouldn’t last a month in the minors before being released.
Moore would play the entire year in the minors and then resurface the next year with the Miami Marlins. This would be the last time we saw him professionally.
Tyler Moore will forever be known as the guy who gifted the Washington Nationals their first playoff victory since the team moved from Montreal.