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PITTSBURGH -- Prior to the start of 2018, Colin Moran was a member of the Houston Astros' world championship team.
But Moran wasn't playing much, and the Pittsburgh Pirates changed all of that last Jan. 13, when they picked him up from the Astros in a five-player trade that sent right-handed pitcher and former top draft pick Gerrit Cole to Houston.
The Pirates got third baseman Moran, starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, relief pitcher Michael Feliz and outfielder Jason Martin -- who started this season with the Altoona Curve but was recently promoted to Class AAA Indianapolis.
Moran got a chance to become an everyday player with the Pirates, and he is appreciative of the chance that the Pirates have given him.
He is spending this season attempting to reward the Pirates for their show of confidence in him. After earning the third base job in spring training, the left-handed batting Moran, 25, has belted eight home runs and driven in 37 runs in 85 games for the Bucs, and has carded a .266 batting average (68 hits in 256 at-bats).
"It's been fun,'' Moran said recently at PNC Park. "I'm very thankful for the amount of trust that they've put in me all year. They've given me my first real shot in the big leagues, and I'm trying to prove them right, and reward them for giving me that opportunity.''
Moran saw action only sparingly in two abbreviated seasons with the Astros. He appeared in nine games in 2016 and seven last year, when his season was interrupted after he suffered broken bones near his left eye after fouling off a pitch from Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Darren O'Day.
"The orbital bone was broken, as were a couple other bones,'' Moran said. "I had surgery in late July, and I didn't get back until the big leagues until mid-September. I fouled a pitch -- a slider -- off my face. It was a long couple of months.''
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Moran was also blocked for playing time in Houston by the Astros' star third baseman, Alex Bregman.
"I think there's always an opportunity for good players, but (the Astros) were definitely stacked at the top,'' said Moran, a native of Port Chester, N.Y. who played baseball at the University of North Carolina. "I would probably have started the season in (Class) AAA again if I had remained (in Houston), so thankfully, I got an opportunity over here, and I'm trying to take advantage of it.''
The Pirates have shown enough confidence in Moran that they've recently been putting him in the clean-up spot in the batting order.
"I am just trying to be another contributor in the lineup,'' Moran said. "I don't really think about where I'm hitting in the lineup. I'm just trying to do the job that the situation calls for -- whether there are guys on base, and I need to drive them in, or whether it's being the best hitter that I can be when leading off an inning and trying to get on base.''
Two of Moran's biggest hits were a two-run ninth-inning home run that produced a 6-5 Pirates victory over the White Sox in Chicago May 9, and a grand slam that catapulted the Bucs to a 7-5 road win over the San Diego Padres July 1.
Moran -- who got married (wife, Kelsey) last November -- also hit a grand slam to help the Pirates to a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins in the Bucs' home opener April 2.
"I'd love to get the big hit all the time, but that's not going to happen too often,'' Moran said. "I try to control the little things that I can control, like swinging at good pitches, driving what I can drive, and getting my swing ready for the game so as to put myself in a position to have success in those big moments.''
Moran wears a bushy red beard and comports himself in a soft-spoken, stoic manner. He takes things on a pretty even keel, which has been noticed by his teammates.
"He cares about the game, he cares about getting better, he's never complacent,'' left fielder Corey Dickerson said of Moran. "He's even-keeled as a person, and that's what translates into his ability to go out there if he struggles and to have the drive to come back and be better the next day.
"He doesn't get down about it, he doesn't show his emotions too much, (but) he's always looking for an edge,'' Dickerson said. "It's been awesome to watch him grow as a player this year. Especially for his first full season -- it's pretty impressive what he has done.
"Pitchers, coaches and analytics tend to figure (players) out,'' Dickerson said. "But he's done really well at being consistent.''
And perhaps that consistency has been fueled by Moran's appreciation for being presented with a golden opportunity.
"I'm really excited, really happy,'' Moran said. "The opportunity that I knew that I was going to get here provided a huge boost to me in the offseason. I couldn't wait for spring training. It's been my first chance to play every day in the big leagues, so I've been trying as hard as I can to make the most of it.''
The Moran file
Age: 25.
Height, weight: 6-4, 205.
Bats: Left. Throws: Right.
Position: Third base.
Season update: In his first full season this year with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Moran has hit eight home runs and driven in 37 runs in 85 games with a .266 batting average (68 hits in 256 at-bats).
Notable: Moran is a native of Port Chester, N.Y. who attended the University of North Carolina, where he played baseball.