UWA baseball pitchers get MLB opportunities via draft

LIVINGSTON– West Alabama pitchers JT Salter and Steffon Moore were taken in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft on Wednesday.

Right-hander JT Salter, a junior from Bay Minette, Alabama, was chosen by the Seattle Mariners in the 20thround and left-hander Steffon Moore, a junior from West Point, Mississippi, was taken in the 26th round by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Salter and Moore are the first West Alabama players to be drafted since 2015 when right-handed pitcher Tanner Rainey was picked by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round and righty Gandy Stubblefield was a 28thround choice by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rainey is currently on the Reds 40-man roster and has gone back-and-forth between Triple A and the Big Leagues this season. The last six West Alabama players to be selected in the MLB Draft have been pitchers.

An All-Gulf South Conference selection in 2018, Salter finished 7-3 with a 2.65 earned run average. In 88.1 innings pitched he allowed 69 hits while striking out a UWA-record 118 and walking 47 in the Tigers starting rotation.

Moore worked both as a starter and reliever, making 10 starts in 13 appearances while posting a 4-5 record and 5.60 ERA. He threw 45 innings, allowing 29 hits, striking out 76 and walking 51.