of New Mexico, his brother's alma mater, before he was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the eighth round of the 2007 MLB Draft. Professional career Minor leagues After being drafted 245th overall, Moore signed a $115,000 contract with the Rays in 2007. He debuted that year with the Rookie Princeton Rays at the age of 18. In his first minor league season, he had a 0–0 win–loss record, a 2.66 earned run average (ERA), and 29 strikeouts in 8 games and innings with the Rays. In 2008, he posted a 2–2 record, 1.66 ERA, and 77 strikeouts in innings. At the end of his first full season in 2008, Moore was named a Baseball America Rookie All-Star. In 2009, Moore was assigned to the Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods for their inaugural season. He was selected to start the first game in Hot Rods history. On June 8, 2009, Moore was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week after throwing seven shutout innings in a 10–2 win over the Asheville Tourists. He went 8–5 for the season with a 3.15 ERA in 26 starts, and led the league with 176 strikeouts in 123 innings. The following year, Moore had a standout season with the Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs. His 208 strikeouts in innings were the most in the Florida State League since Michael Cosgrove in 1971. Issues with pitch control, however, led to a 3.36 ERA and a 1.18 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). Mitch Lukevics, the Rays' director of minor-league operations, told FoxSports.com that, in both 2009 and 2010, Moore was "off to a bad start, and the technique [was] not where it need[ed] to be", but he found his stride over the course of the season. Moore started the 2011 season with the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. On June 16, he pitched his first career no-hitter, and the first franchise no-hitter for the Biscuits, in an 8–0 victory against the Mobile BayBears. That July, he pitched an inning at the XM Futures Game, retiring all three batters he faced in 11 pitches that reached up to . Shortly afterwards, on July 22, he was promoted to the Triple-A Durham Bulls. He went 12–3 for the season, with a 1.92 ERA in 155 innings across 27 starts. Moore's 210 strikeouts were the most of any minor league